Parents who homeschool their children?

Question

What age did you start homeschooling your child?

Did you remove your child from school? If so, at what age did you do this?

Did you find your child to be motivated and disciplined? At what age did this motivation become apparent?

Did your child show a genuine interest in academic success? How did this come about?

I am considering removing my six year-old daughter from school, as the standards seem to be so low. However, she still doesn't like 'studying'. This is probably quite normal for a girl her age, but that being the case, is it a good idea to remove her from school, or should I wait until she develops a sense of discipline?

Answer 1

My kids attended a tenth-rate rural high school in New Zealand.  I was a teacher there myself for some of that time.  I maintain that even a crummy school is better than home schooling; you can do as we did, and try to make up for the poor teaching by some intellectual stimulation at home.  Even a bad school has some facilities you won't have at home; a music room, laboratory, sports equipment and gym for instance, and it's highly unlikely that you're good at teaching all subjects yourself.  You've paid your taxes, so why not get your money's worth?  The only situation in which we'd have pulled our kids out of school would have been if bullying got completely out of control.  Our son mixed with riff-raff and nearly went down the drain.  It was only an overseas student exchange that straightened him out.  But dealing with idiots and scum is a social skill that everybody needs to acquire.  I maintain that our kids have benefited from their exposure to rubbish kids and teachers.  Both have turned out OK.

Answer 2

i was always against the idea of homeschooling........going to school helps a child develop character traits that can never be developed with homeschooling.......if your child is able to interact with other children s/he will be able to compare her/his self with them........other children's academic success will motivate them to do better as well.......when a child sees other children around him/her studying or playing, they will want to do the same thing...........a school also follows a schedule which helps inculcate a sense of discipline........

going to school will help your daughter in interacting with other ppl of her age and other adults besides her parents......if she gets home schooled, it may become difficult for her when she gets older and has to face the world...

Answer 3

I officially began homeschooling my son when he was six.  However, as his first and best teacher, I technically began homeschooling him before birth  (I read and talked to him when he was in my womb.)

My son began attending a magnet public school in first grade.  He complained of boredom and I pulled him out due to this; he simply was not challenged.  A little less than a year later, he was diagnosed as being "cognitively gifted."

Although he is now 8, my son does not show extreme motivation and discipline for traditional "seat work."  However, he loves interactive learning on the computer via Time4Learning, and he is also a highly motivated reader.  He just finished reading the children's versions of "The Three Musketeers" and "Peter Pan" over the course of the last few days and has read over 100 books since September 2007.

You have to lead, guide, and direct your child.  You have to require them to discipline themselves.  Because my son's attention span is still not the longest, we take breaks from studying to stretch, look out the window, talk for a minute, etc., then he gets back to work.

School teaches children how to follow rules, but it does not teach them self-control and self-discipline; parents should be the example, leader, and motivator when it comes to this.  Homeschool your daughter and take charge of her education if you have the time, effort, and patience to do so.  If you don't have those qualities/characteristics but you're willing to learn them, you and your daughter can grow together.

There are many ways and methods in which to homeschool, and children have different learning styles.  Perhaps the way the school is teaching is not the way your daughter learns, and this could be contributing to her lack of desire regarding "studying."  My son attrended a private Christian home learning center for kindergarten, and although he is extremely bright, he would sometimes be in tears because of the volume of homework.  Now all his work is incorporated into our homeschooling day.  Also, I now realize he is largely an auditory/kinesthetic learner and teach him accordingly.  It would be worth it to assess your daughter's learning style and your learning/teaching style; the link is below:

http://www.homeschoolviews.com/quiz/quiz...

I hope the above is helpful.

Answer 4

We pulled our kids out when my oldest was nine and the middle was 4. I had them in public school and they were having problems with bullies. The school wasn't taking care of the situation so I pulled them out! We love home schooling.

