So I brought up the initial request to homeschool my children to my husband and he quickly shot a "No" at me. I asked him for a reason and he said socialization (ha... I'v got this covered!) So I informed him that he can continue cub scouts and he is in Tae Kwon Do. In regards to my daughter the library offers good options for preschoolers (which I have already taken advantage of) and of course the is the rec center which offers many great programs for children. Not budging (but no other reasons given to support his very quick decision) I decided to send a pros and cons list. It worked! He is not on board yet, but wants to do the research so we can discuss the option. I am excited, because this means there is hope! I wanted to get your opinions though...the state of Wisconsin offers a virtual public school, which provides all supplies including a computer and an assigned teacher. Is this a decent option? Shannon
I do not specifically know about Wisconsin. But typically programs like that want to tell you what/how/when to teach. If you are into that, then it would probably be a good option for you. I personally like the freedom of being able to pick and choose what I teach. Some people love options like this. If your husband would be more for that to start off AND if it's the only way that he'd say yes, then I say go for it! Maybe someone from Wisconsin who has used this can give more insight. Best of luck! Oh....also wanted to tell you that about homeschooling has a cool list of reasons to homeschool that you could perhaps print off as well as other great info for getting started! homeschooling.about.com
YIPPEE!!! I think once your dh takes a good look at what homeschool has to offer, he will give you the green light. This is so exciting. As far as the virtual school, I agree with Autumn. I also think that if dh would only be comfortable with this to start with then DO IT!
Well I was born and raised in Wisconsin a very pretty wonderful state. Well most states are in my books are wonderful, they all have there good and bad points. Anyway I have a good friend up there who homeschools and her sister did the Virtual school yes they do offer alot but you have to do what they say and if you want freedom from school thats not the road to travel.. I do agree with Autumn if thats the way to bring dh a board go for it for a year. You all might like it. About that wonderful S word, when I hear that word I could just throw up. I was telling my girlfriend the other day if I had penny for everytime I heard that S word in the last 7 years I been homeschooling I would be rich and never have a never worry again. Now about the S word there is alot out there it depends on how much you want to do. Go to Google and type in homeschool group for your area and then call and meet with them and see what they have to offer for you all. They do alot of field trips, some do co-ops and then kids will get there S time and so will mom which you need too. You might want to go to meeting and get information to show dh what they do. Do you all go to church? Churches offer alot of things for the children too. There is alot out there. Now S word is no trouble in our house it's the when do we get to stay home word. There is tons and I mean tons of things for any child out there to get there S time. It depends on you and how much you want to go. Oh bring dh here we would love to talk to him and show him how wonderful it is to homeschool and yes our children get that S word to much sometime. Let him know that is the least thing to worry about in homeschooling. The thing I worry about the most is there is so much out there for books which one to pick. like breakfast cereal which one should we eat. KWIM.
I hope your dh will change his mind and decide hs-ing is a good option. As for the curriculum you refer to: That is offered here and I prefer to buy my own curriculum so someone is not dictating what I must and must not do. The curr offered here is through a public school and if I wanted my kids to receive a ps education then I would simply send them to ps. There are many options out there for you with regard to curriculum. We personally used Abeka and Abeka Academy for high school. Both of my boys graduated from high school from AA in May. As far as socializing. My kids never attended ps and they have not met a stranger. That don't have a problem with socializing. My youngest graduated early and thankfully he also found a very good job with the local government as my oldest ds. (Both of which deal with the public and other co-workers on a daily basis) I think that hs-ing is awesome and you can have educated and well rounded kids. There is nothing wrong with ps but hs worked best for us. Hope my boys' success story along with the other ladies kids success stories will inspire your dh. Good luck!
