Valid reasons to homeschool, what are your reasons?

Question

I am seriously considering homeschooling my son for a few years. He is delayed in his speech but advanced every other way. The school he would attend is also a dual-immersion school (they teach half the class in Spanish then repeat the information in English). The school's test scores (they claim are good) show that only 26% of the kids can pass the tests. I think that homeschooling would also allow him to progress at his pace--not having to keep up with the fastest or alowest kid in class.

What were your reasons for homeschooling? Is it best to approach it on a year-to-year idea for make long term plans?

Let me add that he is not considered special ed.

also, the kids the school is churning out are illerate in both languages (English and Spanish) because of the immersion program.

I only plan on homeschooling until the end of the eigth grade--I do think high school can be very important.

Answer 1

I plan to homeschool my special needs daughter. In fact, really I am doing so now through our everyday interactions.



Why Homeschool?

1. Homeschoolers generally receive a better academic education

2. Parents can control what their kids are exposed to and when.

3. Homeschoolers generally have better social skills than their traditionally schooled peers (mostly because parents are there to help with social problems as they arise)

4. Homeschoolers have closer relationships with their parents

5. Homeschoolers are less likely to have behavioral problems

6. The symptoms of many learning and developmental disabilities (such as Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD) become significantly more mild and in some cases disappear altogether when the kids are switched from a classroom setting to homeschool.

7. Home schooling works around your family's schedule rather than the family having to work their lives around a schools schedule.

8. Many Universities actively seek out home school graduates and some have offices for which the sole purpose is to meet the needs of home school graduates

9. To ensure that the child(ren) are raised with the right values.

Answer 2

I don't know how old your son is, but mine is 7 and I began homeschooling him in November 2006 when he was 6. He would have been in public school 1st grade. it sounds as though the neighborhood schools where we live are very similar. Our neighborhood school has a dual immersion immerson program too, and the statistics are just about the same--only 26% of the children can pass the standardized tests.

My son is also advanced but needs more speech therapy. I am seeking private sources for his speech therapy. However, in the state of Illinois and in many other states, your child can get therapy at the neighborhood school even if he is homeschooled. Check this out with the Board of Education or your local school district.

I am a single Christian mother who homeschools while working from home, and I, too, will reconsider my decision to homeschool each year. However, at this time, I know I am doing the best thing for my son. He is learning at a phenomenal rate and thriving in the homeschooled environment.

I have many reasons for homeschooling including the following, i.e., my Christian belief system, the neighborhood school choices, the neighborhood school's safety (or lack thereof), and also my son's above average intelligence.

I hope this is helpful.

Answer 3

I home schooled my son from 5th through 7th grade. He had been sick a lot and missed regular school. The principal of his school was mean and threatened him and he and the teacher both told him he was going to fail. I pulled him out of school at mid term and schooled him myself. In our state, a student must attend a certain number of days to pass to the next grade. It is nonsence, nontheless, the law. I believe he received an excellent education. Naturally bright, he devoured the information and did most of the work on his own. He attended high school, but found he knew all the material, etc and opted to take the GED exam as soon as he was 17 and passed with flying colors. He later took a home study course in locksmithing and gunsmithing, passing easily. Recently he is doing computer tech work.
You know, some people do not take to institutionalized education. Home educated people are much better educated. Good luck to you!

Answer 4

When we pulled our son out of public school in the 8th grade, we did it knowing it was our only option.
He did not qualify as Learning Disabled and therefore did not get extra help. He was not learning and was not passing the tests yet was promoted from one grade to the next. The reports said that he was performing beyond his potential. He had trouble reading, spelling, writing, and doing simple math.
We concentrated on reading, writing, and arithmetic for the first year of home schooling. Science, History, and Social Studies were done with audio/video from library or from online.
This year, the end of 9th, he graded at 11th grade in reading comprehension on the standardized test. His spelling has improved. This is after 2 years of home schooling.
The beauty of home school is just what you said...it will allow him to progress at his pace.
My son repeated over and over as we started homeschool "I'm stupid"and"I can't do this". Well, he found out that he's not stupid and he can do it.
He does not have a love of learning , but he is learning the value of an education. Education means more than 'good grades'.

