Do you homeschool your children? or Are you homeschooled?

Answer 1

I do homeschool my two children ages 9 and 6. I wasnt homeschooled but my lil brother was. He just graduated. Is extremely smart. Just started his first job, already paid for his truck in the 3mths he worked there. Is going to Air Force next year.
I enjoy teaching my children, my son has reading problems that the public school couldnt help with. So I pulled them from public schools. We are able to slow down and read at his pace, no pressure atmosphere. He excels in math, so instead of being bored with 3rd grade level math he is able to continue to 4th grade math, while still working in a 2-3rd grade reading level.
You can spend more time with them working with their problems and encouraging them when they need it most. Most teachers are so busy with 30 kids they cant help the one that needs it most.
My daughter is already doing 1st grade work well. She doesnt do well with math, but loves to read, so we work with her, not pressuring her to be up to par with other kids her age.
And no TAKS test pressure, that was all they were teaching them in 3rd grade public school. Pushing them to pass this test, when it doesnt matter if you pass the test if your failing your regular grades. Think they have their priorities backwards.
My kids do hands on science experiements, grow their own little garden, learn how to use the computer, get exercise, eat whenever they are hungry, go to the bathroom when they need to without having to wait for permission from a busy teacher.
They are allowed to ask questions and search for the answers till they are satisfied. They pick out books based on their interests in the library and we read them together and alone.
I personally love being with my kids, and I love seeing them read for the first time, learn new spelling words, get excited and jump for joy when their volcano actually spews. We have learned alot from each other and will learn more each day.
As for social skills, I actually prefer that my kids dont talk back, dont cuss, dont call others stupid, dont get called stupid, and dont get told to shut up.
The kids I've watched on the local school play ground are cussing, pushing, rude, biting, hitting, and talk back to adults. If this is what they learn in public school, I think I can do without .

Answer 2

This is addressed primarily to the respondent who said that kids should go to school so that they can make friends. I assume you are a child yourself, by the response, so the serious mom's on this list understand your viewpoint. But for the sake of the parents who might be concerned with this topic, let me share my experiences. I homeschooled my two middle sons several years ago. In that one year, they progressed 4 (FOUR) grade levels in math! They have both completed high school now. I'm presently homeschooling my 9 year old son. He's a 'bit' more difficult to keep on task than the other two were. It drives me crazy when people claim to be "concerned" about his social skills. First of all, the primary purpose in education should be to get the BEST quality of education possible- something that most schools in the USA can't provide. Therefore, socialization should never, EVER be the first consideration. Why do non-homeschoolers NEVER concern themselves with the quality of education a homeschooled child is receiving? My son has played baseball, taken dance classes, been a cub scout, is involved in church groups, and we have helped at the local migrant services program. He is comfortable with both children and adults, can carry on a great conversation, is more polite than most public schooled kids, and has an advanced sense of humor. I could go on, but you understand what I'm saying!

Answer 3

I homeschool both of my children and I love it. We take a very relaxed and unstructured approach yet my daughter is several grades ahead in math and science. We consider the whole world to be our classroom and make just about everywhere we go into a learning fieldtrip. As for socialization, my children are very outgoing and at ease with people of all ages and will strike up a conversation with anyone, sharing their interests and finding out about the other person. I love homeschooling, or unschooling as our style of learning is sometimes called.

Answer 4

We just finished our first year of homeschooling and I absolutely love it!!!! We are in a homeschool co-op with 8 other families and my children participate in city-sponsored sports so there is plenty of socialization. My son is now reading on a 4th grade level and he just turned 6. He's also starting 2nd grade math in the fall. I think this is due to the fact the was able to go at his own pace.

Answer 5

I homeschool my kids, and I do alot of reading and writing about homeschooling. my homeschool blog is nfahm.blospot.com.

I think the best information I can give you right now is to google the word 'homeschool". there are alot of homeschoolers graduating this year who are finishing highschool with associate college degrees already under their belts, so they actually attended community college to gain a good deal of their higschool credits. You can't do that and be socially inept.

Answer 6

Homeschooling in early age up to 5 years gives confidence to the children when the are on the threshold of entering formal schooling. I am home schooled and I recommend this to parents who want their children to go to schools after 5 years age with confidence.

Answer 7

My mother and I homeschooled my two girls until she died. Since I have to work full time, it became difficult to do since I didn't want to leave them at home alone all day. That was 3 years ago, and my youngest daughter is still ahead of her class.

It's a great thing to do if you have the time to do it right. It's fun for everyone, and you can cover more subjects more quickly and deeply than they can in school where they have to teach to the slowest person in the class. We took trips to the state capital when we studied government, to the coast when we studied geology, etc. It was great! We still take trips, and I still teach at home, but it's not the same as full-time homeschool.

Answer 8

Yes- we home educate our children. It's super!!!!!!!!!!!

OUr kids don't have to wait for the 'rest of the class' to continue on.
They are each several grades ahead of their peers .
If they are having a great time learning something-I don't have to say-
time for this other subject. They can follow their passion and keep learning.
We have more time as a family-they don't have 'homework'.

....and they are more 'socialized' than their public school counterparts.
They are at ease speaking with people at all ages. There is no 'us & them' mentality between kids and grown-ups.

They are on the homeschool soccer team, chess club, my dd dances for a homeschool studio for ballet and jazz (they win all over the state in competitions), we have park days every week, science fairs, prom,field trips galore, plus homeschool choirs, band, orchestra, and so very much more...... heck-our current and previous governors are/were homeschoolers! lol

It's brought great joy to our family.

AND- as far as college goes- Ivy league schools come to our homeschool graduations & conventions looking for homeschoolers to come to their universities(yes, Harvard and Yale and Princeton ARE among them!). Homeschooled kids, on a whole, outperform their public school counterpoints on both SATs and ACTs.
They've already learned how to study without the information being handfed to them and our kids are getting scholarships to attend these and other colleges.
Many of them offer high school programs (Like BYU)-so you get your high school diploma from a college-and getting into the college system-well, hey-it's a breeze if you get your high school diploma from a university! lol

Christa Maculiffe was homeschooled ( I don't know how to spell her last name)!
So were the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena), and
many more most don't realize.

:)

Answer 9

This will actually be my first year homeschooling my children.

Answer 10

I am homeschooled and I plan homeschooling my children.

Answer 11

no but my neighbor does. she has 5 kids at home (and several more out of the house already) her kids are all home schooled but heavily involved in city sports (softball football hockey) and activities so that they learn good social skills. they stay home schooled until 8th grade then they enter a private school for one year and go to private highschool - this helps them to get into better colleges and makes them eligible for more scholaships when it comes time for college!!

when her kids start attending regular school they are always at the top of thier classes, because she makes sure to teach them above and beyond what is required, and she has more time to devote to them. in school they would get 1 hour of history a day - in a class of 20 kids - so the teacher has to stop and answer other kids questions - she gives an hour of history today and answer only her kids questions and she is able to cover a lot more and go into more depth.

i do not know that every homeschooled child gets this type of education however - both my neighbor (who is no longer working) and her husband are/were both teachers. she no longer works in a school - but she has many years of experience teaching - which i am sure helps her know what and how to teach!!