Are you home schooling your child? What has your experience been?

Question

Have they always been home schooled? If not, why did you decide to do it?

Some people mentioned being unschooled....What is this? Is this teaching yourself, without a curriculm?

By the way, you guys have great answers. My daughter will be starting 3rd grade this fall and has so far been to 3 different schools for varying reasons. We are Hispanic...in her first 2 schools...she was bullied a bit....too much for me. I went to Catholic school and personally never dealt with bullying at all. The school she was in last year was predominently Hispanic, so she didn't have a bullying problem, but I just recently found out the school's scores for math and reading....both about 22 percent when the nations average is about 75-80%. I almost died....I had to wait a few days to keep reading some more because I was so disgusted. I wish I could afford to send her to Catholic school here like I did....I know she would excell, but I just can't afford it

Answer 1

Both my boys started out in private & public schools depending on where we lives (air force family). I love homeschooling my son, 13 yrs-8th grade. He has been homeschooled for a few years (badly bullied in 3/4th grades), and we homeschooled our eldest sone in the 5th & 6th grades, now 10th grade. He is in a Catholic school due to living overseas & being in the American school there. If he didn't have only 2 yrs left of HS then we would homeschool him as well.

My middle son was brought home not only due to bullying but also b/c he began receiving all these labels in school, special ed, ADD, etc. I have found since bringing him home that the labels aren't accurate. He has not been on Ritilan since he's been home for school, and he is a very right brained learner. Most schools teach in a left brained way (workbooks, pencil & paper, textbooks only, parts to whole concepts instead of whole to parts, etc--see "Craft" link).

There are several great Catholic curriculums you can follow, Seton, Mother of Divine Grace, and St. Thomas Acquinas are a few off the top of my head (see links below). Depending on where you live the K12 curriculum can be free to you & you have a teacher assigned to your student, though you teach them at home.

Bringing our middle son home from school was the best thing we could've done for him. He is more confident in his work, he's slowly building back his self esteem, he loves learning and doesn't feel he has to hide that fact (not cool to be a book worm), and he is willing to help others with volunteer work.

Also, check out the HSLDA (homeschool legal defense agency) they have a "getting started section" on the left. (link attached)

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

We have been homeschooling our daughter since birth you can say, but we don't "officially" start until she turns 6 years old. We always knew we wanted to homeschool. I use to teacdh in both the Public and Private sectors of the school system and I quit 9 years ago to stay at home fulltime. I have no desirers to return to that field. Since both my husband and I are more than capable of teaching our own daughter there is no need to send her to a school setting. We do unschooling at home and we are doing so well. Our daughter is extremely bright and found out she thrives better in a less structured environment. I love it, she loves it, and so does my husband. I couldn't imagine life any other way. Heh if it ain't broke then why fix it.

Answer 4

we're just getting started, but it's been great so far. he's taken to it amazingly well, and the endless possibilites are very interesting and exciting. (we're going to make our own curriculum, rather than following a school-in-a-box one.)


I homeschool because most public schools have low standards and methods that suck the joy from learning.
I home school because public school takes first graders who are excited about learning and in short order turns them against learning. They pick up anti-intellectual attitudes from their peers ("smart kids are nerds").
I home school so my kids can learn Latin and Irish.
I home school so travel can be a part of education.
I home school to have the flexability to spend the entire day dismantling a machine or working on writing a story.
I home school so my kids can move ahead when they "get it", and take longer for those things which they find more difficult. In public schools some kids are always waiting for others to catch up, while others are swept along with the group before they've mastered the material at hand.

these are just a few of a long list of reasons.

Answer 5

We started homeschooling our daughter in the middle of 3rd grade when she was 8 yrs old-- it was supposed to be temporary. She's now 17 and still homeschooling, and her 8 and 6 yr old brothers have never been to school at all.

We just really enjoy it-- it works for our family, and it works for our kids. We never realized how much free time you could have in the day until our lives stopped revolving around the school's schedule. They get so much more work done in so much less time, and they have much more time to pursue a bigger variety of activities, both social and educational.

The only thing I would change if I could go back is that I would have started my daughter homeschooling from day 1.

Answer 6

I began homeschooling my three oldest children just last year. I pulled them out halfway through the year. They are glad that they won't be returning to public school this year. They didn't like the mean things they witnessed children doing to each other, and being manipulated by older kids.

My second grader was given a pink slip for speaking (not yelling, mind you) while in the cafeteria. My Kindergartener was kicked to the floor during a bus ride home, and the child who hurt her was not dealt with at all. My four year old would come home crying because his older brother had to fight an older child in order to protect their sister from more abuse.

It was just way more than I could handle. We now go on our own field trips at least once a month during school. We go out of town to visit relatives, and just take our school with us. We can lay in bed and take up science, or sit on the porch and practice division... It's great for all of us, and my two youngest (now two and three years old) don't cry to go to school with the older ones. Perfect!

Answer 7

Yes, I'm homeschooling my two children, 6 and 9. We are all enjoying the experience. I hear about what's going on in school with my nephews or other kids or I just see my kids in action with their academics and social activities and am so grateful to be able to homeschool.

They have always been homeschooled, except for my 9yo who had a brief stint in preschool (they were irresponsible and negligent; this had nothing to do with homeschooling because we had already decided we would homeschool but thought her preschool experience in French would allow her to meet other French-speaking kids since we live in an English-speaking area).

Answer 8

I home schooled my four children and am happy with the results.

As teenagers my children enrolled in various online college classes, took CLEP exams, and passed their GED tests. Public School is not the answer to everything.

One of the biggest objections you will hear is "but your kids need the socialization offered by school." Hogwash. In Public School you don't getto decide who your kids associate with. By homeschooling I was able to expose my children to social events in the form of private clubs, sports activities, and city recreation events. As a parent, I was in control of kids' exposure to society.

My kids grew up drug free, and are thankfully ignorant of the less tasteful aspects of teen life. As a benefit, come Christmas time, my kids didn't even know what to ask for.

Overall, I had a positve experience with home schooling; however, it does take a commitment in time and can become dreadfully boring when you conduct "class" day after day. I succeeded by keeping my eyes on the objective: educate my kids and raise them to be responsible adults.

Answer 9

I've homeschooled my son for the past 3 years and plan on doing so this year for third grade. He's always been homeschooled and we love it! There has been nothing but positive feedback and his social and academic skills surpass his institutionalized counterparts by at least 2 grade levels.