Hellobee Boards

@JoyfulKiwi: @honeybear Yeah, I'm pretty shocked to hear someone suggest that teaching isn't difficult. Teaching is an art, and it takes very, very much skill. And I'm not sure where you live, but in my state, and all the neighboring states, you're required to have either a degree in your specialized subject to teach it, or to pass extensive exams to prove your advanced competence in it.

My reasons for considering homeschooling are the inadequacies of the large school district I live in, and the knowledge that both my husband and I were very unsuited to public schools. Neither of us got nearly as much out of them as we might have had we been a in situation that worked better for us. My daughter will be homeschooled until first grade by her grandmother, a retired montessori teacher. After that, we'll see what she wants to do, and how her needs fit into my career goals at that point. But homeschooling/unschooling is firmly on the table.

I didn't read all the responses, and am not planning on homeschooling but would be open to it if our local public school didn't fit LO's needs or seemed to be boring him. Where we are living now has no secular alternatives. My sister is a teacher and I know several other teachers who are gifted, talented, and also crazy over worked and acknowledge they spend the majority of their time messing with paperwork, being forced to teach to tests, and dealing with overcrowded classrooms.

I had the most amazing elementary education that was a TAG program with tons of independent studies and enrichment classes, PE, music, and I firmly believe it had a huge impact on my love of reading and learning. It will depend 100% on where we live and what the schools look like, and our LO's needs.

@swedishfish: @joyfulkiwi: Maybe @honeybear lives in a state similar to mine, that doesn't require that much of teachers. I have several friends who, after not being able to find jobs in their fields, took an exam to become certified to teach and immediately got teaching jobs with literally zero training in a classroom setting. They went to some workshops on lesson planning and classroom management. They happen to make great teachers, but after seeing how "easily" they became qualified to teach... homeschooling is on the table for our family as well. If we lived somewhere with better school districts or maybe if I didn't hear all the horror stories my teacher friends come home with, I'd consider public school. As it stands now, we will actively seek out other options for our children's education.

***I definitely don't think think that teaching isn't hard! Actually I think the opposite. My original major in college was early childhood education and I quickly got overwhelmed with the responsibility of teaching children. I have lots of respect for qualiy teachers who love what they do and are great at it!