It seems from what I have read, and from talking with folks who have done virtual schooling, that there are many negatives. Seems that they simply try to replicate school at home. Additionally they often have added burdens dropped in as they attempt to virtually recreate socialization. Things like the need to post daily, or interact with a teacher by way of forms, and the entering of great amounts of data to prove you are keeping up and doing it there way are parts of some programs. I investegated these options at first. They were tempting in the sence that they were paid for by the state I was living in and the materials would have been included. However as I realize that I would be burdened with proving that we did all of the buzy work, as we kept the strict schedule, that it would not actually be homeschooling at all as we envisioned it. We opted instead to use box/prepackaged curriculum for K, then used a mix if materials for 1st, then refined the material choices further for 2 and 3 grade based on what we learned about our needs in each subject area to that point.
One thing I might sneak in are a few activities, bits of curriculum and suggestions that fit his interests and that he could share with the kids...It would show you're interested in his involvement and flatter him at the same time.
Hey, Me too. My husband was terribly worried about the socialization issue. So we comprimised because the HS's here (and this is new) can do one activity with the PS. So ds does band. We live close, so he can walk, so it is not a huge hassle. plus the other two kiddo's go to ps so the schedule isn't a gigantic issue either. my joke: We have him in band because we didn't want him to turn into one of those "weird" homeschool kids... and everyone knows there are no "weird" kids in BAND. (ha ha) Also... I don't know, when I went to school the teacher was always telling me..."Ladies, we are not here to socialize!" But we were having such agony with this one kiddo that the choice was hs or go crazy... we were already spending 3 hours on homework and dh knew I couldn't go on like that... since it was in the evenings he got to witness a lot of it. I am not sure he is convinced that we actually do anything during the day...but I think we will win him over. MY plan is to hs both boys next year... HIS plan is for ds to return to ps for high school. We might do both... we will have to see.
My kids do a TON MORE now that they are homeschooled My dh was the same way and we tried it for a year .... a year trial.... now we are in year 2. They are in PE, swimming, a weekly playgroup, sign language class, dd is in sewing, dd has a catholic girl's group, 4-H groups.... and then religious education. I mean they are now BOOKED - LOL. THEN - as if my calendar wasn't filled enough - we are trying to do a field trip to a different museum each month with some people. Ask your DH to maybe give it a year and see how it goes
Thanks for all the feedback! I have been working with my 3 year old. She really enjoys it and is very excited to tell daddy what she has learned
It was a virtual type school that got my DH and family on board with HSing. Though we didn't do it through the state and had to pay for it ourselves (which offered us the freedom to change as the school year went on), it gave me the confidence to HS and let everyone know that it could work. We have strayed far from the virtual school as we go into our 3rd year.
The awesome thing about homeschooling is that you can select the type of socialization that YOU want as their parents. Do you really want "Johnny" socializing with 35+ kids whose parents you don't know, whose homes you aren't familiar with, etc? Now, my kids have been to a Dept of Defense school. It is a great school and I knew a lot of the parents and all of the students lived on Ft. Campbell but it still wasn't always the "best" place to socialize but it was much more acceptable than other schools in the area. Now, that we're homeschooling, WE get to decide what social situations will work best for our kids. That doesn't mean we hide them in a bubble and only go to "perfect" situations but we can chose how much and how often they are exposed to things. For example, we are the only homeschoolers (my 2 girls) in a large girl scout troop (think 60+ girls ages 5-18). Some times they are divided by group (Brownies, Juniors, etc) and sometimes they are not. I do not know 90% of the parents but I do know the leaders. We've had several teaching moments come out of this group...good and bad. The rest of our kids socializing is done at AWANA at church, co-op at church, church league soccer, and swimming lessons at Ft. Monroe (where DH works). We also attend a HS park day sometimes and various other HS events/field trips. Our 8 yr old also takes guitar lessons. So, we often times have TOO much socialization time :lol: but we are able to decide who/what rather than the school administration (and the zoning laws). As for the Virtual school, I think with a bit of research, you'll find that it's not as flexible of an option and your kids will still be considered public school students of purposes of the school system. Not saying its a bad option for some folks but it's not the route we've chosen for our family at this time (and it is available here where we live now). Welcome by the way!!!! Rhonda C.
