Any military homeschoolers out there?

[mrsbornkuntry]

As I mentioned in another thread I'm researching homeschooling my kids. One side that I'm considering is that the first year that I do this my DH will be away the entire year. I don't have a babysitter or friend or anyone else that will take the kids for me, so if I homeschool I would have the kids 24/7. I mean, they do activities, sports, etc. , but I'm right there with them. Has anyone else encountered this? Was it overly stressful? Or did the lack of dealing with a structured school day make up for it?

The other thing is that next year my kindergartner will start 1st grade. This year he only goes for a couple hours so I have to plan around picking him up at 10:40 every morning, then being home at 2:30 for the other kids to get home. Next year I would have the entire day, from 8-2:30, alone with my 3yo so that would give me some time to get things done without taking all 5 kids to everything, it would be a little bit of a break, and I'm not sure I want to give that up.

Does anyone have any experience with this that they'd like to share? Right now I think this is the only thing stopping me from homeschooling.

 

[Longsx3]

I am sorry I missed the other thread, do you only have two the Kindergartner and the 3yr old?

I guess I would ask why are you considering Homeschooling? I don't homeschool my DD(10) but have seriously considered it in the past, the thing that stopped me is that she is an only. However witht he upcoming deployment I would probably keep your kids in school based on the information you shared.

As I mentioned in another thread I'm researching homeschooling my kids. One side that I'm considering is that the first year that I do this my DH will be away the entire year. I don't have a babysitter or friend or anyone else that will take the kids for me, so if I homeschool I would have the kids 24/7. I mean, they do activities, sports, etc. , but I'm right there with them. Has anyone else encountered this? Was it overly stressful? Or did the lack of dealing with a structured school day make up for it?

The other thing is that next year my kindergartner will start 1st grade. This year he only goes for a couple hours so I have to plan around picking him up at 10:40 every morning, then being home at 2:30 for the other kids to get home. Next year I would have the entire day, from 8-2:30, alone with my 3yo so that would give me some time to get things done without taking all 5 kids to everything, it would be a little bit of a break, and I'm not sure I want to give that up.

Does anyone have any experience with this that they'd like to share? Right now I think this is the only thing stopping me from homeschooling.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have 5 kids, right now ages 10, 9, 7, 5 and 3 years, but they all have birthdays coming except the 3yo. That's why I'm a little concerned about the stress of being with all of them all the time, my house can get chaotic.

The reasons that I want to homeschool are individual for each child. Each one has had a different problem with the school, for example my 9yo. His teacher wanted him moved ahead a grade at the beginning of the year, but I was told that they don't do that so he's been treading water all year because his teacher also told me that because of her curriculum she can't give him extra work. He keeps moving ahead at home, but at school he's bored. I have issues like this with all of the kids. I really think they would get alot more out of staying home. It also has gotten to the point where every morning at least two of my kids are complaining of stomachaches trying to get out of going and they have always liked school in the past.

I wouldn't be as worried about doing it if DH was here for backup.

 

[jmskinner]

I would think the school system would have some sort of extra program, here it is called Gifted and Talented for children that are ahead of their class. Does your school system not have that? Have you spoken with the Principal?

My son is ADHD and has Sensory Processing Disorder and after the year we had last year, I would consider homeschooling him, but we changed schools and this year has been so much better.

You are showing concern I have about homeschooling and I only have one child. I worry I won't appreciate him as much if I am with him all the time. I currently work part-time and with the DH deployed, I like my couple of hours of alone time before I pick him up. Even if it is just shopping, I can get it done a lot quicker without the kiddo.

As far as the kids not wanting to go to school, do you think this has anything to do with their daddy deploying? The way kids talk, you never know what other kids have told them.

My favorite quote from one of my sons friends on the soccer team to my DH on his two week leave "Did the war go alright?" We weren't sure how to respond.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I would think the school system would have some sort of extra program, here it is called Gifted and Talented for children that are ahead of their class. Does your school system not have that? Have you spoken with the Principal?

My son is ADHD and has Sensory Processing Disorder and after the year we had last year, I would consider homeschooling him, but we changed schools and this year has been so much better.

You are showing concern I have about homeschooling and I only have one child. I worry I won't appreciate him as much if I am with him all the time. I currently work part-time and with the DH deployed, I like my couple of hours of alone time before I pick him up. Even if it is just shopping, I can get it done a lot quicker without the kiddo.