My oldest wasn't motivated at all at first. It took a little time for us to find our groove. She hated writing but that was because she found it hard. Now it's not a problem. All things get better as they grow older and more confidant. Our kids could care less how they are doing academic right now they just want to learn. Learning has been made fun and not a chore. Their interest is what happened and why not what the grade they will make is. It's Please mom read the next chapter I have to know what happens. This just came with a little time and a lot of patience.

Answer 5

My children have always been homeschooled.

I've known people to pull their kids out of school at any age.

Kids usually have motivation to learn until something throws them off that motivation. Things that can throw them off are the pace is going too slow, pace is going too fast, negative comments, unrealistic expectations, lack of personally pertinent content. My kids are motivated to learn, but not always what I would have them learn. ;) As for disciplined, you mean disciplined in studies? We don't follow a type of homeschooling that is like in school so that whole type of "disciplined study" mentality doesn't apply, at least not at their age (they are in grades 2 and 5).

Families I know who pulled their kids out of school often had a period of time where the kids weren't particularly motivated. Usually, the older the child, the less motivated they were. In some cases it was more a matter of how stressful the school environment was--the more stress associated with school, the less motivated they were. Motivation is something that has to be nurtured, not something that just "appears".

"A genuine interest in academic success." My daughter likes doing well and learning things, but if you're talking about a focus on working to get all A's and things like that, I discourage that at this point. I don't even give them grades. I want them to learn, to feel successful, to master. I don't want them worrying about what letter judgement they are getting on their work.

I bet you there is plenty that your daughter would enjoy learning, even the stuff she's already doing at school that she doesn't enjoy. There are so many ways to approach learning--there's undoubtedly something out there that will connect with her. She will not miraculously develop a "sense of discipline"--this comes more from parental influence and involvement than it does from being in school.

My personal recommendation would be that you explore homeschooling more, learn about the styles, get a clearer vision of how it would work for you if you were to do it, before you pull her out of school. Your question is coming across a bit as though you are hoping to have a child who is thoroughly focused on academics when these academics are important to YOU at this point, not so much to her. She's 6. I don't think it's in her best interests for you to pull her out and create a stressful academic situation by potentially excessive expectations. If you are willing to learn more about educating her in a way that suits her best, interested in allowing her more time to be a child (because face it, a 6yo child doing one-on-one work doesn't need to spend as much time on schooling as does a group of 6yo children who waste lots of time in class), then do it.

Homeschooling won't create miracles in and of itself. It's all about what you put into it.

Answer 6

I home school my son, I started last year when he was 8. Some days it's hard others a blessing. I enjoy the time I get to spend with him. He develops the character traits I want instilled in him, I would prefer he not  be compared to other children, because he is a unique individual. Schools expect all children to do and act a certain way, the cookie cutter type. Some times the success of others when a child is doing their best may lower their self esteem. At home school you can set your own schedule. We started out with 3 pages of work in his Pace's, when he became frustrated that he couldn't do that much work, we cut it down to 1 page, but were able to do other things.(zoo, space museum, aquarium, computer work,) He is in several things out side the home to get the benefit of socializing with his peers. I don't have to worry about school shootings, bus drivers w/drug/drinking  problems transporting my child. I can teach whatever s*x education I feel he is ready to learn with out it being forced on him from someone other than a parent, The standards in this state are so low, and I feel they actually contributed to some of the problems my son has had. I like home school because I set the boundaries.

Answer 7

----What age did you start homeschooling your child?

First child: 8. Other two children never went to school.

-----Did you remove your child from school? If so, at what age did you do this?

The first child, yes at age 8.

-----Did you find your child to be motivated and disciplined? At what age did this motivation become apparent?

We don't really do the "immitate school at home" approach (frankly, I don't know a lot of homeschoolers who do). We do a lot of hands-on activities, take classes, go on a lot of field trips, have discussions, watch educational TV... doing bookish school work is a very small part of our day.

There are certain tasks they like and certain tasks they don't like. When something is interesting to them, they are highly motivated... if not, it's a little like trying to get them to do homework, but they know they don't get to go out and play until it is done.

