Where do I start? Homeschooling was something I’d thought about since we found out we were pregnant with Buddy. Life kept changing and I was never “ready” to take the leap, though. Monkey joined school two years ago in Kindergarten and she just kept struggling. Her class had a few special needs kids in it that would take all the teacher’s attention and the teacher had no helper. Monkey was quiet and kept to herself so she didn’t get the help she needed. I didn’t understand because why she would come home with “belows” on her progress report because the teacher wouldn’t let me know she was struggling with things even though I was volunteering in the class every other week.
The next year I felt she was in better hands because she got a teacher that Buddy had and I liked so I figured she’d do better. She DID do better, but not great. She made big strides in reading through the year but I felt like overall school was just a social club for her.
Buddy always did great in school. Every year he would be tested for the challenge program (advanced classes) and just be a hair shy of making it in. We’ve always loved his teachers, they have not been a problem at all. All of a sudden at the beginning of last year he came home crying over math homework. Math is his favorite subject! Common core had been introduced to him and he couldn’t grasp it. I couldn’t help him with it! I emailed his teacher and we did the best we could. She didn’t get back to me til the next day, but she told me he didn’t have to worry about doing the math common core style since he understood math already. Finally at the end of last year Buddy tested for challenge and made it! He was going to go into the advanced classes starting in 4th grade.
So why make the leap? The kids were doing ok in school and Little Man was just getting ready to go to Kindergarten which would leave me with more time during my day since I’d only have a baby at home. We had promised my sister-in-law that we would go with her to check out her Catholic Homeschool conference she goes to every year. The first morning of the conference I dropped off all the registrations for the kids to go back to public school, we dropped the kids at the sitters and went to the conference. By the end of the evening my palms were sweating and I was freaking out. I had decided to take my kids out of school! We brought the kids with us the next day to the conference so they could see the curriculum we chose and so they could see that there really are a lot of people that homeschool. They had fun at the conference making crafts and picking out a few books for themselves. We even found a really good homeschool band that the kids can join!
So why? There are so many reasons, but here are a few:
1) Common Core- I don’t like it at all. I like the idea of common core; a curriculum that stretches across the US so potentially you could go to a school anywhere else in the US and not be behind or ahead. They didn’t do it right AT ALL.
2) Catholic Education- We always talked about either homeschooling or putting our kids in Private school. I would need a full time job in order to send all of our kids to Private school and to be honest, I didn’t like what I was seeing coming out of our local Catholic school, either. They ALSO switched to Common Core, so there was no escaping it there.
3) Knowing my kids better- For the past few years I’ve said that I don’t feel close to Buddy, that I don’t feel I know him. I didn’t know how to get that back. Switching to homeschool has been good for our relationship. I get to know him better and I’m loving it. I think he responds better to me now and we are building a good relationship. I’m also starting to feel closer to Monkey, which is great, because she’s always been a “daddy’s little girl.”
I am really enjoying homeschooling; much more than I ever thought I would. Do we have tough days? SURE! I go to bed every night, though, feeling more fulfilled than I ever have. At the end of the day, even rough days, I look back and say “that wasn’t bad!” I actually love homeschooling. We are doing fun things as a family that we wouldn’t have time for with public schools. We go on field trips and are planning a trip to New York during the school year next year. We are meeting great people and just all around enjoying it. Even the kids are happier about homeschool than they were in the beginning. They were not happy AT ALL. When I ask them now, they tell me that they like homeschool.
If you homeschool, what are your reasons?
I’m so glad it’s working out for you! It truly is like having a baby though, isn’t it? You can explain it to a parent to be, but until they have their little one in their arms, they won’t really understand.
I love the lifestyle and the closeness we have as a family. The lack of unnecessary stress and pressures from school to fit into a certain mold is what keeps me homeschooling, year after year.
I think Common Core is STUUUUUPID! But we don’t home school. I don’t think I’d have the patience for it. I’m glad things are going well for you all, though!!
I don’t homeschool because I don’t have pedagogical training or a degree in education. Just because I *think* I could do it better, doesn’t mean I could. There’s a reason you train to be a professional – because it requires training. Sure, I could order a phd online, doesn’t mean I’d have the training that would give me the expertise to actually do the job required. You’re also taking away the development of important lifeskills in your child’s life by taking them out of that environment. Kids learn social skills in school, they learn to problem solve in ways they just never will at home. Sounds to me you’re more concerned about what homeschooling does to make you feel good, not about what’s actually in the best interest of your kids.
