Anyone Home Schooling Their Children?

I noticed you haven't had any responses, but just wanted to recommend that you do a FULL Mamapedia search on the subject. There are a bazillion different threads to check out.

Happy Holidays to you too!

I have home-schooled my son for the past 2 years. He attended a Montessori school for 3 years, 2 years of it was pre-school. The third year was kindergarten. Then I was stuck with the dilemma on where to put him after that. He is very advanced and I substitute teach in the district we live in. I soon found out that my son would not attend school in the district. We tried to get him into a charter Montessori, of which there was a lottery, and he was almost last on the list. And we tried to get him into a private school, of which he was second on the list. Our last option was to home-school. This was only to last for a year, until we figured out where to put him. We are now in our second year, and it's because both him and I love it! He is exposed to so much more than being in a traditional school. He still goes through the public school system, so it's very laid out for us (which I need, because I have enough things going on). But he is a grade ahead in math. He will finish all his other subjects in a month or two, and will be able to move on. At the rate he's going, he will move on to fourth grade math by the time he finishes 2nd grade. He gets so much more than the kids I teach in the brick & mortar schools. He is done with school by 1 p.m. at the latest. He is in 5 extracurricular activities, all of which he has chosen. And we can travel and not worry about his school, because we just take it with us. There are tons of groups to be part of, if you're worried about the social aspect. That was definitely my biggest worry, but I'll have to admit, my son is extremely social and doesn't have any problems making friends wherever he goes. Not all home-schooler kids are like that. In fact, many are extremely shy. But for us, home-schooling definitely works because my son can work at his own pace, he can be challenged, and he gets tons of hands-on experience that isn't doable in traditional schools.

I just started this year with my 3rd and 4th graders doing the k12 program through the public school. It was free, and the curriculum is provided, so I don't HAVE to come up with it on my own. I can change it to accomodate my kids, but if I am feeling lazy, they can just do what the one they sent us says to do. K12 does NOT believe in "busy work", so if my kids grasp a concept quickly, they can move on without doing all of the work as long as they can pass the assessment. It is a mastery program, so they need to get at least an 80% to move on in each unit. They are required to do 180 days a year, with approx. 5 hrs daily, which includes reading time. We have so much mmore time during the day for other activities now. My kids have plenty of time for social activities, and have NO issues with other kids or making friends when we are out. K12 has several virtual groups, trips, etc that the kids can take part in and they connect with other students that way, as well as actual get togethers and trips we go on where they can actually meet other students and their teachers in person. They do have to take the state testing (FCAT) in Feb and April, but they will have no problems as they are already doing work that is at least a grade level above where they should be. I try to schedule our "days off" to be the same as our public school so that they can hang out with their friends when they are out of school, but sometimes we do decide to work a day and take another off at a different time so we can go do something fun when the public schools are in session and the lines will be shorter. On the negative side.. well, it is a huge commitment. I have little time to myself now that my kids are home 24/7, and when they are doing their school work, I have to be present and focused on them. It changes what I can do during the day and when. Doctors appts. are difficult for me to get to now, etc. (I have some medical issues) There are days that I wonder why the heck I am doing this to myself, but then I stop and can quickly remind myself of all the reasons why. The bullying y son was going through, the fact that my daughter was getting into trouble because her work was done and she was BORED......... etc. The academics are far better. The social aspect has been fine too, as long as you keep your kids engaged in activities. Really, it all depends on what type of social interaction your kids were getting at the regular schools anyway. Mine it was all negative, so I am thrilled it is gone. (other than learning how to deal with some of the negative people in life, but they are young and there will be PLENTY of time for that!) If things continue like they are, I will do this again next year.

I just started homeschooling this year and LOVE it! I have a kindergarten and Pre-k and they are really enjoying it also!

I ordered their curriculum through a school and then we also do crafts and projects on our own.

Good luck!

Hi there!
I have been home schooling for 4 years already. I have 2 kids (11 and 5 and half) I love it. The kids love it, and I have the total support of my husband. Everything is working very well, ups and downs, mostly because it is a challenge to balance house chores, teaching, "me" time, spouse, etc.This is actually the hard part; however, I find ways to ease things and makes everyone to cooperate. It is a commitment and a journey for the whole family; it is a change for everyone in the house. I don't regret the decision of homeschooling, and my kids are glad to be home schooled. They are independent, they have nice friends and they like learning.
I teach the kids in the morning, so they are fresh and have the afternoon to play with his friends and attend their activities and exercise.
By the way, I am still surprised about the number of home schooled children I find in the sports or activities the kids attend, and it is growing!

Here! Working out alright. :)

There are 10 or 20 of us on this board... it's just a slow (holiday) weekend.

We've been HS'ing for 4 years now, and love it. There's so much freedom, flexibility, opportunity. It DOES make things a little 'backwards'. Most families are trying to squish in time with their school aged children, while we do the opposite. We look for opportunities away. :) We don't have to limit activities, or confine things to school breaks, or worry about absences or tardies.

In our county there are over 20,000 registered homeschoolers.... making us the 2nd largest "district" (there are several dozen districts in our county).

Like a couple others... we started for academic reasons. After 3 years of PHENOM! montessori preschool we went into public K and were simply appalled. My son is a huge extrovert and was THE popular kid (no problem there), he had the BEST teacher (Yay, Mrs. S!!!), and was bored out of his ever lovin' mind. I'd always planned on HS'ing middleschool... but his teacher agreed wholeheartedly that he needed to NOT be in the public school system. We had 3 options; a lottery system montessori school (where he was #600 and something for a 30 something slot class... not going to happen), was accepted into the private gifted school (which would have been *great*, I sure, but came with a 15k per year price tag). So we decided to try door #3 for a year, and fell in love.

Good thing, too! Last year my son got sick (with something similar to, but not, asthma) and spent several months in the hospital. Upon coming home, one of the meds that WORKS (yay!) gives him massive insomnia (boo). We're talking up until 2am-6am. Oy. He's not even up until 10am-1pm. If we were in awayschool, they'd be HAVING us homeschool at this point. Even if he didn't have the insomnia issue right now, he'd of had to have repeated the entire year last year. Instead, we were only a couple months 'behind' (where WE were, still a few years ahead of the PS system), and just picked up where we left off. We start school now either around noon or spend the afternoons playing and do school at night. It works out well.

Sure, I occasionally long for the big yellow bus (rarely), but that's just life. Everyone gets stressed out from time to time regardless of what mode they're using.

We loooooove it! This is our tenth year . It's all we have ever done. I have my first high schooler , a 6th grader , Kindergartener and preschooler. I never dreamed we'd go this far and it's certainly not because I am the one teaching them everything. They have many wonderful teachers and a variety of classroom experiences. What I love about it is having teachers that teach what they love and the way they know is best for the kids. There can be a lot of busy work and waiting around that fills up the day in traditional school. Teachers don't have the same flexibility that an independent teacher has. The smaller class size allows for close relationships and one on one help. We take it year by year and child by child. So far there are no doubts about the amazing family experience this has been. I've gotten to enjoy fully some of the best years of our children"s lives and be a part of their education. I think they will look back a see what a wonderful childhood they had with the time to explore their interests and in the time to just be themselves with out peer pressure. They have built lasting friendships ,many of whom go to traditional school.
My advice is that people don't home school out of fear, you home school out of love and you'll have healthy productive young people with a love and respect for learning.
My best wishes to you .

This is our 4th year homeschooling and we love it! I have a 4th grader, a 1st grader and one in K. I also have a 16 month old. It is not always easy but it is worth it!!