Homeschoolers: What do you think your parents should do to improve your homeschooling life?

Question

I'm considering homeschooling my boys (3 and 5).

I'm trying to get an honest feel from REAL homeschoolers as to what they like and dislike, and what they wish was different.

Also, what do you like best?

Would you homeschool your own future children?

Do you feel like your parents made the best choice for you?

Why do you think they chose homeschooling?

I WANT to homeschool my boys and feel that it would be best for them. But I'm battling with the stereotypes and opposition from others.

I think it's so admirable that so many of you are strong enough to rise above that. What a wonderful quality to possess so early in life!!

Thanks ahead of time for your answers. I bet they'll really help to boost my confidence in this choice.

Answer 1

. My daughter is 10 and she loves homeschooling. She'd have more art and science in our curriculum. (I'm making her focus on her basic skills right now.) She says she would probably HS her kids. She does agree this is the best choice for her. She hated the meds she was on at the request (read as demand) of the public school she used to attend. They had unpleasant effects on her. She hated cafeteria food and thought the other kids were out of control. She’d come home complaining that the kids had been acting like "wild monkeys". She never got to play with friends before HS. Now, she regularly has playtime with her friends and has had many opportunities that we would not have had time for if we'd stayed in public school. Last year my daughter tried out for and got two parts dancing with the Moscow Ballet. She danced in the Nutcracker. Before try outs, she had no ballet experience. I remember the other mothers were so serious and could not believe we had come to try outs. (To be honest, all but one of them was a wee bit uptight.) But I felt that my kid was athletic, bright, reasonably graceful and could take direction. I had a faith in her and felt that even trying out was an experience worth having. (Those are some of the same reasons we were brave enough to homeschool.) It turned out there were more parts than kids who tried out, so she got in easily. We quickly signed her up for ballet lessons and started practicing every day. The freedom to do that was only available to us because we homeschooled. With public school she was too bogged down with homework to ever do much else. In the end it was a once in a lifetime experience. She had a ball and met people from across the globe. She danced her parts just as well as the other girls and boys. If we'd have listened to the serious, twitchy mothers whose children had been taking dance since they could take a step, we'd have backed out and missed the chance to make a memory. But we did our thing with faith in our ability to adapt to the situation. We took a chance and bet on ourselves. I'm glad we did. You will be too.

Answer 2

wow wow wow, im not trying to change your mind or anything but NOBODY homeschools anymore. Think about your kids. they will not get the education they NEED. plus the social effects would be DEVASTATING. I met all my good friends in school, i dont know where i would be without them. school is the biggest social thing a kid can do. i would be careful not putting them in school.

Answer 3

My kids (that want to answer, ages 12 and 9) say

"I like best that I can choose what I learn when I want to"

"I like having choices. I can learn or play, when I want"

"I'll want to homeschool, but that will depend on my wife's desires of course"

"I'll probably unschool them, like we are"

"My parents pulled me out of school after five years. I know that it is the best choice for me."

"Yes"

"My mom wanted to homeschool from the beginning, but my dad was against it because he thought socialization was important. After five years of being bullied and the school not helping, and of being bored because I already knew everything they were teaching, I got to come home. My dad admitted that everything he thought about school was wrong, and that it's changed since he was in school"

"My parents chose to homeschool because it was better for me"

"I think you should homeschool if it is what works for you. You can't let other people dictate your life, or else you aren't living your own life, you're living the lives of other people." (ok, mom stepping in, that's way cool Josh)

"Homeschooling is great, because we get to spend a lot of time with our mom, but also with lots of friends and people we meet"

Answer 4

I was home-schooled all the way through high school, although my last few years I took nearly all my classes at local universities.

Homeschooling your children is a very big commitment, so you should definitely put alot of thought and research into this decision before you make it.

The homeschooling community is a very healthy, growing, and thriving one.  There are of course stereotypes and biases perpetuated by some small-minded people, but it is my opinion that encountering these has only made me better able to handle prejudices and other similar challenges that come my way. I have discovered that in my day to day life, not one person has ever realized I was homeschooled without my  having told them.  Many of them are very surprised to learn that I was homeschooled, mainly because they believe that all homeschooled children are uneducated and socially dysfunctional.  In my experience the opposite is often true.

http://www.the-niche.org/Pages/stateorga... may have helpful information about programs in your area to offer advice, help, resources and support.

Answer 5

If no one is forcing children to do educational things they want to do them, they might not even see it as any different from playing when they are younger.

Homeschooled children are better at finding things to do on their own, too.

