Question about education plans..

Wipz · January 2015

I know not everyone on here uses day care.. but is anyone planning to home school ? I'm seriously considering it myself

...I'm not sure if it's partly due to my being from a different country and a different school system.. although I have to admit that the way education changed in England after I left school didn't exactly thrill me either...

any thoughts on the subject? anyone already home schooled other kids, or were home schooled yourself? looking more for personal experience rather than a debate on the pro's and cons according to some other website

countrygrl5533 · January 2015

I was homeschooled from 3rd grade-2nd quarter of 11th grade and plan on homeschooling DD and any future kids. Partly for a dislike of the public school system, partly for religious reasons.

I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Wipz · January 2015

thanks @countrygrl5533 .. I am sure I will have a lot of questions when the time comes .. right now He is happy being a kid and learning at his own pace. I know there are a lot of different methods.. some less "structured" than others and less classroom like.

I think I mainly need to find out the actual requirements as far as what he has to learn and then make sure those are covered and then add in all the additional skills and knowledge that I would like him to have. Education is huge for me.. but not necessarily what people would consider the traditional style... in my book all knowledge is good knowledge, so I want to give him a much broader education than the one kids get in most schools.. not just follow a basic requirements plan for homeschooling.

countrygrl5533 · January 2015

DH has to work tomorrow so I'll have access to the laptop. I'll get you a couple links on legal requirements, etc. Each state is a little different. There are a couple great books out there to on choosing the right type of curriculum for your child.

Wipz · January 2015

Thanks .. no rush I know you have plenty on your plate already .. and I'm not planning on sitting him down and starting "schooling" anytime soon. He is learning plenty as it is right now

countrygrl5533 · January 2015

This will get you started on the laws of homeschooling in TX, what is required, etc. It actually seems pretty easy to HS in TX. Easier than here.

https://www.hslda.org/hs/state/TX/default.asp

This will be a great resource as well. https://www.thsc.org/

Mary Pride used to the the guru of homeschooling but since it has become more "normal," there are a lot more resources out there. She hasn't written a new book in awhile. 11 years to be exact. She also leans more to the conservative Christian side of homeschooling. Which was what almost all homeschoolers were when I was a kid. Now, that isn't the case. That is still a large portion of homeschoolers but it isn't the only thing anymore.

Unschooling, homeschooling, etc. Lots to think about.

We will be more traditional as I want DD to be prepared for a school setting if she ever needs that. I'm not a huge fan of unschooling. But it works for a lot of people. I love the flexibility that will come with HS'ing. I can incorporate DD's likes and interests into her schooling.

Wipz · January 2015

Thanks Countrygrl .. yeah .. religion really doesn't factor into this for me, other than the fact that I want my son to grow up with a basic understanding and awareness of various religions and cultures.. and I agree it needs to have some structure.

I'm just not sure it needs the rigid structure of a school setting. Totally agree about the flexibility to be able to accommodate events and holidays and field trips on a whim when you find something you know will be beneficial. On the bright side.. even if they are sick they still have perfect attendance and can learn. lol.

Yeah Texas can suck for some things .. but it does have some good things too. They actually have a vaccination waiver available for people in TX who want their kids to attend school but do not want to have to do the whole vaccination requirements. I'm not a huge fan of the over vaccinate brigade myself...as with most things .. there is good and bad on both sides of an argument.. you just need to take time to find the facts and make an informed choice.. not one that is formed purely on Facebook posts and news articles lol.

countrygrl5533 · January 2015

My grandmother had diabetes that she did not control very well. 7th-9th grades for me, she was very sick until she got her new kidney. I did most of my 7th grade year in hospital waiting rooms and next to her hospital bed. Unconventional, yes, but I love that I got to spend that time with my grandmother. She didn't pass away until I was 23 but we didn't think she was going to make it through that time.

That alone makes me glad I was homeschooled most of my schooling years. I got very few sick days (I had to be really sick for Mom to let me skip the day completely), no snow days. But I was usually done school by 1-2pm, got days off for fun stuff, and was generally done for the year in May. I learned more than my public school friends because of the flexibility. Not that I was a genius or anything. lol

Wipz · January 2015

ok.. so here is my big question.. was your DH home schooled ... and if not .. what are his views on it. I made my interest in homeschooling known very early on.. before Dominik was even here lol.

DH however has ZERO experience of it and is not exactly on board.. he would totally respect and support the decision if that is what I chose, he trusts me to make the right choice with things like that. Same as me choosing to leave my job.. at the time he thought I was nuts, but now that we've been 6 months into it he can now see why it wouldn't have worked for us anyway.

