Homeschooling

[Cowbell]

Who all here homeschools their kids? 3 boys here - oldest starts school next fall . We are currently committed to homeschooling for many various reasons and my wife and I are both self employed. The recent shooting just solidifies things for me. What are others experiences with it? Advice on structure, etc?

 

[missjordan]

Following this thread because this is something I’m interested in also. My kiddo is 2 years old so i got lots of time


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[displacedtexan]

I don't know how useful this is...

But I did home school for middle school and high school. I know the curriculum is different (I graduated in 01), but my parents made sure I met and associated with a wide variety of people. I never felt left out.

 

[Jkr61]

Homeschooling can be a good thing for your child and the family but only if you pick the correct curriculum/style of teaching that fits each child.
My niece just graduated from Branson online school. This is a public school district in Colorado with an online program- free. Once a week join class with each teacher and class. All work due every Thursday. Very structured at first but as time goes on and the student catches on it allows a bit more freedom.
Other families I know have done American- correspondence style do it when you feel like it no structure.
Montezuma is another one we looked into more on the artistic side.
There are a ton of programs out there but the main thing we learned going through it was it is critical to pick the right program for how your child learns. Feel free to ask me more questions if you want we spent a ton of time trying to help her pick the right one and it paid off.

 

[MattB]

My wife homeschooled our daughter for a period during COVID and was miserable. Looks good on paper but is a separate fulltime job.

I have thoughts I won't post about letting the Uvalde situation influence your decision on whether to homeschool.

 

[fngTony]

I don't know how useful this is...

But I did home school for middle school and high school. I know the curriculum is different (I graduated in 01), but my parents made sure I met and associated with a wide variety of people. I never felt left out.

Exactly what my sister did with her kids.

 

[Vaultman]

In Feb of 2020 my wife and I decided that our three kids would not be returning to public school in the fall. Little did we know, that NO ONE would be 'cause of the COVID. We were tired of the things being taught and the kid/teacher ratio. And.... so many other things. Since the end of that school year my 3 kids have been in a homeschool group. I feel it was the BEST parenting decision my wife and I have made to date! It was NOT the easiest, In fact it has been one of the toughest things we (who am I kidding) she has done since we've been married. But her and I really like it.
For anyone thinking of switching from something else to homeschooling, the main thing I would say is find a curriculum group, participate, and STICK WITH IT for at least a year. It was tough that first year, but has gotten much easier.

 

[william schmaltz]

My wife homeschooled our daughter for a period during COVID and was miserable. Looks good on paper but is a separate fulltime job.

I have thoughts I won't post about letting the Uvalde situation influence your decision on whether to homeschool.

But did she homeschool with her chosen curriculum and schedule or just teach the assigned curriculum from the school to the kids at home? There is a big difference.

Never in a million years did I think I would consider homeschooling or private school, but we’re going one or both of them routes for several reasons far beyond what happened a couple days ago

 

[68Plexi]

My wife and I homeschool our two kids. There are challenges for sure. Your house will be used as a classroom (which means it will be harder to keep clean). You and your wife will need a good amount of patience for your kids, especially since you have 3. It will require you to research curriculum and get connected to a school charter (depending on the state you live in). It’s a good amount of work up front.

However, homeschool curriculum, online tutoring, charter school $ for classes, books, etc can be very good (again depending on the state), and you will get to adapt your teaching to the learning styles of each of your kids.

Our charter has paid for season ski passes for my kids, climbing gym memberships, horse riding lessons, karate, aquarium visits, books, school supplies, school issued iPads, etc.

We have the freedom to travel when we want and take some, none or all of our school with us.

It is not easy, but we believe the investment into our kids is worth the extra work.

Both my wife and I went to public schools and I still think it works for many. My wife also worked in the public school system for 20 years, but we decided it was better for us to learn how to live on one income and teach from home. Not because we were afraid of the public schools, we just thought we could give them more than the school system could.

There have never been more resources for homeschooling than there are today. And I mean daily lesson plans already laid out for you resources. It doesn’t work for every family, and you and your wife will have to sacrifice in other areas. Only you will be able to tell if it works for your family.

For our family, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I ski with my kids on Wednesdays for PE. I’ve been able to take both of them duck hunting with me on weekday mornings. We travel, hunt, camp and the kids are learning on the road. They have no idea how good they have it.


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[stonewall]

We home school. my wife was a teacher so she has a really good handle on it. We use abeka curriculum. As posted above, having the ability to go on trip anytime is great. We’re able to go places when not so crowded (avoiding spring break and winter break)

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Look into Classical Conversations.

