Questionnaire for homeschooled students (part 1)?

Question

My husband and I are planning to homeschool our girls (currently 3 and 1) and we've read a lot of material at parents but I'd like to get the perspective of homeschooled students themselves. Please share your experiences! Here are some questions to start off and any other comments are welcome. Thank you!

1) During which ages or grades were you homeschooled?
2) Why did your parents or guardians choose to homeschool you?
3) What type of homeschooling did you do? (particular curriculum, unschooling, etc.)
4) Who was/were your primary teacher(s) (mother, father, both, self)?
5) How did your teachers handle subjects with which they weren't familiar themselves (e.g. foreign languages or advanced math)?
6) Describe a typical school day for you (if you can!), at various ages if possible.
7) Were you homeschooled alone or with siblings or other students?

Answer 1

My son is with me to answer these... I'm a MUCH faster typist than he is.

1) During which ages or grades were you homeschooled?

from the middle of 7th grade through 8th grade. I returned to public school for high school.

2) Why did your parents or guardians choose to homeschool you?

Because my middle school was awful. Also, my mom spoke with a teacher once who said, "he's just so well behaved, he just sort of fell through the cracks"... She said she was sick and tired of me falling through the cracks.

3) What type of homeschooling did you do? (particular curriculum, unschooling, etc.)

My mom says that on the "spectrum" of methods for homeschooling, we were closer to "unschooling" but not quite. She would download the objectives for my grade from the public school web site to make sure we were covering what I needed to know to be okay once I started in high school (and I am, by the way -- in honors classes and a tech magnet program)

4) Who was/were your primary teacher(s) (mother, father, both, self)?

Both me and my mom, but my dad would help with history and math when he could because those are his favorite topics.

5) How did your teachers handle subjects with which they weren't familiar themselves (e.g. foreign languages or advanced math)?

Both my mom and dad were fine with the subjects for 7th - 8th grade. Mom says that if I had wanted to continue home schooling through high school, I would have taken some classes at the community college for more advanced topics.

6) Describe a typical school day for you (if you can!), at various ages if possible.

There was no "typical" day. Each day was different depending on what we were studying. Mom would incorporate a lot of skills into any subject I was interested in. Like, I was very interested in model rockets. So, that was science but I also had to write papers about it and explain mathematically how high a rocket could fly... stuff like that.

7) Were you homeschooled alone or with siblings or other students?

I'm an only child... or as my mom likes to put it, I am "sibling free"

Answer 2

1) During which ages or grades were you homeschooled? I have been homeschooled since grade 1! (I'm in 7th)

2) Why did your parents or guardians choose to homeschool you? My Mom doesn't like all the junk that happens in public school

3) What type of homeschooling did you do? (particular curriculum, unschooling, etc.) I do P.A.C.E

4) Who was/were your primary teacher(s) (mother, father, both, self)? Mother

5) How did your teachers handle subjects with which they weren't familiar themselves (e.g. foreign languages or advanced math)? Haven't reached that point yet.......

6) Describe a typical school day for you (if you can!), at various ages if possible.: I get up get dressed feed my dogs then at about 11:00 am or 12:00 pm I'll start my homework and would be done at about 3:00/4:00 pm (maybe 5:00)

7) Were you homeschooled alone or with siblings or other students? I am an only child, so I am homeschooled alone

Answer 3

1) K-12
2) There were many reasons, I’m not sure which they would pick as “the one”
3) We used books from our local school district, but supplemented that with outside, hands on resources, such as a near by living history museum.
4) My mom taught most subjects, but my dad helped with the math once I got into high school.
5) You can often get a teacher’s addition of the books you use, and my mom always said that relearning things before she taught them to me turned out to be very educational for her. As far as when the subjects advance beyond what they can teach, that is a good time to either take a class out side of the home, at a public school (some states allow you to attend several classes in a public school as a part time student) community college, or through a homeschool support group (often a parent who has an advanced grasp of a subject, especially language, will teach it for a group of home educated students)
6) As you wisely noted, it is very hard to describe an “average” day, and it definitely changes as you progress. However, the one thing that was always the same was that I had a certain amount of work to get done that day—a chapter of history, 2 chapters of math, etc—and we would work until those things were done. Some days that was 3 hours, other days a lot more.
7) When I was homeschooling there was no where near the community that there is now, so though my younger brother was also homeschooled the majority of my education was one on one, since he was several grades below me. Though for some things, like maybe literature, I would have enjoyed having a discussion group (something that is definitely possible now with the community that exists now) I found that I really benefited from being able to go at my own pace, taking extra time for the things that did not come easily to me, and being able finish faster with the things I understood.

