My journey through homeschooling

[mom2many]

Last year our school district proposed new plans for the 2011-2012 school year that left me feeling apprehensive and a bit unsure. In order to save money, the school proposed a 4-day school week. While it sounded cool at first, it meant longer school days. I wasn’t concerned for my last teenager still in school, but I was worried about my 10-year-old, 8-year-old, and newly entering kindergartner.

My 10-year-old has ADD, so school days have always been a struggle for him. His teachers used to joke that if a fly made a noise a mile away, he would hear it and lose his focus, and by the end of the day he was literally jumping out of his seat. We have kept him medication free, as we felt it was best, but it does pose challenges for him and for his amazing teachers.

Then there was my newly turned 5-year-old. He turned 5 a mere two days before kindergarten started. Most parents of 5-year-olds will tell you that sometimes they are just not emotionally where they need to be. This was true in my son's case. I knew he was very capable of the work, but was he emotionally ready? These questions and concerns left me wondering if there was another choice, another option.

Over the years, homeschooling has always intrigued me, but would I be able to do it? I didn’t graduate high school. Although I did only have one semester left and took a large portion of honors classes, I still I had to question myself. I had to really think about whether or not it was something I could do.

And the more I thought about it, the more I believed I could do it. After much research, I settled on a program and decided to give it a try. Since I was going to try homeschooling with the 5- and 10-year-old, I chose to allow the 8-year-old to join us in our new adventure.

It was a rough first two weeks. The work itself was fine, but finding our groove and getting the kids to understand that when it’s time to learn I am no longer mom, but teacher was challenging. Honestly, there were moments when I wondered what I had gotten myself into. As time went on, it got a lot easier. Sure, there were rough days and days when they didn’t want to work, but here we are at the end of the year and I can say it has been a great experience.

There were many nights when I had to sit up and relearn fractions or percentages. It’s really amazing what gets lost through the years, because I can’t think of a time where fractions, outside of baking, is used. As for percentages? Unless it involves a sale, I don’t come across many opportunities to keep my skills fresh. This whole process has really opened my eyes, and I have greater respect for teachers. I only had to teach three kids; teachers have upwards of thirty students at one time. I am surprised that most of them manage to stay sane, and yet I can see why most keep going back. It really is a rewarding experience.

So what are my plans for next year? I’m not sure. Right now we are leaning towards staying with the homeschooling program we are on and waiting to see what our home district will do. For now, the way things stand, I believe the best choice is to continue on the path we have already started. It was very challenging at times, but it was also one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Even if we choose to not do it next year, I am thankful for having the opportunity to do so this year.

[stjohnjulie]

Thanks for the post! I am just starting my research into home school now. There are so many programs available and it's a task to weed through them and figure out which one is the best fit for your family.

Right now I am leaning towards a distance private school and teaming up with a few other parents who want a different option so we can hire a teacher to help us out. Thanks again!

[jack123]

Thanks for sharing your experience. A lot of people these days are looking towards home schooling. It especially works well for families who get transferred to new places frequently because of their jobs. This is a good and helpful post. Thanks.

[akmom]

I'm a former homeschooler and not a fan of it. I know it depends greatly on the parents, because some of my homeschooling peers loved it. To homeschool's credit, many of my high school classmates (like myself) homeschooled in elementary school and went on to be excellent students in secondary school. To its discredit, I have never met an exclusive homeschooler who went on to college and graduated with a degree. Not even one. It really leads me to believe that homeschool alone cannot prepare a student for success in life. (That is not to say that a college degree equates to success in life, but in terms of education, isn't it kind of the goal?)

My mother also did not graduate from high school. She worked hard to relearn concepts so she could teach us, but by about 6th grade, some subjects were beyond her. It was ultimately difficulties in math that drove my parents to send us back to public school. But looking back, there are so many other deficiencies. I remember learning how to do book reports, but using only the resources on my parents' book shelf. We had a science book, but never combined it with a field trip or lab. We colored and drew, but never painted, sculpted, built models or any of the other visual arts. My mother taught us piano, but we never rehearsed a performance or had an audience, or played along with other instruments. The key here is that there are so many resources available in public schools and good private schools, because resources are pooled. A single home couldn't afford all that, not to mention the expertise that is missing when a lay person teaches... I do believe that the education a teacher gets in college, and the diversity of approaches and knowledge that come with multiple teachers, enriches a student's education.

