Homeschool moms?

Question

Why do you home school? Do you like it? What curriculum do you use? When did you start home schooling your child?

Answer 1

I home school my 9 yr old son because of the problems with the public schools. I like doing it tho I do have my reservations towards how much should I do, and am I doing enough? We started out with ACE Paces, though they seem to be very boring, I'm not sure how to change him over to anything else, I really don't know where to begin. I started home schooling him last May 2007.

Answer 2

Why? - I don't think much of the school system in general and the local public schools in particular.

Like it? - loving it. Now the choice is made I just couldn't imagine packing her off to school.

Curriculum? - none. We're autonomous / unschooling.

When? - well it's really just a continuation of what we've always done and she'll be 'official' from a legal POV from January, the school term after she turns 5.

Answer 3

I started homeschooling my children, then 6th & 8th grades, in Sept. 2006,.  To keep the same level of funding per student the public schools must get a better average scores on the standardized tests each year.  Our school was already getting over 97 % in 1998, when my daughter started kindergarten.  Each year I saw that what my son, 2 grades behind my daughter, was taught far less than she was.  More and more homework was sent home to learn, without ever discussing the subject in class (not just my opinion but all the parents noticed this).  They had to teach more and more to the test every year.  So, they were taught in school what they were being tested on until after the test (in March here).  Most years this was only math and reading some years science was also tested.  All other subjects were up to the child to take home and learn on their own or with the help of a parent.  Not so easy when both parent work, and not all parents are willing, unfortunately, to help their child that much.  By the 5th grade my son had 5 hours of homework every night!  They no longer had the time to "be a kid."

They also had a principal who was/ is indifferent to bullying.  the teachers were not supported by her about bullies and they turned to the parents of the non-bullies for ideas on how to handle them.  You were/are considered a good principal by the District Supervisor based on the test scoores.  Every year, in each grade, more and more kids became mean.  To the point that the majority of them were mean by 5th grade, without most parents being aware of how they acted around other kids most of the time.

My kids had become miserable due to the negative atmosphere then coming home and doing homework until bedtime each day.  They are extremly smart by the way it truly was an overwhelming amount for a kid to do and not enough was being done during  school time.  so my daughter started to beg me to homeschool in January for the folowing school year.  IMy husband & I went to a meeting about it at a friend who homeschools house in May.  We agreed it was a better option than stayingin the public school.

I spent the summer looking on-line for curriculum.  I highly reccomend the Math-U-See math curriculum.  My daughter hated math and now doesn't mind it at all and finds it to be a breeze.  My husband and I agree, we would have given anything for someone to have taught us math that made it so obvious and simple as he does.  It is a DVD lesson and then a workbook, testbook, and teachers booj with all of the answers (paperback books).  Grammer Key CD's are incredible also,  I hated english, but this makes it very easy and they learn in less than an hour a weeks worht of school lessons on english.

I decided that something had to change my kids were so unhappy and not learning enough. ( I should say that the school I was talking about is rated 2nd in the state due to their high standardized test scores.  Often schools look good on paper but are not in reality, as I found ou the hard way.)  They always became to tired to do the homework without nudging and of course they needed help since they didn't go over it school.  So I decided I wouldn't be spending anymore time than I already was and at least it would be at a time when none of us were so tired.  

IT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN MY FAMILIES LIVES. Sure you still have homework battles sometimes etc.  but they are now the happy children they use to be.  They learn SOOOOO much more in 1/2 the time.  Now they have time for fun, sports, babysitting, whatever.  

Yes, I do like it.  I find that I learn/re-learn along with them and I can get them excited to learn.  Not always but we are getting to that point.  They had forgotten that learning can be fun.  Even my daughter who use to run to the school door when she was little.  I highly recommend findling other homeschool moms in your area.  I especially recommend joining a homeschool co-op.  Where they are able to interact with other childen and take some classes that you may be somewhat uncomfortable teaching.  They can be very inexpensive.  Ours has 3   8 week seesions per school year.  All students take 3 classes each session.  My 9th grader has had physics for 2 seesions, biology lab (with disection every week), economics, Shakespear, Logic, Foundations of our Nations Character, and others.  All moms contribute time in some way, assisting a teaching parent, teaching, cleaning up, etc..  I have never spent more that $29 per session total for my 2 children for books/supplies. Also, they are accountalbe to someone else to get their work done and it makes your work easier.  You can find some co-op by looking for support groups in your area at the following site (often they say co-op/support group)

http://www.homeeddirectory.com/support_g...

A great source for well researched curriculum at 5-70% discounts of www. homeschoolbuyerscoop.com  A non-profit started and run by a homeschooling dad.  Everything I have taught or propossed to teach next year, that other parents have been extremely enthusiatic aboutt was purchased thru them.  It is free to join. They have group buying power, the more people that buy something the cheeper it is.  You can commit to buy something pmce the price goes down to a certain amount also.  Also have a lot of links to free curriculum, group buys on computers, microscopes, Microsoft software, guitars, and many other things.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

I can't stress the importance of meeting other families who home school near you.  The more people you meet, the more possibilities you'll discover behind the alternative ways to home school.

