Who's planning or currently homeschooling?

Narciso - posted on 05/25/2013

If you are on the fence or what some inspiration, what this family is doing put a fire in my belly: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/24/har...

Anna - posted on 03/27/2013

I am going to be homeschooling my 6 yr. old twins this coming fall. They attended public school this past year for kindergarten...what a disappointment! Between the unwillingness to help from the teachers, and what they learned from other students ...wow...did I mention they were only in kindergarten!?!

Needless, to say we decided homeschooling is the best thing for us to do for our children. I plan on using the curriculum My Father's World for kindergarten (we are starting over from scratch). And I may supplement some with Time for Learning.com

The best thing I like about homeschooling is that they will not only get the one on one attention , but they will also experience many things first handed...and hand on learning is always a big plus in my book! : )

Lily - posted on 03/24/2013

It's my first time homeschooling my six year old. We use an online curriculum called "time for learning". At times it is very challenging because I have four younger children 4, 2, and one year old twins. I must say, the curriculum is very helpful. My son can do lessons on his own because they do all the teaching. They have games to help them learn and go over the lessons. My son loves playing games on the computer so we chose a curriculum that would keep him entertained while learning. He does three hours a day. I try to schedule lessons after breakfast, but we have no specific schedule. I encourage all parents to homeschool if they can. It teaches you a lot about you child and you can be hands on and very involved in their education. Sometimes it's hard to commit but I am allowed to go on my own schedule.

Stacie - posted on 08/02/2012

With all love and respect to all opinions out there please, please let go of the homeschool socialization worries.
School (unless it's a very small 10 or under in a class) is not the place for positive socialization. Most children make a couple of good friends and can't wait until the weekend to actually spend time with them at each others houses, the rest of the time they are just putting up with everyone else in their class.
Learning to be a "team" player is best done on a sport, dance, 4-H, math, robotics (the list goes on) TEAM, volunteering or working a job in high school.
For us we do "school" at home where I teach from whatever resource I feel is appropriate (right now I like the Well Trained Mind) my DD does her workbook work and then we go actually socialize in the real world with other children, adults, family members, dog walkers, priests, construction workers, public schooled teenagers or whoever else is in our life that day. Or my DD has a scheduled activity (t-ball, dance class, 4-H, whatever) and I read blogs while I wait for her to finish.

Michelle - posted on 07/26/2012

Hello my son is going into the 1st grade this year and i will be homeschooling for thee first time . I live in Maryland and i am looking for a good support group in the area . Michelle

Lisa - posted on 04/22/2009

http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/unschooling...



(I found the website Heather mentioned)

Lisa - posted on 04/22/2009

My husband really wants to homeschool and I am just a little scared, because I'd probably end up doing it all, and I will probably get lazy! (I am still nursing our 18 month twin girls, and maybe I'm feeling tired partly because of that..) But I am excited to learn more about what you all are doing. I've read all your posts so far, and agree with Heather on public school socialization - I had a pretty bad experience in middle school (maple grove jr high, MN) - I was teased, kicked, my glasses were stolen, and I didn't really have any friends, so I dreaded recess, lunch, and "time to pick a partner" in class. Then when I started wearing make-up and contacts, I wasn't quite as much of a "nerd" anymore. Then I got to college (U of MN) and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could wear whatever I wanted, and no one cared! (even pjs to class) And lots of people sat alone for meals in the dorm cafeteria - no big deal!!! Well, I graduated HS in 1999, so I don't know if the schools are still so cliquey...?? Do you guys know? I am just curious, Heather, what schools did you go to? (Although I know that stuff probably happens everywhere, sadly - drugs and abuse and such)... I'm so sorry that it happened to you.

Sara - posted on 04/21/2009

My DH & I are planning to homeschool our 2 girls - really, we do now, we're just not at the "formal education" stage yet, as the girls are 2 1/2 & 7 months :)

Katherine - posted on 04/17/2009

I have homeschooled with Ohio Virtual Academy for 5 years. I have a 3rd grade son and a K daughter. I love this program. It is total free. I was given all the books, workbooks, computer and print, and they also pay for your internet service. They teach phonics for reading, and it has been a great thing.

Sheri - posted on 03/18/2009

Quoting Heather:

We homeschool our youngest daughter who is now 10.  She's never set foot in a public/private school, and my husband and I as well as our little girl (who's growing so fast every day) never want to change that for the remainder of her primary schooling years.  She's stated that she'd like to go to the local high school when she's old enough, but she vacillates between the reasons why - whether it's the more specialized studies/classes or if it's the activities/sports - so we're just taking it one day at a time until the time comes for us to make a decision.