As far as the kids not wanting to go to school, do you think this has anything to do with their daddy deploying? The way kids talk, you never know what other kids have told them.

My favorite quote from one of my sons friends on the soccer team to my DH on his two week leave "Did the war go alright?" We weren't sure how to respond.

What our school has is called the "highly capable" program, both my 10yo and 9 yo are in it, but it is just an extra class, one day a week for about an hour they are taken out of their regular classrooms and go to this extra class for an additional unit such as "inventions" which is what they're doing now. Unfortunately, my 9yo hated it because they took him out during recess, what kid wants to miss recess?! So I pulled him out, 10yo DD has been in it for 2 years and she likes it and still does it. Overall, it doesn't really help them in other areas. My son is a grade ahead in subjects like math, writing, and science, but they can't give him extra work because of the curriculum (that's what his teacher said), they can't move him up a grade (principal). The principal has stonewalled every request that I've made. I asked that my kindergartner be put in a different teacher's class (before they started school), but they wouldn't do it although I have had documented problems in the past with that teacher and one of my other children.

My 7yo is having problems with his teacher as well. She thinks he needs to be tested for an attention disorder because he gets distracted easily (did I mention he's 7?). He does get distracted easily, it's an issue we have at home, but he is capable of paying attention when something holds his interest. And this is not affecting his grades at all, he has good grades and does his work and behaves. He just doesn't get in line in a timely manner or move to the carpet as fast as she'd like him to. He has always been this way and this is the first teacher to have issues with it. I'm not willing to medicate him unless it is absolutely necessary.

There have been alot of other issues, but these are what it boils down to.

I would like to have time to myself, but honestly I'm still not going to because my 3yo will still be home with me so I never really will (he doesn't even nap).

I don't know, the kids have been not wanting to go to school pretty much all year after the first two months. It may be because of DH deploying, some separation anxiety, I'm not sure. They all want to be homeschooled, when I talked about it with them, even when I explained that would mean more chores. The more I look into it and think about it, the more I convince myself to do it. I think I will use the summer as a dry run to see how it's going to work.

 

[disneymom3]

I am not military but can I chime in? I saw your thread title while looking at the CB and as a homeschooler I was curious. The time with the kids can get a bit crazy. My DH is of course not away for a year at a time but the last couple of years he has had 3 month stretches where we don't see him more than maybe 8 hours on Saturdays. There have been times when I thought I was going to lose my mind. I have three kids--10. just 7, and 5. What I have discovered is that I need to take time in the evenings after they are in bed to do special stuff for me. Sometimes that means I watch a rented movie and have a Lean Cuisine and don't eat dinner with the kids since I have that same night let them watch Arthur and have cereal for dinner. (I know--I really live the high life, huh?!)

I would bet that there are homeschooling groups in your area that you can connect with. Through those you may very well find families that have similar age/interest kids as you and in a short time you are looking at playdates etc. Also, that means people who are willing to trade off taking kids if you have a Drs appt or something similar. This works out nicely for us. We have a few different friends that we trade kids back and forth.

I have to tell you I live for VBS in the summer. It is the only week all year that all three of my kids are busy for a concentrated period all at the same time. I also have a love affair with the Y because they will take them all while I work out and zone to my radio. You learn to appreciate little moments!

With all of that though, it is so worth it to me. My 7 yo too would be bugging his teacher. He is just a wiggly kid who has his own agenda. He likes to learn in more of a unit study approach where he can really dig into things. It's good motivation for reading--he recently had a book on sharks he wanted to read so he could talk about it to his friend who is obsessed with sharks. Well, I refused to read it to him and golly gee he managed to read the whole thing himself. If I had assigned that book, or a teacher had, he would have thought it was torture. DD is one of those fast learners too. We have tried school two different times and our problem is not so much that the work is not advanced enough for her but that she wants to hear it once and move on to learn more. Reviewing the same stuff makes her crazy. Yougnest DS would be just fine in school, but he is staying home since his bro and sis are anyway. At this point, he feels like he has been homeschooling since he was born so he would find it odd to go away.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions. I knwo I am not in your exact situation but I am glad to support. Also, on the Family board there are a lot of homeschoolers and a couple of really long threads. Good luck in your decision.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

disneymom3, thank-you for your perspective. It sounds like you've found ways to work in little breaks for yourself, I think I could manage that, too. I may be PM-ing you with more questions, I have been trying to get as much info as I can so I can make an informed decision.