https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 03:12:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1982542 Fri, 12 Dec 2014 15:01:22 +0000 fairy 1982542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would suggest looking into homeschool groups in your area, like on facebook, etc. I found a couple in my area and joined so that I could get more info and discuss thing and get to know everyone better, even though my daughter is only 18 months so it is a while off. By joining the groups I joined their email list, so I get all the emails when they are having events, etc and whenever anyone announces learning or special opportunities, etc. </p> <p>Are there any homeschool co-ops in your area? I have found one in my area that I am interested in that does preschool, kindergarten, and programs for other age groups. The classes are 2 days a week and parents attend with the little ones but the older ones are drop-off classes though parents can still help out, etc. And they have a co-op day once a week for the kids too, so I think that would be a great option if you are looking for more socialization. There was one non-religious co-op and multiple religious ones that don't align with my views. The one I was interested in actually starts as young as 2 with the preschool part - that is one great thing about homeschool is you can set the pace (or let them set the pace) and have multi-age groups. And it is a LOT cheaper than private school haha.</p> <p>Also reading books (like @Skadi mentioned The Well-Trained Mind) on homeschooling is really helpful for me too. I enjoyed reading about the different homeschooling philosophies, I definitely think I will be doing an eclectic mix, it depends on how my daughter is - too early to tell her learning style, etc.</p> <p>Good luck! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977871 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 22:45:03 +0000 MrsRcCar 1977871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Twine: It would be nice to have another person semi local. Human interaction outside our family group is hard. Who knew making mommy friends is so hard in the real world. N and I are enrolled in a tiny tot gym class and I am embarrassed to say I don't know the other parents names. The class is only one day a week so not too much outside interaction. The other mom I chat with in the class thinks I am a little odd because I am concerned about N's speech at two. She is in the camp that it will come when he is ready and I am in the camp that the extra help can't hurt. (Both of my boys are enrolled in EI services, which apparently makes me that weirdo mom. Who knew) It would be nice to have another mom to sort of lean on for support. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977756 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 21:14:30 +0000 Mrs. Twine 1977756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsRcCar: Wish you lived closer-- sounds like we could be good resources for one another! We've done lots of reading about chickens. I'd be happy to be a "virtual" resource for you and just stay in touch. Ellie would love to have some more pen pals, and goodness knows I could use a little extra human interaction. ;) And I completely understand-- I have no issue whatsoever with religion, but the religious groups aren't a good fit for us in the sense that they are trying to surround themselves with people who share their beliefs, and we have different beliefs. They've been pretty darn gracious all-in-all, though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977751 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 21:10:21 +0000 MrsRcCar 1977751@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: I love The Pioneer women! I will have to read her blog more in depth.<br /> @Mrs. Twine: I know some others here (where I live) that homeschool but they are mostly religious and we are not. I am hoping to find other homeschool families in the area who aren't too closed off to people who aren't super religious. (To clarify I don't mind religious folks, just a lot in my area are pretty closed minded ). We are looking into chickens in the spring as well. Our kids are pretty young but we want to learn the ropes a little before they get older. 4H is huge here so I would like my kids to be involved in something like that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977650 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:39:20 +0000 Mrs. Twine 1977650@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsRcCar: "I always learned better with my family when we traveled." I think that this is many kids. Most kids have things they are good at and gravitate towards. I think we have a bit of an un-schooling bent in that we feel that Ellie will be best served by having parents who are sensitive to and support her passions, but also find ways to help her strengthen competency and explore in areas that aren't as intuitive of a fit. We'll be raising chickens in the spring, we plan to get some horses down the road at some point, and we try to do other activities with her. She'll be building a hovercraft with Mr. T as a special "Christmas" project. </p> <p>I'd say one of our biggest hurdles to getting connected with homeschoolers is that many people in our area choosing to homeschool do so for religious reasons. We are atheist, and so most of them would prefer to interact more closely with like-minded people. That's pretty understandable, but it is also limiting since as far as I know there are really no secular-based groups in our immediate area. We're trying to get hooked up with a group about an hour away. