Hi Ladies...and few gents. I have one simple question for you. Your answer may not be so simple (and that is OK)...however, my husband and I have been having more serious conversations about our options for schooling which has prompted me to ask you all this. Will it lead us to homeschool? I don't know, however, I am at least delighted that my husband is now open minded about the idea verses a few years ago when he really wasn't. Our oldest is in 3rd grade, and even though there are no 'major' issues with him at school (yet), there are many more smaller ones that seem to keep adding up. So, we are just assessing the situation and just taking one day at a time while being prayerful about our decisions when it comes to our children's education. I wont get into our conversations...but, I would like to know this: Why do you choose to homeschool? I would love as many responses as possible, because I plan on showing these to my hubby.
My oldest would likely have been put on medication by now, as he's a kinesthetic learner. He HAS to be moving AT ALL TIMES. That, of course, does not fly in public school (or private school). My second son works exceptionally fast in some subjects but terrible slow in others. Homeschooling is the only option that allows for that. The reason we first began homeschooling was that our oldest missed the cut off for K by 18 days. They were going to hold him back a whole year, for the want of 18 days. When he tested, he tested at a 1st grade level in nearly every area, but they were going to hold him back anyway. Because the cut off is absolute with no exceptions. (He still would have been 5 a month before school started. The cut off is in the Summer). It was just stupid. Really, really stupid. So we decided we'd HS him for a couple of years them transfer him back to PS. God, of course, had other plans. The bottom line, however, is that we homeschool because it's God's will for our family. If God leads you (or your husband) that direction, then follow. If not, stay put. That's the most important consideration.
I don't think there is any one reason for our decision to homeschool our girls. It was more of a lot of reasons rolled into one. Our older daughter is a follower and in 7th grade she started hanging out with two girls who were getting into more and more mischief and our daughter was joining right in. This daughter has learning problems and was very shy about asking for extra help. In 6th grade she felt like one of her teachers made fun of her in an off handed way and that made her even more withdrawn from her teachers. Our youngest was in 1st and 2nd grades when other kids realized she had a difference in her upper lip and her nostrils because of a birth defect. They loved pointing it out to her and she was so shy it was very hard for her to deal with. She never told us or her teachers until after we took her out of public school. She is a good student but needs to totally understand things before moving on. She would not ask the teacher when she didn't understand and was getting behind. Her report cards were excellent and we didn't know she was falling behind. Her teachers raved about what a great kid she was. I finally realized that because she was a good kid and not loud or a trouble maker, she was getting great grades from her teacher just because she was no trouble! One thing I noticed right away when we took the girls out of public school was how much better they felt. No more stomach aches from stress or tears when they were worried about things. No more dealing with the daily drama of mean kids and being left out of the group. No more seeing the school bus "make out kids" and hearing the nasty language on the bus. Bus driver assigned seats were a joke. Bus rules were a bigger joke. I wish my girls had told me so many things before we took them out of p.s. but it was months into homeschooling before they really opened up about the bullies, language, sex, mean spirited teachers, and so much more. Clothes were a big issue. We don't let our girls dress in tight or revealing clothes. In 2nd grade a group of girls made fun of our youngest's tee shirt because it wasn't teenager like. I remember how hurt she was because an older couple at our church had given her the shirt and she loved it so much. Now having said all that I want to tell you what our older daughter said when asked why her parents took her out of p.s. to be homeschooled. She said, " I think they just want me to be a Godly person." Amen.
We began homeschooling for very different reasons from why we keep homeschooling. Samantha had a terrible time in the ps she attended. A teacher was horrible to her and repeated calls to the principal did nothing to change that so we pulled her out to hs. We put her back in school for dance. We are hoping (and it is very possible) that a full scholarship will come from her talent. She really likes school, her teachers and being able to try new things. She thrives on dance and drama and is able to build her talents and grow. Grace has never been in ps. We continue to hs her because we feel it is best for her. I love the CM approach and was not able to fully implement it with Samantha but I can with Grace. HS allows Grace to be herself and not have her self esteem crushed by teachers or other kids. We also like that she can work at her level. She is about to begin 3rd grade which puts her 8 months ahead of where she would be in ps. I love that we get to spend the day together. She is confident and funny and smart and I don't want anyone to tell her otherwise while she is at such a young age. I like that I can teach her what I think she should learn and not to pass some test. Grace thrives being hs'd and Sam thrives in ps. And it works for our family.
