This question is for parents who decide to homeschool their kids; I am just curious why you decide to do that.

Question

I have nothing against home schooling. I am totally PRO it, but I have always been so curious as to HOW and WHY parents decide to homeschool their kids and WHAT IS/ARE THE KIDS' REACTION(S) to this when you tell them?

I know sometimes people are homeschooled because of disabilities (like my friends sister), but what other reasons are there? Does it sometimes have to do with religion/culture/problems at school/etc?

Answer 1

well my son has crohns that is why but i have two daughters 26 and 24 and from the school experiences i decided to check into it my two daughters eventually went out of public into private school public schools are full of foul mouthed kids who talk about drugs s*x and anything Else that doesn't protean to school teachers who could care less because they have 30 kids to deal with germs nasty programs that push your child ahead regardless public schools are over crowded narrow minded hypocrites who don't give a darn about anything  home school makes kids excel never pier presser or drugs or crappy teachers home schooling is the way of the future programs are sweeping the world

Answer 2

I first thought of homeschooling when I was teaching, before I even had my kids. Just little clicks of 'insight' or realizations, if you will, of how school is not designed to serve the children. The single-age groupings are a bad idea in terms of social growth, the academics are so rigid (and tested that you must conform as a teacher) that you have no choice but to leave some be lost and don't often have the time to help advance in some way those who are capable. (My district's solution for general neighbourhood schools was to have a once-a-week pull-out program which lasted about 2 hours for the gifted children; meanwhile, the rest of the week, they're bored for the most part.) I also realized that each year, I was the primary caregiver for that group of kids and something in me just felt they ought to be with their parents more. It just all really got me thinking.

Before our daughter was even a year old, it was my dh who brought up the idea of homeschooling. He's a jr. high teacher and the social atmosphere really concerned him. He said that if things continued that way, he did not want to see her in school, at least not until high school (he's since been rethinking even the idea of sending her to high school as things are worsening where we live). I told him I already didn't want her in school.

Our primary reason was therefore socialization: we did not want our children adopting the mores, behaviours, attitudes, etc., of the society present in our schools here. And it's a huge burden on a young child to expect them to stand up against it--they're kids, not yet in a stage of development that can reason through it all.

As our daughter grew, academics become our secondary reason. We knew kindergarten would be a waste of time for her--beginning to read and doing basic addition and subtraction at 3 is not conducive to finding kindergarten at age 5 very challenging. We also knew academically that a personalized program gives the best education and as teachers, wished we could give that to all of our students.

Since beginning to homeschool, the realization that we are encouraging family attachment rather than peer attachment has been something we see as a definite bonus. The flexibility in scheduling is great. That they don't have to spend most of the day sitting in desks is fantastic. Many more benefits.

I think back to my own childhood, of being at school all day, coming home, watching an hour or so of TV (because that's what we did to relax), then supper, homework and to bed. My kids have something really great--lots and lots of free time to be creative, develop and solve problems, figure out what to do with their time. The only time they ever complain of being bored is if they're tired or if they've had daily tv time for a week. There is so much to do and they have most of their time to figure out what it is they want to do instead of being told what to do.

School was designed to be a substitute for parents who were unwilling or unable to educate their children, or unable to further their children's education beyond what the parents had given. It never should have been a blanket replacement of parents raising and educating their children.

We never announced to our kids we were going to homeschool them. Dd, when she was maybe 4 or something, asked about when she'd go on the school bus and I said that the kids who did school in other buildings sometimes took buses, but other kids did school at home and didn't need to take the bus. I added that she was going to do school at home with me. I don't remember it being a problem. My son has never assumed he was going to go to school and has even said that he doesn't want to go to school.

"Does it sometimes have to do with religion/culture/problems at school/etc?"

Definitely. While religion and culture (if you mean a minority culture at odds with the majority around, and not just general societal issues) aren't reasons I've come across where I live, I'd say the majority of homeschoolers I know are parents who pulled their children from school after problems developed. For some, their kids weren't being challenged; for others, issues weren't being dealt with effectively and no amount of advocating was working. Many of these parents come to see other benefits of homeschooling and wished they'd started out with homeschooling in the first place. "I'm glad to have my kids back" is something I've heard more than once.

Answer 3

My mother decided to homeschool me because of how terrible the local public schools were where we lived.  I hated school and the children (as well as a couple teachers) were very rude to me.  My once strait As started to turn into Fs as a result.  I love being homeschooled and, if possible will probably homeschool any children I may have in the future.  I have had many oppurtunities that I would not have gotten otherwise, such as volunteering and other activities with friends.  