-----Did your child show a genuine interest in academic success? How did this come about?

Depends on how you define academic success. We don't do grades or tests. Success to us is not high scores. Living and learning kind of go hand in hand. You learn something new every day, so in a sense every day is a success.

Homeschooling is more of a hollistic approach to education.

--- I am considering removing my six year-old daughter from school, as the standards seem to be so low. However, she still doesn't like 'studying'. This is probably quite normal for a girl her age, but that being the case, is it a good idea to remove her from school, or should I wait until she develops a sense of discipline?

I'm not sure what you're going for so it will depend on that. Homeschooling is more of a lifestyle, not something you do a little bit every day. Learning and living become intertwined.

Answer 8

What age did you start homeschooling your child?

That is a tricky question.  They have never been to school, so the simple answer would be "since Kindergarten".  However, I was educating them before that.

Did you remove your child from school?  If so, at what age did you do this?

No, my children have always been educated at home-they have never attended an alternative school (to us, public and private are alternatives-home education is the most logical choice).

Did you find your child to be motivated and disciplined?  At what age did this motivation become apparent?

They have always had a love of learning, and have been self motivated to learn more.  We are all somewhat disciplined.  There are days when it is easier or more difficult, but that is normal and we work through it.

Did your child show a genuine interest in academic success?  How did this come about?  

Yes, my children are very interested in being successful.  This is because they have not learned that there is another option-failure is NOT an option.  We (the parents) model a love of learning, and they follow that.

To answer your last statement/question-if you continue to wait, she will just spending more time in an environment that you yourself has said has low standards.  You can teach her at home, and probably teach her to be MORE disciplined than a school environment ever will.  You can teach her that learning can be fun rather than forced, that you can learn just as much lounging on your bed reading a book or visiting the local museum rather than reading about history than you can sitting in a desk for 8 or so hours a day.

I wish you and your daughter the best!

Answer 9

There could be many reasons for his dislike of learning.  She could need a different method of teaching, she could just be bored if she isn't being challenged.

Homeschooling is a wonderful option!  If you do it, I encourage  you to give your daughter a period of deschooling time where you don't force academics.  This is why... SCHOOL often causes kids to HATE learning!  Give her time to decompress, during that time read to her, do puzzles, have her count money to buy things at the store.  While this decompression time is happening, start reading up on the various methods available to you.

Type into your search bar, and get library books on:

Charlotte Mason

Ruth Beechick

Classical Education

Lapbooking

Unit Studies

I think you may find mixing those methods to suit you will re-awaken your child's interest in learning.

Oh yeah, I forgot to answer part of this.  My kids sometimes show interest and sometimes don't. There are times when I have to tell them that they WILL do their work whether they want to or not.  There are other times when they  are excitedly gathering around the table for a science experiment, or begging to have their story read to them.  It varies, just like anything else in life, there are times when we love what we are doing, and times when we don't, and we need to learn to deal with both times.

You might want to check out your state laws:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

as well as these lings

http://www.rainbowresource.com

http://www.timberdoodle.com

Feel free to e-mail me if you have specific questions.

EDIT---EDIT---EDIT

You might also be interested in these sites:

http://www.handsofachild.com

http://www.homeschooldiscount.com

http://www.Hewitthomeschooling.com

http://www.hometrainingtools.com

https://store.aop.com/aop/67.cat

Answer 10

I removed my son at age 6, at his request.  We had recently moved, and the schools in our new area had such low standards that he was just plain bored.

I do find my child to be motivated and disciplined, but he's now 10.  I didn't see this in him (at least consistently) until he was 9/9.5.  Kids under this age learn by playing, discovering, and exploring - they're just not wired to sit down and study for long periods of time.

Yes, he has always shown a genuine interest in academic success, but it shows up differently at different ages.  At 6/7, it was more of "I want to know everything about ________", or asking a kazillion questions about anything that came to mind :-)  Kids that young aren't often interested in what we would consider academic success (i.e., study skills and consistency); they just love to explore and gain knowledge.

