Will you tell me how you started home schooling?

Question

Hi, my name is Eddie and I am a freelance writer working on an article about HSing (see I'm already getting the shorthand down, huh?) and I would like to find out how you reached the decision to start HSing.

Please share your story and include what exact circumstances led you to consider it as an option and then what finally made you move to take action (if these things occurred separately).

Additionally I'd like to hear about the results. What happened after your child was HSed? How did they do out in the big bad world (as if they were being sheltered!)? How do they feel about their education compared to the alternative?

Please note that I will not use any identifying information but may want to point out what part of the country you are from to show that this activity takes place everywhere so please include your city and/or state. i.e. I'm writing from Dallas, Texas. (I actually am)

I may also follow up with you through the PM option on these boards to ask more clarifying questions which you are obviously under no obligation to answer.

I also want you to know that I appreciate that not everyone has religious reasons for making this choice. Please don't expect me to have any preconceived ideas. I may be one of the few writers that has NOT decided how the story will end before they begin their research. That's why I write, because I like to learn too and the research is often more fun than publishing the writing!

I will be sure to publish my final article to this board when it is completed.

Thank you for considering my request. I'm sure it will not only help me but others who read this forum and are new to HSing.

Learning about learning,

Eddie Allen

(Bizfixer)

Answer 1

Hello. I think it is great that you are learning about home schooling. I am writing from Indian Head Maryland. I was home schooled for 10 years by my Mom. It all started when reached the age of PreK. I didn't want to go, so I told my mom to teach me. I know it sounds strange but I seriously did say "You teach me Momma." So thats what she did. We joined a HSing group and bought all the resources and she taught me. It was amazing and I wouldn't trade those years with my Mom for anything. Unfortunately, when I reached the 8th grade, due to family issues, my mom was unable to teach me anymore. So I went to public school for the 8th grade and high school. I must admit I struggled some socially in the 8th grade. There were several very mean girls who made fun of me because of my weight. I had never expereinced that before and I cried everyday when I went home. However, I stuck with it, and made friends and enjoyed school very much. High school was amazing and last year I graduated number 9 out of my class of 360.

So thats it in a nutshell. I hope it was helpful to you.

Answer 2

Hello,

I am a Mom of twin boys. They are now 6.

They started kinderten last yr at a public school. Things with them started early on..

They had a great teacher and she was wonderful, however their were 20 5-6 years olds in the class.

My boys had a VERY hard time with the major structure envolved. They couldn't go to the bathroom and such when they wanted. They even had a "silent lunch" in which nobody could talk. Six hours of school with 15 minutes of recess.

They were bullied on the playground. Both of my boys had an older child push them and tell them that he was going to kill them. One of my sons also had a boy slam  his fingers in a cooler (I was there).

On one occasion I overheard a teacher call a little girl "stupid".

I did make the principal and superintendant aware of all of these issues. I did not get the responses that I had wanted in all of these situations.

My Husband and I decided to look into private and homeschooling. We decided to take the homeschooling route.

I did lots of research and made a very educated decision.

We are now in our 2nd month of homeschooling and we all love it. It is such an amazing gift for our family. My sons and I spend so much time together and I know that I am their greatest teacher.

We use a structured curriculm and pretty much stick to that. My boys are very inquisitive and love to learn. The are constantly asking me question....ex. how many bones do we have in our body? and lost of things like that.

We make everyday things lessons. We drive down the road and I teach them to read the signs and what they mean.

We belong to a homeschool group that meets once a week and my boys are involved in CubScouts and baseball. They have a lot of friends and we go on a lot of field trips.

I do have to say that it is a HUGE commitment on the parents part. It takes a great deal of disclipline and learning that the laundry and housework may not always be done.

I love everything about homeschooling and I only wish that I had done it a year earlier :)

Blessings,

Heather

I can be reached via email if needed

[e-mail]

Answer 3

While I went to Parochial, Private and Public schools in two states, I was mostly unschooled at home and partially homeschooled by my mother in specific areas.

I wanted to write and my mother didn't want me typing by the peck method, so she told me I had to learn to type with all my fingers.  So at the age of 6 she started using the think system with me.  We'd do this before bed.  She'd say a letter and I had to give the hand, row and finger position.

