Home schooling - Big Big Forums

buglebe · 10-28-2009, 11:12 PM

My daughter thought about home schooling last year but didn't do it. This year she just had enough and pulled them out of school and is home schooling. Are there any others here who homeschool and do you have any advice to give her?

sunniekiss · 10-29-2009, 11:26 AM

My opinion was that I wanted/needed the 5-6 break from my sons, weird I know.
I did at one point consider home schooling but my concern was that I wanted my sons to interact with children from their own age group on a daily basis. My sons did the whole sports/scouts thing but I still wanted them to hae the whole school friend experience. Both my sons still have some friends from
1st grade so it suppose it worked for them.

My main concern would be that while home schooling elementary school, what happens when they are in the upper grades & you are trying to teach algebra, chemistry, foreign languages, ect..

galeane29 · 10-29-2009, 01:44 PM

I home school all 3 of my kids ages 17,14 and 7. I do both the computer programs and books to give them a variety so they don't get bored. We are very active in our church where there are other children that are also home schooled. I don't worry about the whole 'socializing' at school thing because that was one of the reason I yanked them out of school. My kids have great friends that they have known from church and those are the types of friendships I'd rather then have.

Yes, I liked the quiet time when my kids were at school but the choice to home school was for the benefit of my children's education and general up bringing, I had to put my own wants aside.

buglebe · 10-30-2009, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galeane29

I home school all 3 of my kids ages 17,14 and 7. I do both the computer programs and books to give them a variety so they don't get bored. We are very active in our church where there are other children that are also home schooled. I don't worry about the whole 'socializing' at school thing because that was one of the reason I yanked them out of school. My kids have great friends that they have known from church and those are the types of friendships I'd rather then have.

Yes, I liked the quiet time when my kids were at school but the choice to home school was for the benefit of my children's education and general up bringing, I had to put my own wants aside.

What were the ages of your children when you started? I didn't want my daughter to do this. I didn't say so but she didn't like the expression on my face. I feel everything will be fine school work wise but I don't know about the socialization. But as all of you with children know, they often don't want our opinion and I do feel that I raised mine my way so she should do the same. I am getting into it and trying to help get books etc that she feels they need. I also ordered a book to read and learn more about it myself. I think there are many children being homeschooled today for various reasons.
I see many advantages and disadvantages to it but I think it will all work out.

speedygirl · 10-30-2009, 01:46 AM

I never homeschooled my children but have a number of friends who did and they never had a socialization problem. Many homeschoolers belong to groups with other homeschoolers to play sports, have dances and all of the other things that kids do. My friend's DD went to a homeschoolers prom that they had at their church reception hall.
Most parents have their childrens best interest at heart. It's important to give them a curriculum that challenges them. When my DS did his post baccalaureate at Harvard, 2 of his close friends were homeschooled. It depends on how much the parents give to it.
We actually went on some fieldtrips to the MFA, Freedom Trail and other educational places with my friend's homeschool group years ago and none of the children that we encountered had socialization issues.

belle5691 · 10-30-2009, 10:05 AM

I homeschooled both of my boys for quite a while.

The advantages: They are ahead of their grade level, you have more control that they learn your values, it eliminates the hassle of bullies, You can be more involved in field trips, etc.

The disadvantages:

For me, being in a small town---and not active in a church or group---was the socialization skills.

Unless you are doing certain programs (such as American school), homeschool educations are usually not accredited, and the kids will have to take a GED in order to begin even a community college.

Documentation is EVERYTHING, lesson plans, kids work, etc. My youngest wanted to go to public school when he was a freshman, and as we had moved to a different city, it sounded good to me. Because he was a freshman, all that was required was a basic entry test. My older son, decided to also enter as a Senior. The requirements were much different, requiring copies of lesson plans for the past 3 years, copies of his work, and also the placement test.