My daughter would probably do well in school.  She takes great direction and tends toward easy compliance.  That, alone, is a big reason why I don't want her in school.  I want her to continue to follow her inner voice, to question what she is told, and to socialize according to her own needs, vs what others think.  

She's only 5, I don't follow a cirriculum. This is an easy age for home schooling.  If you're stuck on following the exact guidelines of your state, google for the public school standards for your state & then you can build your own cirriculum around it.  But the beauty of home education is that you don't have to build a "school at home".  Public standards are tailored to meet the needs of large groups of kids, not individuals, so you don't have to follow those standards to educate your kids.

As an obviously caring & involved parent, you've probably already built a rich learning enviornment at your home for your children. Continue in that vein.  Have plenty of books, white/chalk boards, building materials, painting materials, etc, for them to play/explore on their own.

Board games, card games, all kinds of games teach children a variety of subjects.  Check out this book, "Games for Math" by Peggy Kaye.   We like Jr. Monopoly since it's geared toward younger kids - we started playing it at 4.  She's a great banker at 5.  We play a game "what rhymes with..." while in the car, a lot.  She loves to rhyme.  We also play "I spy" in the car.

Read to them - I tend to go over word-pronunciations every once in awhile, follow the words with my fingers, so she can see the progression of letters into words, etc.  Every once in awhile, I ask her to repeat pronunciations, etc.  Too much of this kind of stuff kills her fun, though, so I keep this to a bare minimum and just stick to the finger pointing to follow along and reading the story with an actors flair.  Side note... I just returned from the other room where I noticed she had written a list of rhyming words on her paint easel.  

We take non-competitive gymnastics, dance & sports classes at our local "The Little Gym".  Swim lessons soon to come.  

We spend one, long day a week at a park with other homeschooled kids.  The other days we will spend shorter time at parks, or go on field trips with other home schoolers, or just go places by ourselves.  

The best way to get together with others is to join local yahoo/google forums and go to their parkdays, field trips with other families.  Also post when you're going somewhere so others can join you.

Running errands with my daughter provides lots of learning opportunities.  Grocery shopping shows her how to compare prices, read labels, paying the grocer, trying new foods, exploring where foods come from, all kinds of learning wrapped up there.  

We tent-camp, often, with our secular state home school groups so we get to explore nature and we're developing friendships with kids/families all over the state.  We also go to state AND national conventions to expand our network of home school friends vis-a-vis, beyond the internet.

Join your state home school organizations (secular or christian-according to your needs) to network and gather ideas about how others home school - children learn in so many ways, and the beauty of home schooling is that you can tailor your childs education to her needs.  

http://tinyurl.com/5exu5z

http://www.home-school.com/groups/TX.htm...

http://tinyurl.com/kx39y

http://tinyurl.com/5kexxy

Answer 5

* Why do you home school?*

We homeschool for a lot of reasons, but any reason you are considering it is a good reason!  Whether you have a child who is gifted or delayed, shy or a bit rambunctious, schooling at home allows the child to work at his or her own pace in a loving and caring environment.

*Do you like it?*

We love homeschooling.  We enjoy the freedom it provides - allowing us to travel and take down time when we NEED it, not just because the government mandates it!

*What curriculum do you use?*

We primarily use K12 because it is a rich and rigorous curriculum which never leaves me doubting if I am doing enough, or challenging my children adequately, or most importantly, making it interesting for us all!  You can find information about it here:

http://www.k12.com/

*When did you start home schooling your child?*

My younger son was reading and doing math at age three and going through the "kindergarten" workbooks (from the grocery store) like most kids go through coloring books.  I started formally homeschooling him at 3 1/2.  Honestly though, MOST kids aren't going to enjoy that and you risk killing a child's innate love of learning.  My older son went to a small private school through first grade and I started homeschooling him after that.

I hope this covered your questions, but if you have more, you know to post them here!

: )  P

ds 9

ds 7

Answer 6

My daughter was diagnosed with ADD, over medicated and forgotten in the school system. We took her out in the third grade because she could not read. It was a nightmare.

   I love it! There are challenges and sacrifices, but it has been worth it. The key for me has been to be patient and not get bent out of shape when things do not go as planned.

   I do not use a curriculum.

   We began homeschooling in the middle of the third grade. I wish we'd done it from the beginning.

Answer 7

We have been homeschooling for 9+1/2 years now.  Our daughter spent 1+1/2 years at school, our eldest son went for 1/2 a year, and our youngest has never stepped foot in a school building.  We have used many different forms of homeschooling through the years.  When the kids were younger they loved workbooks, couldn't get enough of them!  Then it became more of me reading to them and worksheets together.  Now we mostly unschool.  They learn so much on their own and I cannot keep up with it!  They test fine each year.  I lay the foundation in the lower grade levels and they bloom from there.  We also believe in letting them learn at their own pace.  Like our daughter, an avid reader, began reading at a very young age.  But the boys didn't show an interest until they were 10 and 9 respectfully.  They read just as well as other kids there ages now.  Why do we homeschool?  Because I love to be with my kids.  I want to raise them, watch them learn something new, guide them on their journey, and be the primary influence in their lives.  Sometimes it is hard, mostly it is wonderful.  I love it, the kids love it(they have told me so), and we wouldn't have it any other way.  P.S.-Socialization...ugh!  Everyone will say something to you about this.  Kids will socialize wherever you take them and with anyone they meet.  They will be more well rounded than their peers because they will learn to speak to people of all ages.