Then we'd try it with the hand, row and finger position and respond with what letter it was.

Once I learned that in a few weeks she had me on the typewriter with the standard Secretarial school typing book (aaa space sss space).

So I was touch typing by age 7 and working on my first book which got panned by the Parochial School art festival when I was 8 years old (It was about exploring outer space and they said it "didn't glorify God" -- as I recall didn't God make the Heavens and Earth, so exploring it is NOT some type of glorification?....  Oh, well, we ALL know about critics, don't we!...).

Anyway I had a minor interest in music and my mother had been a professional musician before going into computer work.  So she taught me the essence of sheet music writing between ages 5-7.

In the Chicago Public Schools grade 4 on the first day in Music the teacher put musical notations up on the board and ask what this and that and the other was.

I raise my hand on one and proudly said, as my mother had taught me

G Clef

She said, LOUDLY...

WRONG!

The answer she wanted was Treble Clef.

Now, go look this one up in the Dictionary or Encyclopedia.  It can be called either way.

There are G Clefs, F Clefs and C Clefs in wide use in classic music.

The point I'm making is in Public School with a Music Teacher possessing a BA Degree in Music and Teacher Credentails she said

G CLEF is WRONG!

This is a big problem with the education system.  It's not what's correct or incorrect but WHAT THE TEACHER WANTS TO HEAR.

Anyway, 4th grade Public School in Chicago was the start of my distaste for organized schools systems.

Middle School in California, which was a lock down situation, with white lines you could not cross, swat paddles and a bully Vice Principal with a megaphone saying GET OFF THE WALL!

My saviors were Private Schooling in electronics at the age of 12 (tube electronics, when I watched Acme School of Stuff and the presenter said he learned electronics -- three times, I think I'm one of the few people to get the joke) and unschooling in audio, motion pictures (8mm film) and observational astronomy.

Got me my first publication in Sky and Telescope at the age of 16.

Since I got D's in Algebra 1 two times, I was placed in Study Hall major in high school and denied access to Chemistry, Physics and other advanced classes.

So I studied on my own at home.  I bought books, borrowed books from the library.  At one point I had the entire Barnes and Nobel College Abstract series.

I found myself getting into history, which used to bore me in school.

I found myself getting into math.  I decided to study Astrology.

Another story.  At my second job one of the guys we hung out with was studying to be a Math Teacher in public schools so I asked him "Explain a logarithm to me" and he told me:

"It would take to long to explain it."

I eventually summized he didn't know himself.

Einstein once said if you can't explain it so your grandmother understands it you're not explaining it correctly or don't know what you're talking about.

Unfortunately his book on Relativity gives me as much of a headache as Martin Buber's I and Thou...

Anyway, in Astrology to get planetary placements right from a Noon or Midnight ephemeris (something I was used to working with from astronomy) you had to use a Proportional Logarithm table.

This was my first glimmer at understanding what Logarithms were about.

There's a lot of math in Traditional Astrology.  And you have to look at angles of aspects, which is geometry and trig.

A friend of mine from the Astronomy club, who got all A's in school, went to JC parttime while in 12th grade, found himself in UCLA in an Astronomy major.

He handed me his calculus book and defied me to solve a problem.

I read the chapter, which explained how to do it and I did the problem.

I got the number right, but the decimal place wrong.

He was flabbergasted.  He couldn't believe I actually got the number right!

He got a D in that class, by the way.

I unschooled myself in Audio and Film work for years.  I was experimenting with anamorphics, dual projects, double system wild sound using sync marks, past producting dubbed in sound and voices.

All the stuff Stanley Kubrick did in his first two features, I found out later in time...

I also unschooled myself in photography, especially astrophotography.

Back in Chicago when I got into it, my astromer buddy had a telescope with a camera that attached to it and we kept trying to get pictures of the moon and got nothing when we took our Tri X and Verichrome Pan to Walgreens.

When I got to California there was a photo shop near me and I used to get inside and tell them my problems and they suggested I might want to try processing my own film.

I bought a Yankee kit at the age of 14 for like $15 and it had tank, tray, Tri Chem pack, tongs, clips and a contact printer.

First roll I did yelded perfect pictures of the full moon.

I was astonished.  Sharp.  You can see Copernicus and the rays of Tycho.

But it was small.

