Homeschool

sccalla · June 2012

I know I posted about this when we were all pregnant, but I was wondering where people stood now that LO has arrived. Anyone else planning on homeschooling?

skipperkelly · June 2012

not me. The schools in my area are wonderful.

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · June 2012

I will if I can afford to stay home at that point in time

RedCamaro · June 2012

Not a chance! I know my DD will be better off in a social learning environment. I also don't think that I'm that good of a text book teacher.

valerieanne9015 · June 2012

RedCamaro:
Not a chance! I know my DD will be better off in a social learning environment. I also don't think that I'm that good of a text book teacher.

Yep, this. I think DD needs to be in a social environment. Homeschooling is an absolute last resort in our home.

ewilliams1127 · June 2012

The teachers in our area have Master's degrees for a reason, so I would rather have someone more qualified to teach my DS than me:) Plus, I agree that the social environment is crucial! My brother's wife homeschools all 7 of her children and they are sooooooo behind in social skills. They are active with swimming and church, but they tend to only allow their children to associate with other children from the church (and church rec leagues).

It's such a personal decision!

mben1119 · June 2012

Never.

lkm2006 · June 2012

Nope. I actually have my degree is elementary Ed but that's not something in interested in.

We have fantasic public schools and I want LO in a social environment. I know some areas have good social encounters for homeschoolers, but not in our area.

gracefulruby33 · June 2012

I didn't go to school for teaching, so I will leave that to the experts. ;-) We have fantastic schools in our area, so I have no hesitations.

Tink112011 · June 2012

Definitely not. I would be interested to hear someone's rationale for why they plan to. I'm pretty uneducated on the logistics and benefits of homeschooling, but right now I just can't see how homeschooling prepares your child for real life.

mbgreenwalt · June 2012

No way. I learn easily, but I suck at teaching and my children would end up hating math as much as I do.

sccalla · June 2012

Tink112011:
Definitely not. I would be interested to hear someone's rationale for why they plan to. I'm pretty uneducated on the logistics and benefits of homeschooling, but right now I just can't see how homeschooling prepares your child for real life.

Since I started this thread and I am planning on homeschooling my children, I figured perhaps I should provide my input. There are several reasons why my husband and I have decided that homeschooling is the best option for our children (we are fully aware that it isn't the best option for everyone's children). I will only dabble in a few of those reasons.

One of the biggest reasons for our decision is that we want our children to value learning and in the current standardized test dominated public schools we don't foresee this value being cultivated. Teachers are under a lot of pressure to reap high scores on state tests--so much so that my local school district removed writing instruction from the middle school curriculum simply because writing isn't on the test. I do not want to subject my children to the idea that the only reason they need to learn something is because it will be on a test. My husband and I feel that we can provide a strong education for our children that does not dilute the value of learning.

Another of our reasons for choosing homeschooling is deeply rooted in our religious beliefs. We are Catholic and would like to integrate catechetical teachings into all areas of our kids' education instead of it being relegated to a once per week CCD class.

To address the curiosity about logistics, homeschooling methods vary from family to family, but one thing all methods have in common is the ability to tailor the child's education to his personal educational needs (how's that for a perfect IEP?)

For those who ask about socialization, I refer you to a post of one of my favorite homeschool bloggers: https://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2010/04/top-5-ways-to-ensure-that-your/

I hope I was able to provide some insight into possible reasons to homeschool.

gina2433 · June 2012

No no. And no. My SIL does it and they spend let's of mo ey on expensive curriculum for the kids. She does a great jobs and I admire her for that but I want my kids to have the experience of first day of school, library, PE, cafeteria lunch and the list goes on. Oh and getting all new supplies every aug and the smell of new books! Plus I teach and I know who the good teachers are at my school.

mrsjenniferg2010 · June 2012

Estwd2:
We have great public schools, so no. The only time I would consider it is as an absolute last resort if my kid were severely bullied or something and we couldn't afford a private school. So basically if we were out of options.

This!

authorofdreamz · June 2012

Sometimes I really really want to especially when I hear what goes on at my SIL (16 YO) high school but I know that I never would. I have never met someone who was homeschooled (and I knew ALOT of homeschooled kids as 95% of the kids at the church I went to with my mom was homeschooled) that didn't hate being homeschooled and wish they went to regular school and who felt they got as good of an education and who wasn't socially awkward. FI was homeschooled from 3rd grade on and he really wishes he went to school. He felt like college was much harder for him then it should have been because he didn't feel he was adequately prepared for it and he is very socially awkward even though he played sports, went to boy scouts, was part of a homeschooling group, and had tons of kids on the block he lived on. I feel like school teaches kids so many valuable lessons that just can't be taught anywhere else (even small private schools don't provide as good of a social environment) and it is such culture shock when they go off to college.

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · June 2012

I am not religious and our schools are actually pretty good.

I think kids these days are out of control. I have heard some of the things kids say these days and it's not like it was in my day.

My niece was teased mercilessly for being chubby when she was 6. 6 years old and girls were saying she was a fat cow. I have heard children telling other children to kill themselves and the word c*nt used by 10 year olds.

I understand that the world can be a terrible place, and that people aren't always nice. But I would rather not have my child learning social skills from other children these days. I would rather teach her at home, and let her socialize with other home children through sports and other activities in an environment that I can monitor.