The reason I would want to homeschool any children I may have would be mainly for the reason of poor education in America today.  I believe children are currently taught to think how the school systems want them to think, instead of for themselves.  Also, I feel homeschooling can prepare children much more so for the "real world" than public schools do.

Answer 4

Well, my older two were in school for five years, the next two for two years. The younger ones have never been to school. Their reaction? They love it. they love being home, they love the freedom to live and learn on their own time, in their own way. Our neighborhood school is nice, for what it is. It's small, maybe 300 kids, but the building is small with about 30 kids per classroom. The PTA is active and raises money for computers and playground equipment, but they treat differently abled kids as pariah. Otherwise it's great.

I homeschool each of my kids for a different reason.

My oldest has aspergers, he has some social problems but is highly gifted. The school could not academically challenge him, in the fourth grade he asked a question about solving something algebraically, and the teacher told him, Algebra is too hard, you have to wait til high school. Um, hello, it's not hard, we use it every day!

My second has severe autism, but above average intelligence. Again they could not accommodate her ability to learn with her very different learning styles. They couldn't understand that while she needed help just being in the building, she could learn everything that they were teaching. At the end of 2nd grade, she couldn't do any math, couldn't read, didn't even know how to use a ruler.

My third child is completely typical, no disabilities. She too is highly gifted, and was bored. Everything they were doing, she had already learned. She is sensitive as well, and did not like the way kids treat each other.

My fourth child is very artistic, no disabilities. After kindergarten she hated school because while she was trying to learn about different art techniques (Renoit, Van Gogh, etc) her teacher was concerned about 'following orders' and 'coloring in the lines'. Well, okay, but how is paint by number really helpful in the long run? Being told to color the hair yellow and the shirt red and the pants brown is kind of boring, stupid and has no relevance in the real world. And I realized all of academia is like that, it's not until college, when you have CHOICE, that you learn anything useful.

My fifth child is a boy, he is typical but tends to be hyper. He received speech at the school when he was four through early intervention, and I decided he needed to be homeschooled after I overheard the teacher and counselor discussing how once he started school they'd have to push for meds. He's a tactile learner, and they can't accommodate that, it messes up their curricula and schedule, so they want to put him on drugs.

All five of the above reasons, intensified and became issues in the same two month period. it was very obviously a sign that it was time to homeschool.

My six child, also a boy, is at home because the older kids are at home. My seventh, my baby is 22 months old....and we'll homeschool her too. Nothing to do with religion or culture, and in hindsight, I love how much time we have as a family now, how we can take vacations whenever we want. I love how we can have a busy day where everyone is learning something new, and we can have laid back days where we just hang out and talk. I love all their new friends...and how they can just be together without all the pressures of homework and popularity and drama.

Answer 5

I plan on homeschooling my son.

I planned on it from the very moment I moved from my home town.

I am the daughter of a school teacher and was raised in a home where education came before everything else. Ironically, my own mother met me with opposition, initially.

I find that our schools, including most private schools, are far behind, with regards to academia. I have friends from around the world and I'm always amazed when I learn what they covered in their elementary classes, not to mention that advanced sciences and mathematics that high schoolers get in other countries.

What I always find interesting, is when I mention that I plan to homeschool my son, people automatically assume that it's for religious reasons. That's not the case.

To ensure that he's properly socialized, I'll have to work my butt off to get him out and get him involved in activities, but I'm really excited about working with him.

My husband and I agreed that we'd try it for a year and if things don't work, I'll consider charter schooling him or a private school.

insert: also, like the first poster said, I do not like the fact that American schools wait so late to introduce a foreign language. I've lived in other countries and I can tell you that just about every where you go, natives speak their language and at least one other, in addition to English.

The US is failing, badly.

Answer 6

My reason for homeschooling is that my son was not learning in public school.  The teachers said he was performing at his potential.  They did not expect him to do his work. They did not expect him to learn.  He did not qualify for LD resources but did not learn in classroom setting due to being easily distracted and problems learning in traditional style.

My husband's reason to homeschool was that he drove a school bus.  (I drive a school bus but I was numb to the behavior issue after a few years.)  Two weeks on the job of driving the bus, he came home and said it was time to homeschool.  He could not believe the rudeness, disrespect, and lewd behavior of high school students.

My kid's reaction.  Ecstatic!