Our daughter is a social butterfly, and she consistently makes high marks for her courtesy and respect in her karate classes.  Whatever worries anybody has about how homeschooled kids can't be properly "socialized" is all based on conjecture and perhaps have never interacted with homeschooling families.  Personally, it's a matter of misunderstandings, and I'm always happy to point out confidently that you can google up a myriad of independent studies that show homeschooling kids (including unschooled kids) who either perform just as well or better than public/private schooled kids in both their academics AND their social aptitudes.

I wouldn't have it any other way.  But life is a journey, and we're open to how things can change in the future.  :-)

----------------- 

 

Thanks - that is very helpful and encouraging!  :)

Sheri

Heather - posted on 03/18/2009

We homeschool our youngest daughter who is now 10.  She's never set foot in a public/private school, and my husband and I as well as our little girl (who's growing so fast every day) never want to change that for the remainder of her primary schooling years.  She's stated that she'd like to go to the local high school when she's old enough, but she vacillates between the reasons why - whether it's the more specialized studies/classes or if it's the activities/sports - so we're just taking it one day at a time until the time comes for us to make a decision.

Our daughter is a social butterfly, and she consistently makes high marks for her courtesy and respect in her karate classes.  Whatever worries anybody has about how homeschooled kids can't be properly "socialized" is all based on conjecture and perhaps have never interacted with homeschooling families.  Personally, it's a matter of misunderstandings, and I'm always happy to point out confidently that you can google up a myriad of independent studies that show homeschooling kids (including unschooled kids) who either perform just as well or better than public/private schooled kids in both their academics AND their social aptitudes.

I wouldn't have it any other way.  But life is a journey, and we're open to how things can change in the future.  :-)

Emily - posted on 03/18/2009

I wish I was unschooling!!

My husband and I both work full time, so it isn't happening. We are still active members ofteh homeschooling community and homeschool supporters but our six year old is excelling in public school. If she hated it we might have to figure out another arrangment. It is working well for now though.

Sheri - posted on 02/25/2009

Mariah - yes, i forgot about that... they do have Montessori-fashioned homeschool curriculums out there. probably a bit pricey but i'm sure way less than school attendance. i do feel a little sad about how much my son *wants* to go to school - maybe we can still work it in somehow... i don't know!!! still on the fence, obviously. We shall see!

Mariah - posted on 02/24/2009

This sounds a little like Montessori.  We've had our 4-yr-old in a small Montessori school (it's been great) but it's quite a strain, financially.  I'm still trying to decide between that and home-schooling, but honestly I'm a little worried about whether or not I'd get lazy with the homeschooling... How do you run your entire household, do a couple hours of computer work a day (for me, it's ebay), AND make sure you fit in all the schooling, socializing, field trips, (and let's not forget EXCERSIZE) recommended by the cirriculum?  I guess I'm just afraid that I'll give in to tiredness and forego a field trip/play date here and there and then eventually get slack in it.  (of course I'm pregnant right now and motivation levels are way down.)

So I think I *could* be awesome at homeschooling, but does that mean I *would* be??? 

Any suggestions? 

That's what I was thinking!

Our Montessori is $25k a year, and we're thinking of having a second child, so if we have two, that would make it more expensive than my income when you figure in taxes. I've been considering sending my nanny (who is great AND less expensive than one kid in Montessori) to a Montessori training program in exchange for a committment to stay with us for a length of time.

The other option we're considering is me going to Montessori training and becoming a student-teacher at one of the local Montessori schools. I'm not wild about teaching, but I feel like I could enjoy it for a few years with the kind of kids who tend to be in Montessori. The pay is negligable, but you get a discount on tuition the first year, and then after that tuition is free. So, benefits of Montessori where the cost (loss of my income) is off-set by not having to pay tuition for two kids.

I think either of those would be ways to deal with the high cost of Montessori and the problems of laxity in homeschooling. I suppose you could also do Montessori training, invest in some of the materials, and then do it at home.  (One of my friend's mom did that with her, with very good results.) Montessori is more structured than "unschooling" so it might combat some of the potential to not follow through enough.

(My brother and I are also considering Montessori co-op; his daughter and my son are the same age, and we were considering investing in materials together, both doing training, and then switching off homeschooling duties.)