Now, when I was 4 and 5 years old I used to play around with Stereo optigons (look that one up in your Funk and Wagnals), the mostly widely remembered of which is the GAF (I used to work for them) Viewmaster Viewer.

Now obsolete.

Well, I found out if you had a white wall and a flash light and put it at the back side ground glass you could PROJECT an image on the wall by moving the unit back and forth to get a focus.

This Earth shaking discovery of mine (second only to my house cat who used to show me how he discovered Gravity) went unnoticed by the Nobel Committe, but I remembered it at age 14 and used a magnifying glass, a shoe box, a toilet paper tube, some Scotch tape (must invest in that company one day) and I managed to project a much larger image of the moon from one side of the shoe box to the other.

I taped Velox paper and started making various exposures to light and I got an enlargement.

I got the moon to fill 3" of the 4x6 paper I was using.

When I took photo in Highschool some years later I did get to play with devices I would eventually sell, that were too costly for me.

XRay Timers, TimeoLights, GraLab Timers, Calumet View Cameras and Bessler Englargers.

I got an A of course, just like I got an A in 8th grade Typing 1 due to my homeschooling in typing and writing interests.

Anyway at age 19 I moved to 16mm work and started doing documentaries for teachers out of Cal State Northridge doing research on things like why people put there kids into Ballet classes and I'd film it for them.

I started doing my own short films.

I couldn't afford sync systems to I post dubed it.

I marked off my camera settings and ran tape on my Roberts recorder and tried to find a spot that gave me at least 30 seconds of close sync.

Then I'd shoot for a minute or so.  Do another angle.  Have enough coverage so I could re-sync the sound.

I worked with natural sounds.

I devised transitions, such as the coffee pot going from full to empty.

Without any experience in sync sound work I got a job producing a TV commercial for a local firm.

One day of shooting at their location with an Arri BL camera and a sound guy we brought in who had his own Nagra.

My still photo lights.

We rented the Arri, two battery packs, a Miller Head and wood Tripod with an Angenieux 20-200 zoom.

I already had an account at Foto Kem so we used it.

Then we edited for 2 days at the F&B Ceco center.

Saturday Morning at 8 am to Monday morning at 6AM

We got moved from a faulty Moviola to a Kem flat bed.

We did both the work print and negative conforming and came out with 2 30 second commercials that played all over for ages.

We got paid $2.5K for that one.

Then I got into multi-track recording with Teac and Dokkorder 4 track machines, then Tascam 8 tracks then Ampex 16 tracks then MCI 24 tracks.

I ended up getting trained and gaining experience from #1 hit artists and people putting music into Ghostbusters and 48 Hours.

I finally produced some albums and singles for an indepdent lable that got ASCAP current performance work.

This all came from my battery Japanese tape recorders at age 8 to a Silverton Tube stereo recorder at age 11 to my Roberts at age 19.

At 17 I started getting more into music and my mother homeschooled me on theory and harmony.

She taught me the number system and how to count

(1, 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3, 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2, 7, 8)

I quickly became an arranger able to change keys for singers on the spot.

I'd also figure out songs by ear from tapes and records.

I never did reach my mothers level or sheet reading 1 page ahead, in fact I don't read well at all, but I do write music notation very well.

I did one song, an original I produced for a band, as a sheet music and when I got into computer systems I plugged it into the Midi set up and found out I got 98% of it correct.

I was wrong on two rests.  

They should have been dotted.

So I was 1/16th off in two places.

It's quite interesting to take a sheet notation you write with your ear and the piano or guitar, by hearing the song in your head and couting the beats for each note and rest and then you write it down.

Then you plug it into a MIDI computer system the way you wrote it and play it back and it's ALMOST perfect on first try.

Makes you feel good.

I homeschooled in computers.  I'd walk into Radio Shack and there are these 10 year old on the TRS80 and I felt a little impotent.

With my earning from my first record I bought an Atari ST with a ton of software.

This was back in the days when a XT was $4,000

A hot computer, back then, had double sided 3" 1.2 MB floppy drives or a 20 MB hard drive and 1 MB RAM.

I taught myself BASIC, C and Modual2

I actually started with a Kaypro II and MBASIC and moved to the Atari and ST Basic.

I moved to the XT I got used at an auction for $150 with 640 KB RAM and dual sided 5" drives.

