anyone homeschool, or considering it?

CaitlinJ22 · May 2011

just curious why you chose it (or not) and how is it going for you. Thanks!

mothling · May 2011

All my siblings and I were home schooled all the way through high school. I only have a 12 month old DS now, and am pregnant with my second, but I'm planning to home school.

There are several reasons I want to. I loved being home schooled and I think it really contributed to how close my siblings and I are, as well as how close we are with our parents. Even as adults, I consider all of them good friends. I love the idea of sharing and learning along with my children. Also, there are so many opportunities for character training throughout the school day, that I wouldn't want to miss out on. Not that you can't discipline and explain correct behavior when your children are in school, but when they're at home, you can address issues as they come up instead of waiting to find out from the teacher at the end of the day.

I also love the idea of learning alongside my children. Obviously, I will be teaching them things I already know, especially at the beginning, but I love that I will know exactly what they're learning and I'll be able to brush up on my history or read books with them in high school that I may not have had a chance to read yet, etc. Also, there are so many resources now to help home schooling parents and to compensate for a parent's weaknesses. For instance, I am not strong in math, but my husband is, and if he wasn't, there are co-ops and groups where parents who are stronger in certain subjects help out.

I know so many people bring up the question of "socialization" and are afraid their kids will turn out socially awkward and weird. Honestly, a lot of home schooled kids are awkward and weird, but it doesn't have to be that way. A lot of public or private schooled kids are awkward and weird, too. My siblings and I were always involved in other activities and home school groups and had plenty of friends. The other issue I have with the socialization argument is that the socialization you get in school seems a little artificial. Think about it, in what other sphere of life will you always be surrounded by your peers of the same age? We learned how to relate to children our own age, older than us, younger than us, and adults (mostly from church and home school group activities).

This ended up being really long, but hopefully it's helpful .

CaitlinJ22 · May 2011

mothling:
All my siblings and I were home schooled all the way through high school. I only have a 12 month old DS now, and am pregnant with my second, but I'm planning to home school.
There are several reasons I want to. I loved being home schooled and I think it really contributed to how close my siblings and I are, as well as how close we are with our parents. Even as adults, I consider all of them good friends. I love the idea of sharing and learning along with my children. Also, there are so many opportunities for character training throughout the school day, that I wouldn't want to miss out on. Not that you can't discipline and explain correct behavior when your children are in school, but when they're at home, you can address issues as they come up instead of waiting to find out from the teacher at the end of the day.
I also love the idea of learning alongside my children. Obviously, I will be teaching them things I already know, especially at the beginning, but I love that I will know exactly what they're learning and I'll be able to brush up on my history or read books with them in high school that I may not have had a chance to read yet, etc. Also, there are so many resources now to help home schooling parents and to compensate for a parent's weaknesses. For instance, I am not strong in math, but my husband is, and if he wasn't, there are co-ops and groups where parents who are stronger in certain subjects help out.
I know so many people bring up the question of "socialization" and are afraid their kids will turn out socially awkward and weird. Honestly, a lot of home schooled kids are awkward and weird, but it doesn't have to be that way. A lot of public or private schooled kids are awkward and weird, too. My siblings and I were always involved in other activities and home school groups and had plenty of friends. The other issue I have with the socialization argument is that the socialization you get in school seems a little artificial. Think about it, in what other sphere of life will you always be surrounded by your peers of the same age? We learned how to relate to children our own age, older than us, younger than us, and adults (mostly from church and home school group activities).
This ended up being really long, but hopefully it's helpful .

thank you very much, that was helpful. I used to have the beliefs most have about socialization and homeschool kids, but I am realizing its not that way all the time. I want to explore all options before making decisions. Thanks again!

moonfaerie · May 2011

I have considered it, but I think we are going with traditional schools. I loved getting to see my friends every day at school, and I feel it gives children more of an opportunity to establish their own identities out in the world, away form their parents and siblings. Referencing the poster who loved being home-schooled because she feels it's what made her view her siblings and parents as good friends, I went to traditional school and am very close with both of my siblings as well as my mom, and consider them all good friends as well. Becoming friends with your family is more intricate than just spending all your time together - it has a lot to do with the individuals' personalities, and learning respect for each other which can be done even if each family member goes to different schools or places of employment.

Parenting is about preparing your children for life on their own, and exposing them to different challenges in traditional school more closely resembles "the real world." Being separated from parents for learning and then going home at night gives your child the opportunity to safely develop their own identity, while going home to the security of their parents. And I do think in general, traditional schools make for more well-rounded social skills. Your child isn't going to like every teacher or every classmate, but they are going to learn different strategies for dealing with different types of people. Plus it gives your child the opportunity to be exposed to different methods of teaching which, which will challenge their minds in different ways.

