Possibly Interested in Home Schooling

I homeschooled my 5 children for many years, 2 graduated from homeschooling in fact. This is my advice.

As many people that reply here that's how many opinions you'll get. It's not a decision to be made lightly and requires a great deal of time, energy and patience from you. AND it's near impossible to do without the support of your husband. BUT it is the most rewarding thing I've ever done. And don't let anyone tell you that you're not qualified because you don't have a college degree. There are so many helps out there for parents it's mind boggling, can be too boggling in fact.

This website offers some great help and advice http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/methods/CharlotteMaso...

If you can find some local families that homeschool that would be a wonderful resource. You can ask them all kinds of questions, perhaps sit in on their day. This is the time of year for conventions as vendors are wanting to sell you their curriculum. Those are great places to go to hear various speakers, get ideas and some great deals. However, you can fall into the trap of OOOO I call it where everything looks wonderful, fun an a must-have and you can go bankrupt & end up overwhelmed. Best to do some homework (no pun intended) before you go in there. Most women I knew went to these things with a literal shopping list having done their research ahead of time.

Best thing you can do is find out what curriculum you want to use & stick to it. It's less frustrating that way, consistent for the children & less expensive in the long run. Right now with the kids the ages they are I would look at a free online resource called www.letteroftheweek.com I used this with my youngest for preschool/K and we loved it.

And we also always belonged to a homeschool support group. One group we were very active with was a education coop where we came together each Friday for 12 weeks in the Fall & 12 weeks in the Spring & did coop teaching. My kids took classes (4-1 hour) in subjects such as Algebra, Science, Drama, Music, Latin, Spanish, History and Writing. It was wonderful!

It's really hard to condense years of experience into a short reply. I know that I treasure most every moment we home schooled our children. Like with other aspects of parenting, there are days I would've rather flipped burgers at McDonald's than teach my kids. But I knew those days would pass & they were few & far between. THe time I got to spend with them, getting to know them the way I do, share my faith with them, and to do things that ps kids didn't get to do was wonderful!!

If you want to talk further, please feel free to email me privately at ____@____.com

4 moms found this helpful

Thinking ahead, talking with other homeschooling families, and weighing pros and cons, I think, is a good first step in considering the option of homeschooling.

It can be scary to think of sending our children into environments that we have concerns about... and, yet, staying at home with them and teaching them yourself is a big commitment.... and, ideally, a decision you will make about what is right for your children as well as for yourself that will come from a place of genuine desire rather than a place of fear, so that it can be carried forth with love instead of a sense of obligation. Knowing not only why you don't want them there, but more importantly, why you do want them at home can help you know what choices are truly right for you.

Another possibility you might also consider when thinking of how to educate your children
(sort of between homeschooling and traditional public school) would be any types of alternative schools in your area.

I homeschooled my three children for 4 years. There were things I loved about it, and things I found challenging. Because their ages are spaced far apart, at one point, it became challenging to me to meet all of their needs, and so I found an alternative-type charter school for them to attend that had a similar educational philosophy as my own... my children have attended there for 4 years and I have been very satisfied with that experience.

One thing that I learned is that there is no one right way that works for everyone.
Each family has different factors to consider.

And remember - neither choice is permanent.
You can see how school goes, then decide to pull them out... or you can try homeschooling
and then decide to send them to school. I know many families who have made successful transitions both ways as they adjusted to their family's changing needs and life circumstances.

Some of the biggest things that I think are important to consider are...
how much support do you have? (since you will be spending a lot of time with your kids)
how will you keep your life in balance?
what type of personality do you have? do you feel energized by spending lots of time with people or does being around people drain you?
how do you feel about the other homeschool families in your area? do you feel comfortable with them? do your beliefs mostly match theirs? (they will probably become a major source of guidance and support for you, if you decide to homeschool)

Anyway....
Just some things to think about.
Listen to your inner guidance.... and I'm sure that you will make a decision that is right for you.

Happy Learning - either way!

S.

PS - Let me know if you'd like some book recommendations re: homeschooling.

3 moms found this helpful

Hey J.,
I am a homeschool mom. I know that most women responding will be for it. It is hard, but well worth it. Going to spend a couple of hours with a homeschool family, if you can, would be good. Also, you can go to rodandstaff.com to get some workbooks for the preschool/kinder. age group. Start your daughter on these & see how each of you is going to handle homeschooling. This will also help you both ease into school once she gets a little older. The workbooks are mostly coloring but teach the simple things, ie. numbers, letters, colors, shapes. It's fun & easy for the both of you. There is so much info out there on homeschooling so try not to get discouraged by it. You are not committed to any curriculum for life if you don't like it. Remember to have fun with it.

2 moms found this helpful

I was at home for the last part of my school years. And we will be teaching our children at home when they reach school age. I really think it's a great opportunity for all children. Children that learn at a fast pace, can work at a pace that's is comfortable for them. And the same goes for a child that might learn a little slower than the average student.

My suggestion to you is, if you think this is something that you might want to do, find a few families that home school, and go spend a day with them. Go to one of the curriculum fairs so that you can actually see the stuff offered. And if you do decide to home school, join support group to have other moms to bounce ideas off of!

There are also co-ops that you can join, they have classes that your child can take that you may not feel comfortable teaching.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but feel free to ask me anything else that you think of!

Good luck with your decision!

A.

Good luck with your decision!

1 mom found this helpful

I am not a home school mom yet but I will be in a few years if all goes as planned. My parents home schooled myself and three siblings from K-12. We really loved it and don't regret a thing. It was a great experience for all of us. I think the biggest thing is taking it one year at a time. My parents started saying they were going to home school my older sister for Kindergarten only because they didn't want her in a full day K program. It worked that year so they did it the next year and they just took it one year at a time after that. I will have my son home for Kindergarten for sure because we feel that it is better for our son to be at home with me playing games, reading books, singing songs, and playing with friends instead of sitting in a classroom. I am not opposed to public or private school but home schooling worked for us and we will do it with our little ones as long as it will work and if it ever stops working we will then begin to look for another option. The elementary school years especially are to be enjoyed so you can educate and enjoy the time together at the same time.

1 mom found this helpful

Think of it this way...what have you already been doing for the last 4 years? Homeschooling!

My daughter is only in K this year and we had a rough start to homeschooling, but now we both love it! Check schooling ages in your state. In NC a child is not required to be in school until they are 7, so that helped us in making our decision to try out homeschooling. We, because you never know what life will bring have decided to make our decision to homeschool one year at a time.

I had to realize that homeschooling is different than others in that it is a lifestyle! You are always the teacher and they are always the student. That's when it became fun! We have our "sit down and do school time", but then we do "school" anytime she has a question about something or shows interest in something in the everyday stuff.

As far as having a social child or not, you as the homeschool parent are responsible for their social engagements. So, they can be as social as you like. I know that my county has a wonderful homeschool association that you can join even with preschoolers and begin to meet and talk with other moms that are where you are, at support meetings, park days and field trips available, as well as give your child opportunity to meet his "classmates" and make friends. You might see if there is one you can get invovled in in your town or county.

1 mom found this helpful