I moved to Quick Basic

I got a Compiler for my Atari

I got access to a Mac 68k and Mac BASIC and worked with that

I got an Amiga and worked with Amiga BASIC

One of the first programs I wrote was to figure all the aspects for Astrology work.

I would put in the positions and the Proportional Logarithm and it would do the math for me and give me an orb for each aspect.

Now remember I got Ds in Algebra in Middle School

Here I am doing geometry programming on a computer

I moved to Visual BASIC and designed data bases for libraries so users could down load their offerings and see what rental and sales prices were, what titles and important information was available.

I did this by extracting from that main data base I expanded from one created by a Software Developer who eventually went to work for Norton.

I took his basic dBase design and expanded it three times using Alpha 4 and then Alpha 5

I created invoices, order forms, forms for each items to show in, out and upcomings.

The data bases merged with each other.

A customer calls up and I call up the order form, import the customers shipping and billing info from past history or CREATE A NEW ONE of the fly.

Then I call in the items they want, find out which print is avaiable (we dealt with films) and earmarked it for them.

I moved them from a "tubs" file system using cards (much like Hopsitals used to use) to a virtual system that did the orders, marked the outs and ins, did the billing and did the UPS manifest.

I did their web site and downloadable items like that Data Base.

We used to teach college professors at that archive where I worked.

My boss was one of the FOREMOSTS experts in Cinema History, Animation History, Music Film History (he was a jazz buff and a jazz musician, so we got along well), History of Color, History of Sound on Film.

Our clients included Leonard Maltin, DAvid Shepard, Kevin Brownlow, Pauleen Kael,  Tony Slide, Hugh Hefner, Entertainment Tonight, ABC News, Donald Crafton, Gerald Mast, Bruce Kawin (go look them all up  -- Google them),  Douglas Trumbull, Lucas Film - THX, Warners, Fox, Epic Records, d**k Scott and every major film school and univeristy in America.  We worked on the AFI special projects which yelded their compendiums on films from 1895 to the 1950s, we had one of the largest collections of early women filmmakers, animation, Snader Telescriptions and Soundies.

20 years there turned me into one of the foremost experts in Cinema History.

I turned that into an article for Technical Photography.

Which all leads back to me at age 6 wanting to write an my mother homeschooling me in touch typing.

Today I am exploring Organic Chemistry with one of the foremost professors in the field on the INTERNET, free of charge.

I do this because I'm interested in it and was denied it by the school system because I got a D in Algebra 1 two times.

My working programming took me into LOG e (I have a cousin who is a math professor and I called him about Log e and he couldn't tell me much, despite the fact he wrote a book on the Slide Rule and taught math for 40 years).

Sine, Cosine.

My work in video also took me into Sine and Cosine.

TV is based on this concept.

That's how your analog broadcast signal works, from A/C line current SINE

I'd ask college graduates about SINE and COSINE and all they'd tell me is it's a ratio

I wanted to know about HARMONY

They tell me that's advanced Masters material

I learned a little about it from the internet by exploring and looking at waves on boats on waves.

Why is this important, because in programming we use it to draw circles and arcs

Because SIN, COS, TAN are all part of programming.

They are TRIG functions

I wanted to know how they interact.

I used to go to three colleges to reasearch things.  At one I found, by accident, a translations of an Astrology Book from 300 BC and I copied it.  It was a Doctorial Dissertation.  Found it quite interesting.

They used SQUARE star charts instead of round ones like we use today.

I was actually there researching women filmmakers for a book and found this one by accident.

So I segued

I'd be researching dozens of sources from six libraries and hear and undergraduate girl complaining

MY HISTORY PROFESSOR WANTS SEVEN REFERENCES!

I was on my 50th reference and couldn't help but laughing.

My article would only pay about $400 and I was going to many libraries and reading hundreds of books and photocpying 50 reference works.

She was complaining about seven for a class she was paying for!

Kids....

It's a shame youth is wasted on the young!

Answer 4

Well Mr. Allen, here is your first story ( good for you seeking insight).

We live in Orlando Fl and I spent 13 yrs as a Preschool Teacher...never thought I would become a Stay-at-home/HS mom since I enjoyed my work. Our daughter was born in '98 and I looked forward to becoming a Room Mom and being on the PTA (all the stuff that goes with  Public School).

