Any homeschooling experiences to share? Am considering homeschool for 9 yr old & 3 yr old.?

Question

My 9 yr old knows NO history, virtually no math, and last year we basically had to teach him ourselves. The school system (not just a teacher issue) has gone down a lot. Am looking for others willing to share other experiences. . Also thinking of homeschooling 3 yr old since we know how bad the scools are! Both kids are very bright, but my 9 yr old bores easily, and the school is not challenging him to stay motivated.
I'm already a stay-at-home mom and used to having to teach him now, so I doubt there'd be much adjustment family-wise.Am concerned about the social afect if we pull him out of school
I understand there are several curriculums to use, am wondering what works well....
Any advice from those who've been there? Thanks!!

Answer 1

I am starting my 4 yr old autistic son in pre-school this year, but I've already homeschooled a niece during pre-school and kindergarten, and a nephew through pre-school, so I'm not completely new at this. But, I don't have any real stories for you, just wanted to give you some ideas on the socializing. First, keep in mind that's NOT what school is designed for, so you can remove that from your goals with homeschooling. We are naturally born to be social beings, and a child who is shy is going to be that way whether they're homeschooled or not. With that said, your kids will have MORE time for socialization than schooled kids, because a trip to the bank can be turned into a socialization experience. Have your kids take turns each time you go to a bank or a store, handing the cashier the money, saying please and thank you. Learning to interact with adults is just as important as peer interaction, which is all they really get at school, and it's mostly negative at school anyway. There's more time for church, church-based activities, boy scouts, and sports. I had my child on a bowling league last year, he LOVED it! Look in your local paper to see if there's any homeschooling groups listed in your area, or look in the yellow pages, ask around. Churches usually have a lot of homeschoolers, so you could look there for resources, they might be able to give you some phone numbers of some groups. Having lunch at Burger King and playing in the play area is a good option, or going to the park. Playing with neighborhood kids, all are fine ideas, and things that people do anyway. There's different styles of homeschooling, too so curriculum isn't a big deal. The most important thing is the check what your state's requirements are. http://www.hslda.com is a good resource for checking on this. Look under Yahoo groups, there are numerous homeschooling groups you can join to get ideas on curriculum, maybe even find people willing to sell used curriculum. Hope all this helps, and good luck to you!



TO MUSICAL SOCIAL BUTTERFLY:
public school doesn't work on these areas, other. Sorry, but passing notes back and forth, pulling chairs out from underneath someone, worrying about who the person you like likes, these are not helpful to learning how to work together, or for learning academics. That's what goes on in public school. Learning how to work with others CAN be done in the home, that's what the family unit is supposed to be for, not sending them to a school for someone else to raise, or worse yet, for peers to raise. We need to get back to the basics, and you need to really take a look at families who homeschool, and how incredibly well socialized their children become. I know, I have seen 10 kids graduate from homeschooling at my church, and they are MUCH more social than I ever was.

Answer 2

I am 22 years old. I was homeschooled starting at 6th grade. The reason I began homeschooling is beacause of the bad area I lived, and school districts. I am not by any means prejudiced, not a bit. Although, I was one of the few white kids in my school. The others liked to gang up on me. This caused me to be stressed all of the time, I was never able to focus on my school work. So I was also falling behind.
If you can relate to any of this. I have to say that your child may learn alot more at home. I truly think I learned everything from home schooling. It's you teaching your child, one on one. You can work with him more on the areas he or she is falling behind in. There is one important thing that you need to do. You have to keep your child active in different sports or activities with other home schooling programs. If your child does not inneract with other kids, he or she will have social problems. That is the only mistake that I made. I became a teenager, and was so shy and had a hard time ordering my own food when out with others. Eventually I was strong enough to bring myself out of it. I started going to high school football games, and things like that. If you keep your child involved with other kids, and programs. I'm sure he or she will do really well. I guarantee they will learn alot more, and be very smart. You just have keep up with them being involved with several other children, maybe once a week. Good luck...:)

Answer 3

I considered it for my son as the advanced program at his school really sucked and he is so bored, but at the same time he needs the social skills that you get from being around other kids. Many people will tell you that homeschool kids have stuff that they all do together, but to me that's about like taking you kid to Chuckie Cheese. It's the structured part of the interaction with other kids that is needed. Plus, have you ever been around a 9 year old all day every day and try to teach them something and they have to learn it or else? There's a reason they have schools- it preserves the parents' sanity.

Answer 4

From a psychological stand point I would have to say the biggest concern with homeschooling is the social interaction. Play dates DO NOT fulfill this requirement. Group projects, working together to resolve issues and solve problems and diversity are as important to a healthy education as history, math, and science.

Answer 5

i've used the Robinson Curriculum (www.robinsoncurriculum.com) all my life, so I have nothing to compare it too, but they have great technical support 24/7. The guy's wife has raised 6 children and you can talk to her for help in teaching your younger children how to read and write. I strongly recommend it.

Answer 6

I was homeschooled and loved it. I was ahead of my pears educationally, plus I had lots of free time to do fun stuff. It was the best.