Do You Homeschool?

[DawnM]

does she feel like she is missing out on prom and a big graduation

There are MULTIPLE ways to attend a graduation AND prom around here for homeschoolers.

 

[mommytoe]

Home schooling does not work for all families. Public school does not work for all families. Private school does not work for all families. Charter school does not work for all families. In fact even in families what works for one child does not always work for another child.

We we live they have home school proms, game nights, bone fires, field trips, dances, camping trips, sports, clubs, and so many other things. Home school students are not missing anything where we live.

I have home schooled for 13+ years. My oldest started in public school, but was bored. The school did not have the advanced classes in younger grades for him. It got so bad his teacher had my son's desk in the corner with a partition blocking it from the rest of the room. So we pulled him out of public school. He made it through 2nd grade but was testing at 4th grade. He is now getting ready to graduate with a Masters from college.

A couple of years later I put my middle child in public school Kindergarten (still home schooling my oldest.) She has a scare on her back from getting beat up by an older student. The school would do nothing about it, because they did not want to hurt the other student's feelings. She also has learning disabilities that the school was not able to help with. So we pulled her out to home school. She is now in her 2nd semester of college and is able to use skills she has learned over the years to compensate for her learning disabilities.

My youngest has never been to public school. She is now in 8th grade, but testing 10th grade. She goes to home school enrichment classes at a local camp, is in the Civil Air Patrol, active in her church youth group, spends a couple hours a day at the dance studio taking and assisting with different classes, and we are members of a local home school group. She has such an active social life that I have trouble keeping up with all her activities.

 

[NewRVLady]

does she feel like she is missing out on prom

and a big graduation

I would guess MOST kids-looking back , Prom isn't the big be-all that some think.

My second son was shy, didn't really date till college and almost all his Homecoming and Prom Dates were semi-arranged. I seriously doubt missing Prom would be a big thing to him at all

I know kids who just dint "fit in" at regular HS and did a different path...and finished college and got good grades.

Graduation..........I went thru 3 for me and 8 total for my kids and NO.....I cant say, except being proud to get the diploma....I LOVED attending them-LOL

 

[bcbmommy]

I would guess MOST kids-looking back , Prom isn't the big be-all that some think.

My second son was shy, didn't really date till college and almost all his Homecoming and Prom Dates were semi-arranged. I seriously doubt missing Prom would be a big thing to him at all

I know kids who just dint "fit in" at regular HS and did a different path...and finished college and got good grades.

Graduation..........I went thru 3 for me and 8 total for my kids and NO.....I cant say, except being proud to get the diploma....I LOVED attending them-LOL

I agree. I think it's the parents who make such a big deal out of Prom and Graduation, at least in our tiny town. We always tell our kids that high school is such a small part of their lives, and you do NOT want to be that kid who "peaks" in high school, then spends the rest of his life reliving it.

 

[iheartnmr's]

I feel like my kids would miss out on a lot of stuff. I don't think I could teach three different grades at once. Kids need to be around kids their own age that is what school is for to learn from other people and to enjoy being in clubs and on teams. I give you guys credit if you are doing it.

Aren't you a teacher? Better not teach here. Split grades are common (not 3 grades but 2). Lots of people homeschool and their kids turn out just fine.

 

[NewRVLady]

Aren't you a teacher? Better not teach here. Split grades are common (not 3 grades but 2). Lots of people homeschool and their kids turn out just fine.

My grandma was hired by a small town in the 1920's-taught in a one room schoolhouse.she managed . And she married the local Doctor's son

 

[bcbmommy]

My grandma was hired by a small town in the 1920's-taught in a one room schoolhouse.she managed . And she married the local Doctor's son

Love the thought of the one-room schoolhouse. It's sad to see what compulsory education has become since we moved away from that.

 

[scrhsa]

Love the thought of the one-room schoolhouse. It's sad to see what compulsory education has become since we moved away from that.

I work at at a small Catholic school...which is great...but, I can see how the public school way is creeping in to our great little school. It is crazy what they are expecting our kids to know and do. We have all day kindergarten. From 8 am til 3:45 pm. Granted they go to Mass every morning but, man, those poor babies are fried by the end of the day!!! Hardly any play at all. I have always loved education, especially early education but I'm getting to where I have no desire to work there anymore. What they are expecting pre-k to know is more that what we were being taught in kider and 1st. Even since the late 90's. It's just stupid. And yes, I said the "s"word

 

[bsblady01]

Aren't you a teacher? Better not teach here. Split grades are common (not 3 grades but 2). Lots of people homeschool and their kids turn out just fine.

here we have one grade per room

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Yes! I homeschool and I LOVE it!! My kids love it! Always get to learn what interests them and what I feel they truly need to learn. I always remind myself that I am raising adults!