 

[Mds2004]

We belong to a University Model School so our kids go to class 2 days a week and homeschool 3 days a week. We started it at the beginning of Covid because all the other schools were remote only or masks, and we wanted neither.

Timing also coincided with our eldest starting kindergarten.at the time, and now we are just finishing 1st and kindergarten with our two kids. Bless my wife's heart who homeschools three days a week and works full time with three 12 hour shifts as an RN, but as of now we don't even see going back to regular school with the indoctrination of kids of beliefs we don't agree with.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Look into Classical Conversations.

That’s one of the better ones.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Lots of parents tried homeschooling during Covid and failed miserably sending their kids back to school far behind the level of the kids that came to school. The only people hurt were the kids and it’s 100% on the parents.

 

[Wvroach]

Lots of parents tried homeschooling during Covid and failed miserably sending their kids back to school far behind the level of the kids that came to school. The only people hurt were the kids and it’s 100% on the parents.

Unfortunately most kids have no structure at home. Most parents do not discipline their kids, the most common response my wife gets when calling homes is "yeah they are like that at home too".

To the OP, we don't have children yet so no first hand experience with that portion. When we do they will be homeschooled though. As mentioned socializing your kids is very important. Even in my small area there is a co-op that meets twice a week for the homeschoolers. It has caught on a lot the last 10 years.

 

[magtech]

When I home schooled during covid, I looked up learning goals and followed a program to meet them. By the time the next school year was to start my kids were already meeting that end-of-years goals.

It was difficult for them at first, but after a few months in they were working less and learning way more than in public. My kids still ask why we don't do it anymore.

Homeschooling can be very hard at first, especially if you're following the schools program and they're completely worthless.

Most of all be honest with yourself. If you're kinda lazy and stupid you're kids won't get much more out of your program than public school. If you enjoy watching them learn and want to see them do great things, they can go very far.

In the end, its all on you.

 

[Wingshooter]

Our children were home schooled two of the 3 graduated from it. Our youngest is going to go to a private christian school this fall to start high school. He is more of a social butterfly than the other two and his older sister is moving out in September and his older brother graduated this spring and has a full time job. I agree it's a ton of extra work but there is a level of flexibility that's incredible. Homeshooling was a great decision for us as the trust in the public system for me isn't there.

 

[IH8Cali]

You have no higher obligation and responsibility in life than to that of your children. Government schools fail your children terribly, and condition them in way similar to a correctional facility. Homeschooling is an incredible gift to your children, allows for direct instruction tailored to YOUR child, and has never been easier given the resources available. We can knock out 3 kids daily lessons in approximately 1-2 hours, they spend the rest of the day learning all the things necessary to make them contributing members of our society. I will never subject my kids to state institutions of learning. I realize not everyone can financially swing it, my parents both had to work, but if you're both working in order to finance that second car, the RV, the media subscriptions, eating out all the time etc., it's time to prioritize.

 

[Northpark]

My wife homeschools both our kids. One 3rd grade the other 1st grade. It’s been the best move for us. She utilizes the curriculum from a company called timber doodle. Homeschooling lets you tailor the curriculum to each kid as well. For example my older one is what I would consider average intelligence, very artistic and mildly spastic. She would really struggle in public school. At home my wife tailors her lessons to fit her need to get up and move around and get her wiggles out frequently. My younger one on the other hand is scary smart especially with math and other STEM skills. He hates art or anything related to writing and he can literally sit down and crank through school work til he’s done. My wife works it so he has access to the harder subjects like spelling and writing while she is available to help and then he takes his math and such to work in while the wife is either helping my older kid or doing chores. Homeschooling also offers flexibility in scheduling for extracurricular activities. My kids do martial arts, dance, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, etc. where they get structure and social skills. And as another plus there is no issue pulling them out of school to go on vacation or a hunting trip.

Oh I will add that my wife is a stay at home mom. We budget appropriately for a single income household so that we don’t both have to work.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

We are in almost the same position and are looking into it as well. I'm the breadwinner and my wife stays home as is. I know it will be a bunch of extra work but I am not thrilled with the course of public education.

My MIL is a 4th grade teacher and is about to retire because the job is so much different now than when she started. Nothing but classroom disruptions and standardized tests having kids pulling their hair out.

I will not let the sensationalized nature of the news cycle influence my decision, be it CRT, gender issues, or school shootings but rather weigh the real impact on education. The single biggest variable is home life.