I was severely overprotected as a child and although I hated it at the time, I thank my mother for it.

bjfilly · June 2012

gina2433:

No no. And no. My SIL does it and they spend let's of mo ey on expensive curriculum for the kids. She does a great jobs and I admire her for that but I want my kids to have the experience of first day of school, library, PE, cafeteria lunch and the list goes on. Oh and getting all new supplies every aug and the smell of new books! Plus I teach and I know who the good teachers are at my school.

Love this! New school supplies is like Christmas in August!

To answer the question...Heck no and I'm a teacher. I often wonder how competent homeschooling parents are. My DS would be ok at home with me from K-4 but after that we'd be learning the curriculum together.

smilelari · June 2012

I have 0 interest in home schooling, for lots of reasons, including the selfish one that I actually enjoy my career (which is one of the reasons my kids are already being taught by "outsiders"). I think that it's good for them to be taught and exposed to more than what DH and I can offer, both in terms of knowledge/skills but also in terms of viewpoints and biases. Besides, there are so many options for schools, I can't imagine we won't find something that will "fit". Right now I have them on the waiting list for a local charter school

sccalla · June 2012

desine77:
I am not religious and our schools are actually pretty good.
I think kids these days are out of control. I have heard some of the things kids say these days and it's not like it was in my day.
My niece was teased mercilessly for being chubby when she was 6. 6 years old and girls were saying she was a fat cow. I have heard children telling other children to kill themselves and the word c*nt used by 10 year olds.
I understand that the world can be a terrible place, and that people aren't always nice. But I would rather not have my child learning social skills from other children these days. I would rather teach her at home, and let her socialize with other home children through sports and other activities in an environment that I can monitor.
I was severely overprotected as a child and although I hated it at the time, I thank my mother for it.

Same here. I am glad to have been over-protected, as annoying or embarrassing as I found it to be at times. I know I can't protect my kids from everything, but I can decide not to throw them to the wolves.

Allibob · June 2012

Nope. I was homeschooled for K-1 and started in second grade. Even that small amount of homeschooling had a negative affect on me socially, and I had a hard adjustment period. I tested above average at that time so my knowledge base wasn't affected. My parents felt I wasn't ready for a classroom environment, and held my sister and I back. She started late and was old for her class, while I ended up in an appropriate age group but socially behind the curve.

I read a book about this recently that said that your early classroom experiences have a long-term effect on performance. So a child who is young for his/her age group may have a harder time picking up some concepts, and therefore believes that he/she is not very smart. They then score lower than their peers, regardless of baseline IQ. They followed these kids and the trend continued through high school and into college, solely based on age. I could say this is true for socialization as well, because that feeling of being an outsider and socially awkward persisted through college for me. I may hold my child back a year if she is near the cutoff, but I won't be homeschooling.

I was also really sheltered, which I appreciate to a certain degree but had a really hard time with growing up. I think a reasonable amount of sheltering from bad influences can happen with the child still in a traditional school setting. Parochial schools are something we're considering.

skipperkelly · June 2012

sccalla:
desine77:

I am not religious and our schools are actually pretty good.

I think kids these days are out of control. I have heard some of the things kids say these days and it's not like it was in my day.

My niece was teased mercilessly for being chubby when she was 6. 6 years old and girls were saying she was a fat cow. I have heard children telling other children to kill themselves and the word c*nt used by 10 year olds.

I understand that the world can be a terrible place, and that people aren't always nice. But I would rather not have my child learning social skills from other children these days. I would rather teach her at home, and let her socialize with other home children through sports and other activities in an environment that I can monitor.

I was severely overprotected as a child and although I hated it at the time, I thank my mother for it.

Same here. I am glad to have been over-protected, as annoying or embarrassing as I found it to be at times. I know I can't protect my kids from everything, but I can decide not to throw them to the wolves.

Throw them to the wolves? That's a bit harsh, don't you think?

Nwlywed07 · June 2012

We will most likely do public school until middle school. Then we will switch over to a private Christian school in the area for middle and high school.

I went to public and it was like I was just a face in the crowd to these teachers. I wasn't a stellar student but I wasn't a trouble maker either. Those are the two extremes that take up the most time of a teachers attention.

DH and his siblings did public, home school and private. DH loved the private school because it was more one on one and the areas that he was advanced in he was able to test out of instead of being stuck doing the class because that was what was required for his grade level.

I also plan on getting DS enrolled in the school I used to work for to start socialization around age 2.5. I love the teachers & curriculum there. Or if DH and I agree we might do a Christian Learning Center that is at our church. No matter what though, we are starting early : )

sweetpealee · June 2012

desine77:
I am not religious and our schools are actually pretty good.
I think kids these days are out of control. I have heard some of the things kids say these days and it's not like it was in my day.
My niece was teased mercilessly for being chubby when she was 6. 6 years old and girls were saying she was a fat cow. I have heard children telling other children to kill themselves and the word c*nt used by 10 year olds.
I understand that the world can be a terrible place, and that people aren't always nice. But I would rather not have my child learning social skills from other children these days. I would rather teach her at home, and let her socialize with other home children through sports and other activities in an environment that I can monitor.
I was severely overprotected as a child and although I hated it at the time, I thank my mother for it.

...yeah, the kids where we live smoke cigarettes by the subway station after they walk there from the middle school... we will send Henry to a private school or home school; to us, him not being exposed to that craziness is a priority.

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