any homeschool moms?

Christina - posted on 09/07/2009

I am a homeschooling mom too. I have four children ages 10, 9, 7 and 5. This is our second year and we are using Sonlight. I was homeschooled for part of high school, we lived in remote Ghana and my parents did not want to send me off to boarding school. it was the best thing they could have done for me. I was off in the wrong crowd before that. Yes I was angry at my parents, I did return home to attend grade 12 by then I was a different kid, mature and did very well in my final year.. I read a previous poster felt a big hole in her soul from missing out big teen stuff. I understand her feeling since I had them too. That is why I am doing it differently or at least trying to. We keep our kids involved in the community, I have us plugged into a great support network of homeschool families and we try to have parties, and celebrate in style big milestones. I thought I would never homeschool. my children were in school and love being homeschooled. If they get older and are mature enough and want to return to school we will probably allow them to. I don't know for sure, when the time comes we will decide and not before.

Bradi - posted on 09/02/2009

Hi Lydia,
There's actually an already established Home-schooling Moms group at myworkbutterfly.com that you may be interested in joining to further connect with like moms. Best, Bradi

Rachel - posted on 08/31/2009

If you haven't heard of Zoodles, you should definitely check it out at http://www.Zoodles.com! We provide a safe online environment for children to play fun and educational games that are all age-appropriate and aligned with state and national standards. We've gotten great feedback from families that homeschool, so I thought I'd pass it on in case it's of interest to any of you who are considering it!



If you have any questions, feel free to email at feedback AT zoodles DOT com. Thanks! Good luck with the homeschooling!



Best,



Rachel at Zoodles



http://www.Zoodles.com

Michelle - posted on 08/29/2009

Lydia, I am a bit late to this conversation, but I see that your question hasn't really been addressed. I'm a homeschooling mom with 3 kids in my "school," and we are going into our 8th year. I have tried many different methods and curricula, and right now I am using (and loving) Switched on Schoolhouse. My kids love being able to do their school on the computer, and I am happy that they are somewhat independent. I am still available to answer any questions and help with trouble spots, but I don't have to be working with them every minute of the school day. This is very helpful since I have four younger children who need me, too.

Switched on Schoolhouse starts in 3rd grade and your child must be able to read his own lessons. The initial cost is a bit steep (I believe it's $350 per grade), but you only have to buy each grade once and it can be used over and over for different children. You could also look for used copies on eBay or other websites that sell used curricula. Just be sure that you get the install CD -- buying just the subjects will be useless.

Debbie - posted on 07/30/2009

Im homeschooling mom. I homeschool my 14 yr. This will be our 2nd yr & he will be going into high school this yr.

Julie - posted on 07/18/2009

Kristi i am very happy to hear that your daughter is living such a fruitful life and extremely proud of you for offering her these opportunities you are steps ahead of many of the homeschool moms i know and other parents interested in homeschooling could stand to learn ALOT from moms like you i am not in any way saying my mother was a bad mother she just was not as prepared or thorough as she should have been dont get me wrong i graduated 1 1/2 years before the rest of my classmates and what teenager complains about 2 hours of school versus 7-8 but my mothers idea of socialization for me was to work fulltime at age 16 and only be hang out with the few friends that remained after i didnt see them every day, one night a week. Causing me to feel more left out than i was in school(i was not a popular kid) Like i said very unprepared and at that time homeschooling was just starting to become "something you did" so she had no support system or advisors. as long as you are willing to keep up with the pace you are at and are capable of teaching the whole way through i say GO FOR IT MOMMY YOU ROCK!!! i wish i had the patience with my daughter sometimes(she will just be starting kindergarten this year) because her 4k teacher (though same one that my son had and was great then) just overlooked the things she was behind on because "she's young yet she has plenty of time to catch up" so i am just now starting to fully understand the feeling and desire behind my mother and many others to save (for lack of a better word) their/our children from the public school systems! I do encourage you though to look into your districts rules and regulations on starting in school after homeschooling as where i am from at first would not allow it and now holds children that have been homeschooled 1-2 grades lower than where they really should be. so when my mother realized that though i was still getting perfect grades she was hurting me socially and emotionally it was too late and they would not let me back in. so just make sure this is an option for you and your daughter before she gets older and you want her to have that option. i want to thank you for first what you are doing for your daughter and second for being the first to be willing to have and open candid discussion about this with me and stand up for yourself and your beliefs most moms out there do and say nothing! So Thank you and good luck

