Those who homeschool....

MoonMama wrote: Can I PM one of you with 4 million questions and get some advice?

TIA

my2monkeyboys replied: Absolutely! Nothing homeschoolers like talking about more! LOL

boyohboyohboy replied: I so wish I was smart enough to do this! I would in a heart beat.

my2monkeyboys replied: You're not smart enough??? Really??? I SERIOUSLY doubt that! You'd be amazed how much you know - and how much better you know your own children then the teachers are even able to.
Plus, there are so many types of curriculum out there you could not have even heard of something before and still be able to teach it. If you really want to do it, you absolutely can. Just something to think about.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I have so wanted to homeschool for the longest time, but I can't completely get Troy on board. He's not against it, just doesn't seem to think it's necessary since Tanner is doing well in 'school'. We have been in prayer about it for awhile though. It's something that has really appealed to me from the start.

boyohboyohboy replied: I was a c average student, studying doesn't come easy to me. My 9 yr old is better at math then me. I don't feel I would be a good teacher to my kids.

I know they would be better off at home, but so far this year we are happy with the kids progress.

But in a perfect world I would love to home school.

my2monkeyboys replied: Maybe one day Troy will come around... I hope he will, since you seem to want to do it.
Stacy, it's great that you're happy with your children in school, but I just don't want you to dismiss it just because you didn't have great grades. I did not do so well in Geometry or Chemistry in high school, but I already have chosen the curriculum I will be using when the boys get to that point... it's pretty much a self-teaching curriculum. And there are also tutors in the area if they need more help than I can provide.

A&A'smommy replied: I'm just want to say that I was homeschooled and feel like i missed out on the "fun" stuff(prom, dances, trips, my grade went to new york city) Not all homeschool kids feel that way and there are groups that have LOTS of "fun" stuff.
Homeschooling is great, my advice is to listen to your kid.

coasterqueen replied:
I always wanted to home school, but lets face it WOH and a chaotic schedule besides that we'd fail. BUT what ultimately kept me from doing it is that what I fear the most is what you mentioned, missing out on stuff AND how well they adjust to going to college after being home schooled. My niece is not home schooled but she's in a Montessori school and her class is like 4 people. I see a HUGE difference in her compared to my kids who attend a school. Just many things. She actually tried going back to a regular school and said it was too much, too many kids, etc and went back to Montessori. I fear my niece will not adjust well in a college setting because of it. Might not be important to some, but it is to me for various reasons.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I was homeschooled too, Jessie, and I feel this way too. I also would really have liked to participate in sports, and I probably could have even though I was homeschooled but I didn't realize that until I was done with school and it was too late. I've worried about the same thing for my kids, but we are homeschooling for now at least. I don't particularly like doing it, even though Andrew's just in Kindergarten and it doesn't take very long to get it done. But we really wanted to try it so we're giving it a couple years at least. Homeschool groups have come a long way since I was in school too, and the one in my town has a lot of activities and sports that I'll be able to get my kids involved in that I never had a chance to do.

I don't have any advice for you Ally, since this is my first year into it and I'm still feeling my way. But if you're looking into homeschooling and want to find curriculums, christianbook.com is a good place to look. They have a big selection and their prices are good.

my2monkeyboys replied: Having plenty of fun stuff is definitely an important thing to stay on top of -- we have a weekly group meeting/play time, Will does Scouts and soccer right now, and he's done baseball and karate, too. Luckily the association I am with also does proms, graduation ceremonies and all that good stuff. And we have field trips with our group, too.
I would imagine things were probably very different 15-20 years ago. Heck, probably even just 10 years ago!
Karen, I would say that your niece probably just has that type of personality. I've seen quite a few kids go into middle and high school after being homeschooled up to that point and they've done great. Where as there are kids in school that are wall flowers. I think that her parents probably have her in a place that she is comfortable - enough children to socialize with but still not so many that it makes her retreat into her shell.
I am sure she'll do fine in college - she'll just probably be the girl with a few close friends instead of going to the big parties.
I think if you listen to your kids you'll know what kind of setting is best for them and how to make the setting you want also be the setting they need.