We spent the first few weeks of homeschooling getting him out of the habit of saying "I'm stupid", and "I can't learn this".  His confidence level increased.  He is not to the point that he likes learning, but he is at the point that education is not painful. The best thing is that he tested at 11th grade level for reading comprehension after less than 2 years of homeschooling.

He is not homeschooled because of disabilities but because he learns better with individual attention and material adapted to his learning style and interest.  

He has homeschool and public school friends.

Answer 7

I was homeschooled because my school was insane and teaching way below my abilities. I learned to read when I was three, and had finished all the fifth-grader books by the end of second grade.

I was sort of iffy about being homeschooled. When we left, we left abruptly and earlier than we meant to so I hadn't had the time to meet other homeschooled kids in a group- I essentially left my deteriorating school situation without expecting it and then didn't have any friends until the end of fourth grade.

It was rough at first, but I like it now.

I would never, ever go back to school. American schools are so, so slow and the one in my neighborhood has s*x in the halls, security guards, metal detectors, and gang connections.

I'm learning German and after that I'm going to learn either Spanish or French, probably French.

I'm in an online AP class and the fact that it's college level is just depressing. The only hard thing has been figuring out how to budget the time; the subject matter is pathetic. I could have done it three years ago.

Basically, I just want to get the same kind of education as Europeans do.

Answer 8

The reason we started was due to my son.  I figured he would struggle in the middle school system here.  

So we pulled all 3 kids out.

The reason we continue is because of the lifestyle and the advantages that come with hs'ing.  We love the flexibility, the curriculum we can choose from, the opportunities they have that they could not do if they were in school, and the fact we love it.

Answer 9

I'm homeschooled and was for 7 and 8 grade becuase that can be the worst times of the years for schooling as my mom said. Also to really follow their dreams exp: I really want to go to cullinary school early and start my own resturaunt so i can get ahead becuase i'm homeschooling and graduate collage earlier and do cooking at an early age- also again with college homeschooling helps kids make their own schedules and be flexible which rly helps with collge! that's what my mom told me!

Answer 10

We originally started because our oldest was just not getting what he needed from the public schools. We fought for years trying to get him the help he needed and when I finally realized that I could teach him better than any school we pulled him out.

We love it so much we pulled the other three ,who were of school age, out the next year. I also have 4 others who have never/ will never see a *school*

There are now many many reason we continue to homeschool... the main one being our beliefs being different than that of the mainstream public school system.

We had *mixed* reactions from the kids when we told them what we were going to do.. now for the most part they love being home!!

Answer 11

-it's safer

-it's more flexible

-it's more independent

-better sense on where you stand.

Answer 12

I decided to homeschool my son, because the school he was attending did not give him challenging work at his grade level.  Upon 1st grade admittance, he complained of boredom and of having to do "baby work" that he done at a private home learning center in kindergarten.  

Because of this, I spoke to his 1st grade teacher who talked about having to go over concepts agan and again, because "they just don't get it."  I then asked what her curriculum/goals/plans were for the year, and her answers were vague.  Additionally, during my conversation with her, I realized that she did not have high expectations for her class.  After all, although this was supposed to be a better magnet school program, these children were in an urban environment and could not achieve great things per the experts.

Also, during the first four days of school, the teacher already had to deal with chronic discipline problems in some students.  After four days of the magnet public school, I pulled my son out.

Subsequently, I began to school him via a "public school at home" virtual charter school which required that you teach your child 5 hours a day at home and for them to attend a 1.5 hour science class once a week at a downtown learning center.  However, this was not a good fit, because my son's attention span (he was 6 years old then) would not allow him to be taught for 5 hours a day.  After 7 short weeks, I pulled him out of the virtual charter school and began to homeschool him with the curriculum of my choice.

Since then, he has been evaluated and diagnosed as "cognitively gifted," along with some challenges.  He is, however, excelling in the homeschool environment.  If I graded his assignments, he would be getting straight "As."  However, the grades are not important to me; the fact that he is mastering concepts and learning are most important to me.

His initial reaction about being homeschooled was not positive, and at the age of 6, he had to be deschooled.  He had attended two years of public school pre-K and a year of kindergarten at a private Christian home learning center.  He only thought he could learn, have friends, and have play time at school.  However, he is now enjoying being homeschooled.  

Those were my initial reasons for homeschooling; I had done very little research on homeschooling when I pulled him out of school, but I knew since I had high expectations of my child that I could do a lot better than a teacher who lumped all the children into "they just don't get it," regarding their abilities.  Now I homeschool, because I can teach my child about God, do Bible study, work on character building, etc. along with academics.  I have come to understand that homeschooling is not just about academics, but that it promotes a close, loving, united family; it is a lifestyle.