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977641 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:32:05 +0000 MaryM 1977641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsRcCar: Do you read Ree Drummond's blog? She has a whole section on home schooling and has a lot of other people weigh in too. And I don't find it as overly religious as some of the other blogs. <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/" rel="nofollow">http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/</a> </p> <p>I haven't thought about it for myself, but know of several people who do it and respect the way they've gone about it. Some of their kids are involved in WAY more activities than most kids who go to "school" are just because they can do more with their day. One friend started raising service animals with her daughter when she was still in high school because she showed an interest. Who gets to learn about that and actually do it in a regular school??? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977631 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:25:55 +0000 MrsRcCar 1977631@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Twine: I was hoping you would chime in. We live in a semi rural community. I get us involved in as much outside the home now as I can. Plus we travel to the bigger city 3 times a month so we have passes to the zoo and other big attractions. I think it will be best for our family to home school. I don't see too much value in the school systems here. I always learned better with my family when we traveled. </p> <p>@Skadi: I agree that kids don't get a lot of socialization in school. I was taught in public school and made most my friends in outside activities. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977628 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:14:50 +0000 Kemma 1977628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsRcCar: I know nothing about homeschooling but I do follow a blog called Catholic All Year and the writer homeschools her seven children. It's kind of heavy on the religious aspect but Kendra has written some interesting and indepth posts about how and why she homeschools. Here's the link if you want to check it out:</p> <p><a href="http://www.catholicallyear.com/2013/08/why-i-homeschool-like-that.html?m=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.catholicallyear.com/2013/08/why-i-homeschool-like-that.html?m=1</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977622 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:09:59 +0000 erinpye 1977622@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following. I'm considering "unschooling" part-time, and a charter school part time, with a school that offers a part-time schedule for this very reason. Interested to hear what experienced mamas say here. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977613 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 19:01:16 +0000 Mrs. Twine 1977613@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Skadi: I appreciate your perspective, in that I feel like your experience (Lord of the Flies) is similar to Ellie's-- she got socialization time, but much of it was negative on both sides and wasn't really helping her get a clearer idea of how to get along with others in a social setting. We've learned that she actually gets along quite well with kids a bit younger than she is, or a bit older. And those interactions have been useful to her. I don't shadow and stand over her every moment, but I do feel that she is getting much better practice being a kind, considerate, and social being this way than she was when she was in school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977605 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:56:09 +0000 Skadi 1977605@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our LO is no where near school age yet, but I've known I would homeschool for years. And like a teacher naturally spends a lot of time at college preparing before setting foot in a classroom, I take my role as future educator just as seriously and have tried to prepare myself accordingly. I attend local homeschool meetings where various education topics are presented on and debated. I've read at least a dozen books from various education philosophies. I've tutored homeschooled students. I'll try to answer your questions, keeping in mind my LO isn't old enough to count as homeschooled yet. :)</p> <p><b>How did you decide to homeschool?</b><br /> My DH was homeschooled. He went on to earn science and math degrees (undergraduate and post graduate). He also has a passion for history, art, foreign languages...what's really remarkable about him is that he never lost that childlike love of learning. Learning never became a chore or just another box to check off or another class to sit through. I think the freedom he was allowed to explore his own interests at his own pace while being homeschooled is responsible for that.</p> <p>I wish I had been homeschooled. My public school experience was awful. Both socially and academically. When someone mentions socialization, what comes to mind for me is the Lord of the Flies social enviornment that I was exposed to, and how the most isolated homeschool environment would be far better than what I went through as a kid.</p> <p><b>What program do you follow?</b><br /> Classical education, aka the Trivium. Particularly the brand expressed by Susan Wise Baur in The Well-Trained Mind.