[handfull2b]

Hi Moms
Since we had our Lily Grace(3) I have felt a gentle tug toward homeschooling. My dh currently is'nt sold on it. Can you share with me what inspired you to start and how you are doing with it. Did your dh have any objections?
Thanks
Maria

[mommatomm&m]

I am not able to hs (we need both incomes coming in) but have a few friends who do. If you would like I can ask them if I can share their e-mail addresses with you. Just pm me if you would be interested in talking with them. r

[NDN]

Check out the homeschool legal defense website...just google it. They have tons of info and links. Dh wasn't sold on it when I brought it up initially. However, instead of trying to convince him, I just asked him a few questions:

First, I had him figure up how many waking hours our children would spend with us if they were in a regular school (they go to school for 8 hours, then there is transport time if they ride a buse, extra cirruculars, etc). The answer is NOT VERY MANY! So, I asked him, who will have the most influence on them and their outlook on the world? Well, most likely the people that they spend the most time with. While we can have a small but fundamental impact on them by teaching them basics when we do have them, those principles will always be competing with the louder, more consistent static that they will be getting within the school. We have views and traditions that are, in many ways, diametrically opposed to what children are taught in government school, so we find it preferable to teach them. Plus, I teach them that knowledge is not all about static facts written in a book. I want them to learn to evaluate situations for themselves and draw conclusions rather than regurgitate facts.

So, then, he echoed the same argument as everyone else..."what about socialization?" I kinda giggled at this one and replied, "it's not like we're locking them in a box!" I explained how they can still get interaction with people in other ways. There are still extracirricular acticities that they can participate in. Plus, we do volunteer work and regular errands and such...so they are actually getting experiencing socializing with a much broader and more diverse range of people than they would if they spent most of their time with their age group. I left him with a question that I knew the answer to: "of all the things you learned from your peers in school, how many of them would you want our kids doing?"

After that conversation he has never again questioned the homeschooling, but has been tremendously supportive.

Homeschooling takes surprisingly little time out of your day. In fact I know a single mother that works full time and successfully homeschools her 3 children--grade levels ranging from preschool to high school.

Our boys are still very young. I have spoken with lots of homeschoolers and take lots of advice and ideas from them. We do a LOT of natural learning here. We learn shapes, colors, and measurements while cooking. We learn tons of science out in the garden. I always try to answer the questions that they come up with and am not afraid to tell them that I don't know. There are many times that they ask for some minute fact about something and I look it up for them. They find it fascinating and, when I tell them that I don't know, they now ask me to look it up for them. They have learned that books can be their friends and, I think...or at least hope...that they are on a road to lifetime learning.

[alwaysus]

We homeschool all of our children. We love every minute of it. Some of the things they teach in public school are against our moral beliefs. But the MAIN reason we decided to HS is time. We wanted more time as a family. The kids were gone 8 hours of every day, then had 2 or more hours of home work.
It takes us about 3 to 4 hours every day to school. We are in our 7th year and we would do it no other way!

My daughter finished school when she was 16. Now at the age of 17.5, she has 3 semesters of college under her belt already.

The kids are more respectful and we are a very close family. No having to " unlearn" certain social behaviour.

As far as social skills go, the kids are doing wonderfully. As a matter of fact, when in your life will you EVER be solely in an environment of people your own ages? Never. Our kids can converse with other kids as well as adults and have never had social issues.
Another bonus is that the kids learn " real life skills" They participate in housework, yard work, grocery shopping and menu planning. They learn by doing, a lot of the things they will be doing as adults.

If one of my children is having a problem, lets say, in math. We can slow down and go at his or her own pace untill they master the skill.

We have had fewer sick days since we started HS as well.

The only thing I would have done differently is to start sooner than we did.

Best to you,

[poppy]

OH BOY!! You gotta love the way the Lord works. I was just talking to a friend today about homeschooling our kids next year. And now here is a post about it on the CHRISTIAN forum. WOW!

My question is do you know of anyone who didn't start homeschooling till late grade school? My boys are 3rd and 5th grade this year. My dd will be in Kind. naxt year. I think most people start with homeschooling and put them in public in middle or high school. We would be the opposite. Do you think it's possible?