That's my story of how I began to homeschool.

Answer 13

We live in a very violent city.  The gang problem is bad, the drug problem is bad.  I know what it's like to go to school where you don't know if you are going to be attacked in the bathroom, or accused of being racist if you only date your own race - then get threatened because of this.  My son was attending a Lutheran private school from pre-school thru mid 5th grade.  I wanted him to have a safe, good education.  The teachers would send home hours of homework for him to do, but not do a very good job during the day teaching him, so I ended up teaching him in the evenings after working all day.  When I would his last teacher to discuss even the most trivial issue (even though he told me to call if there are any questions), he would go into a rant for a half hour - yelling at the top of his voice.  It was very expensive and not productive.  I thankfully got to retire early, and decided after the 3rd time that the teacher yelled at me to just homeschool him.  He has been homeschooled now for 2 1/2 years, and has gone from having math phobia to loving the challenges of Algebra, loves learning and is getting great grades thru the correspondence course I am teaching him.  It was one of the best decision I've ever made.  Socialization?  He socializes with his friends on the week-end.  Many of his former classmates from the Lutheran school who are still in the Lutheran system despise school, struggle with their grades, some are so stressed they have turned to drugs or alcohol.  Private schools push kids to the limit because they want to assure funding, and in order to do that, they teach the kids at a grade or two higher than their actual age/grade level.  Their idea of "helping" children learn is to punish those who fail a, let's say, math test by making them sit in the hall and watch the rest of the class have a pizza party.  The teachers are often parents who need a reduced tuition, and are far from qualified.  Sure, they take a class or two and go to seminars, but they have no true desire or ability to teach children.  I would highly discourage people from sending their children to a private Christian school.  It sounds great - learning in a loving Christian environment.  But reality is, it was not a loving Christian enviroment at the school my son attended, and the teachers weren't fit to teach a dog to sit.

Answer 14

For my family, it's a geographical thing...and political...and social...and cultural thing.

The whole concept that their kids might, should or could attend a public school is never considered by anyone up here: the closest primary school is a 5 hour drive away and the closest high school is something like 1,000 kms (roughly 600 miles) away.  

Up here, it is normal and expected that all kids will homeschool up until the age of 12 or 13. That's how my parents and grandparents were educated.

It used to be that at about 13 years old, kids went away to private boarding schools in the cities. A few kids still do go away to school at 13 but these days it tends to be kids from either very rich or very small families (if either exist anymore!) or they're from mining families so the mining companies will pay their school fees for them.

Nowadays kids like me and my siblings, our neighbours and probably 80% of the high school aged kids in the shire are, for a thousand political and social reasons, staying at home and being

home educated right through to the end of year 13. So much so that a couple of years ago the State expanded their provision for online and correspondence courses beyond year 7 to go up to year 13 for the first time in over 100 years of providing correspondence lessons to kids growing up out here in the Bush.

Hence the age old chestnut on here about how homeschooled kids are separated from their peers and doomed to be social misfits doesn't hold water for me. Up here anyone who did go to public school would be the odd one out and viewed as being "the freak", lol.

Answer 15

My last one I started homeschooling from day 1 due to medical reasons, and we have continued because it has been a great life for all of us and he is able to move along at his own pace in each subject separately.  

My first one was dual schooled.  She was unable to read in 3rd grade in public school and was unable to do math.  They said she needed no intervention because she "tested within normal limits."   Also she had done amazing science experiments, but had absolutely no base of science knowledge.  So the experiments were lost on her completely (the school system had "changed their science program" just as she entered school and were "tweaking" it. Unfortunately they lost about 4 yrs worth of students in their transition period).  We dual schooled her.  She learned reading, math , science and composition/grammar at home and we let the school handle what they were doing best at the time:  art, music, social studies, field trips, etc.  She wasn't happy when we did it, but agreed that she "needed help" (she was only 8)  She was at or above grade level in all our subjects within 4 yrs.  And went on to achieve honors in high school.  

Both children have had a firm foundation in our Christian beliefs at home and in our church community and so in any setting they know their core beliefs and can make their own judgements.  Sometimes they are good or the right ones, sometimes they make mistakes.  Its part of living.

I have been a part of the homeschooling community for years and years and can truly say, the vast majority of the homeschoolers I have met are wonderful people, contributing members of society, many are young entrepeneurs, many are political and social cause leaders, many religious leaders.