 

[mefordis]

There are MULTIPLE ways to attend a graduation AND prom around here for homeschoolers.

I'd like to add that there are a great deal of kids who are miserable going to those events and/or wish they could skip them entirely. I think we romanticize our time in high school when really it was only great for a small group of people. The rest couldn't wait to get out. Just my opinion, though.

 

[dja14]

Homeschooled kids not getting to have a prom or graduation or activities is really a big misconception. My kids do less than most homeschooled kids we know and we stay very busy. The oldest has been to prom and has a graduation this year. He enjoyed the prom but is only doing the graduation because he knows we want it. His dad and I neither went to prom and really didn't care-all those years ago at public school. His prom was pretty normal, small in number I guess, but we only had a few adults as chaperons (not everyone's mother as the rumor goes) They still had all the dates, food, dj, lights and decorations you could possibly expect.

 

[pocomom]

we are around people at work. Do you not work. I think kids need to be in school. I think I would go nuts if I had to be home all day long and with my kids 24/7

This is a big misconception about homeschooling -I homeschool 3 Kids and I work outside the home AND the kids take classes outside of the home. We are rarely home all together all day. The difference is it is all our choice. When we studied geography a couple years ago we planned and went in a cross country trip for 6 weeks in our RV, when one kid finds a passion we find a class or an expert in it and they can immerse themselves in it. My 9th grader will graduate high school with at least an associate's degree and has already taken college classes. At this point in I don't "teach" her anything other than home ec And she has a job, volunteer opportunities and does sports. Homeschooling is really just about choices and time.

 

[bethy]

This is a big misconception about homeschooling -I homeschool 3 Kids and I work outside the home AND the kids take classes outside of the home. We are rarely home all together all day. The difference is it is all our choice. When we studied geography a couple years ago we planned and went in a cross country trip for 6 weeks in our RV, when one kid finds a passion we find a class or an expert in it and they can immerse themselves in it. My 9th grader will graduate high school with at least an associate's degree and has already taken college classes. At this point in I don't "teach" her anything other than home ec And she has a job, volunteer opportunities and does sports. Homeschooling is really just about choices and time.

This is perfectly worded. I need to memorize this because this is basically what we are doing with our high schooler. In our case I do actually some teaching myself and my DH contributes a well in his areas of interest. But we outsource a ton, also! The point is it's all about having the freedom to make choices!

 

[iheartnmr's]

here we have one grade per room

Ugh. So frustrating.

My point is, it is NOT uncommon for there to be split grades and teachers have to teach them. Maybe it's not like that in NY where you teach but that doesn't mean it won't ever come. Teachers should be able to teach grades 1 - 3 interchangeably (as an example) and it shouldn't be difficult for an experienced teacher to switch curriculum to teach the other grade while the first grade is working on what she just taught. This isn't some new fangled idea. It's been around for years.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

As a general rule, I do not think my wife nor I would be great home schooling teachers to our children nor do I think it would be a good educational approach for our children's academic or social needs. But we've also been extremely fortunate to have access to excellent and well-resourced schools so it has fortunately not been an issue.

Reading the Dis has really made clear to me that there are some truly atrocious teachers out there, and the school districts that employ them must be incompetent as well if obviously unqualified teachers keep their jobs. In cases like that, and if no independent, secular, or at the very least non-dogmatic private schools were available, and if moving somehow were not an option, I must confess I'd likely find a way to make home schooling work.

My wife and I are our children's primary shapers and educators but having professional partners in good quality teachers is important to us.

 

[BearFamily]

My point is, it is NOT uncommon for there to be split grades and teachers have to teach them. Maybe it's not like that in NY where you teach but that doesn't mean it won't ever come. Teachers should be able to teach grades 1 - 3 interchangeably (as an example) and it shouldn't be difficult for an experienced teacher to switch curriculum to teach the other grade while the first grade is working on what she just taught. This isn't some new fangled idea. It's been around for years.

This.

My elementary school in another state in the 70's/80's had at least one split grade class per year. And there are lots of split classrooms here in NY where I teach. Usually it's because of numbers - most districts don't have the money to fund a 10 kid 3rd grade and a 15 kid 4th grade when they can just put them into one combined class of 25 and save an entire teacher salary. And you can't count on the local community each year to birth exactly a number of kids that divides neatly into the number of 3rd grade classes you want to have.