In 2000 our daughter suffered and survived from a episode of Venom Anaphalactic Shock (allergy to venomous insects) which sent her into Cardiac Arrest 2xs and robbed her of 02 for 5 mins....our fist setback. In '03 she was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Lukemia). She had just started Pre-K and while we made it through that first year at school, she was home sick more often than not. We continued to attempt the system until her 1st grade yr when an unbending and uncareing Principal started problems...daughter couldn't have her Epipen or Inhaler (she had also developed asthma), if she wasn't confined to a hospital bed (which was happening more and more) then she was to be in school..no matter how sick she was. Daughter was having a hard time learning to read, this woman called her Stupid to her face, took her from her 1st grade classroom (in front of her classmates) and put her BACK in Kindergarten.

  There was no 'let's get her tested or let's get her some help'. I had already quit my job from her being home so much. My husband and I discussed our options (Private was out---too much $$$$), and 2 wks after she was sent back to K, we removed her from the Public and didn't look back.

****side note**** she was also bitten duing a PE class during that 2 wks...rushed to the hospital...suffered ANOTHER Cardiac Arrest and I wasn't informed for 2 HOURS****

We are now in our 4th yr of HS and LOVE it. I play to her strengths and use lots of hands-on. We do not use any particular curriculum--- we DO use Ray's Arithmetic which is a 150 yr old proven math program and McGuffey's Readers and Speller. Everything else is pieced together. We take advantage of Living History, Field Trips, computer programs, Leap pad, Jumpstart, etc.

Because daughter is HSed, we do NOT have to worry about the FCAT test, she is evaluated yearly (and yes I have held her back), turn in our portfolio( this is all her schoolwork for the year)  yearly, she doesn't spend as much time being sick and learns outside the box.

Daughter wants to be a Palentologist when she grows up ( she is 9yrs old and 3rd grade right now) and yes she knows what it means, what it entails and how to spell it.

This is a child who has Asthma, ALL, Venom Anaphalaxia and suffers Mild Autism. She is around other children as health allows, is not 'sheltered', can carry on an INTELLIGENT conversation relating to most things with an adult, does get frustrated when her thoughts 'get away' due to the Autisum and is set in her goals.

Religon has only played a part in that  as much as it has helped us keep our sanity.

All of this caused me to start my own Hs group (not alot in our area) called Precious Child of Home Academy.

So there you have it. I hope that this helps you in your search. Feel free to contact at [e-mail]  if you need anything.

'Homeschool--where Life and Lessons intertwine'

Answer 5

My son has Asperger's Syndrome - on the Autistic Spectrum.  He  was going into the middle school system.  Grade 5 - lockers, different teachers, different rooms, etc.  I knew it would be extremely difficult for him to deal with but I didn't think I could hs either.  However, I didn't have much choice in the matter.  

I brought home all 3 kids and went for it.  I discovered that it was easier then I thought.  After all the fights and meltdowns over homework, I was scared!  

I found out that when we homeschool, I get them in the morning when they are fresh, happy and not stressed out.   School left him so emotionally drained at the end of the night that we fought all the time.  The 4-6pm hours were the worst!  All the kids were tired so they fought constantly.  We no longer have that.

I can tweak my curriculum to suit my child.  The first year we homeschooled he did nothing but K'nex.  It was an educational set that included math, science, social and language arts.  What a joy it was to see him excited.  

I have 2 others, both girls.  One is 9 with severe dyslexia and LD.  We can go as slow as she needs rather then the class moving so fast that she can't keep up.  My other is 11 and she is on the gifted end of the spectrum.  She was bored out of her mind at school.  At home she can research and discover as much as she wants rather then saying "oh we've been at this subject for 20 minutes, it's time to change!".

We'll never go back if we can at all help it.   Even when I had to work full time for 8 months, I took the kids in the van with me (we run a delivery company) and they did school in the vehicle.   It's worth it!

We're in Alberta, Canada by the way.

Edit:  We've been homeschooling for over 4 years now.  My son's confidence level has gone up so much since being at home in a secure environment that he now makes friends where ever he goes.   Which is wonderful for an Asperger kid.