I have seen a few, however, finish homeschool and regret the experience.  ALL of them had been in public schools for many many years before being pulled out and brought home and not one of the three were given voice when the decision was made.  They were kids who struggled in school, struggled at home and became struggling adults.  Hate to say it......but some people are miserable wherever life finds them.  IMHO

Answer 16

well, im a homeschooler, not a parent, but a student. I decided to homeschool because i was traveling so much, and because i was helping all th eother kids with there work and not getting all mine done. it is working really  good and i love it. By the way, its not always the parents decision, i had to beg my mom to give it a try and now she is so glad she did.

Answer 17

Several of my friends / family members have home-schooled their children, and I will mine (hope hope).

For me personally, USA education isn't even in the top 25 western countries. Our kids are (pardon) - stupid. Also, I don't want my kids being taught "intelligent design" but not taught s*x ed. I want them to learn at least 1 additional language (I speak 2), hopefully 2 other than english. In other words, I want knowledge to prevail over contemporary politics.

Answer 18

The people I know have done it for a myriad of reasons.  Most are not satisfied with what is happening in Public schools and can't afford private schools.

For myself- I don't have any kids yet- but I tend to favor home school for many reasons.  One is that schools are becoming socialistic and liberal.  Everyone has to be exactly the same- ie No child left behind.  There really is not a lot of tolerance for children with different learning styles- those kids end up in special ed or they end up having behavior programs.  Home School gives you the option to move your child along at their own pace.   I have a nephew who absolutely excels in some areas and is ahead in those areas, but struggles in other areas.  Home school is great with him he can work at the different levels in these different subjects.  

Another thing that I like about Home school is that you can teach your children about character and that character matters.  They won't get that in public school.  Kids learn that a persons worth depends on where they buy their clothes and how fancy their house is.  That is what the social hierarchy in public schools teach our children.  Kids are not popular because they have great characters, they are popular because they shop at the right stores and know how to bully those who don't meet their standards.  Those are not the social skills a lot of parents want their children to learn.

Then there is the growing need for endless Zero Tolerance policies- they make me crazy.  My Niece who is in Middle School was talking about the Zero tolerance physical touch policy in her school.  She said that they aren't even allowed to shake hands with their peers because that is physical contact and physical contact is simply not allowed.   That is completely insane and just an example of how they are just taking things too far.  I figure by the time my future kids get to be that age, they will each have their own cubicle that has bullet proof walls where they can't see other kids, just the teacher and they will have a computer to do all their learning.  That way, no school shooter can get to them, they won't have any physical contact with their peers, they won't be able to tell anyone their behavior is wrong, they will just be locked in this cubicle all day just so that some NEA trained teacher can teach them how to be political correct.   Ok- maybe that is a bit of an Stretch but it is certainly going that way.  But I digress.

I think really for many parents it is about teaching values, building character and giving their children a good quality education- that is not happening in public school.  Private and charter schools are making strides in these areas, but I worry especially with charter schools, that the government will get their way and ruin those schools too.

Also I think that schools should be a privilege that every person can have so long as they behave and mind their manners.  No child should be entitled to school regardless how poorly they behave.

Answer 19

I home school for two reasons. The first being that I was born and raised were I am raising my son.And even 20+ years ago when I attended public school here it sucked.The school system were I am from pushes through the jocks regardless of their education level.I know some people who graduated and couldn't read.While everyone other than the star athletes just get blown off and forgotten about.There has also been a long standing cover up when it comes to the violence in the public school system down here.There are 8 year olds carrying 9mm handguns to school.And the little thugs are allowed right back into the same school with the other children that they terrorized.

The other reason I home school is because my son is an severe asthmatic and they won't allow him to have his meds on his person.They want them locked up in the office across campus from were he would be at.And so basically they  are putting my child's life in jeopardy.Because he could die before he reached his meds.

Answer 20

There are many different reasons people homeschool, including some you mentioned.

My daughter asked to try homeschooling after six years at public school. She is a quick student and was bored of wasting so much time at school and with homework. Now she gets her schoolwork done by 1 or 2pm every day and has plenty of time to be with friends, and participate in 4H, church youth group, read, volunteer at the animal shelter, hang out with the family. Free time all afternoon and no homework on evenings or weekends.

Because we live in an area with lots of homeschoolers, we also participate in homeschool choir and sports league, field trips, science co-op.

Mostly she appreciates being more in control of her time. She is enrolled in a virtual high school that's a lot more like college than regular high school. California Virtual Academy, www.caliva.org. The instructor sets due dates, holds weekly online classes, office hours.