Comments on: Our School Decision, and How We Got There

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Hi,
I will look forward to reading your input on homeschooling. I have two children, aged 18 months and almost 4 months. (God-willing, we will have more). I have just started thinking about home-schooling and whether it something I would like to do. There is not much of a homeschooling culture in Australia (where we are), though it is growing in popularity.

Two specifics I would like to observe:
(1) How you choose curriculum and whether you can “afford” to be frugal with homeschooling resources (weighing up the money saving without sacrificing your child’s education)?

(2) How you do cope with the age disparity between your children and making best use of the time for both of them?

Thanks for your wisdom.

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:11:25 +0000

Such an interesting topic! I just found you today and had to chime in. I am planning on homeschooling my kids (ages 4 and 2), and I was homeschooled myself. The most common reaction I get when I tell people my plans is “you are a redneck who doesn’t value education”. On the contrary, academics are extremely important to me and frankly I don’t think that public school can give my kids a quality education. Math and science are incredibly important in the world we live in. All you have to do is look and see how U.S. students stack up against students from other countries and you can see we are not doing a good enough job. Furthermore, most parents I know who send their kids to public school for hours a day have to come home every night and do hours of homework. Six or eight hours a day and they still can’t teach the kids? Not very efficient, and I know a lot of kids that are completely burned out by age 11 and do not enjoy learning. I want my kids to love learning, get a good education, and still have time for other activities and just being a kid.

As to the socialization arguements, I agree with Linda Dobson (The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child). She points out that the socialization is basically 28 other kids the exact same age as your kid, from the same neighborhood as yout kid. So your six year old will be getting the majority of his social cues from….other six year olds. If socialization is such a concern for anti-homeschoolers, they should realize that there is much more value to trips to the grocery store, library, church, museum, 4H, swim lessons, sport, music lessons, etc, interacting with wide variety of people of different ages, professions and ethnicities. Real people doing real work in the real world. That is a better and more realistic way to socialize children than by locking them in a building with 28 of their peers for 8 hours a day. Which still doesn’t seem to actually educate them.

Anyway, sorry to get on a soapbox for my first post! I will definitely be adding you to my Must-Reads! Good luck with the homeschooling and I am looking forward to reading about your adventures.

By: Pokeberry Mary

Pokeberry Mary — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:59:08 +0000

I wanted to pop in a bit about the black and white and slavery issue. It is TRUE that there has been slavery throughout the history of the earth and that blacks were not the only slaves, nor were whites the only slave owners. TRUTH should be taught. The way things are taught there are certain ‘cherry picked’ ideas (pardon my use of a term someone else used against homeschooling) that are absolutely pushed in public schools. The entire culture in the US is being pushed in a certain direction are we to believe it ISN’T happening in the schools? Come on-get real!

I would certainly teach my children (as I did in the days I hs’ed) about the slavery issue in the US but yes–I would also point out that slavery has always existed and still does–and that some of our own white ancestors were probably slaves as well.

That said–its been a long time since the emancipation of blacks in America this issue should be behind us now. Even the Jim Crowe laws are close to half a century in the past.

I don’t want to minimize the impact slavery had on the US –but I get so tired of America always beating itself up for every thing and I do not want to teach my children or grandchildren that they come from some uniquely evil country. ITs not TRUE!

Pokeberry Mary’s last blog post..Workt In My Garden..

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:37:15 +0000

Kelli, wow. Just, wow. What you’re teaching your kids re: black people owning slaves and white people being slaves is a prime argument AGAINST homeschooling. Your kids are going to have a very twisted sense of history. Why teach that? Why is that important to you? Who owned the political, social and economic power at the time? And all your kids will be able to say is, “well, white people were slaves too, so there.”

