[seeemilywrite]

I know a few parents who have chosen to homeschool their children because the family moves a lot. Another family homeschools their daughter who has a lot of heath issues. What reasons did you have for deciding to homeschool your children?

[wishbonedawn]

I have issues with the whole idea of school and institutionalized learning. Didn't want my kids to lose their curiousity or sense of themselves.

[twinzplus3]

I realize that this question was asked awhile ago but there are several reasons (I'll spare you all of them):
1) Academically the public schools where we live are substandard and we cannot afford private school. We felt like we could do a better job!
2) You know the saying, "bad company corrupts good character?" We wanted to help our kids come along in the good character department and not subject them to sitting in a classroom where there may be some kids with not so good character.
3) This may seem odd to some people, but we felt like our kids would get such a better education by being able to take advantage of all that our city has to offer--and boy do they do that! If they were stuck in school all day, there wouldn't be time to do half of the things that we've done with them.
In short, I guess it boils down to a fundamental difference in our philosophies of educating children!

[scrapbookguru]

I essentially have to agree with the above poster on all of her reasons. My son is also ADHD and he was having trouble in the classroom. It was so easy to pull him out and homeschool. He is back in a public classroom now though I would not hesitate to homeschool again if the need came about again.

He did excellent being homeschooled and #3 above (the advantage of being able to see/do things they wouldn't normally be able to do) was a PRIMARY reason to do it.

[Mim23]

I've thought a lot about homeschooling when my children are old enough. We nearly moved to an area where the schools were all failing. If we had moved there, I would have definitely homeschooled. Right now we are in area with excellent schools, and so we are going to give public schools a try, but I won't hesitate to pull my children out if I feel their needs are not being met. I see a lot of advantages, and I've worked with homeschooled children who were light years ahead of their peers academically. I think that you can make learning a lot more fun and less frustrating when you let children move at their own pace. My husband and I were both bored in public school, and that is my biggest fear for my children. We will see what happens.

[twinzplus3]

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that school--public or private--is essentially designed to meet your child's needs if they fall into the middle of the curve or close to it. It does not serve children well who are behind and have learning issues or who are gifted. Homeschooling provides one on one tutoring with a teacher who is INCREDIBLY interested in the outcome. So yes, as someone noted, homeschooled students tend to have an impressive body of knowledge. I also find with my own kids, that they spend time pursuing personal interests. All of my kids take a foreign language at their request and my son has a particular fascination with all things scientific and so he knows quite a bit about the way the earth and world works. He seems light years ahead of his school counter parts.

[scrapbookguru]

Originally Posted by twinzplus3

He seems light years ahead of his school counter parts.

I couldn't agree with this more. My son, who has been back in public school for two years now, still shows a lot of signs of being way ahead of everyone else. Teacher's are always surprised and pleased. His interests are more in depth and more mature than most of his other peers. I didn't realize that as much until this year.

My son is also very scientific and dreams of being a Marine Biologist someday. That's an awfully big dream for a 5th grader, don't you think?

In many ways I miss homeschooling him. You were absolutely right about it being a teacher with a vested interest in the ending outcome. I want to see my son, who definitely seems gifted, but I refuse to test, soar above the rest. He has all this intelligence and it seems to get lost in a classroom full of children. I see it in a few other classmates too.

He is entering middle school now, where I feel he will probably struggle. But he's so open to learning about things at home still that I feel I formed a good spring board for that. If he struggles, we can work with that. If he fails, he's home with me again.

I honestly say, homeschooling is like a private school. It's like one on one and is incredibly satisfying, typically to the parent AND the child. And the best part is, no sitting in a classroom ALL DAY LONG. In fact, the average homeschool day is usually only a couple of hours long. It's a beautiful thing! And keeps them wanting more!

One last thing. My son was struggling so badly in third grade. He couldn't concentrate, and there was nobody willing to help him. He was bored. He didn't like sitting still that long. He wasn't succeeding as he should. I pulled him, homeschooled him (against family advice), and by the end of third grade he was already through half of a fifth grade science and social studies unit. (and family was thinking a lot differently by that point) It's amazing what you can teach those little minds that they don't learn until later. (by the way, the workbooks I used for the units are being taught in our schools in SIXTH grade - quite the advantage). He never struggled either, and if one particular concept was difficult (usually in math), we were able to focus primarily on that one thing until he got it. They cannot do that in a classroom.
I get tired of hearing from other parents, "I could never do that." Yes, you could. You are your child's biggest advocate. You are your child's best friend as well as guidance counselor, teacher, etc. We, as parents, accept this responsibility when we bring a child into this world. I would do anything it took to ensure my child was happy in his academic life. It's the spring board to the future!

Good luck to anyone about to homeschool.

[twinzplus3]

Well put Nicole. Your story about your son is not uncommon. All too often, kids who are really gifted are considered problems for that very reason: they get bored and bored children generally do what teacher's don't want them to in order to entertain themselves.
Also, there are many children who really are gifted in one area but maybe not all areas. You're not allowed to be in 3rd grade math but 7th grade reading in school but homeschooling offers that flexibility.
I also wanted to say kudos to your for refusing to get your son tested. I firmly believe it does not help anyone to have children tested unless there is a serious disability that requires professional therapy.
I agree, too, that anyone can homeschool but I don't know that homeschooling is a fit for every family. I think you and your spouse really need to be committed to doing it. It seems to me from people that I have spoken with that frequently, mom recognizes the need and is willing to do it long before dad is. That's definitely not the case in our family--my husband does whatever he needs to to help--be it doing the dishes, cooking dinner or doing some schooling.