Crystal - posted on 02/20/2009

Well here's a look at our day, granted we live in a town home at the moment and we only have one vehicle so we're stuck inside most of the week.

The kids get up around 6am, and are allowed to watch TV in my room until the baby wakes up around 7-7:30. I get up and nurse the baby and then make breakfast. The kids then play in their room with the baby until he's ready for nap time which is usually around 10, and I mess around with the computer, play a game or something. I nurse the baby and put him down for his nap and we do school. After school the kids color, or we do other quiet games together until lunch time. The baby normally wakes up around then, we eat lunch and then after that I let the kids run around the house (for exercise). When the baby goes down for a nap again around 2 the kids are allowed another hour of television, while I watch my soap (bad mommy I know), then we all play another game, or I'll review what we went over in school earlier, or another quiet game until the baby wakes up again. Then when he wakes up I nurse him and we all just play around, I'll occasionally catch up on my emails or something but mostly chase the kids around or whatever.

About a half an hour before my husband comes home (around 4:30-5pm) I do my exercises on the wii and then when he's home I jump in the shower. He takes over with the kids for the most part, playing and such so that I can get some laundry done, we make dinner together, I take care of the dishes after while he bathes the kids, we both get them ready for bed, and then they are allowed 30 min each to play their games and then bedtime around 8-8:30pm.

Sheri - posted on 02/20/2009

Quoting Crystal:

Quoting Stasia:


I am very curious about unschooling, can someone please explain this to me further?

unschooling is where you allow the child to learn only what they are interested in, or that's what I gather.  You can always do a bit of both, I allow my kids to learn whatever they are interested in, but I also make sure they learn the basics also and I use lesson plans that are used in a lot of private schools.

This sounds a little like Montessori.  We've had our 4-yr-old in a small Montessori school (it's been great) but it's quite a strain, financially.  I'm still trying to decide between that and home-schooling, but honestly I'm a little worried about whether or not I'd get lazy with the homeschooling... How do you run your entire household, do a couple hours of computer work a day (for me, it's ebay), AND make sure you fit in all the schooling, socializing, field trips, (and let's not forget EXCERSIZE) recommended by the cirriculum?  I guess I'm just afraid that I'll give in to tiredness and forego a field trip/play date here and there and then eventually get slack in it.  (of course I'm pregnant right now and motivation levels are way down.)

So I think I *could* be awesome at homeschooling, but does that mean I *would* be??? 

Any suggestions? 

Ashley - posted on 02/11/2009

I was homeschooled (well--unschooled mostly, but back then we just sort of called it "being lazy without a set curriculum and learning whatever the heck we feel like") from first grade through highschool. My younger brothers and I took all kinds of lessons, participated in sports, were friends with other homeschoolers in local groups and with lots of neighborhood kids. Shortly after I turned 17 and would have been a junior in highschool, I enrolled full-time at the local community college. Many teachers were used to having younger homeschooled students in their classes, but a few of the newer teachers were always astonished when they found out how old I was because I was so mature and well-equipped. I often had the highest scores (nerd alert!), and I never had a problem making friends.

I think that the next generation of homeschooled kids to enter the mainstream workforce is going to do a lot for the homeschooling movement. When I was a kid in the 80's and 90's (I'm 25 now), it was mostly families sort of on the fringe that were homeschooling for religious or disciplinary reasons.

That being said, I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'll homeschool/unschool my daughter or send her to public school. Our schools here are fantastic, so that's not even a concern. I've got a few years left to decide. In hindsight, I wish I'd gone to public high school--but I think I got the better end of the deal not going to public elementary school or middle school.

There's a really beautiful blog at soulemama.com written by a mom of four in Maine who unschools the little ones. It's really inspiring and just gorgeous to look at.

Heather - posted on 02/07/2009

Stasia and others interested unschooling ..something I've recently fallen in love with just because the personality of my oldest is a belief that children learn best naturally through living. It is a child -led learning approach where parents provide a variety of experiences and materials and children explore interests. "let them fully explore their passions" is one of my fav unschooling quotes. joyfullyrejoicing.org(i think i have it bookmarked so check back if i am wrong using.com) is a good site to start.Google John Holt or sandra dodd. Hope this is useful! I have a home/unschooling group on here but there are so many it has not really taken off, maybe I should add AP to it:)

Jenafer - posted on 02/01/2009

For anyone interested in the socialization issue I urge you to read "The Well Adjusted Child: Solcialization and the hOmeschooled Child"

You'll never wonder again!!

