My journey through homeschooling...

[mom2many]

<t>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. <br/>
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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.<br/>
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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.<br/>
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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.<br/>
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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.<br/>
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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. <br/>
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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.<br/>
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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.</t>

 

[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.

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.

 

[stjohnjulie]

M2M, how much time a day do you devote to homeschooling? How much time do the kids devote to it on their own?

I am pretty sure that we are going to be doing a distance program with Luca next year for either part of the year or the whole year. I want him enrolled in an accredited program that has both online and text book kind of work. There are SO MANY choices and it's tough to figure out which ones are the better programs. There are a lot of forums out there, but most of them are geared towards homeschooling alone. I just do not have enough time in my day to be Luca's only teacher. I need support of other educators (via email or online help) and will also hire a tutor on island who has a teacher's certification.

Where I live... the public schools are struggling. The private school that he has gone to for the last 7 years is just not working (and it costs $10k a year).

We have had a very difficult year. I am not sure what is going on at school....but he has been in trouble so much and when they tell me what he has 'done' I just can't believe my ears. I don't know who they are talking about. But one thing I know for sure is that there is something going on at school that does not happen at home. He is an emotional wreck several times a week from things that happen at school. I just need to get him out of there and get him feeling loved and safe and secure. So I want to keep him away from the school until he can get strong again. I do want him back in a brick and mortar... but I don't think he can handle it right now. It must suck for him to know that the school he has always gone to doesn't want him.

 

[mom2many]

I can spend anywhere from 3-5 hours a day. However, Aiden requires complete hands on and 2 hours of that is him. Otherwise they just call me over as needed. Cole also requires more hands on with math so that's a portion of that time also. Vanna is pretty independent so doesn't need me nearly as much as the other 2 do.

As for them, our program has a requirement for how many hours they need to work. Aiden works his full 2 hours, Vanna is supposed to be 4 hours but she get's it done a lot quicker then that. Since Cole is closer in age I'll give a better breakdown of him.

Math
Language (4 parts to it)
Spelling
Literature (I hate their book choices, so I do my own. With teacher permission)
History
Science
Art

He also had National Math Lab for an hour a day, it was extra tutoring. He can very on how long it takes to get done. Some days, 4-5 hours was enough and other days he needed longer. We always break his days up, he does 2 subjects and then takes a break, 2 more and another break. I tried to just get it done with him, but the ants in his pants would be to much so breaking the day down into sections made his day more manageable.

Honestly, it will come down to how independent your guy is. Like I said, Vanna, is very independent, but Cole requires more of my time and obviously so does Aiden. Next year I am trying to come up with a better schedule, Cole will be entering junior high and NEEDS to be more independent. We are looking into a 504 for him, which will help some.

I think your guy will do fine from what you have said of him in the past.

 

[stjohnjulie]

What is a 504?

Luca is really independent. He breezes through his work right now. That is another reason why I want to give distance learning a shot. He probably could advance pretty quickly if he isn't bound to a set schedule. The two that I am looking at right now will tailor make a curriculum for him which I really like. Part of the reason why he can be a pain in the ass in school is because he is bored.

 

[mom2many]

A 504 is similar to an IEP, just on a smaller scale. It allows for some modification of his curriculum or even how we do his school work. This year we didn't have one, but as an example, his spelling list was to big. So every test he would fail, instead off doing every single word I broke the lessons down to 10 words and focused on those instead of the 25. I'd much rather he learn 10 correctly then 25 wrong, but this summer we will work on all of the words we didn't get to. A 504 would mean the school would automatically do instead of me.

 

[stjohnjulie]

I see. 25 words is just too much. You are right to put him in the position to succeed instead of fail. This is the kind of stuff that makes so much sense to me.

Luca has been treated very poorly and he doesn't make things easier by being a pain in the butt. He is very smart, and he tends to dominate class discussions, or answering questions, and when he isn't allowed to he just becomes a distraction in another way. It's just time for a change for us. Thanks again for all of your feedback!

 

[mom2many]

You're welcome!

Hope it works out for you guys. Sometimes traditional school isn't the right choice.

 

[nwcrazy]

My neighbor homeschools her young children, and they are doing fine. We considered homeschooling our daughter; but realized that, as an only child, it would be nice for her to be around other kids her age on a daily basis. So she attends a public school for kindergarten. In the fall, she'll attend a magnet school for first grade.

My hats off to those parents who are disciplined enough to take care of ALL of their children's educational needs at home. Personally, I like having our daughter go to school. Then I can pick and choose what I want to teach her at any old time. It's reassuring to me to know that ALL of the bases are covered as far as her education is concerned. But if I'm honest with myself I don't think that I'll be able to follow a curriculum day in and day out

 

[nwcrazy]

BTW I wouldn't read too much into statistics showing which students do better in college. It's really about parents supporting their children. Homeschooled children will have a disproportionately higher number of more involved parents. So obviously the stats will show a better average. But I suspect if you take schooled students that have supportive parents, you'll see high performance in K-12 and college as well.

The problem is that the school system is made up of a student body orders of magnitude larger than the number of homeschooled children. And a student body with tons of students with parents that aren't supportive. Hence, the skewed stats.

 

[momforever]

This is a very interesting topic- I have thought about homeschooling - although I think I prefer to have a break from the kids and work out the house so I have patience for them when they come home. It is interesting though that what has been discussed is only the academic side- what about the social aspect. Do your kids go to any clubs or scouts? How do they feel about the fact that they are not in school and especially when asked what school do you go to etc. Are they proud of their status or embarresed? How do they interact with other kids who go to school. My biggest concern with homeschooling is that the kids don't get left out of regular social interaction and feel in any way inferior to school kids.

 

[stjohnjulie]

The socialization factor is something that has always been a big one for me with my oldest. He was an only child for a long time and I'm not a very social person and his father is more on the anti-social side. He has been in the same school, with basically the same 10 classmates, for the last 7 years. Early on there was a boy who he really liked, but he moved away in 1st grade. After that, he just never clicked with anyone and it has made him feel like an outsider. The trouble the school tells me he has with the other kids is not something I see when he is doing things that aren't with just the same 10 kids he has in his class. Other group sports and other activities outside of school he doesn't seem to have any problem finding a friend to hang out with. So I am lead to believe that there is some kind of negative dynamic happening with the school directly.

I did tell my son that if we choose to do this distance program for the next year that he has to pick two outside activities that he cannot quit (which he seems to do too much of). We have limited options where I live, but I know we can find two things that other kids participate in that he can join.