Us, too. We began because of my husband's travel schedule. Long story short, to maintain the type of family life we wanted, a traditional school experience (schedule) would not work. We continue because, while we didn't expect it to be arduous or awful or anything, it has been a far more positive and enriching experience for all of us (parents and children) than my husband or I anticipated. There are hundreds of other reasons - many of which you've already read, if not here, then somewhere else. The bottom line is that, when a comparison is made, the "plus column" so far outweighs the "minus column" that there is really no longer any consideration of sending our children to school anywhere - public or private.
We are starting to homeschool this coming year. There were a lot of considerations. First of all, I felt like I was going to get something big from God concerning my future so I told my DH that I would follow God's plan for me when He told me what it was. The next morning, I got the message loud and clear to homeschool. I was a little bit shocked by that, but decided to do some research. The research is pretty clear that homeschooling does not harm a child academically or socially and, if anything, is beneficial. Look up the rates of college graduation and college GPAs. I have also become increasingly concerned about the quality of education our kids receive. We have a great elementary school as far as they go in this country. However, there are about 25 students in each class which I think is too high. I also think the focus is more on bringing the lower kids up to a level of being able to pass the standardized tests and less on helping all kids acheive their potential. My kids go to a Christian preschool. Last year, in the 3 year old class, I loved it. This year, in the 4 year old class, there are 14 kids and it seems like too much for the teacher to handle (and she is a great teacher). There are 2 problem kids that disrupt class so they have basically stopped learning. She spends a lot of time dealing with those kids and I think she has really given up on this year which really saddens me. I have also noticed some marked changes in DS's behaviour because of those kids. He is constantly "shooting me with guns" that he makes with his hands because the kids at school do that. I am excited about being able to steer my kids towards the good kids and doing playdates and activities with them. There are LOTS of things to consider before deciding to homeschool. First of all is the expense. Depending on which route you go, it can get fairly pricey. Also, there is a huge time commitment. I am a little worried about never having a break from the kids. I really hope that you are able to make the right decision for you and your family. I know that ever since I have been looking into homeschooling, I have never felt happier or more fulfilled. It just feels right on every level to me. Best of luck! Feel free to talk to everyone on here. This is a great group with tons of experience and advice. They have all helped me immensely!
Oh, I know. I've been coming here for 5 years. :lol: The lovely people here have helped me even before my oldest was in school. It's a great group of supportive people! Most people who know me know I have been contemplating homeschooling for a long time, but have never been given that almighty 'sign' from God. Part of that is because my husband never seriously looked at it as an option until now. It needs to be a family decision, not just one made on my own. :love: Hearing testimonies from other people though will help him to look at it more positively...he saw nothing but negative homeschooling examples placed in front of him while growing up. So, he is truly just starting to educate himself on what it really means to homeschool. Thankfully, we also know many wonderful homeschool families through church. :angel:
Why did we chose homeschooling? HUmmmmm, When my oldest was school age, we put her in a Christian school. A few years later when my youngest was school age, I was asked to teach K, so I did and I found that I was the one teaching both of my girls! Even though I was paying the school to do so. Mind u that it was a small school and did the best they could, but when me oldest did not understand no one was taking the time needed to help her; thus she would ask to come to my class room and she wanted me to help her. Now fast foward to today: I love the fact that I can be teacher to my girls. I saw that the Chistian Schools (because for my hubby and I, Public Schools were out of the question since the beginning) were not giving the help and attendtion that my girls needed. Not that they did not try, it is just that most Christian schools are like public in the fact that one teacher can not give one on one help to all her students. I was pretty much their teacher and I was paying someone to do it! We (hubby and I) decided that I would stay home and teach the girls myself. I have saw a great difference with my oldest in Math since I have been homeschooling (which we are in our 3rd yr of it! even though I have taught my youngest,in Kinder). I think sometimes that if I could do it all over, I would have just done what I believed right in the very beginning and homeschooled each from the start, but my hubby and our church (who had the school, and pressured its people to have ur child there) wanted them to have the "social" part with what school has to offer. Now, My hubby regrets that my girls have learned things that kids that age have no busniess learning ( and yes this was "Christian" school). My key verse for homeschooling is : Deuteronomy 6:7-9 (King James Version) 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. I (hubby also) feels that we are given a commandment to teach our girls not only reading, math, and english, scienc, and history. but to train them up as the Bible states and to protect them as much as we can from the world, well as much a any parent can!