By: hatcco01

hatcco01 — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:40:19 +0000

I just had to comment too… I have not made any decisions about this but expect I will have to someday. I think people are biased based on their own backgrounds (I’m from public school, parents and grandparent were teachers, I hope to become a guidance counselor in inner-city public schools for at least a few years). But here are just a few of my reflections… Lynnae, you wrote, “I want my children to think. I don’t want them to just accept everything the school hands to them. I want them to question. To form their own thoughts. To be able to critically examine a piece of material and pick it apart to get to the true meaning. I don’t want them to cram to learn the right answers to a test, just so they can get an “A”, and then forget everything right afterwards.” This is exactly what I learned from my favorite teachers at my mediocre public schools. I was also told by my kindergarten teacher that I colored the sky the “wrong” color, and faced the same peer pressures mentioned above, and never quite learned how to handle them until adulthood. But I also learned about kids who were different than me, people I never would have met otherwise. I learned empathy for people with less than me, like the children of parents who didn’t care as much as mine. It helped me see that I have a lot more in common with people who I originally assumed were so different from me. I don’t have any answers, but one of my main concerns about removing smart, caring kids from suffering public schools is that it increases the likelihood that they (and their families) might continue to interpret their public school peers as being sad, mean, hopeless, cases who are doomed to fail, and completely disassociate from part of their community in favor of the more familiar and fortunate areas and organizations.

By: Kelli Miller

Kelli Miller — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:53:57 +0000

I came into this pretty late but what Bob said kinda irked me. My husband is a public school teacher and I homeschool my oldest. As parents we know our children best… yes, we may “cherry-pick” what we believe our children should learn but guess what, so do the schools. For example: Slavery… it is not very commonly known that Black people also had slaves and that White people were also slaves. Why not?? Because the “public schools” don’t feel we need to know that.

As parents, we know our children best… my son is PHENOMINAL at math so I push him harder there, I know he will do something with math when he is older. Public school couldn’t care less that my son is great at math… he should be at the same level as every one else.

My middle son scored 50 out of 100 on his handwriting when in Kindergarden. WHen I asked the teacher why he got a 50 she said, “He has the best hadnwriting in the class so I didn’t feel it was right to give him a zero… but he holds his pencil between the wrong fingers.” Are you kidding me?? He is left handed so I am glad he doesn’t twist his wrist all up, but who really cares if he rests his pencil on his middle finer or his ring finger???

Kelli Miller’s last blog post..N-Fini Shape Shapewear Review + Giveaways!

By: shari elmore

shari elmore — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:20:14 +0000

OH! Don’t forget http://www.singaporemath.com. Best math curriculum in the entire world-my kids LOVE it-and it is soooo inexpensive!

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:11:16 +0000

I’m just so glad to have found this forum! After a rather “bumpy” year with our daughter in public kindergarten, my husband and I are seriously considering/researching home schooling starting 1st grade. It has been such a shock to me what she has been “exposed” to (literally)and what we have endured as a family to get through this past year. I guess school just isn’t what it used to be?
When I read the original post I really felt like someone had just put into words what my heart and mind had been thinking! Thank you to everyone who has posted encouraging stories! I’m still a little nervous, but very excited about the possibility of home schooling!!! Thank you so much.

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:09:31 +0000

It looks like you have already picked something, but you might want to check out http://www.learning-adventures.org/

We only got through 1 and a half books in several years, but it covered multiple ages well and interesting material. The price is reasonable even if you are supplementing something else.

BTW, forget the socialization junk. Look at the social problems in most government schools. I know my junior high experience (in a much milder time) was horrible…. Those who claim homeschooling is bad for this reason should have to defend all the socialization problems of those in the government school system!

Brad

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:21:07 +0000

Sorry to keep posting Lynnae but I saw something so very interesting in the Parade magazine yesterday. Someone asked about Will Smith (the movie star)wife opening up a small school. The answer came back that many people were amazed at the curriculum that she had put together for HOMESCHOOLING Will and her children that they wondered if she would share it or teach others. She know has a small school going for children that was inspired by homeschooling her own. This tells me that even people that can afford very elite, expensive schools have an interest in their childrens education and if the schools are lacking there is no reason for parents to school their own.