Thank you for putting so much thought into the education of your children, I hope this is a great experience for your family!

Answer 4

1) I've been homeschooled ever since Kindergarden and still am to this day. (I am now in High School)
2) My mom thought it would be a good thing. It meant more time at home. It meant I got to see a lot more people and my schedule was a lot more flexible.
3) We use a curriculum. We have a homeschool fair that comes to our area every year that we go to, to look at the stuff.
4) My mom, always. Just recently (as she has taken up homeschooling my younger brother) I have had a few subjects where I self-teach or there are instructional videos.
5) My mom always thought of it as learning along with me. If there was something I got that she never did I'd help her and vice versa. If we both are stuck on a problem, we'll go to the library for homework help, find videos to help explain the kinds of problems, or go online and find sites that explain it.
6) Kindergarten I had only one book that I did various subjects in. 2nd grade I started getting your more basic subjects (i.e Math, English, and Science). The same thing went on till I hit Middle School. Then, I would have a couple of classes in the morning and then my mom sent me across the street to the Middle School for electives. Now, in High School I pretty much have the same basic principal, but I'm going on for more than just electives.
7) I was homeschooled alone till three two years ago when my mom started homeschooling my brother.

Answer 5

8) I met a lot of my life-long friends through a monthly homeschool roller-skating day that our support group organized, but I also met a lot of people though the music and historical groups I was involved in. 9) The style of music I was interested in (fiddle) was not available in schools so we would have sought out the same resources either way. No matter what instrument or style of music your child is interested in, it is easy to find private teachers in your area and they can help you get into the greater musical community. I went to two school dances with friends who were in public and private schools. Though some states allow you to participate in your school district’s extra curricular programs, where I live you don’t have to, because there are homeschool formal dances, bands, debate teams, sports, and graduation ceremonies. 9) Being able to go at my own pace, get the work done, and have time for the thing I wanted to do. 10) I know it sounds silly, but I always wanted to have a microscope and we never got one, so I had to do all the science experiments that involved probability and growing things, which just aren’t as fun as they could be. 11) I think I might have enjoyed hearing the thoughts of other students on certain subjects, again, not in something like math, but maybe a subject like literature where you can expect an exchange of ideas. However, from talking with my public school friends it didn’t sound like there was a lot of that going on anyway, and that the environment that so many people extol for its social advantages sometimes tended more to distract from education. 12) So far there have been no problems 13) Homeschooling is not for every parent, family, or child, and I think you have to have everyone on board to make this work. I believe that it can be a very beneficial method, but I also know that it is a huge sacrifice both personally and financially for the parents that do it. I would feel obligated to my children to at least offer them the same options that I was given. 14) Washington

Answer 6

1) During which ages or grades were you homeschooled?
SInce I could go to school - currently

2) Why did your parents or guardians choose to homeschool you?
because that our school systems are out of whack.

3) What type of homeschooling did you do? (particular curriculum, unschooling, etc.)
My mom just ordered different books like Abeka math, Apologia science, Lifepac and much more.

4) Who was/were your primary teacher(s) (mother, father, both, self)?
My mom, my father was not the teaching type he also did not liek to teach us. I suggest that you and your husband do it so your kids have both parents in their school lifes.

5) How did your teachers handle subjects with which they weren't familiar themselves (e.g. foreign languages or advanced math)?
My mom handled it with the teachers answer books, she also looks up like how to's and examples, they work great!

6) Describe a typical school day for you (if you can!), at various ages if possible.
Wake up have breakfast, get started on math (to start my thinking, or while I was fresh) and then I chose what subjects i would like to do. (they were pretty much the same all my life)

7) Were you homeschooled alone or with siblings or other students?
my brothers and sister, and sometimes my friends who were homeschooled too came by. They were on the basic same programs.

Good luck with the homeschooling, plus you might want to give your kids some extra cirricular activities with other kids too. Good luck and trust me homeschooling your kids are totally worth it!!!

Answer 7

1) I am still being currently homeschooled. I started at 5th grade and have gone trough 8th homeschooling. I am planning to homeschool through high school, and get my diploma from a certified accredited curriculum.

2) The middle school was bad in my area. So mom AND I decided to start homeschooling at 5th, so I would have one year to adjust to it before homeschooling for middle school.