And once they are older they can take responsibility for their own education. They understand that they need to study things so that they can get a job they enjoy and earn a living.

I recommend books by John Holt and for older children The teenage liberation handbook.

Answer 6

I think field trips at least once a month and if possible once a week are a good idea.  Even if you have to travel.  Museums, art galleries, theater plays, college campuses, business tours.

Adjunct equipment.  Purchase of microscopes, telescopes, optics kits, electronic kits.  Every parent should know about Edumunds Scientific on line and should visit Radio Shack now and then.  Also hobbie shops.

Regular visits to thrift stores and library book sales days to build an inexpensive library.  I once found a 10 year old complete set of Britanica ($3,000 original price) for $40 in good condition.  I got a Physicians Desk Reference ($250) for $2, it, too, was 10 years old.  At one point I had one of the largest collections of programming books in BASIC, probably close to 50 books and the average one cost me $1 or less.

A home library is an invaluable tool that lasts forever.  You can draw upon it clear into the workforce.

Setting up a viewing list for Cable TV drawing from PBS, Science, Discovery, History, AMC and Turner Classics.

Over any given year Turner Classic Movies will screen exactly what you would get in a college level history of the cinema course.

Answer 7

~I think it would have been helpful to have our own school room like some of my friends had/have.  A room that is solely for books, a table, supplies, a computer, anything related to school.  As it was, we kept our own books in our bedrooms and mom kept the teacher's guides in her room.  MOst schoolwork was done in the kitchen or desks in our bedrooms.  We did do most of our reading aloud in the car on the way to our next activity though... :)

~I liked that I had time to study what interested me.  For example, I really liked learning about the Civil War, so one year I got most all of my English readings from Civil War books.  As my passion for violin grew, I was able to spend the necessary time practicing that got me into college with a music scholarship.  Basically I liked all the 'free' time I had to do 'after school' activities that my public schooled friends did not have time for.

~I will definitley homeschooled my children.  This is something my fiance and I talked aboutt from the beginning of our relationship.

~I do feel that my parents made the best choice for me.  When I was in middle school they began asking me if I wanted to attend school but I always politely declined.  I didn't have time to go to school!  I would have had to stop everything (politics, ballet, orchestra, sports, college classes, etc.) but violin!

~They chose homeschooling because they wanted me to have the best education I could get.  They wanted me to grow to love learning, which I do!  And they wanted to have a say in what kind of social environment I was in everyday for thirteen years.  

~Honestly, I cannot imagine my life if I had not homeschooled!  I was never lacking for friends or things to do, I have always truly enjoyed learning, I know I was better prepared for college than most of my peers, and I did not miss out on anything worthwhile by not attending school.

Answer 8

Go to this page, scroll down, and click on the link Homeschooling Grows Up:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

It shows the results of a survey of adults who were homeschooled as children, how they turned out and how they feel about homeschooling.

Here's another link that may be of help to you about dealing with opposition:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Answer 9

What a great question!

My kids are 7 and 10. My son wants more science experiments. (That's easily taken care of!) My daughter would like more girly playdates. (Okay--we can take care of that, too!) And I haven't been reading aloud lately and my dd would like me to do that again. Other than that, they can't think of anything.

I know one homeschooled teen very well. She was in school k-6. She has no complaints about homeschooling at all, except one: she wishes her parents had pulled her out of school earlier or had never put her in school in the first place.

I have to say that I have yet to meet a homeschooler who has always been homeschooled who wasn't happy with homeschooling. Then again, I wouldn't have met the potential families who might isolate themselves too much. I have met some kids who used to go to school, then homeschooled, and had some issues with homeschooling. One was sooooo focused on appearances and was thoroughly embarrassed that she was homeschooled. She had been in school all the way through gr. 7, I think, maybe gr. 6, and hadn't wanted to be homeschooled--her mother felt that her peer-dependency had been going too far and changes had to be made sooner rather than later. Another girl I met got very lonely homeschooling after having been in public school--no siblings and a single parent, so she was alone a LOT. Two other boys I knew who had been in school still continued with hockey and all of their friends were from hockey rather than homeschoolers and they eventually decided to go back to school--largely because their friends kept telling them they should and they liked the idea of being at school all the time with their friends. Mom and Dad were okay with that because they had grown so much academically and character-wise during their homeschooling.

At some point, you're going to just have to let go of other people's stereotypes. Doesn't mean you don't say anything, just don't feel the need to defend yourself or convince them of anything. (Saying something to correct someone isn't necessarily the same as defending yourself--all depends in the intent behind it.) You will never please everybody. :)