Kristi - posted on 07/18/2009

Julie .. i am quite happy to take from my daughter the posabilities of the experiences I had thorughout school, from the start to the end. The bullying from both students and teachers, the lack of morals, the labeling, the putting into a box for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Having to sit back and wait for the slower learners to catch up before I myself could move on, or having to just skim the stuff I had a harder time with because the class was moving forward no matter what, the false socialization (ie with only your own age)..... My school experience was a horrid one. And I still, almost 20 years later, am struggling with the aftermath of what I went through.
That said, Myself and her father investigated all the available schools here as well as homeschooling very carefully and with an open mind (as much as could) for 4.5 years before making the decision. She has a different personality than I did and might have quite the opposite experience than I did in school, but i'm not willing to risk it at this point.
My daughter does regular play dates with a variety of age groups. She is also involved in highland dance, soccer, gymnastics, extracurricular art classes when they are available (as she is passionate about art), swims regularly, has contact with other homeschooled kids of varying ages in the area, will be entering sparks in september and possibly another dance class if we can manage that as well. If she shows an interest in music she will also have available various instuments and lessons, as well as choir (she loves to sing). She is also involved in our religous community and has regular contact in social gatherings with people from ages new born to the elderly in their 90's. She is a very social little girl and knows how to act in all sorts of social situations. She also has no problem going up to groups of kids at the park and asking to join in, or simply joining in, or conversly asking someone else to join in with her. If they won't let her, she's fine and goes and finds someone else.
Through my own hard work (and i've pushed myself out of my comfort zone to do so).. she knows kids that consider her a friend in pretty much every school in our area, and gets invited to their parties etc where she then meets others as well.
All those extracuricular activities might seem like a lot to someone with a schooled child, but you have to keep in mind that during the day she isn't being restricted to sitting in a classroom, so she's not as tired and stressed as schooled kids by the time 3pm rolls around.
Also, her dad works weekends and has his days off in the middle of the week. If she were in school she would see him all of 2 hours a day if she was lucky before she'd have to be in bed in order to get up for school the next day. As it is they have a lot of time to spend together compared to the fathers of her schooled friends.
And when I look at the behaviours and the problems in school of my friends kids (of varying ages) I am quite happy to keep her out for as long as I am able.
There is no need for me to "replace moments and memories" that she might have made in school.... she's having plenty of moments and making fabulous memories each and every day quite well in her current life.
That said, she is only almost 6 years old.... we are doing things year by year. Even though i am currently unschooling (ie not following a curriculum) I AM going online regularly to get the ministry outcomes for her age/grade level and looking through them to see if there are things that I am forgetting to offer her... when I (rarely) come across something I just make sure to find some material somewhere (library, online, whatever) and make it available in our every day life if she is interested.
And when she is a little older she will have more say in what goes on. If she, at some point, decides she wants to try school, it is something that we will discuss as a family and we will be open to letting her do so.

Julie - posted on 07/11/2009

i am not a homschool mom but i was a homeschool student....as a student i ask you what are you doing for your children to make up for the actvities and experiences- that made each of you who you are today-that you have taken from them? i was only homeschool for part of high school but i missed as much in that short time as i would've had in my younger years my first homecoming, my prom, cheerleading, etcwhat are you going to do? replace those moments and memories? or ignore them and the big hole in your childs soul?

Lydia - posted on 07/10/2009

I have a 1st grader too . Plus a 7th & a 3rd grader . How does the unschooling route work? In VA where we live they have to be tested each year . I'm not sure I'm creative enough to go that way , but am open to hearing about it.

Kristi - posted on 07/08/2009

i'm a homeschooling mom too, going into our 2nd year (grade 1 age)... but I have only one child, and we are pretty much going the unschooling route for now, so I'm afraid I have no advice.