Now, at 10, he's very interested in academic success.  He has hooked on to the concept of grades, and he's more at an age where he can get into the "fun" stuff - building electrical circuits, applying knowledge of nature, writing really great stories, and making more intricate models.  He's figured out that his skills build on each other, and if he doesn't take the time to learn the stuff that may not be so interesting, he'll never be able to move on to what he does find really interesting.

The fact that she doesn't like to "study" yet is completely normal - she's not wired for it yet.  There's no reason she should "study", so to speak, as it's not how she learns yet.  Over the next few years, she'll develop more abstract thinking skills and become more interested in the "why" behind everything - she all of a sudden won't be interested with just knowing "what" something is.  When she reaches this point, her curiosity will motivate her to learn how to research, to dig deeper, and to become more disciplined about her studies.  Up until then, capitalize on her energy and sense of discovery, and let her learn the basic skills - reading, math, etc. - through things that interest her.  

There are tons of early ed curriculums out there that are available to homeschool parents that do a wonderful job of drawing from a child's natural curiosity.  They teach using manipulatives, examples from life, different learning styles, and hands-on projects to teach foundational skills and aid in retention.

Ask yourself - what is your goal for your daughter?  Do you want her to learn and retain, or do you want her to know how to sit still for book work at a young age?  It seems like a silly question, but it's one that our society doesn't often ask.  Schools pretty much have to rely on the bookwork, just due to logistics, but it's not always the best way to teach a young child.  If the standards are low and she's not learning to her ability, I would suggest to pull her.  You can teach her according to how she learns now (I'd suggest unit studies, from what you've described of her), and as she gets older you can help her develop the discipline and study skills that she will need.

Hope that helps!

Answer 11

1. My children were nine, seven, six, and five when we pulled them out of school to homeschool. I also had a nearly four year old slated to start preK, a two year old, and was pregnant with number seven.

2. Yes, I removed them when we started homeschooling. The younger ones have never 'started' homeschooling, as learning is part of their natural environment.

3. No, of course my children weren't motivated and disciplined. Developmentally it is not appropriate to ask kids that age to be self-motivated to STUDY. They will LEARN, however, because humans are designed to learn. Public school has destroyed that in our older children, and it's distorted society's viewpoint of what learning is.

4. What is success? That's so variable, and unfair to expect from kids. I would expect it from a high schooler, and college students, and from adults (because we believe that the truly educated never graduate....bumper sticker on my truck) We should learn forever, and if we don't model that for our children, they buy the idea that you only learn until you turn 18.

5. Six year olds aren't supposed to study. They are supposed to play. Please look at "Better Late than Early"

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Late-Than-E... , anything by Alfie Kohn, but particularly this http://www.amazon.com/Educated-Essays-St... , as well as by John Holt, particularly "How Children Learn" here http://www.amazon.com/Children-Learn-Cla...

Answer 12

My son is 5 and we are homeschooling. He has never been to school and already knows his alphabet and the sounds. He is currently learning how to read. He does this because it is something that he is interested in doing, not because some teacher told him that he had to.

I think that you might find that your daughter has a natural inclination to learn. There are fun ways to teach and it doesnt always mean that you are sitting down at a table using workbooks. We use the leapfrog system for learning how to read and its fun for him because he gets to play with it instead of 'studying' it. You can use this system for math as well. We have workbooks, but he uses them when he wants to because its something fun for him to do. Sometimes the best way to teach is to let them tell you what they want to learn. If you do that then Im sure that your daughter will have no troubles learning what you want her to learn as well.

My suggestion is dont wait until you think that she's disciplined to homeschool. Do it in the expectation that she will learn it while you are teaching her. She has to learn it sometime and why not let it be how you want.

Answer 13

If you homeschool the child, she will lack the ability to socialize with people her age. Then again if you allow her to stay she'll not learn what is needed to be learned. Lot's of decisions resolve for a price.

