Advice from Australian parents who homeschool their children?

Question

I have come to a point in my life where I am so sick and tired of the public school system letting my children (aged 8-10 yrs) down and the constant bullying of other children totally disrupting the learning of my children. I have decided that I want to give up my full time job and concentrate on my children by homeschooling them in an environment where I know they will be safe and I can teach them skills for the real world in which we live without them being stressed out!

When our children started school they were bright, happy and inquisitive. They loved to learn but within a couple of years I have noticed that they are stressed, riddled with insecurities and now dislike learning. Homework has increased so much that I beg the question, what do the teachers actually teach our children every day at school?

I would really love to hear from other parents who have gone from a public school to home schooling and how it has changed their childrens lives?

Answer 1

I'm not a parent but my sister was home schooled for a term by our dad. It can be stressful especially as you spend a lot of time together and socializing with other people is very important otherwise they may want to stay home all the time. Having a good cirriculum (pardon the spelling) is also vital. When my sister went back to school she ahead in her class and had a better attitude.

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

The stories are much the same no matter where you live, and you can find many such stories by messing around on google.

Since you are an Aussie, I recommend you have a look through here: http://homeschoolads.proboards51.com/ind...

Go into the "Community Lounge" and introduce yourself in the "Meet and Greet" forum. Reading through other people's posts will give you lots of info, and you can make contact with others from your area. There are yahoo groups for locations, and also for homeschooling styles. For example, I'm on one list for the Bendigo/Castlemaine area, and on one for Australian Classical homeschoolers. There are heaps and heaps.

Answer 3

I hope Hannah answers, she's an Aussie who's homeschooling right now. We're in the US, but I think the education system is going to be similar, after all, it's society that's directing education now.

My oldest two were in public school for five years, and I definitely saw the stress increasing, they started to resent learning. My third child did preK and kindie, and my fourth did preK as well. They both hated school. My third would come home every day..."We don't learn ANYTHING" and the fourth would come home upset because of how awful the other children behaved.

Beginning of May, i told my husband I'd had it, and pulled them out. It has been amazing. My oldest is thirteen, and he  is self-directing. Because of all the politics, he is doing a lot of reading about law, the constitution, what the candidates believe etc. This is a fabulous time to homeschool! Four years ago we did our own election, down to a voting booth. So, the kids are excited to learn, they are doing things that are meaningful, and they love being together (Because one of the first things you learn at school is that parents and siblings are uncool, and you learn quickly to demean and bully them to fit in)

We have a lot of social groups, and are probably out of the house more often than we are in. They are all so confident, when we're at museums or zoos, they just amaze docents and professors with their insights and questions. They can maintain and handle relationships with age mates, adults, infants. They're all happy, and I'll jokingly ask if they want to go back and they'll yell NO!