3) I have done lots of curriculums. For 5th and 6th I did Calvert. Very nice program especially for younger children. For 7th I did Alpha Omega's (http://www.aop.com) switched on schoolhouse. That was VERY good. It is a computer based curriculum. Now I am doing Alpha Omega's Lifepacs, whitch is bookwork. I like it OK so far. I am planning to change programs for high school though.

4)For 5th and 6th it was pretty much all mom, then 7th I was on the computer for my work, and now I am doing it on my own and mom just grades the book work.

5)Well, if you choose a good homeschool program the teachers manuals should be pretty thourogh. If you are going to have your children take foreign language I suggest doing it on the computer and buying a speakers/microphones. Alpha Omega has good foreign language programs. For Math I would definitly get Sylvan learning if you are not good with it.

6) Well, I will do the youngest age I homeschooled whitch is in 5th grade. I will tell you my schedule:

8:00 am: got up/breakfast/get dresses/ ect.
9:00-12.00: School
12:00-1:00: Lunch Hour
1:00-2:30:School

That was just my personal schedule. My other friends do it differently. One of them starts at more like 11:00am then gets done at 4:30 instead. Or you might have a lighter work load that day and get done a 1:00. It just depends. For a littler child a school day would not be that long. For pre-school it would just be morning, no afternoon.

7) I was not homeschooled with other Students or Siblings. However, once your child gets older you can enroll in homeschool pen pal programs (calvert has one). I also went on yearly field trips with other homeschoolers: Museums; Zoos; Ect.

Also if you check with your zoo, there is probably classes you can take your children. Also stuff at your local library, Readings and classes till the age of 16 or so.


The most important thing is not to be too, stiff. Like you have to be super flexible. Take that time to watch a craft episode. Surprise your schooler with a hookey day every 2-3 months.

Have fun homeschooling!!

Answer 8

1: I'm 14 and have been home schooled all my life, and will continue to.2:I think because my parents knew that the public school system has been going down the drains.3:I do several different types of curriculum's, Saxon math, SOS schoolhouse for language arts, and a thing called a unit(not the kind your thinking of) that covers science, history, and geography. I also do bible study.4: My mom.5: Any subjects(I don't know of any) are covered in the teacher book that comes with the various subjects, so mom just looked there.6:Right now, First I read, do vocabulary,or write reports for my unit thing(I study either history, science or geography one at a time), then I do my language arts which comes on cdrom 2 lessons, then math, which also comes on cdrom,2 lessons. Then I do my bible study and last I write one page of anything I want to to practice penmen ship and grammar. 7: I am an only child, so obviously I am home schooled alone.

Answer 9

I'll answer with my daughter beside me -
1) K-3, so far
2) Public schools teaching to the test, poor math curriculum, no depth, not challenging for gifted learners.
3)Some distance/online classes - Stanford EPGY math, K12 Language arts, History, Mentisonline - literature. A variety of textbooks - Singapore math, RightStart Geometry, Real Science 4 Kids. Tons of library exploration and home experimentation. Outside classes in art, music, dance, soccer, and gymnastics.
4) Mom with Dad helping - some online tutor help through EPGY.
5) A variety of resources are available - we model learning by tackling unfamiliar subjects. We both have advanced degrees in the physical sciences, so not too concerned about the math. We've set-up arrangements with other homeschool parents with better backgrounds in the arts so we can trade off teaching in some areas.
6) A few hours (2-3) of work each day in basic subject areas - several days a week may have extra hours devoted to art projects, science experiments, researching topics of interest to my daughter. Generally have several hours of play time and outside activities.
7) An only child, but 1 day a week homeschooled with friends, and every other week an additional day of art with friends.

Answer 10

I'm going to offer a couple of suggestions here - first is to contact a local homeschooling group and ask these questions of the kids there. This will also give you a feel for what's available (programs, co-ops, field trips, park days) in your particular area.

Next, there are two books that look into the lives of homeschoolers. The best (IMHO) and most conversational is Lisa Whelchel's, "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling..." In it, fifteen homeschooling families explain what their lives are like, what started them down the homeschool road, what methods/materials they use, ... The second is called, "Real-Life Homeschooling..." by Rhonda Barfield. Basically the same idea, but a bit longer intros to each family.

Finally, check into one of the hundreds of Yahoo! Groups for homeschoolers. One that I belong to was started by a mother who was considering homeschooling her (then) newborn.