To home-school or not? are you doing this? any experiences? any defense families?

Question

I am considering home-schooling my 2 children. One is 4 & the youngest 1 year old. My daughter begins the new prep-year here in Australia in 2 weeks. She is only 4 & it is like full time school. It is voluntary until next year. My family may be moving next year as my husband is seriously considering leaving his current job to join the airforce. If we do this then we will be moving to another state for 4 months and then moving again for 1 year before moving again for 2 years and then moving again...... Is it better just to home-school, rather than move them in and out of schools? Even if we do not move- how will they get to learn social skills if they are home-schooled? Are there any play groups for children learning at home? Please help?

Answer 1

I home school my kids. They are nearly 7 and 3 1/2. We are a technology family, and our kids each have their own computers - the baby got hers for her 2nd birthday to keep the fighting to a minimum.

I can tell you that both my kids are reading and quite well - all self taught on computer, sesame street, etc. I have found a whole slew of educational and interactive sites for the kids to use and they love it. Best of all it is totally directed by them - kids this age are aching to learn and learn things that interest them so easily. We also travel a fair amount and find that homeschooling gives us the flexibility to do and go wherever we want - and the kids always have access to their educational sites and games wherever there is a computer.

I think that public schools are getting more and more crowded and really I think they give a kind of cookie cutter education. I think the leaders of tomorrow will have something special. I have heard of some awesome private schools but location and cost are huge factors. I know that I can give my kids a better education than the public schools, and I know that I have access to resources (including structured curriculums that I can carry out at home if I wish) to handle anything that may come our way.

In California, there are a lot of Mother's Clubs where families with very young children can meet, join playgroups and start to develop relationships that can turn into Home School playgroups. There are also a lot of homeschooling associations and web sites that can help you find groups for socializing or group homeschool events, activities and classes.

I personally wrote a bit of a tutorial for our local mother's club, for helping kids gain computer skills and I also list like 50 sites that I have found for my kids: http://www.sonomamothersclub.org/kids_links.htm#online_games

I can also recommend these web sites for more info:

http://www.homeschool.com/
http://californiahomeschool.net/default.htm

Even if you only homesschool in the early years while you are moving and then let them go to a regular school when you settle down, the options and the help is out there. I know many people feel this is a daunting task, but it is not as hard as it seems - and american families have the choices and flexibility to hand pick the right things for us and change our mind and do anything we want, really. Give it a try. Worst comes to worst, you enroll them in a school later.

Peace!

Answer 2

Of course if she's homeschooled she can still be social, paticipate in sports, etc! While homeschooling is different from regular schooling, the benefits are mainly the same. Honestly, it depends on the child and if the child likes the idea of homeschooling. About the sports idea, most rec centers have sport teams that anyone can play at no matter what school you go to. And your daughter can still be social, playdates and playing with friends should provide plenty of social interaction. However, all of this is my opinion, and I'm not an expert on child schooling. Best of luck to uour daughter!!

Answer 3

I homeschooled my son. There are all sorts of programs and or curriculum you can get online for it. And check in your community for groups where others are also homeschooling. They have seminars you can attend to meet other children-parents homeschooling. I totally enjoyed it and so did my son. He learned fast and we had a close bond from the experience. Your child will learn social skills just as normally as children attending a public school. I found it made my son much more responsible person. Good luck to you!

Answer 4

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