Thinking about making the jump; REALLY looking for advice and thoughts

Lisa - posted on 12/30/2011

I have been homeschooling my children for ten years. I pulled my oldest out of middle school for just the sorts of reasons you describe.

My first advice is to check out the website www.hslda.org. It will give you good advice about the legal rules for your state. As to curriculum, depending on how much money you have to spend, there are whole grade levels you can buy that include teacher's manuals with daily lesson plans, like calvertschool.org or books and websites that will recommend what books to buy on your own.

I would recommend that however you plan to go, give yourself a period of a month or two for "unschooling." You are going to need to erase the bad habits your child has learned in the classroom, which in your case sound very stress related.

Choose no more than two subjects that can be covered in workbook format. Say, math and spelling. (Pick something you think your son will have the most success in.) For the other subjects, go the the library and load up on books that interest him. Then read, read, read. You should read to him every day. At least one fiction book and one non-fiction book. Is he a good reader? Have him read to you. Or give him a book to read and then tell you about after each chapter.

Get Tivo or a DVR for your TV and start recording documentaries and science shows. Use them to supplement whatever you are reading together.

Use this time to help him unlearn his school anxiety and to get comfortable with they way you teach him. Give yourself the same time to decide how you feel the most comfortable teaching. Let him know from the start that you are researching as you go, so he won't be surprised when you come to him one day and tell him you just found a really cool science book with experiments you can do together in the kitchen. (Or some other new addition to your curriculum) No later than next fall, you should have him doing a full load of history, reading, writing, spelling and grammar, math and science.

Don't forget to use the internet to find a local homeschool group. They may only have park days for socialization or they may be organized enough to plan field trips and offer a few limited classes taught by other moms. You will find, as a rule, that homeschooled kids are more friendly and open than public school kids. It shouldn't be too hard to find some friends.

Good luck! It is a great adventure! Don't be too worried about not doing it "right." No one can teach your child better than you can.

Aniesha - posted on 12/05/2011

I live in Australia, so I can't help you with the requirements, but I say go for it! You can most certainly do it! Myself and both my siblings were homeschooled all the way through, and I intend to do it with my kids as well. My parents got involved in a homeschooling group when they were looking at starting me, and Mum said it was a lifesaver and the lady who ran it helped her sooo much in getting started. Check out what's in your local area maybe? And I'm not sure what the difference is where you are, but here pretty much the only thing that is of major concern is to make sure that you are with a registered school, so that your child's high school certificate actually holds weight. Good luck with it all!! I know a lot of people who have pulled their kids out of school, and it only did them good:)

Brenda Brown - posted on 12/05/2011

Hi Lynn,

I understand how you are feeling. I just pulled my son from school at the beginning of October. He used to love school and then this year he began falling apart. My heart was heavy everyday when I dropped him off at school. You will not regret homeschooling. It has been the best thing for our family. He is growing everyday and is much happier. There is a great book by John Gatto called "Dumbing us Down." He was a public school teacher for 30 years in New York City. He supports homeschooling because of his experience.

You will be able to focus on rebuilding him back up. Also, with homeschooling you do not have to get caught up in the tests. Another bonus no hours of homework after school. You will be amazed at how much your son can learn in 2 to three hours of work.

I know where you are coming from with the homework, "reteaching him." What is the point of sending them to school if it becomes "our homework." Furthermore as parents we are caught up in the performance, because they no longer use it as a tool in class to go over questions the teachers just move on. If we don't help them then they will not do well. Do not get caught up in what the public schools are doing. Remember that you can teach him in a fraction of the time.

I do not live in TN. I will not be much help there. Good luck on your journey!