As a parent who homeschooled, and just sent her daughter off to college (with a 4 year full ride scholarship at a university with very high standards) I’d have to disagree with you. I don’t have a 4 year degree in anything. With that scholarship comes the stipulation that she keeps a 3.0 gpa, which she has not had a problem attaining. She actually scores much better on her exams than her public school graduate peers. As for socialization homeschooled students have broader social skills than most traditionally schooled ones. Where in the workplace or in life in generally do you only interact with people your own age? That barely ever happens. My daughter had the chance to work her senior year of high school during school hours, and trust me she learned problems solving skills and social skills that would never have been learned behind a desk.
We’ve homeschooled since we decided that was the way we were going to educate our children back in 1997! Our oldest is going to be graduating and going off to college next year.
We wanted to homeschool because we wanted to offer them a Christian education and build a close family. Plus, we thought it was our responsibility to raise our children, not the state’s. Being away in public school eight hours a day did not seem to be the way to go to accomplish any of our goals. We believe parents know what is best for their children not any state institution.
We don’t home school, but I definitely think some children are well suited to it. Others are not. I think the results are as varied as the children themselves are. I’m glad you found what works for your family – we should all celebrate success stories, even if it’s not the path we choose ourselves.
I have a friend who started homeschooling in grade school, but when it came time for her two boys to go to middle school, she tried to put the boys back in school. They were very intelligent children, but lacked the social skills they needed and had a very difficult time making friends. They also were having a difficult time being stuck in a classroom with structure all day. The final straw was when they were struggling with some things academically, because they were not getting the one on one teaching they received at home. She pulled them out half way through the school year and resumed homeschooling the boys. Definitely think long term on this. She still home schools them and they are in high school. Her oldest is applying at colleges now, and although his state tests came back very high, he did not participate in any extra curricular school activities. Colleges value those quite a bit also. Long term homeschooling is not for everyone. It poses many challenges. You have to do what’s best for your children and family though.
The curriculum we are using this year is accredited so they will stay on or above their grade level, so I’m not worried there. I’m going to do a follow up to this post about activities we do. I am not worried about my kids and extra-curricular activities. We do scouts, sports, piano lessons, homeschool co-op, and they will join either a homeschool band or the school band as they get older. (If they choose.) All the people I’ve talked to so far about having put their kids back in school in the older years didn’t have problems with adjustments for the kids, just themselves missing their kids.
Thanks for sharing your story Paula 🙂 As parents who did public school until our daughter was in 6th grade and THEN decided to homeschool we were definitely not in the norm. So many people were questioning us then and even now when we graduated her and sent her off to college.
Would she do okay academically since she only had me as a teacher, would she fit in socially? Ha! All those worries from other people … she’s gotten A’s on her midterms and has so many friends we barely hear from her 😉 I truly believe our decision to homeschool her in middle school and high school adjusted her better to a college lifestyle than her peers (many of whom are struggling both academically and socially).
I am excited all the time to see the different projects you all do with your kids when you post them on Facebook! One on one (or one on three in your case) is always going to be better for kids than 1:13, 1:20 or in some schools 1:25. Your kids will thrive and sure, it means Mom has less time, but when they are all gone (as mine is now) you’ll realize it was worth every minute you spent with them, teaching them things they’d never learn in traditional school that they are all the better for.
We started home school from the beginning (only last year), but it was still a nerve racking decision. So glad that you are happy with your decision. Some days ARE tough, but we can do it!
I don’t, I don’t know if I could do it.
You have a beautiful family!
My husband and I were both homeschooled. In fact we met through our homeschool sports organization! Our oldest is now 5 and in Kindergarten. We decided to homeschool because we are happy with how we were both raised, we don’t feel we missed out on anything. We were always busy with homeschool sports and co-ops we had (and still have) SO many friends because of it! We aren’t against ever putting our children in public school but right now we are happy with our decision to homeschool our children.
That sounds great! I’m always happy to hear good stories of homeschooling!