Answer 5

A lot of humans are adverse to house education or distance schooling when you consider that they think it prevents youngsters from having social interactions. Home education will also be excellent for a little one, as they do not always have got to manage the equal distractions they might have got to manage in a study room environment, so they are able to be extra effective. It additionally is helping broaden potential like self-motivation and independence. It most likely does not have the social detail that traditional tuition has, however this will also be accomodated by means of having your little one perform equipped movements (equivalent to sporting activities).

Answer 6

Home schooling will allow your son to learn at his own pace which a public school environment cannot provide.

When I first began home schooling our daughter we approached it and still do on a year to year basis. Each year I assess her progress and ask for her own opinions about continuing. She enjoys it very much and come fall we'll begin our third year.

Our daughter has learned so much more about varied subjects that public school cannot possibly have the time to teach. She learns a lot of history, science, geography in addition to reading, writing, and math of course. This fall we will study etymology and a foreign language.

Another advantage to home schooling is the time it allows our daughter to pursue other activities and interests that she would not have time for otherwise.

My best to you and your son!

Answer 7

My summarized primary reasons for homeschooling: because I was a teacher and did not like what I saw in terms of social, moral, academic and general development. My husband, a current teacher, agrees.

I think it would be a very good idea for you to start out homeschooling him. While there are supposed "experts" in schools to help, most of the time, it does not work out as well as it could and the children with special needs do not get those needs fulfilled. (I worked in a classroom with a specialized aide, but due to budget constraints, she was only allowed to be there for a few hours a week--not nearly enough time to provide proper additional assistance to the kids she'd been assigned to.) I've personally met a few families who pulled their special needs children out of school and the kids did soooooooooooo much better at home. There is so much extra "stuff" going on at school that impedes progress where it's needed.

As for year-to-year or long-term... both. :) My husband and I have said to ourselves at least until the end of jr. high. But, it's still a kind of year-by-year thing where if things really weren't working out, we would send them to school. I think it probably depends on your particular personality: I prefer having things settled (at least until the end of jr. high), but I also like having some flexibility (take it year-by-year). In the long run, I'm not sure the different approaches make much of a difference except for matching up best with your own comfort levels.

Please ignore all those who apparently know very little about homeschooling!

Answer 8

We chose to homeschool because we had a very gifted dd (in public school she skipped 2 grades) and a dd with some major health issues that would cause her to miss several months of school each year. We have been homeschooling now for 6 years and I really dont see a downside to it. Our middle dd and youngest ds both have some learning disabilities and they learn best from one on one and hands on interaction. They cant get that at school but I can provide that at home for them.

Answer 9

Our main reason for HS'ing our son, who is 9 yrs. old and been HS'ed since Kdg, is because of his advanced ability. It was actually our school district's idea that we homeschool him. They knew their schools were not the right place for him, which was apparent when he attended their 4 y.o. preschool. They could not grade skip him in Kdg or 1st grade (state regulation), even though he needed to be.

HS'ing him has allowed him to work at his own pace, which is different in each subject. He's currently working at 4th-8th grades, which would be very difficult in any B&M school setting.

We do re-evaluate every year and commit to only one year at a time. At the same time, though, we do think long-term to early college course work, etc. It is way less overwhelming at first to only commit to one year. You always know you can re-enroll them in public school at any time if it doesn't work out. I would try to stick with it for at least one semester - but it takes one full year, IMO, to really get settled.

You'll want to first find out your son's learning style. Then you can choose curricula based on that style.

You can most likely still get speech therapy services (if he needs them) through your school district even if you HS him. Or you can skip the school entirely and do private ST through your medical insurance, or a program like Easter Seals.

Answer 10

We grew tired of the poor performance our kids achieved in public school. We started home schooling all 3 (2 boys and a girl) using accredited programs at home. My contact with home schooled kids showd me first hand that they are normally way ahead of public school in their knowledge, that they accelerated thru the program at a much faster learing pace then public school BUT, you must make sure to have interaction with other kids or their social skills will not develop as well. We found local groups of Home schooled kids and one day per week we gathered at the local skating rink for the kids to interact. In addition, we scheduled other events and outings as well. I found that this helped the kids develop proper skills mor rapidly. In addition, your kids are not safe in public schools anymore. The violence, drugs, sexual preditors etc are only getting worse. Another point many parents of home schooled kids don't know, is that your kids can take part in electives at your public school while being home schooled. This includes sports, music etc. This also helps round out the kids education.