But in addition to being forced by logistics, I know of at least one school (again, here in NY) that has ALL K/1 kids in combined classes, which then loop. Each has twenty some kids, two certified teachers, half of the kids are K and half are 1st. Kids stay in the class for two years. There are very intelligent developmental reasons behind it, and it works VERY well for that school. Montessori does multi-age teaching on purpose, again for outstanding developmental/educational reasons. I actually think that teaching multiple siblings of different ages would be a major benefit to homeschooling for those same reasons! A challenge, yes, but one with benefits.

As a general rule, I do not think my wife nor I would be great home schooling teachers to our children nor do I think it would be a good educational approach for our children's academic or social needs. But we've also been extremely fortunate to have access to excellent and well-resourced schools so it has fortunately not been an issue.

Reading the Dis has really made clear to me that there are some truly atrocious teachers out there, and the school districts that employ them must be incompetent as well if obviously unqualified teachers keep their jobs. In cases like that, and if no independent, secular, or at the very least non-dogmatic private schools were available, and if moving somehow were not an option, I must confess I'd likely find a way to make home schooling work.

My wife and I are our children's primary shapers and educators but having professional partners in good quality teachers is important to us.

Also, this!!!

Although I'm a teacher, I personally know that home schooling my child would be a terrible idea for her and what she needs. And like you, we are lucky enough not to need to. I'd do it if I had to, but am VERY happy not to need to. I have good friends who do home school, I have taught private music lessons to lots of home schooled students, and have had former home schooled students in my classes when they (re)join traditional education. I think it can be a perfect fit for some families and some kids. And I have definitely seen it be a better fit and/or better education than a particular child would get in their local public school. But I've also seen kids that are really disadvantaged by their parents' choice to home school. It's really such a situational thing. I will say that in my experience, some of the blanket complaints that you hear so frequently about homeschooling are absolutely true for SOME students and SOME situations, but definitely not all.

 

[jt'smom]

My kid had a terrible middle school experience, and halfway through his 8th grade year, I pulled him out and homeschooled him for the remainder of 8th grade and the first semester of 9th. It was the best decision we ever made. Since I knew he was going back, I simply focused on basic skills and had that kid doing math, grammar, writing and reading tons of classic literature. We moved a lot during his elementary years, and he had missed out on a good foundation, so it was a catch up thing for us. All I know is he went in the second semester of his 9th grade year and did great academically, and he's happily settled in a good college now. My sister inlaw has homeschooled all of her 7 kids and they range from now off at college, down to 2nd grade. I would be in a mental hospital if I had done that, but her kids are all normal, well-adjusted, with a ton of friends and more active social lives than my public school son ever had, lol.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...My point is, it is NOT uncommon for there to be split grades and teachers have to teach them. Maybe it's not like that in NY where you teach but that doesn't mean it won't ever come. Teachers should be able to teach grades 1 - 3 interchangeably (as an example) and it shouldn't be difficult for an experienced teacher to switch curriculum to teach the other grade while the first grade is working on what she just taught. This isn't some new fangled idea. It's been around for years.

While I agree that this has worked in the past, as a substitute teacher, I am a little nervous about the trend coming back. I obviously find it easy to switch from one grade to another day-to-day. But for someone walking into an unfamiliar room, the "active teaching" part tends to go well, but "independent work time" is often when more challenging behavior happens. I don't relish having to do both at once by having two halves of the class on different tasks. I think the kids in those old one-room schoolhouses had an instant respect for adults that must be individually earned over time nowadays.

 

[quandrea]

Love this reply! Sometimes I wish I could homeschool all three of my children because then we could embrace it more as an entire lifestyle. My second child really, really enjoys her public school and so I couldn't take her out of it. (but it's nice to know there are other options if it ever starts going poorly for her.)

One way I've seen people criticize homeschooling is they wonder if I'm sheltering my oldest DD too much from the "real world." I'm sure that can happen with some homeschooling situations. But are you kidding me??? My DD NEEDED to get out of the closed, limited, narrow environment of public school and OUT into the REAL "real world". She's out in the "real world" way more than her friends who are in public school. The above posters' example of the grandkids caring for their grandmother is just one such example.

Plus my DD spends 15-20 hours per week in competitive team sports and there is no way she personally could do that while in public school.

So one big reason we do it is to align her time commitments to her individual developmental needs and priorities as a child/adolescent. There are only 24 hours in the day. She also now gets enough sleep, finally which is GOLD.

We are similar. Dd is a competitive swimmer and a homebody. I know she wouldn't swim if she were in regular school. We finish up at two each afternoon. This gives her time to unwind before swimming. The long school day would make her resent swimming otherwise. Right now we are in the middle of a two week Disney trip. That would only be possible with homeschooling. We plan to put dd back for high school in two years. I'm not looking forward to the change in lifestyle. It has been wonderful for our family.