IF you plan on homeschooling your child, why? Looking for responses from people that are FOR homeschooling. Thanks!
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@BandDmommy: reach out to mrs pen and rainbow sprinkles
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Basically I have issues with the traditional schooling model, and with pushing academics too young. At the very least we'll be homeschooling the first few years. I didn't do well in school, for a variety of reasons, but I would have done very well homeschooling. I've also seen my two younger (half) siblings do great homeschooling. DH's reservations about it center mostly on sports (he played a zillion growing up, and it was much easier as a public school student), so how long we continue will depend mostly on LO's personality. The plan is to continue for as long as it works for everyone; she'll have some say in it too.
Actually, I prefer unschooling theoretically, but I seriously doubt I could ever sell DH on it. It makes me nervous enough that I don't think I'll push for it, but I will incorporate it where possible.
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I would consider it. If LO was/ would thrive in homeschooling, then it is something I would explore. There are lots of resources here, LOTS, from music classes for homeschooled kids, to art classes, to language, etc. etc. specifically for homeschoolers, and a big community. Also a great tech school where she can take college courses in the years that would be high school. Our city has a lot of social educational and culturally diverse options, and we live downtown, so we wouldn't be isolated in any way.
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We are undecided between our neighborhood school and homeschooling (co-op, not totally solo). We would lean towards homeschooling for several reasons. 1) Our county's schools are notoriously horrible, though our neighborhood elem school is fine. There's been a recent change in officials, and that may have a negative impact. 2)I like the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling as opposed to the rigidity and pressure of traditional schools. Our kindergarteners here have homework, and to fit in all of the required curriculum, arts and PE suffer. Not cool. Especially when the other areas aren't especially strong. 3) the homeschool co-op we like is really good, and there's a large homeschooling community in our area, so there's still tons of support.
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We have lots of reasons, but chiefly:
- We don't need the childcare. We organized our lives so that we are not reliant on outside caregivers.
- We enjoy being with our child and LO enjoys being with us.
- We can provide excellent academic instruction and plenty of social opportunities.
My LO is only 4 and we aren't using a curriculum or external standards at this point, so I realize that it's a bit of a stretch to say we're homeschooling now, but we plan to be more formal starting with Kindergarten. Right now we're still on the "read a lot, do some math, and spend a lot of time doing fun things" daily plan and it's pretty fabulous.
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When DH and I got married, we decided we wanted to preserve as many childcare and schooling options for ourselves as possible. The thinking was we just don't know what our children will be like. They may need more support or might not be challenged enough or just thrive better in a setting that is different than public school. There are good private religious schools here who support homeschooling students in the high school subjects (like science, for instance), and homeschooling is done around here quite commonly. There are average public schools in the neighborhood we just bought our house in, but very good ones in the next town over that we can apply to get into, and very prestigious private schools about 30 minutes away that we could drive our kids too if that would work best for them.
In addition to catering to different learning styles, what we like about homeschooling is that its efficient. There's less day-filling because kids needs to be occupied while their parents are at work. Most homeschooling families I've talked to say that they cover their curriculum just fine in 3-4 hours a day and they can be flexible to incorporate field trips or extracurriculars. We also like that we could pick up and take our kids on a vacation anytime we like or spend extended amounts of time with out of town family without worrying about their schooling (within reason).
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@gingerbebe: You make an excellent point about efficiency. I can clearly see that this is the case in just the simple things I do with my LO.
The corollary to efficiency is that if you have a child who is ready to move on to more difficult areas of study, or who wants to explore a topic in greater depth, you can do so easily. If your child needs more time or additional instruction, there is also increased flexibility to give it to him or her. Home schoolers don't have to follow the age segregation or pre-set curricular progression and division that occurs in group schools. That's a huge advantage.
Gingerbebe's point about being in control of your schedule is also true and probably more important than parents of very young children generally realize. Group schools make a lot of demands on parents' time, even if those parents are paying tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. There are always email updates to read, forms to fill out, supplies to buy, shuttling around to do (the commute to school is a huge investment of time for both parents and children), and parties to plan (particularly at private schools, where there are parties for parents to help "support" their children's education by fundraising instead of actually spending time teaching their children). Those things may seem trivial, or even moderately fun, but they are fundamentally distractions. If you don't have to waste half an hour going to Target or even 3 minutes on Amazon trying to find the right paper plates, why would you? Your time and your child's time are valuable. Also, if you're so inclined, there are lots of places in the world that are really lovely during the traditional school year. Homeschoolers can just book tickets and pack a bag.
Another point that I didn't mention above, but that I think should be considered, particularly at the preschool/early elementary stage, is that we don't get sick nearly as often as we did when LO was in group preschool. I know some children breeze through school with little more than a runny nose, but let's face it, many don't. And when small children get sick, they bring it home and everyone else gets sick too. That's an extra cost of group schooling that is borne by the child and society that I think is often discounted, and in general is not worth it when we're talking about "school" for 3, 4, and even 5 year olds.
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I was unschooled and I feel like my childhood was amazing. It's hard for me to imagine sending my little guy to school.
I have really struggled with helping the young children i have babysat with their homework. It just felt so pointless. I would have to interrupt their natural curiosity to fill out worksheets and that was so hard.
It's also hard for me to imagine not working out of the home.
I know there are so many different options out there and LO is only 3 months old. So I am waiting to see what will work best for us.
I am happy to talk about being unschooled if anyone is interested.
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@maddyz: i would love to hear more about it, i never heardof it before!
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@maddyz: I'm really curious about unschooling too- never heard of it before this thread. We are not considering home schooling but I do like reading about all the options.
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@stargal: @Foodnerd81: This is a good place to start regarding unschooling: http://www.johnholtgws.com/frequently-asked-questions-abo/ I especially like what Pat Farenga wrote on this page about how "unschooling is not unparenting," and "no one style of unschooling or parenting defines unschooling."
John Holt coined/popularized the term, so his writings will give you an idea of the general approach. I think his books are worth a read even if you aren't planning on home schooling.
@maddyz: I too am interested in hearing about your family's approach, if you're willing to share!
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