My parents had a lot of fears about changes the school system was making, but ultimately those things never materialized, and we went on to have suitable educations. I suspect that your school system has plans and resources for dealing with attention spans relative to the longer days. ADD is a fairly common challenge. That is just my two cents, as a 3-6 grade homeschooler, who feels that parental involvement is an excellent supplement to - not replacement for - traditional schooling!

[mom2many]

I agree with you to some extent akmom, however statistically speaking homeschooled children do better in college. Have higher GPA's, and more importantly more of them actually make it to see graduation day.

I also believe a parent can not properly homeschool with out having outside resources. I know that the program I use requires me to meet all of the same guidelines my home schools teachers use. Including meeting state test requirements, which we just finished. I have seen many homeschool failures, and attribute that to the parents. A parent needs to know when they can no longer offer the best possible education to their children. When that happens they need to either reconsider traditional schooling or at the very least hire outside help.

My home school not only made days longer, they have all but removed most electives. All sports are pay to play and band no longer exist. Your only choice upon entering junior high is choir. That's it, nothing else. Next year my son is going to be taking German, not something he could do in our traditional school. My DD's art classes are hands on, lot's of clay, paints, and water colors. We are a very small school district, this years graduating class had 60 kids and that is one of the larger classes.

I am also lucky enough that I can call up anyone of the teachers and get help if I need it, or my kids need it. I know this wouldn't be true in some of the bigger districts, but so far it is working. I can't say that that will be true in 5 years, but as each year approaches I will re-evaluate where we are at. I am not in ay way opposed to traditional schools; I'm just a parent trying to give the very best to their child.

[akmom]

I've seen research summaries indicating the same, but have not found an independent study with research methods and sample breakdowns published. I can believe that children who have some homeschooling, particularly early in school, would excel academically. Out of my partially homeschooled family, we have two college graduates (one with a master's) and one associate degree holder. I have high school classmates with similar backgrounds who completed college. But in terms of exclusive homeschooling, or homeschooling in secondary grade levels, I have not seen a comparison. Quite a few of the "exclusive" homeschoolers (those who NEVER attended traditional school) went on to Bible colleges. While that is a perfectly legitimate choice, it is not the same, in my opinion, as being able to choose a public university and excel at a myriad of subjects. I'd like to see a breakdown of how much homeschooling a student received and how that correlated to academic completion and success over a variety of degree fields, and whether that varied with the child's gender. I mean, if they are all getting English degrees or going into ministry, that is fine, but it does not show that homeschooling produces a diversity of successful adults. And I personally have a problem with any type of schooling that limits a child's choices that substantially... and that's what I've seen anecdotally, so I worry that it is a risk of homeschooling.

[mom2many]

I think you are picking needles from the haystack. How long a student may or may not be homeschooled is irrelevant. Why did the government create the "No Child Left Behind Act" if it wasn't for our schools failing their students? Our schools are so overwhelmed that anything more then the basics; reading writing and arithmetic. Is just not seen as a priority. So many brick and mortar schools are cutting back or out P.E, so many schools are removing electives, cutting back in the very options you are talking about.

Sure you have the few fundamentalist that choose to homeschool, and probably focus their attention on what 'they' believe to be important, but isn't that what any other parent does for their child?

In many homeschooling families, children are actively socialized, have better one on one attention, and more free time to venture out into the things that help them become better rounded individuals.

And I personally have a problem with any type of schooling that limits a child's choices that substantially.

This stood out, because traditional schooling does place limits on what children learn. For example, my son LOVES history and science.....not so much math or language (although according to state testing language is his strong suit) my knowing this means I can gear what he likes and dislikes to make each subject enjoyable. In maths case as enjoyable as possible

Many of what you site as fears, can be sited equally amongst traditional schooling.

[akmom]

That is a good point. You do have to compare homeschooling to the local options. I suppose if a school was particularly crowded, academically failing, or even dangerous, then homeschool would be better suited to a child's potential. Luckily the schools in my area are performing above average and offer a variety of teaching techiques, hands-on activities, arts and sciences. And our community is great for kids, offering numerous activities for all ages. So I guess I'm looking at it in terms of one person teaching their child all day in the same living room (my childhood experience) versus the daily assortment of reading, art, P.E., science, discovery centers, music and field trips that my daughter enjoys in a public school. It just seems like a waste to turn down access to those kinds of resources.

