Anyone Considering Homeschool?

bandgeek08 · October 2013

We were all for our kids going to public school...until we moved from PA to TX. There have been 2 shootings and 3 bomb threats involving schools around us already. We are seriously considering homeschooling, and have already started researching. Plus there are plenty of homeschooling groups around us.

Anyone else considering it?

bandgeek08 · October 2013

The sad part is these are some of the best public schools in the area that this in happening in. It really freaks me out.

LadyXaverian · October 2013

It's very unlikely that we'll send DD anywhere other than public school, but I am both a product of public schools and a public school teacher.

GHBEA · October 2013

For us it will depend on how she test for Kindergarten. We have a great public school in our town one the of highest rated in the state. Her pedi tells us she is gifted and is ready to start K already. So I wonder what her testing will be like in 3 years. They do not offer gifted classes and if she test above a grade or two we will consider home schooling.

I did home school my older DDs when we lived in Fl because the school system where they went did not go out of their way to help those that struggled. Here in NY they go above and beyond for those that struggle but not for those who are gifted.

SittingOnAMtnTop · October 2013

It's not for me. Even with a Master's degree in education I know I wouldn't be capable of proving a quality education for my children from K-12th grade. It will either be public school or private school for us.

I loved going to school when I was a kid (I did K-5 in public school & 6-12 in private school) and received a great education. My mother is incredibly intelligent and has a doctorate, but she definitely wouldn't have been able to provide my brothers and I with the educational experience that we received in school.

Twirple · October 2013

I am a product of our public school system and while I was in school, I had to deal with two bomb threats (both false alarms) and the school on lock down because a student at another school showed up at ours with a gun and was threatening suicide. These were scary, but no one was actually hurt.

For me, school is so much more than what you learn in books and lectures. I don't think you can honestly get a school experience if you home school.

That said, I know that there are great support groups for home schooling and it does have its place. One of my best friends from college has ADD. Rather than putting him on medication, his mother home schooled him for a year and, together, they figured out how he learned and what he could do to make school work. He graduated from college summa cum laude with a double major in biology and theatre and a minor in math.

shaindelr · October 2013

Not a chance. He might have some great music and English tutors at home, though ;-)

I've seen all kinds of home-schooled students entering college. I have had *wonderful* home-schooled students. Some of them are starting college at fifteen; one had even written her first novel at fifteen and was incredibly mature. I just wrote a letter of recommendation for another who is a college junior at eighteen who is a wonderful student. On the other hand, I have students who were home-schooled because the areas they were from were so rural, that that was their option unless they lived in town separate from their families to attend K-12. They seem to have had less steady educations and talk about things like not doing school during calving and branding season on their ranches.

It really just depends on you as the teacher. I know I can't be that person. I have never had a home-schooled student who was not somewhat socially awkward in a college classroom. (I'm saying this as a nerdy-socially awkward English professor.)

I think children need to learn from a variety of people. Even the best, best home-schooled students I've had (I think) could have benefited from more varied social interaction than they seem to have gotten.

bandgeek08 · October 2013

If we were back home in PA, I would really not even consider it. But now that we live in a big city, where there are tons of home school groups and activities, even Waldorf classes for the kids to take, I really am considering it.

I don't know. Still doing research, but I'm really leaning towards it.

shaindelr · October 2013

bandgeek08 said:

If we were back home in PA, I would really not even consider it. But now that we live in a big city, where there are tons of home school groups and activities, even Waldorf classes for the kids to take, I really am considering it.
I don't know. Still doing research, but I'm really leaning towards it.

I'm one of those people who leans more toward it being a good thing in the early years, but just from watching people who were home-schooled K-12 and then enter college as their first traditional classroom experience, I think maybe transitioning to a more traditional school setting sometime before college is helpful.

The situation you're in sounds ideal for it, though! Especially with the Waldorf classes, etc.

buggybear87 · October 2013

I will be homeschooling both my girls. I have 2 nieces that will be in the same grades as my girls and my DH and his brother were homeschooled. My mom was a public school teacher (now retired) and obviously MIL taught her boys, so I have some really good resources. There are also tons of classes and programs since homeschooling is a popular option where I live. I also think it will be great for DD1 because she has a serious delay in speech and we aren't sure if there are any underlying learning disorders. I can give her the attention that a public or private school teacher just couldn't. When the girls are older, if they want to try public school, we will let them. They will just be held to a high standard and if they don't meet it, they will go back to homeschooling.

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