Another reason I am leaning towards traditional school is that, while I love children dearly, I do enjoy participating in activities outside of my children, which is why I choose to work part-time rather than be a SAHM. I love spending time with my kids but I don't want to lose the other parts of my life which were intact before motherhood. I'm fortunate enough to have the choice to work FT, PT, or SAH, and working part-time makes me feel the most balanced. I spend lots of time with my kids, but I also get to maintain my job skills, keep a social life, and feel more in touch with what's going on in the world than I do when I'm not working at all.

Obviously my children are too young for school, and DH and I amy change our minds over the next few years. But if they were starting school today, we'd go with a private school.

roundtheworldgirl · May 2011

We move around a lot, which is why we are not considering it. If we lived in our U.S. home all the time, I would totally want to do it. The city we live in has a large homeschool network. They have sports leagues, after"school" activities and even dances and a prom. If you get hooked up with the network, you can swap classes with other SAH parents. I think it combines the great aspects of home-schooling with the social orientation kids get in traditional school.

However, since we do move every 2-4 years, I think school is going to be a really important grounder for my kids.

As far as awkwardness goes, I think it's really an unfair stereotype. I know a lot of home-schooled kids, and to a person, they are thoughtful, confident and articulate. My youngest brother graduated high school last year, and I know what the current generation of high schoolers is learning and how they act. If it's awkward not to be part of that norm, I'll take it.

earthboundmisfit · May 2011

We are considering it...the public schools around here are pretty bad..and the private schools start at 6k per student per year. That's not something that we can afford, especially since we will most likely have a 3rd child. We just don't have the extra money laying around and won't since I'm in college for the next 3 years. I'm still looking into it though and DH isn't 100% convinced yet. We both value education so if it seems like the best way for our children to learn then we will defietely move forward with it.

Rolamarie · May 2011

We live in an area with both a really good public school system, and a reasonably priced private school, so we are planning to do traditional school.

However, if we moved to an area where it was difficult or expensive to find a "good" school, or if we had a special needs situation, I would insist on homeschooling (being the teacher myself). DH is on board with those conditions.

I would definitely get the kids involved in lots of social activities if that were the case, such as sports, art classes, etc. so I don't feel they would be missing a huge social component.

I have a double major in education so I know that I could do as good a job as any at homeschooling, and I am already a SAHM, so it would not change our circumstances in a big way.

But, all things being equal, I would prefer traditional school if a good one were available.

BrittKav · May 2011

mothling:
All my siblings and I were home schooled all the way through high school. I only have a 12 month old DS now, and am pregnant with my second, but I'm planning to home school.
There are several reasons I want to. I loved being home schooled and I think it really contributed to how close my siblings and I are, as well as how close we are with our parents. Even as adults, I consider all of them good friends. I love the idea of sharing and learning along with my children. Also, there are so many opportunities for character training throughout the school day, that I wouldn't want to miss out on. Not that you can't discipline and explain correct behavior when your children are in school, but when they're at home, you can address issues as they come up instead of waiting to find out from the teacher at the end of the day.
I also love the idea of learning alongside my children. Obviously, I will be teaching them things I already know, especially at the beginning, but I love that I will know exactly what they're learning and I'll be able to brush up on my history or read books with them in high school that I may not have had a chance to read yet, etc. Also, there are so many resources now to help home schooling parents and to compensate for a parent's weaknesses. For instance, I am not strong in math, but my husband is, and if he wasn't, there are co-ops and groups where parents who are stronger in certain subjects help out.
I know so many people bring up the question of "socialization" and are afraid their kids will turn out socially awkward and weird. Honestly, a lot of home schooled kids are awkward and weird, but it doesn't have to be that way. A lot of public or private schooled kids are awkward and weird, too. My siblings and I were always involved in other activities and home school groups and had plenty of friends. The other issue I have with the socialization argument is that the socialization you get in school seems a little artificial. Think about it, in what other sphere of life will you always be surrounded by your peers of the same age? We learned how to relate to children our own age, older than us, younger than us, and adults (mostly from church and home school group activities).
This ended up being really long, but hopefully it's helpful .

This. Plus, I want to be able to do a lot of traveling and let my kids experience the world firsthand, and spend a lot of time outdoors. I was homeschooled too. I'm not 100% sure we'll homeschool, but if I had to make a decision today we would.

ShannonSky · May 2011

We're considering it. My only concern is on my end. I'm not the most organized person in the world, so I'd really have to get my butt in gear if we go that route. We have some time to decide (DD1 will be eligible for fall 2014), and we'd like to attend the conference hosted by our local homeschool organization first.

beckedy1206 · May 2011

I plan to homeschool.But DS #1 is old enough for K3 this year and we have signed him up for parttime preschool (3days a week, half day), because he has trouble sitting still for any length of time so I'm hoping this will help and we will start hs'ing next year. He's also asking to go to school so I'm hoping this will get it out of his system when he realizes it's not as much fun as it looks!

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anyone homeschool, or considering it?

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