[alwaysus]

My daughter was in 6th and my sons were in 5th, 2nd and 1st, it worked beautifully.

[momofmykids]

I've also found that homeschooling has helped my son who has RAD tremendously!!! It's amazing the difference it's made.

We attend a co-op one day a week. My kids take everything from watercolor to karate to sign language. It gets us out of the house one day a week and out around other kids. We really enjoy it.

[Ians mom]

We are also wanting to HS our kids this year. They will be going into 1st and 4th grade.

I found a "public school" program online that provides a curriculim for the kids and teachers to help out if we run into a problem.

Has anyone else tried this? And is it better or worse than making up your own lesson plans? Any help is appreciated.

[maxkinzie]

Hi,
I know this might be a little early, she's only 16 months old, but I am clueless, and would rather start early than late. My two biggest questions are 1-What to do right now, anything? and 2- in general, can you not be smart enough to do this?

ok, more questions, is there a curriculum? I'm sure it doesnt' always work out, what are some reasons it doesn't?

thanks,
maxi

[China2004]

We homeschool one of our children. He is in 3rd grade. We started homeschooling in the middle of this year. We are using the "school districts" homeschooling program because they use the same books and materials as the school. There are no costs. They offer field trips for the kids and workshops (art, writing, science) etc that are all optional...and have been great.

We picked this route to "try it out". If we continue next year we may venture and pick other materials.

I am loving it!

Darlene

[Deb Jane]

I am just completing my 15th year of homeschooling. Our oldest son is a second year nursing student, our only daughter is graduating from H.S. this year and is going on to college and wants to be an English professor (she has earned 38 college credit hours while in HS and is entering as a second year student.

We have two adopted sons one age 6 who is just completing kindergarten and a son 5 who will start kindergarten in the fall.

The reasons for homeschooling are as varied as each of our families and while my reasons for doing so may be interesting, they are probably not relevant to other families.

There is so much information available on this subject, and numerous vendors for curriculums that I feel I have little to add with this one exception - If I were to start homeschooling today I would start by meeting with the local school principle and see what type of assistance, or advise they would give. I wish I had done this years ago, but actually just did it in the last month - the assistance I received is outstanding - from spending an entire day in a kindergarten class room (and soon to spend a day in lst grade) to report cards (which outline the schools expectations at the various grade levels); to reading books, pencil grips, library card for elementary school, etc.

[ourdreamcametru]

We tried homeschooling our oldest son his 6th grade year because he was having some problems keeping up and no one was able to determin why. I had him home two day and knew it was ADD. Sure enough, after months of testing, it was determined to be ADD. Once on meds he did beautifuly and wanted to return to school with his friends. I loved having him with me all the time and am thanking about homeschooling our daughter when she is ready to start school.

[iwrite]

I plan to homeschool my child because I feel like I could teach him/her more than most schools could... I want my child to be well-educated - not in the $25,000 a year private school way but more in the "real life" way. Does that make sense?

[ChasingRainbows]

Hi,

Just wanted to say go for it. I am a graduate of homeschooling. I too was able to get all my credits in at 16.5 and went right on to college. My mom and I started when almost no one was homeschooled in 1982 and she has HS'd 6 others...still has a few to graduate.

My youngest sister is 3 and I think she plans to HS her as well.

I am so thankful for the opportunities I had while being HS'd! Just a little encouragement.

[polarbearla]

There are many reasons that homeschooling is good for kids. Academically, socially, emotionally and spirtitually it is the better way to go. I am not saying christians cannot successfully bring up their children in the public school or in a private school. However, ideally I feel homeschooling is a better choice.

My main reason for homeschooling has nothing to do with this. I could debate and discuss all day regarding the facts of homeschooling. I homeschool because I love and enjoy being with my children. It is such a gift from God that I am able to do this.

If you want to homeschool and your husband is not on board you need to NOT push him. You need to pray for him, you need to read books about homeschooling and inform yourself and you need to pray for yourself in this process. Patience