We started homeschooling while my husband was working weekends. We thought it was going to be only temporary until he found a Mon-Friday job. We were very grateful to be able to take our weekends together during the week. By the time my husband got a job that gave him Sat./Sun. off we were already hooked on homeschooling. We loved having the ability to work at our kid's pace, to take advantage of all the weekday learning opportunities at the zoo and museums, and the flexibility to travel whenever possible. I love seeing my children grow and learn. We have grown very close as a family through this lifestyle and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
In our case, most of the decisions were pragmatic, not idealistic. 1) We'd heard several stories from local teachers that 'middle school' is basically a holding pattern as children go through 'difficult' years. This is why we homeschooled the first three during those years. 2) As most of our children were going through school, I was traveling the world and simply couldn't be here to help. This is why we chose to homeschool during middle school years only and not for other years. 3) Two of our children are very musical and benefit immensely from being in a school band - which is why we didn't homeschool them in middle school. 4) I really wanted our children to study some topics they wouldn't get in public school: bible lessons, an hour a day with classical music, family history, all about Cornwall (their family background). We've used the public schools (all attended public elementary school), private schools (four of them attended a Christian high school), and homeschooling (three of them were homeschooled). The decision depended on whether I was available to help my wife or was traveling; whether or not we could afford a private school; whether a child needed specific resources or not (for band or, in one case, sport). We tried to do what, in each case, was best for the child.
I wanted to homeschool from day for religious reasons and because I had seen homeschooling work in a family we were friends with. But we didn't research it much, and my son wasn't interested in writing by the time it was time for prek so hubby made me send him to PS for PreK. There were just some behavior issues after school, but none in school. He did fine in PS prek so hubby wanted him to go to PS K. So he did. He went to PS K and his teacher was awesome, but it just became very clear the PS was not for him. He just isn't a typical kid, he doesn't fit the mold and it's very stressful for him, stress a 5-6 year old just doesn't need IMHO. (though we have no official diagnosis as of yet, I'm quite sure my oldest has ADHD and SPD) He had no free time, he wasn't ready to read and almost failed PS K due to not knowing enough sight words! He got to where he hated books any books, not only did he not want to read he didn't want to be read to anymore. He quit asking questions, lost his natural curiosity. All he wanted to do in his free time was watch TV or play video games. He would have played video games for 8 hours straight if I let him (he did once when I was sick!) School offered a 20 min recess daily (so long as you didn't get in trouble for having too much energy in class-then your punishment was to lose 5 minutes of recess at a time!) and PE once a week. And the science was a joke for my son who is very into science-Primary grades focus so heavily on the 3 R's they neglect everything else. Honestly-the GPS for 1st grade science are things my son knew when he was 3 years old-no joke. We had been talking about homeschooling but the last straw for hubby was when my son's PE teacher was arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography. It was so scary that this man had access to our son once a week! Homeschooling has been AWESOME! He loves books again, asks tons of questions, is curious about many things (though mostly science), has time to be a kid, rarely wants to play video games anymore, watches mostly educational tv by choice, and is making great progress. And he's much happier and has less behavior problems now. In fact, if you mention sending him back to PS-he starts to cry and freak out. A friend interviewed him for a child development class (she's going for a teaching degree) and during the interview he went on and on about how much he loved being homeschooled and how it's so much better than PS LOL That's our story
Why we started and why we continue like Tiffany are different. We started because we were tired of the bullying in the public school.. even by teachers to us as parents (because my son ate his pencils and couldn't sit still in his seat in k and 1st grade we were told we were bad parents by a teacher!! Why?? Because we hadn't ever taught him specifically to not eat his pencils and to sit still and silent for extended lengths of time). We keep homeschooling because it's what we feel is right for us. We like to have our kids get the 1 on 1 attention, we like that our kids can progress (or not) at their own pace, we like that our kids don't have to sit at a desk and play robot for 8 hours a day, we like that our kids get to learn in their own ways (and LOVE when it doesnt' look like school), we like that our kids can be individuals. We like that they aren't learning the horrible social skills of public school, we love that they don't have to have name brand clothes and they can do school in their PJs, we love that they don't have to get up because the school bus is coming and we love that they can stay up on this night or that because a movie is on. Most of all, we love being with them.. and we love seeing them learn and grow.