Jenafer - posted on 02/01/2009

We are homeschooling and love it!

Christy - posted on 01/30/2009

we homeschool too...i think it comes natural for an ap parent.

Brie - posted on 01/30/2009

I'm interested in a homeschooling type of setup. But, I will need to go back to work at some point, so the type of education that really appeals to me is the "Sterling Classical Schools", they go 2 or 3 days a week to a small, private school- and then the other days of the week they are home, and you can continue what they are learning at home.

I have awhile to think about what we will do for school, though.

Crystal - posted on 01/29/2009

Quoting Stasia:


I am very curious about unschooling, can someone please explain this to me further?

unschooling is where you allow the child to learn only what they are interested in, or that's what I gather.  You can always do a bit of both, I allow my kids to learn whatever they are interested in, but I also make sure they learn the basics also and I use lesson plans that are used in a lot of private schools.

Stasia - posted on 01/29/2009

Heather that is so true what you said about the other aspect of "socialization" in schools. I knew a girl who (even though popular) got beat up very bad in junior high, and was never the same. She was very afraid in groups of people and just didn't have that "spark" in her anynmore. Before My daughter was born I always said I would never home school my kids because the kids that were homeschooled and then went into public school that i knew of were very socially awkward and just didn't know how to react in certain environments. That being said I think mothers who home school now are very conscious of the fact that they need to do more extra curricular activities to allow for social growth, and I think there is more support for the kids and parents which is so fantastic.

I am very interested in homeschooling my daughter, I am just looking for a way to do it that would be healthy for both of us. I think it takes a special mom (as it sounds like many of you are) to find that social balance.
I am very curious about unschooling, can someone please explain this to me further?

Sarah - posted on 01/29/2009

I want to homeschool when my child gets older, but what made me happiest about it was that my husband was the one who was most adamant about it. The public schools in this area are very, very bad. As for socialization, I don't see why team sports, church, library reading groups, et cetera, can't help a child get used to being around other children and other people in an environment that doesn't include all the other "school" baggage.

Crystal - posted on 01/28/2009

I am homeschooling. My son is 4 1/2 and we're doing 4 year kindergarten using abeka. I love getting to see my son learn things first hand, it's just amazing. We both enjoy it and my daughter is starting to take an interest in it now too.

Amanda - posted on 01/26/2009

My family has homeschooled for 4 yrs. and we love it! I have a 12 and 10 yr. old. I started attachment parenting 12 yrs. ago with no intent to homeschool. Maybe homeschooling is in our blood (parents who attachment parent). I love having my children at home.

Sharon - posted on 01/20/2009

Thank you for the info Heather.  I really appreciate a new point of view on the social skills learned in school.  I'm glad that home/unschooling is working out for you and your children.  I am definitely keeping an open mind regarding homeschooling as Aiden gets older. 

Heather - posted on 01/20/2009

So many times when someone finds out I am homeschooling that is the exact question they first ask.This is my take on socialization, some personal some well researched...

In schools, kids are segregated by age told to sit down face forward and be quiet.There are visious clicks and if one doesn't fit into a mold they are excluded and harassed, rejected and outcast. That is not the type of social skills I want for my child. On a personal note I will tell you that my first sexual experience was in school in a classroom when the guy in front of me kept putting his hand up my skirt...way up. I drank in school, sold and bought drugs in school (middle school) and i was raised in a good family upper middle class and went to one of the best schools in the state(just so you're not thinkin I was a gangster inner city).

My homeschooled children play with many different ages and get along quite well with the opposite sex. We go to co-ops, classes such as gymnastics where there are both home and schooled kids, church, childcare at the health club...the neighboorhood kids etc, my kids, despite my shyness can walk into any social situation with ease, get along well and have fun. My 8yr old is a leader even though he's never walked school halls I have seen him organize groups of friends and defend his little brother...hope that helps.

Sharon - posted on 01/20/2009

I'm very interested to know how homeschooling works for those who do it.  I feel like the social aspect of public school is so important; I don't know if I could appropriately incoorporate that into a homeschool atmosphere.  How do the homeschoolers in this group overcome that obstacle? 

Mary - posted on 01/16/2009

We plan it homeschool! We decided that we wanted to long before we were even married. I am excited about it.