Answer 14

I don't home school, but I know many who have.  Your decision depends on what you personally can offer.

Do you or your spouse have the time to supervise this girl's studies?  If so, then her age-appropriate low level of self-discipline won't be a problem.

As an alternative, supplement her public-school education with activities and materials that will compensate for their low standards.

Not knowing you or your child's situation, I could be completely off base here, but in the interests of thoroughness, I'll note that many parents have unrealistic standards.  You might want to examine your expectations for your child, do a little studying about human development and what the reasonable expectations ought to be, and then make a decision.  My first inclination is to think that you're correct, since so many public schools DO have low standards--but there are many things a six-year-old is not yet ready to learn.

Answer 15

My kids have been unschooled since birth.  They are very motivated to do things because that is human nature to want to learn.  

Some time around 12 my kids decided they wanted to make sure they would have the necessary academic skills to go to college.  I'm not sure where they got this idea, well the first anyway, the other may have followed her lead.  

I would think your daughter would enjoy studying if it is what she chooses.  Unschooling as been a great sucess in my family.  I can't even tell you all the accomplishements of my kids... and they never had any required assignments.  

It definitely takes a leap of faith.  I had some doubts when I had a 6 year old, but now with teenagers, I can tell you it absolutely works.  

Good luck :D

Answer 16

If you home school the motivation and discipline will have to come from you along with the actual teaching.

Keeping social skills and friendships going is more of a challenge for the home schooled child but if you are determined and are willing and able to give the time and your local schools are so poor then go for it.

You might prefer to try school for a little longer and really invest time in helping your little girl with her homework.

She is lucky to have such a concerned parent

Answer 17

I withdrew my 5 yr old son from Kindergarten in September, three weeks after starting in public school. Now, six months later he is halfway through a first grade curriculum. He was extremely bored in school and needed to be challenged. He requires his work to be structured, which is why we use a full curriculum. If left to make the choice each day as to what he wants to do and learn about, he would do nothing but sit at the computer.

The most important thing to do if you homeschool is to learn what your daughters learning style is. My son is a very verbal learner and has to talk his way through his work to reason out what the answer is. This got him labeled as a student that is a trouble maker and disrupts the class at school. Be patient with her and she'll do just fine.

Answer 18

She will not develop a proper sense of discipline in a classroom.  This is something that you need to work on together -- at home.

It is perfectly normal to not want to study at age six.  Study-skills is something to develop over time.  A six year old needs plenty of simple basics.  

My children all started home-schooling as soon as they started learning.  They learned to walk and talk at home and progressed into learning how to ride a bike, tie their shoes and eventualy read, write and compute equations.  Mine never attended public school for a day in their lives.

The best thing to do is to take her out of "school" (btw: schools are for fish! :-)  Spend some time de-programming from the run of the mill stuff.  Take a few weeks to PLAY together.  Get to know each other by having fun.  Take walks, ride bikes, build with Lego, bake cookies, etc.... Count things together and play lots and lots of games.  Find educational games that use the alphabet and numbers.

Make sure that she knows her alphabet and that she can read well with a system of phonics.  Work on learning the math facts from 0 to 15 --- all functions -- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  You can spend up to a year or more merely mastering the facts.

When she can read well and when she knows all of her facts she will be ready to venture into ALL of the rest of learning.  She can practice handwriting skills with a pencil and paper.

If she works on 30 math equations every day at her level she will progress nicely!  And if she reads for 2 hours every day she will do great.  At her age you will probable need to read aloud to her for a while and have her also read aloud to you.

Check out the home-school information at all of the following sites::

www.home-school.org

www.home-school.com

www.robinsoncurriculum.com

Oregon Christian Education Association Network; www.oceanetwork.org

Home School Legal Defense Association;  www.hslda.org

Mid-Valley Homeschool Yahoo group, M-vers

Look up information at yahoo-groups:

Oregon Home School Yahoo group, oregonhome

Oregon Christian Home School Yahoo Group, orchristian

Robinson Curriculum Home School Yahoo group, robinsonusers4christ

We have used the Robinson Curriculum for 10 years.  It is an amazing process of self-teaching that requires supervision and encouragement.  The students become their own best teacher and they do very well.