ETA: There is a funny youtube video about homeschooling... it's really so true, too! LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQoSRfu5z_4

boyohboyohboy replied: I just wanted to add that here the home schooled kids do participate in the school sports. My son isn't old enough for dances yet, but I do know the families that come to soccer.

my2monkeyboys replied: I think making sure they are involved in activities (that they want to be involved in) is so important no matter how they are educated. Let's face it, at school they are told to be quiet and listen to the teacher all day other than about 30-45 min for lunch, and then they are only with other kids within their age range, so most of their real social time is during after-school activities. I'm sure there are some kids who'd rather not participate in other things at all, but for the majority I think they thrive on the involvement.

A&A'smommy replied: No I don't mean being involved I was VERY involved in my youth group, I took dance, my brother played baseball which in my most kids play in the city league. I was active in my community, plays, musicals, choir at my church.. but I still feel like i missed out on things. We went to weekly meetings, we had the choice to be involved in classes with other homeschooled kids but that wasn't what I needed. If your kids are happy and don't feel like they are missing anything then that is great but when I told my mom I wanted to go to school she didn't send me and I still wish I could have gone.. and I really just wanted to go to highschool my last two years. BUT I do realize that there are LOTS of benefits of homeschooling especially with a lot of schools being so bad!

my2monkeyboys replied: I understand completely... I went to school and still missed out on some of the functions they had... my mom was SO overprotective.
I get what you said about you wanting to go to school, too - I think as parents you have to find a balance between what your children want and what they need... as with everything in life! LOL
As for me, we don't homeschool just because of the school system here (though it isn't so great, to be honest). We have lots of reasons, with the majority of them just being pro-homeschooling, not anti-public/private school. It just really fits our lifestyle so well.

coasterqueen replied:
When I spoke of college I wasn't really speaking of socializing so much, as being in a large setting. I know it was very hard for Ryan and I to go from a small school where our class size was 45 (or maybe 60, I can't remember) to a large college of 200 kids in a class (class size for each class). That is a HUGE shell shock if you haven't ever been in that situation. Ryan ended up coming home and we went to a small community college because we couldn't take such a large setting after being in such a small one. We felt swallowed up. Then when we went on for a bachelor we stayed in a small setting. So I couldn't even imagine going from an even smaller class size of just 4 to being in a class setting of 200+ kids. You find that you quickly get lost in the shuffle, fear asking questions, just don't get out of the classes what you should.

ETA: When I say 200 kids in a class, I mean, like in Economics, not 200 freshman in the school.

my2monkeyboys replied: Oh, ok - I can understand that would be a big change. I had a similar situation when I left elementary and went to high school. Our elementary school was K-8 and only had about 190 kids total. My freshman class at high school was over 200 kids alone, not including the other 3 grades. It did take some getting used to, but thankfully I was able to deal with it ok, esp since there were only about 30 kids in each class during the day, so it was only about double what I was used to.
I don't know if I would ever do well at a large university - I tend to like to blend in with the crowd so I could imagine I'd just wait for class to be over before I'd actually ask questions. LOL

Kelly replied: I got home schooled for a couple years. I loved it. I learned so much more. I was also struggling it school though. I home schooled Cole in kindergarten and when he went to school this year he is way ahead of his classmates. I am more relaxed with teaching. I would really like to home-school Cody, Kayla, and Chase but we will see next year if I can do it or not. It might be too much for me. Cody and Kayla should be in JK next year but if I end up not being able to do it they shouldn't be behind when they go into SK the next year.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
In our area there are SO many options for homeschoolers! They have their own prom/homecoming, dances, sports teams, scout troops, etc. They really do not miss out on anything the public schoolers get! We have a HUGE homeschooling population, so that is certainly a plus in our area.

If we ever were to homeschool, I think I would stop after middle school, but...I guess you never know what the future holds anyway. We don't even homeschool now... lol

MommyToAshley replied: I could never homeschool Ashley. If I try to help her with anything, she gets frustrated with me. But, her teacher can tell her the exact same thing and her teacher is the smartest person on the planet. I am glad homeschooling is an option for those that it does work for!

coasterqueen replied:
My children and I need breaks from each other.....or we'd all be in the funny farm. I have NO clue how Kylie's teacher deals with her, she's a goddess for sure.