(1) The PS won't let him test into an appropriate grade level. They only allow age peer grade levels here. (2) The PS isn't using a Christ-centered curriculum. (3) The PS doesn't allow us a flexible schedule for in-depth learning (extended field trips) or breaks (going to Disney World in the off season, for example). (4) There are two private schools that would work (in theory), but one doesn't meet #2 and #3, and the other doesn't meet #3.
As seen by the lengths of the responses you are receiving, there are so many reasons for choosing to homeschool. It is difficult to list them all. I think an interesting question might be: Why would a person choose to not homeschool their children? This is my first year homeschooling and now that I have done it for a few months, I can't even imagine ever placing them back into public school. Although it is not for everyone, the benefits of homeschooling have been tremendous for my family. I would tell anyone that is thinking about homeschooling to just jump in with both feet and try it for a while. If you don't like it, you can always go back to PS. But if you never try it, you'll never know what you and your family might have experienced together. That's what I finally did and I couldn't be happier.
I started hsing because my DS was miserable. He may have sensory issues I don't know. But what I do know is he came home daily crying, stressed, mad, whiny, unhappy, etc..the list is endless. The school was punishing him for things that in my mind are harmless kid behaviours and there was a definite lack of promoting good hygiene in the school. I had to literally kick him out of the house most mornings to get to the bus stop across the street because he no longer wanted to go. I realized that the stress they were causing my son was taking his abundant love of learning and dampening it. He no longer wanted to write or read, two things he loved beforehand. He was becoming a very unhappy little man. As parents it was up to us to decide what could be done. Having talked to the school I realized hsing must be better. And low and behold it is. He loves reading and writing. He excels in most areas and has time left in his days to be a happy child doing child things. My DD started with us this year also as I saw so many improvements in my son academically, emotionally and spiritually that we felt it would be best for all. So long as I have breath in my body I will continue to homeschool. Especially since here they are creating what they are labelling 'superschools' basically we will have four or less public schools for a population of 75,000 which translates into longer bus times, larger class sizes and more then one grade for each grade level. As if there weren't enough problems with the public school system now lets create an enviroment that makes the playground a real nightmare. All of which will detract from the real reason kids are in school, to learn. Further the morality in our society is such that we would rather keep our kids kids for a few years before the harshness of this world is dumped on them.
I think that is how it starts for a lot of people. Just little things that by themselves don't seem like much, but after a while add up. My main reason was I was SOO sick of my kids being constantly judged and compared to the other kids. Whenever I went into a teacher meeting all they wanted to tell me was what my kid wasn't doing right. Very rarely did they have a solution to the "problem", they just wanted to let me know my dd wasn't a good speller or was too slow with her math facts, sloppy handwriting etc. They were slowly destroying my kids self esteem. I have been homeschooling for 3 years now and don't regret 1 second of it :love:
