Homeschool Chat

[DawnM]

The thing for me to ask is, "What about YOUR son?" Do you like the friends that he is choosing? Is he making wise decisions? When he gets to middle school I would watch closely to what is going on with him.

When I look at my 3 kids, each one is SOOOO different! My middle son would honestly problably survive anywhere I put him. He is a fun lovin' kid who makes friends wherever he goes. But he is also my kids who says, "whatever you want me to do" when I ask him if he wants to stay home or go back to school!

What about the rest of your family? Are you married? What does your husband say about it? My DH wants me to homeschool more than I want to homeschool! That actually helps because there are days I am ready to go back to work and stick the kids in school. He really encourages me to keep going.

Ultimately, you are the parent and you can have the say as to his schooling.

Dawn

I have to ask a question. I homeschooled my son for his 4th grade year and although I loved it, he hated it. He wanted to go back to be with his friends. When the new school year started we let him go back to PS. I cant even begin to tell you how bad I hate PS (thats a whole other thread) but anyway I really have regretted letting him go back. Its not that hes not doing good in school, its the whole school politics thing that I dont like. Ive mentioned to him more than once about him coming back home and he wont even consider it. His sister is 3 and I have decided that she will never set foot in PS and that way I wont have the "I miss my friends" thing with her. But I would really really love for son to come back and homeschool but I dont want to make him. Whats your opinion? I mean should I just drop it and grin and bear it where the school is concerned or keep trying to persuad him otherwise?.....................I heard that in a neighboring school there was a gang starting up called "The Bloods" and I was talking to my mom and we were talking about schools and I told her that if I even get a whiff that sons school was starting up a gang he was coming home, end of story.
So WWYD?

 

[saremca]

I have to ask a question. I homeschooled my son for his 4th grade year and although I loved it, he hated it. He wanted to go back to be with his friends... I would really really love for son to come back and homeschool but I dont want to make him. Whats your opinion?

If it were me, I'd find out specifically from him what he missed while he was homeschooling. Hanging out? Playing sports? Specific classes? Once you determine what he needs you can better help him design a homeschooling life that suits him. If he's just terribly social and needs more contact with other kids, do you have a homeschool support group you can join? My oldest is very social like her father and craves time with other kids in her age range. Our local community center offers a homeschool phys ed class every Friday from 1-3 and she went to that for years and loved it. She made some really good friends there and still socializes with the same group of kids (she's almost 18 now). I also connected with other moms with kids her age through our support group and we do monthly movie nights for the teens with pizza and movies. We take turns hosting and it's been a lot of fun for everyone, even the parents.

I think if your kid is unhappy then you really should try to find out why and how you can help him not be unhappy. If he's miserable with the current method of homeschooling and you take the "too bad for you" attitude, well you're both probably going to end up unhappy and frustrated, and who needs that?

As always, YMMV.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I have to ask a question. I homeschooled my son for his 4th grade year and although I loved it, he hated it. He wanted to go back to be with his friends. When the new school year started we let him go back to PS. I cant even begin to tell you how bad I hate PS (thats a whole other thread) but anyway I really have regretted letting him go back. Its not that hes not doing good in school, its the whole school politics thing that I dont like. Ive mentioned to him more than once about him coming back home and he wont even consider it. His sister is 3 and I have decided that she will never set foot in PS and that way I wont have the "I miss my friends" thing with her. But I would really really love for son to come back and homeschool but I dont want to make him. Whats your opinion? I mean should I just drop it and grin and bear it where the school is concerned or keep trying to persuad him otherwise?.....................I heard that in a neighboring school there was a gang starting up called "The Bloods" and I was talking to my mom and we were talking about schools and I told her that if I even get a whiff that sons school was starting up a gang he was coming home, end of story.
So WWYD?

YIKES!! That's tough! I did bring my older son home at the end of 2nd grade, he is the one that occassionally brings up wanting to go back. But, he knows that it's just his opinion-not his decision. I am the parent and I will decide what is best for him. 5th grade is waaaaayyy too young to make decisions like that for themselves. If you and your husband (or you, if you are single) feel this is the right thing to do, DO it! don't ask him. I am all for sitting down and discussing it, seeing what his likes/dislikes are and seeing where they could be adjusted. But after that, it's your call. If I felt that strongly, I would pull him out. As far as the gang talk-it may be just talk, but with so many kids getting out of control at younger ages, it would make me a little bit leary.
And, my eldest, really does like it at home--but if he has had a bad day, or if he is feeling bad, he'll say"Iwant to go to ps next year". But, he really does like hsing. He tells us all the time how blessed he is that he's home. Or how thankful he is that he doesn't have to put up with the kid-junk that was going on.So, that's what I would do! Let us know how it goes for you

 

[beautybelle]

Exactly Saremca! I could do the Im the boss and you'll do what I say and it doesnt matter if you're unhappy or not thing, but I really care how he feels too. I want him to come home but I want him to be happy when he does and thats what Im looking for.
Actually theres been a change since last night believe it or not. He woke up sick and throwing up so I kept him home today, we got to talking and Ive known for a long time that every time he eats at his school he gets sick so we've been packing his lunch forever. Well yesterday we all overslept and I didnt have time to pack it and he ended up eating at school and sure enough he got sick. Well I think he's getting tired of it....yippee for me.....I told him that if he just gave it up and come home he wouldnt have to worry about bad food (yeah, im baiting, I know. LOL) and I think it working.
I know that a lot of you are thinking that I should "be the mom and just do it" well just let me say this, I am his mom and I , like the rest of you, are trying my very best to do what is good for him. Pulling him out kicking and screaming wouldnt do either of us any good at all, trust me. He is a very good child and I dont have any problems with him at all so I feel like he deserves a little consideration too.
Now what can you all tell me about SOS? I took a peek at it last night and it seems interesting, however, in the science aspect is it heavily bible based? Dont get me wrong I dont have anything against bible based curriculum but in the science area I think I would like something a little more secular. What do you think?

 

[Praise2Him]

One thing to remember is that this isn't a permanent decision. Why not explain to him that you are going to try it for a year and see how it goes. Then you can reevaluate at the end of the year. If he knows that it's not forever then he may be more willing to try it.

 

[beautybelle]

Well we homeschool for his 4th grade year and he hated it, however, his little sister was just a little over 1 at the time and she required a lot of time and I was trying to homeschool him and run a grooming shop all at the same time. It wasnt pretty.
Ive told him that things will be different this time because for one im not working nearly as much as before and little sis is now 3 and shes more able to entertain herself for periods of time.
Pray for me please to make the right decision for us.

 

[liv luvs disney]

New to this forum, but I've been home schooling for 7 years. Neither of my children have ever been to "school"; we've home schooled from the beginning and love it. Just wanted to say hi and when I get the time, I am looking forward to reading through the HS posts. We are planning on going to HS days at Disney this year and I'm looking forward to that as well.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Well we homeschool for his 4th grade year and he hated it, however, his little sister was just a little over 1 at the time and she required a lot of time and I was trying to homeschool him and run a grooming shop all at the same time. It wasnt pretty.
Ive told him that things will be different this time because for one im not working nearly as much as before and little sis is now 3 and shes more able to entertain herself for periods of time.
Pray for me please to make the right decision for us.

that will make a big difference for you and him! I pmed you!!

 

[NHWX]

Beautybelle -

Reading all the posts reminds me about one time when we had just starting hs'ing our two boys. I think they were in sixth and fourth grade then. I asked my older one why he was complaining about doing the work; it was pretty reasonable and while challenging not unreasonably so. He told me that in his former private school, he only had to think for about 5 minutes per hour! I think that experience gave him the bad habit of trying to do just enough; something I struggle with him even now. He was getting A's but not learning how to learn.

Sometimes he still gets really frustrated with significantly hard work. I want to say "Get over it! That is the real world!"

NHWX

 

[beautybelle]

Well we've been talking more about it today and I bought a book that had a lot of side comments from kids who were homeschooled their whole life and they all said that they had their good times and their bad times too, so that really helped ease sons mind.
Ive been on here digging up support groups near us but geez we live so far back in the woods that the nearest groups to us is like 2 hours away.

He's very very social so I want to keep him busy. Heres what Ive got going on and you tell me if you think this is enough "socialization" be brutally honest, We go to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights and he has boy scouts on Monday evenings and the library has a "teen time" on Friday mornings. So, too much, not enough, what?