I'm still wary of college grades and completion as the only criteria for assessing academic success. For example, 80% of the summa cum laude graduates from my alma mater were liberal art majors. Engineers from all fields accounted for only a fraction of them. Does that mean they were less successful? No, it means that they had more rigorous curricula. You would have to look at what kind of degrees homeschoolers are pursuing and compare them to their public schooled counterparts, or else you are comparing apples to oranges.

[mom2many]

That is a good point. You do have to compare homeschooling to the local options. I suppose if a school was particularly crowded, academically failing, or even dangerous, then homeschool would be better suited to a child's potential. Luckily the schools in my area are performing above average and offer a variety of teaching techiques, hands-on activities, arts and sciences. And our community is great for kids, offering numerous activities for all ages. So I guess I'm looking at it in terms of one person teaching their child all day in the same living room (my childhood experience) versus the daily assortment of reading, art, P.E., science, discovery centers, music and field trips that my daughter enjoys in a public school. It just seems like a waste to turn down access to those kinds of resources. [/QUOTE]

If our schools had that kind of access I know that homeschooling would have never entered my mind. I probably would have kept the 5 year old back one year and called it good. Our district has pretty much lost everything, every year they ask for a levy and every year the school looses more resources. We do field trips, which the school doesn't do. We do so much more then the school, it wasn't always that way. When my older kids attended it was amazing. I still love the teachers, they are a great group of people, but they have so little to work with.

Originally Posted by akmom

I'm still wary of college grades and completion as the only criteria for assessing academic success. For example, 80% of the summa cum laude graduates from my alma mater were liberal art majors. Engineers from all fields accounted for only a fraction of them. Does that mean they were less successful? No, it means that they had more rigorous curricula. You would have to look at what kind of degrees homeschoolers are pursuing and compare them to their public schooled counterparts, or else you are comparing apples to oranges.

Can't argue that, but it's true no matter what early education they had.

[cybele]

I find this thread very fascinating and i've learned a fair bit from it honestly.

Home schooling is scarcely heard of here. It is possible, however it is not possible to enter into tertiary education if you are homeschooled in your last 2 years of school. But funnily enough, you can do OpenUni, which is university at home.

So you need to complete years 11 and 12 at either a high school or a TAFE in order to get your ATAR score to either go to uni, or stay home and study uni via correspondence.

I would say that the reason that home schooling is not so common here is that we have a fantastic public school system in Australia, on top of that, we also have very affordable private schools (and some not so affordable, of course)

I have only known of one child who has been homeschooled, and unfortunately it was a situation similar to what akmom was talking about. We live in a very "hippy" (for lack of better term) area and her parents didnt want her socialising so much with the local kids. She went to my older kid's school for years 11 and 12 as she wanted to go to university and aside from picking what could only be described as the worst school in the area for such a sheltered young lady (the community school they go to is an 'alternative' public school and over time it has become known as the school where teens who have encountered social difficulties go, it is an amazing school and my kids thrive there, but I can see how a young lady who was raised knowing nothing but a very conservative life would crack in that environment) she really just didnt cope with the amount of work required in a proper school environment.

We dont really have homeschool communities, frameworks and the help that is given in the states, its all onto the parents to figure it out for themselves, and this girl became known as the poor girl who parents really did homeschool for all the wrong reasons, she was just so far behind where she needed to be, she graduated last year, but the community school is small and they have classes of different levels grouped together, so Dita was in most of her classes and she just struggled academically, and she struggled socially because her parents did such a good job of sheltering her that she feared the other kids because they were all of the things that her parents taught her was wrong.

So unfortunately, my only little experience with homeschooling has been a negative one. According to Dita, this girl got a very low ATAR and couldnt get into university anyway, and she has now made the choice to completely re-do years 11 and 12 at an adult education centre, so hopefully this all works out for her.

In the end, its down to the environment. From what I gather, some people homeschool for all the right reasons, they put so much time and effort into their children's education and make sure that they are getting the best education possible for them. But, as with every single thing in life, some people do it for all the wrong reasons, and it just makes life harder for the child/ren.