Howdy! My name is Lori and this coming year will be my first year homeschooling. Before I had kids, I spent ten years teaching in both public and private Christian schools. Once the kids came, I decided to stay at home. I have a seven year old daughter and my boys are three and four. My husband is retired from the military and works for a DOD contractor on an Army base. We move almost more than we did when he was active duty and as a result, my daughter has attended a different school each year of her academic career. We have become increasingly disappointed with the public school system and when we tried a very expensive Christian school, we found it wasn't much better than the public school. The curriculum was more advanced, but we actually dealt with a lot more bullies at the private school. We are excited about homeschooling and even though I have classroom experience, I know this will be a whole new ballgame. I think my biggest challenge will be homeschooling two preschool age boys at the same time I am teaching my 3rd grader.
Welcome! I'm in the central valley of California. Are you going with a charter school or registering independent? I've been homeschooling 11 years and have done both. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. ~Tina
Hi Tina, We are in the High Desert. Right now we are planning to register as an independent. We aren't opposed to joining with an existing charter school, but just haven't found one at this point. We just moved here late last fall, so we are still learning about what is available.
Hello and welcome!!! I too have the same fears. I will be homeschooling my soon to be 9year old, my 6 year old, 3 year old that I babysit for all the while trying to keep my energizer 15 month old out of trouble lol.
Welcome to the spot! I've heard many parents complain that private school (esp Christian ones) have many more problems than PS because many parents put their kids there to 'straighten them out' The great thing about homeschooling is if it isn't working you can change it. If you need to spend longer on a harder topic and less time on something easily grasped you can! It's a teachers dream! LOL
Hi. I'm new, too. We're in the greater Sacramento area. I'm going to be homeschooling my 10YO son, but I've got three other boys -- 25, 23, and 12. The 12YO will be a seventh grader in a charter school this fall. Our public schools are great, but I decided against it because of the bullying issue.
I taught in a Christian school for 8 years and then did 2 years in the public school system. In my experience as a teacher, one of the worst issues at a Christian school are parents that think because they pay tuition, their kids should not have to earn their grades. Kids that the PS kicked out are another problem. (Often they are accepted because the school needs the money.) As a parent of a child attending a Christian school, I witnessed a lot of favorites being played. We attended a different church than the one that sponsored the school and I noticed that kids who came from member families got special treatment. They often were given a pass for bad behavior and they seemed to get all the parts in the school plays and win all the awards at assemblies and such. I watched non-member kids expelled for breaking a rule while member kids were given a detention for breaking the same rule. One little girl continually bullied my 5 year old daughter. She told her she couldn't play with any of the other kids, locked her in a bathroom, and threatened to beat her up if she tattled. When I talked to the school they would promise to do something, but they never did. A teacher called me one day and told me that she tried to look out for my daughter on the playground, but I shouldn't hold my breath waiting for the school to do anything about the situation. The parents gave a lot of time at the school and church and gave a lot of money to the place, so the little bully was considered untouchable. I know that there are great Christian schools, but we just haven't had any luck finding one. I think my daughter will do better in a learning environment that is made for her talents and abilities, so we are excited about this new homeschooling adventure.
Hi Lori! Welcome to the Spot! If you are looking for curriculum to use in your homeschool, I recommend the Charlotte Mason method found over at Ambleside Online. It is what we use in our family. Lessons are short, which we need in our family of four boys. Let me know if you need any ideas for curriculum. I am still a newbie at this too, as this year was our first year homeschooling.
WOW, so sad that a Christian Schools are so bad or no better then the PS!!!!!!!!!!! My dd started out in a CS and we left for reasons that we had to. They turns on us and told us that we weren't going to get our money back (we paid pass January and we pulled in Dec.) They mostly the Pastor of the church I was attending turn on us very bad. ANY WAY, they "Christian" behavior caused my husband to stop going to church with us... So sad hey... Welcome I am very new too welcome. You'll do great, just sit back and enjoy the ride!!! Faith_Mom