 

[saremca]

Heres what Ive got going on and you tell me if you think this is enough "socialization" be brutally honest, We go to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights and he has boy scouts on Monday evenings and the library has a "teen time" on Friday mornings. So, too much, not enough, what?

I think it depends on him. If he's happy with that level of social stuff then it's enough. If you live way out, then he's going to have to be understanding of that situation too. It's a good lesson in learning to compromise, and if he knows you're trying your best for him he will appreciate that.

While my older daughter is super social girl, my younger two are not. They couldn't care less about outside stuff. They like it when we go to functions with the support group, but they don't crave it like Sarah (oldest DD) does. So I don't think there is a one size fits all answer. What you have set up for him so far seems like enough to me. He has 4 or 5 different opportunities to connect with other kids and be social. If anything, I'd say you're at a good starting point and you can see how he does with that and go from there, and make adjustments where you see the need.

 

[wvdislover]

New to this forum, but I've been home schooling for 7 years. Neither of my children have ever been to "school"; we've home schooled from the beginning and love it. Just wanted to say hi and when I get the time, I am looking forward to reading through the HS posts. We are planning on going to HS days at Disney this year and I'm looking forward to that as well.

Welcome to the DIS, and welcome to our homeschooling thread! Glad you could join us! Have fun reading...maybe we'll see you during HS days in Sept.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Beatybelle~ That sounds like enough social time to get you started! You can always find more things to do, or have play times with his friends on the weekends. My boys just started baseball, and that plus church and drum lessons, and school--we think our calendar is jammed! Ha!!

 

[lisalonglash]

Hi all

Our boys are almost 10yo and almost 7yo - we have homeschooled them from the beginning, neither of them has ever gone to school. We are registered as homelearners with a local homeschooling organization here in BC.

On another thread (maybe the free dining thread? sorry, can't remember which one lol) I read this morning, someone posted about WDW Homeschool Days. I'd never heard of this before, so I looked into it. It's on the regular WDW site in the Education section, along with another educational Disney entity that I'd never heard of - Youth Education Series (here's the direct link to that section - http://disneyyouthgroups.disney.go.com/wdyp/programs/programOverview?page=YESProgramOverviewPage). It looks fantastic! The only real issue with this is that the YES Program is only available to groups of 10 or more. Well, we homeschool two children and could attend the Homeschool Days, but my boys would really prefer to take a couple of the classes listed in the YES program (chemistry and synergy in science).

One of the big advantages of the YES program is that the park tickets are discounted significantly and also include the educational classes!

Any thoughts on how I could get together a group of families in order to reach the minimum group numbers? It'll be quite a hard sell to get local families here interested - Vancouver, BC to Orlando, FL is quite a trek kwim?

We're planning on going to WDW in mid-September, so we could work our dates to include the Homeschool Days, but if we could figure out how to get into the YES program, that would be better!

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Praise2Him]

I'm in Alabama, but get emails from a HS group in North Carolina. They go to HS Days at Disney every September and anyone is welcome to join them. I just looked and it seems that they are offering both classes you want, on Mon. Sept. 7th & Tue. Sept. 8th. I'm not sure how those dates work for you, but here's a link in case you're interested (or anyone else). I've never been with them, but it seems very organized and well run.

http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/travelwdw.htm

They also offer other trips, including NYC and a cruise to the Bahamas! I know some of you had expressed interest in that one earlier, although the group I had mentioned was in Alabama, and I didn't realize that the NC group had one too.

I'm kinda sad that DD is graduating this year and we won't be able to go on any of these cool trips.

 

[wvdislover]

Hi all

Our boys are almost 10yo and almost 7yo - we have homeschooled them from the beginning, neither of them has ever gone to school. We are registered as homelearners with a local homeschooling organization here in BC.

On another thread (maybe the free dining thread? sorry, can't remember which one lol) I read this morning, someone posted about WDW Homeschool Days. I'd never heard of this before, so I looked into it. It's on the regular WDW site in the Education section, along with another educational Disney entity that I'd never heard of - Youth Education Series (here's the direct link to that section - http://disneyyouthgroups.disney.go.com/wdyp/programs/programOverview?page=YESProgramOverviewPage). It looks fantastic! The only real issue with this is that the YES Program is only available to groups of 10 or more. Well, we homeschool two children and could attend the Homeschool Days, but my boys would really prefer to take a couple of the classes listed in the YES program (chemistry and synergy in science).