****Additionally:

In my experience of 20+ years of homeschooling compared with the public schools that I attended and those in our community that are attended by many children of our friends I can honestly say:

The worst day of home-school is far better than the best day of public school.****

********Double-additionally:

Home-schools have every advantage.  There is an endless supply of resources at our disposal.  For those that want to pursue sciences there are many ways to access laboratory equipment.

We have a music room!!!  Our dining room holds a piano and other instruments fit quite well into our home -- the violin and flute are two examples.  Everyone can sing too.  There have been years when we have joined others for choir performance and group lessons.  Each of my 4 children have gone to another home for piano lessons.

We even have sports equipment at home!  And imagine this... we have gym equipment too!  What we don't have we can utilize at the local fitness clubs.  Our children join many teams for everything from baseball to horse events.  My daughters both rode on the high-school equestrian team, were drill-team members (on horseback) and were champions in the district.  

Whatever *subjects* the children want to learn are available to them.  I teach them how to read and how to master the basic math facts.  They take off with the early training and follow a regular schedule of math, writing and reading.  They learn 6000+ vocabulary words that are over and above the general words that we all learn from grades K thru 12.

The educational plan that we follow is a self-teaching method.  It is very effective and enables the student to procure all of the necessary knowledge to study all the way through college.  The skills they learn are theirs for life.  They have all exceeded the educational level of myself and that of my husband.  We are here to supervise and encourage them along the path of learning.  The work is up to them and they are very capable of learning anything that they want to know. The requirements for each day are 1. Math -- one lesson with the goal of 100% accuracy, 2. Writing -- one page essay at whatever level the student is able to write, 3. Reading -- a minimum of 2 hours per day from a list of excellent literature, science, history, autobiographies, economics, etc.********

Answer 19

I have homeschooled my boys from the beginning.  They are 5.5 and 8.  They, like your daughter are young, so I don't expect them to have "academic success" as an interest.  Are they curious?  Yes!  They love to build and explore.  They love to wander through the stacks at the library and get books on whatever grabs their interest.  If you choose to remove her from school, perhaps you could find out where her interests lie.   Does she like tea parties?  Make that into a study of the Queen of England and the plants that tea comes from.  Does she like animals?  Use magazines, books, videos and websites to explore her favorite creature.  It's a stretch for  me to think of things a girl would be interested in, but I think  you get the point.  Field trips are an amazing way to get a child excited.  Learning at home looks different for every family and every child.  It is work and most certainly requires a lot of commitment.  However, it is well worth it.  Who better to teach your daughter joy for learning and a sense of discipline than you?   Two things are very important as you contemplate homeschooling, prayer and seeking out other homeschool families for support.  Good luck in whatever you decide.

Answer 20

When she was 3.

Nope, she's 4 now and just won't be going to school in September.

Motivated? Sometimes, when the mood takes her and she's interested in something she can really get into it. Disciplined? She's 4, so that would be a big fat no :-)

Too early to say about an interest in academic success unless you count pride in having mastered another letter or number or showing off a drawing or thing she's made.

School doesn't teach a discipline if you mean the kind of self motivation and love of learning that will get a child to sit down and study. It kills it. Young children learn best by doing and by asking questions, having them answered and talking about things.

Right now a tank full of tadpoles, a pile of books and some related activities are allowing my daughter to learn about frogs and other amphibians. We're doing frog art, a frog lap book (which she's writing labels for and adding her own illustrations). Every morning we check on the tadpoles, sometimes she takes photos to track their development, sometime we change some of the water and talk about why that has to be done.

Motivation and discipline aren't words to worry about. Not killing her natural love of learning is the thing.