Potential homeschooler...
Mydela
member
I'm 37 weeks pregnant at the moment so I know we've got lots of time, but my husband and I have had many discussions about our kids' future education. Our educational backgrounds could not be more different--he and all his siblings were homeschooled through the 12th grade and I attended a public school. We both had excellent experiences.
We have discussed pros/cons of each kind of school experience and I know he feels very strongly about homeschooling. I am certainly willing to give it a try, but it's such a foreign concept to me that I am having trouble even imagining what it would be like--and I'm not at all sure I'm up to snuff as a teacher. Was anyone else in this position before starting to homeschool? How did you make compromises? Are some of your kids homeschooled and some not? Thanks from someone totally new to the field!
Re: Potential homeschooler...
GSx1 - 05/13/2013
GSx2 for T&B - EDD 6/21/2015 - They're having a GIRL!
I understand how you feel. Wen we started two years ago, I was terrified of what kind of teacher I was going to be. My oldest is in 1st grade and we have both come to love it. You have to be open to trying different techniques and ideas. Each child is different and learns different. When you are thinking about this as an option, take it a year at a time. Don't try to look at it as doing it thru high school. To me that was very overwhelming. My goal is to get thru elementary school and go from there.
You can do so much with homeschooling. We went to D.C. Last year because my daughter was learning the presidents and about the different monuments, she loved it and is beggingto go back . They gt to earn about things they really want to learn about instead of just barely scraping the surface.
Just do some research on different teaching styles and see what works for you.
I'm coming from another perspective, I myself was homeschooled from 2nd grade to graduation (my DH was too!). Personally, I LOVED it! Yeah there were a couple teenage years where I wanted to know what public school was like but looking back now I'm so glad I was homeschooled all the way through
I loved the flexibility, working at my own pace, my parents let me help choose my cirriculum. I always felt close to my family and we got to do a lot of fun things in the name of learning.
It wasn't easy for my parents, my mom went back to school when I was 8 and both of my parents worked as full time RN's during the rest of the time I was schooled. They made a lot of sacrifices for us but I believe it was worth it and I"m so grateful to them.
It angers me when people say homeschoolers are socially awkward or have no people skills. I hate when people say the kids will miss out on things. There are ways to homeschool your kids so that they don't miss out on anything, or I'll go a step further and say they will have even better experiences than public schoolers. My brothers, my husband, and I are well adjusted adults with lots of friends and successful jobs. My older brother and I have succeeded very well in college and transitioning from homeschooling to the public college setting was different but easy.
I definitely recommend homeschooling, and I know its my choice for my future kids as well. I think being a 2nd generation homeschooler will be to my advantage