He even went to camp this last summer to work.  He spent 5 weeks working out there on his own.  I truly believe that would never have happened if he'd been in the system getting bullied and picked on like he had been back in elementary school.

Answer 6

Hi Eddie. I'm 15 (just!) and have been home educated all my life, 'cept for 5 weeks. We live on a dual sheep and cattle station (with a pedigree horse stud on the side - my mum's business) in remote Australia.

There are no schools up here so us kids were always going to be home educated, as were our parents and grandparents before us. So, for my family, there was no "decision to homeschool" - where we live dictates that it is either home education or no education.

Me personally, the way I started being home educated was when I was aged about 2 and I started pestering my older siblings' governess to play 'school' with me!

Answer 7

Great topic to write about. I'd love to see the finished result.

Anyway, I'm in the process of homeschooling my son, who is 3 years old. I am the daughter of a NYC school teacher; I come from a family where there was a significant concentration on academics. I attended some fine public schools, where there were countless programs available for advanced enrichment, but it seems that many of these programs have vanished.

My initial interest in homeschooling my son, came after an living in Europe. I was very surprised that many students spoke their native tongue, as well as a second, sometimes third language. Then, my interests went a little farther, when I further investigated some of the studies of children in other countries.  

While schools in the US were eliminating homework, typically because parents complained that their children were spending too much time in the books, children abroad, were exposed to advanced mathematics and very progressive science programs.

My son is attending a secular preschool at the moment, as I think it's crucial that he make friends and learn to socialize, but he is the only bilingual child in his entire class. At home, he and I work on a preschool curriculum that I have tailored. We do it in English, then in Spanish and some things we do in Italian, French and sign language.

I cannot say what the future of my son will be, but I try my hardest to make learning fun for him, but exposure and diligence, on my part will be critical for his educational success.

Answer 8

I am always for cooperating with the press when they want to represent homeschooling in an honest light.

I have two daughters- a toddler and an almost 9 year old. We had kicked around the idea to homeschool prior to conception. After our daughter was born it just became more and more important to us. When it was almost her 5th birthday we began doing it unofficially (due to age it would not be until her almost 6th birthday that she would be eligible for Kindergarten).

Our reasons for homeschooling were actually multiple. First, the school systems everywhere are a letdown. It is not just city schools. My husband is from a small town in NC, and I am from Miami. We both had lots of issues with our educational inadequacies.

Second, the violence in schools just gets worse and worse. Peer pressure, early s*x/drugs also weighs in on these factors. Honestly, as my daughter enters pre-puberty I am even more convinced that I am doing the right thing for her.

I currently live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I run a support board for homeschoolers here in my area. I would be happy to provide you with any additional answers you may need. I can also provide your contact information for interviews to many other homeschooling families. I would also be happy to share your publication when completed with my fellow homeschoolers.

Answer 9

We are in rural area in the south.  My husband's reason to start homeschool was the behavior or children in the school where he worked.  My reason was because my son was not learning in public school.

We, both parents, work outside the home and school our 10th grade student with flexible schedules.  We use used text books, online, library, television, video, audio, etc.   We use all cheap or free resources.

Our results have been his testing at much higher grade level,his increased interests in learning, and improvement in  reading comprehension .

He has many friends and stays busy with social activities and community sports.

Answer 10

I started by watching my sister homeschool 4 of her 5 and saying I don't see how you do that. I can't there's no way I can home school my kids! I watched her do it for 8 years with her kids devloping faster and learning more than mine. Well last year I had moved to a new area and the school my kids we're placed in was too say the least a bad school. My kids were bullied and beat up on the bus and the driver , the principal, and the teachers did nothing to stop it. My 2nd grade daughter was also doing about 4 hours of homework every night with home work on the weekends. I started asking my self what I was doing and it dawned on me I WAS home schooling. Well if my kids are in a public school and I am still home schooling then what are the kids going to school for? My husband and I had a long talk that night and the next day we talked with my sister she gave us a sample letter of intent for the state, pointed us to hslda, and gave us a ciricullium for 2nd grade. We started it as a lets try it and see what happens. My husband and I were actually excited about it. His family was against it and of course were outspoken about it. We had to stand together and defend our rights as parents to do as we wished. Now we are well into a new year and are educating our 2 oldest and we plan to home school through high school.

We are in Mandeville, La