One of the big advantages of the YES program is that the park tickets are discounted significantly and also include the educational classes!

Any thoughts on how I could get together a group of families in order to reach the minimum group numbers? It'll be quite a hard sell to get local families here interested - Vancouver, BC to Orlando, FL is quite a trek kwim?

We're planning on going to WDW in mid-September, so we could work our dates to include the Homeschool Days, but if we could figure out how to get into the YES program, that would be better!

Any input would be appreciated!

Hey, Lisa, you mentioned the great discount on tickets for homeschool days. It is a great discount, but the number of days you can purchase at that price is limited (don't know how long you're planning on being there) and I don't think you can combine that discount with free dining (someone said last year that you couldn't). However, during the homeschool days they had in Jan. of this year, AP holders could purchase a ticket to the hs activities (very inexpensive). I e-mailed someone in the YES program and asked if you could just buy your own park tickets (that way I could get the free dining...a better deal for my family), as though you were an AP holder, but she e-mailed me back that they haven't yet decided on how they are going to price out tickets or on what activities they are going to sponsor. She told me to just keep watching the site.

I think DawnM (?) posted last summer that her hs group in NC was holding their own hs days right after Labor Day this past September, and that they did this each year (someone please correct me if I'm wrong ), and she gave an open invitation to anyone who wanted to piggyback on their trip.

Good luck on figuring something out! Maybe we'll see you there!

Missy

 

[anabelle]

Hey, Lisa, you mentioned the great discount on tickets for homeschool days. It is a great discount, but the number of days you can purchase at that price is limited (don't know how long you're planning on being there) and I don't think you can combine that discount with free dining
Missy

From what I understand, you have to buy at least a one day base ticket in order to get the free dining. You can buy that one day ticket then buy the Educational tickets you need for the week. You can save the one day ticket for later or use it during the Homeschool week if you want.

 

[wvdislover]

From what I understand, you have to buy at least a one day base ticket in order to get the free dining. You can buy that one day ticket then buy the Educational tickets you need for the week. You can save the one day ticket for later or use it during the Homeschool week if you want.

That's true, but I just checked the YES website, and they are only listing ticket packages for up to 5 days. We're going to be there for 11 days, so buying their ticket packages isn't going to be a great deal for us, as we'll be going to the parks for at least part of almost all or all of those days. For a shorter trip, it probably would work well to do it the way you suggested

 

[anabelle]

That's true, but I just checked the YES website, and they are only listing ticket packages for up to 5 days. We're going to be there for 11 days, so buying their ticket packages isn't going to be a great deal for us, as we'll be going to the parks for at least part of almost all or all of those days. For a shorter trip, it probably would work well to do it the way you suggested

The Carolina group is offering a 8 day premium pass for $200. If you add the one day you get from the free dining with all the plusses you could have a great vacation pretty cheap. They are going Labor day week.

 

[DawnM]

No, it isn't a group I am part of. Her name is Dianna and she is in SC.

I dont' know her personally, but she posts on several groups I am on.

I will be going in September or Oct. but this year we bought APs so we don't need the hs tickets.

The hs tickets were great last year though. We went for 9 days and with 5 tickets and 4 vouchers to the water parks and Disney Quest, we filled up our days just fine and were able to take a break in between some of the days and just do the pool or tour the on-site hotels. It was very relaxing.

Dawn

Hey, Lisa, you mentioned the great discount on tickets for homeschool days. It is a great discount, but the number of days you can purchase at that price is limited (don't know how long you're planning on being there) and I don't think you can combine that discount with free dining (someone said last year that you couldn't). However, during the homeschool days they had in Jan. of this year, AP holders could purchase a ticket to the hs activities (very inexpensive). I e-mailed someone in the YES program and asked if you could just buy your own park tickets (that way I could get the free dining...a better deal for my family), as though you were an AP holder, but she e-mailed me back that they haven't yet decided on how they are going to price out tickets or on what activities they are going to sponsor. She told me to just keep watching the site.

I think DawnM (?) posted last summer that her hs group in NC was holding their own hs days right after Labor Day this past September, and that they did this each year (someone please correct me if I'm wrong ), and she gave an open invitation to anyone who wanted to piggyback on their trip.

Good luck on figuring something out! Maybe we'll see you there!

Missy