Answer 8

**Why do you homeschool?

We pulled our kids out of private school a few years ago when one son was in 1st grade, one daughter in K-5.  jake was not doing well in school and was struggling.  And I was struggling with the amount of tiime wasted in school and that he was only learning what they wanted him to, and not what he was really interested in.  Also, he was slow in reading - which turned out to be because of the "reading books" the school's curriculum was using.  Last year at his end of the year testing (at end of 3rd grade), he was reading at a 5th grade level.

*** Do you like it?

Best decision we ever made.  Kids are all loving it and the freedom it gives our family.  If we are at church or an outside activity one weeknight late and don't get to bed until late, instead of getting everyone up early and getting them sleepily to school - we just sleep an extra hour and start school on a one -hour delay.  We are still done their schoolday away from home would be done.  AND there's no homework - so when you are done with school, you are DONE.  Then you can enjoy family time at night instead of fighting to get everyone's work done.

***What curriculum do you use?

We use Bob Jones HomeSat - which is a curriculum that is taught by DVDs and so I am not actually teaching every class myself (which would be impossible for me to do - 3 grades with all the individual classes for each grade).  I just sit in on certain classes that they need extra help in.  And they are getting all the subjects including Bible and Science and History - which I did not have time to do when we were using another curriculum and I was trying to do it all myself.  The classes are so very interesting and the teachers make it fun - there are all kinds of experiments and dramas that go along with the classes.  My kids love it, and I couldn't be happier.

***When did you start homeschooling your child?

Son who is now finishing 4th - we pulled him out of 1st grade middle of the year.  I actually had to repeat 1st grade for him because he was so behind.  Now he is thriving and scoring so high in standardized tests at the end of every year.

Good luck to you in your decision.  It would really help if you could attend a homeschooling conference in your state.  For example, North Carolina has a state homeschooling conference every year in Winston Salem - 3 day conference.  You attend classes on all types of things about homeschooling - classes for people who are just beginning or haven't made a decision yet would benefit you so much.  And also there is usually a big bookfair at the conferences where you can look over all the curriculum choices at one place.  It's fabulous - I look forward to our state's conference every year!

Answer 9

We started when my oldest was in public school 2nd grade. She was doing a 2nd year of it and 1/2 way through it she still couldn't subtract. She was coming home with 4 hours of homework that I would have to teach to her because the teacher either didn't explain it or she didn't understand. She was also beat up a few time on the bus and the school would do nothing about it.

My second had started pre k and the teacher wanted him on ADHD meds. He is a busy little guy but far from ADHD! He was 4 at the time.

We absolutely love home schooling! We are so much more free than we ever were with the kids in school.

Sonlight is the curricula we use. It's literature based and it has the lesson plans all set up for you. It's a little expensive if you are going to use it once. We have 3 kids all 4 years apart so we will be using it for each kid.

I started about a year and a half ago. My oldest was in 2nd, my middle in pre k, and my youngest still slept all day!

Answer 10

I've been home schooling my daughter, who is now 14, since she was 10.  We began after she finished Grade 4 in school.  She will continue to home school for Grade 10, and probable for all of high school.  We wouldn't change it for the world!  It is wonderful.

I took her out of school because of problems that we were having.  They totally destroyed her self-esteem.  A child who had loved to learn didn't want to have anything to do with learning any more.  

Once she left school, the stress that we had felt as a family was gone.  I no longer had to deal with an unhappy child or ridiculous teachers.  Note to Teachers:  I'm not saying that you are all ridiculous.  The ones that my dd had were.  I find it incredible that a teacher would say "how sorry that they feel for my dd because she is outside playing with a 6 year old child."  She was 8 at the time.  That is just the beginning.....

A teacher tried to tell me that "I was destroying my daughter's future by not putting her on Ritalin".  She had NOT been diagnosed with ADD by a Doctor.  (She didn't have ADD, by the way).    

The bullies at that school were terrible and nothing was ever done about it.

We now continue to home school because we truly believe that it is the best thing for our daughter.  She is thriving at home and getting an excellent education  She can study at her own pace, and study topics that she would never have the chance to study in school.  She is free to be a kid, too.  

I would suggest that you do some research into various methods of home schooling.  

I have found an awesome curriculum.  It is called Connect the Thoughts.  It is available as e-books that can be downloaded.  Here is a link to the site where they are available.

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?affil...

If you love to spend time with your children, and I do, you will never regret home schooling.  It will allow your family a closeness that just isn't the same when they go to school.

Home schooling is a lifestyle choice as much as it is an educational one.  It is the only one for us!

Best wishes on your schooling journey.