I know that if this is the way we go that DH will do everything possible to help and support his education.. but I was just wondering how your DH feels or felt about the idea. DH was just raised in a different environment and I know he wants what is best for Dominik, he just doesn't know any different than public schooling. I think by the time we make an actual decision he will have a much broader outlook on the two options... and I am pretty sure we'll be going the Home School Route.

countrygrl5533 · January 2015

DH was homeschooled as well so not much help there. Not as long as I was though. His mom was a school teacher and went back to work. So he fully supports homeschooling.

If he doesn't get fully on board, have you considered a Montessori school?

Wipz · January 2015

Oh he will.. if I make that decision he will support it totally... even if it wouldn't be his first choice. I know if we do this ..once we actually get into it and he sees it is working he will be fine. I think it's more a fear of the unknown, bad school experiences on his part and lack of parental support during his time at school... I think once the issues all come to light and get hashed out things will be fine.

When we discuss it I can see he sees benefits to it, but his background just holds him back from seeing it as the best solution for us... right now... but we have plenty of time and I'm not so up my own... that I can't change my mind if it doesn't end up being the right path for us. I'm stubborn and opinionated.. not stupid enough to stick to my guns reagrdless lol.

We have a Montessori near us, in fact they just built two new ones... but I'm not sure that's the direction for us either...

Wipz · January 2015

We went to the park today and I actually ended up having a conversation with one of the grandma's there.. her grand-kids are home schooled. She seemed in favor of the idea, but said structure was important... kinda nice to be able to have conversation with people who actually have experience and get a real perspective. As she said goodbye she told me that she thought I'd make a great homeschool mom..which was really nice after only a short conversation on the subject.

cmsdouglas · January 2015

Wipz, I have a related but off-topic question for you. When did you move to the U.S.? We're considering the possibility of moving abroad in a couple of years while our girls are elementary age and I'm wondering how that would effect them if/when we moved back. We are not interested in homeschooling (nothing against it, it's just not for us) so we'd be going the public school route. Any thoughts?

Wipz · January 2015

I moved here in 2001.. started off in Northern California, then Southern Cali for a few months and then Arizona for almost a year.. then a month or so in Southern California on my way to Texas. Been in Texas since 2006.

. as for moving around during school years.. I've been there done that while in the UK.. I think I had 5 different schools between 5 years old and 16 ( general school age in the UK .. then you go to college or a job) 2 primary ( 5 thru 10 ) 3 Secondary ( 11 through 16 ) Usually if you are lucky you only get one of each LOL. *** just throwing that in there since the school system is quite different and different terminology.. so everyone knows what I am referring to ***

It all depends on the kids and the schools and how you handle it as parents .. nowadays it is a lot easier to keep in touch with old school friends via the internet and phone and webcam.. which can help combat the stress of changes a lot. I had a rather "interesting" childhood and family dynamic so moving schools was the least of my problems LOL.

I think if you are going to switch countries however it's going to be a bigger change due to the differences in education styles and levels.. even culturally depending on where you come from and to. Everything from the teaching style, the subject matter, silly little things like spelling differences and accents... if you have sensitive kids, this could be a HUGE thing.

Fitting in is very important to some kids and it can swing either way.. being the novel foreigner with the cute accent can be great or hell.

It's kind of hard to give an opinion to someone without a lot of details.. but I figure if you and DH know the problems ahead of time and have already thought through ways to make the transition as easy as possible ... it's a wonderful opportunity for kids to see the world. Like most things in life there is a trade off ... If you are going to do it though .. an early age is a good time to try it when they don't have these huge hormonal attachments LOL

cmsdouglas · January 2015

Thanks! Yeah, we haven't done a ton of research yet, but we know to expect huge differences. We were thinking that when they are little would be best, like you said. It would only be 2-5 years, so we definitely don't want to take them out of middle or high school when they have friends and activities and when it would mess with college plans (either moving there or moving back). We're thinking UK, Germany, or Australia (DH is thinking Japan, but I think I may use my veto powers on that one!).

Wipz · January 2015

If you were looking for a longterm move I would suggest Finland .. they apparently have a great education system that way outperforms internationally. https://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12

I wasn't too impressed with the way UK education was going after I left school (1987..yeah I am THAT old lol).. but it's been a long time since I had much to do with that ... not since my stepdaughter graduated back in.. like 1998 ish. Mine was the last year of the old examination system before they switched over to the multiple choice ..don't worry about remembering anything longer than 3 months lol.

It was kinda sad to see the new ways take effect and see how my stepdaughter and her friends were losing out on a decent education just to make the scores look better.. but heh.. that's just my opinion.

Wipz · January 2015

Oh and btw my stepdaughter and her husband live in Australia now with their daughter and love it ..
If I had to make a choice out of the options you gave... I would probably go

Australia
Japan

UK

Germany

.. There are a lot of cool things about Germany, but it wouldn't be my choice.

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