</p> <p><b>When did you start really implementing a school schedule?</b><br /> I plan on doing this as soon as we start formally teaching her to read and/or do simple math. We plan on using All About Reading Pre-Level One for reading and Right Start A for math. We'll probably just do it in the mornings with a small break in the between. Both of those curricula employ the use of games so it'll be light and easy.</p> <p><b>How did you balance education and socialization?</b><br /> I don't think students actually spend that much quality time socializing in school. A lot of it is comprised of working on schoolwork, lining up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water, listening to story time, etc. etc. So I don't worry overmuch about it. We want to socialize our children by primarily exposing them to adult society so that they have good role models to mirror their behavior from (we don't believe it's healthy to immerse a child among thirty peers of his exact age). We want to find social groups for her with mixed ages and serve a creative outlet as well.</p> <p><b>Do you get a lot of satisfaction in watching your child learn and grow? </b><br /> We're not there yet, but I am looking forward to that. I'm sure there will be power struggles and there will be days when I think, "This would be so much easier if I just let someone else take care of her education," but at the same time, I'm sure there is a special joy in seeing those lightbulb moments where your child really understands a concept for the first time that I will feel so blessed to be there to witness instead of just hearing about it secondhand. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977586 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:28:33 +0000 Mrs. Twine 1977586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I doubt we are the only ones, but here goes.<br /> 1)We decided to homeschool when we felt like our only options (public and private) weren't able to meet Ellie's needs.<br /> 2)We don't follow a program. This is something that carries a great deal of controversy. HOW you homeschool is something most people are curious about. In a "is your child going to become a drain on my future tax-dollars" sort of way as often as not. Ellie is already reading at a high school level, so we aren't worried on that front. We are trying to do lots and lots of integrated math (cooking, shopping, science (she likes chemistry and making crystals), playing games, etc.), and couple that with some formal math instruction. We have decided, for now, to do the formal instruction together. We'll take turns doing multiplication, addition, etc., and I will try to find a variety of ways to introduce the same concept so she can see it in a variety of applications.<br /> 3)Mr. T is Mr. Schedule. I am Mrs. Chaos. Well, not exactly, but I will follow something shiny any day of the week over sticking to a rigid schedule. So the girls get some of both. I think it works just fine for us.<br /> 4)Ellie attends a Social Skills group 2x a week and OT at the public school. These are services she qualifies for based on her IEP, and that we have chosen to continue to take advantage of. We also try to take advantage of classes offered at the Children's Museum, Zoo, and other places that offer her opportunities to socialize. This is trickier for us, and no doubt compounded by our rural digs, but the socialization she was getting at school was so overwhelmingly negative that we feel she's doing okay on this front. She has more positive social interaction now by a long-shot.<br /> 5)I think it's easier to know more about what's going on with her. I feel it has benefitted our relationship and our family relationships. I know Lorelei loves having her home to do things with and will often cry for the hour she goes to Social Skills or OT because she misses her. I value that we can take advantage of so many enrichment opportunities, and I adore the fact that she is doing so much better emotionally. I think it's the right thing for us right now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977580 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:20:10 +0000 cait 1977580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsRcCar: Wish I could help but I would also love to hear some thoughts on getting started. LO is 3 and I would like to start home preschool with her in the fall. Also wondering about how to find and connect with other local homeschool parents! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1977567 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:05:37 +0000 MrsRcCar 1977567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Anyone? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-mommas#post-1975860 Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:10:36 +0000 MrsRcCar 1975860@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are a ways off to school (our oldest is 2) but we are starting to look into our options for school. What we are finding out is that the options are pretty awful. The public schools in the area have terrible ratings. The private schools have slightly better ratings but are extremely expensive and have religious affiliation that we don't share views with. </p> <p>How did you decide to homeschool?<br /> What program do you follow?<br /> When did you start really implementing a school schedule?<br /> How did you balance education and socialization?<br /> Do you get a lot of satisfaction in watching your child learn and grow? </p>