OT Homeschool--what's your favorite/least favorite part about it?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

FAVORITE
I sooo love flexibility in our travel plans.

We are going to Hawaii in October without batting an eye.

I had knee surgery last October--so jump starting the year in July (didn't know I needed surgery at the time) ended up being a Godsend. We've intermittently hit the books since then and I had a fear of being behind. Well we hit the books again tomorrow and we are roughly half through the school year despite the interruptions .


LEAST FAVORITE
Well--they're home all day making it virtually impossible to get things done. We used our intermittent time to reclaim the house and get back on track with chores. We've turned over a new leaf with the new year. I did hire a housekeeper for one visit. But decided to try what they did and see if it works for us. So essentially--the housekeeper didn't know it, but she taught me how to clean. I wrote a list of all they did and the order they did it and in 2 hours I get my house on the verge of spotless. Where before, not even close.

However, I find the sacrafice worth it.

You?

 

[sl_underwood]

I absolutely love homeschooling my kids!
The best things about it is that I can tailor their education to fit their needs. I have one daughter age 12 in 9th grade and a 9 yo with some medical issues that does 2nd-4th grade in various subjects. We can take breaks when we need it (or want it) and we can get the same amount of work done in half the time (thats my oldest daughters reason for loving homeschool). Being able to travel during the off season is icing on the cake for us. This year will be our first year to be able to do this and we are very excited.

I really dont have dislikes most days, however, sometimes it is nice to get a break. When you are with your kids 24/7, some days they can get on your nerves and I too, find it is really hard to get everything done during the day when you actually live in your house and make messes. We have worked on this by having one of our school subjects, daily living skills, this includes help with cooking, cleaning, and other household stuff. IT has helped tremendously! Now instead of mom cleaning after school we all clean together at various times throughout the day.

Lora

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh--tell me more about your "daily living skills". Did you do anything special--or did you just cover one topic at a time like most any other subject?

For example--this week is learning how to sweep a floor.

 

[sl_underwood]

Our daily living skills combine alot of different things. We have chore training where each child learns to do the chore properly with the help of a parent. Once they complete chore training we then add the chore to their chore list. My 12 yo does the dinner dishes each evening and sweeps the kitchen floor daily. She also cleans her bathroom and is currently learning cooking and sewing as well. Both kids are learning to do laundry mostly because my lil sis went to college not that long ago and called because she wasnt sure how to use a washer, I am not going to let that be one of my kids! My 9 yo is in charge of making sure everyone picks up his or her belongings. She is our pick up police. She even writes out tickets when dirty laundry isnt put in the hamper or clean clothes arent put away, games and toys arent picked up, etc. It is a job she started doing back when she was 3 or 4 and it has stuck. Now she writes out tickets which helps with her handwritng. She is currently training to learn to do some bigger kid chores and currently her list of chores are emptying the garbage cans, helping dad out in the yard, and setting the table before meals and clearing it after. Each day we have one target room that gets deep cleaned, and chores are divided up between myself and the kids. That means in about 45 minutes we can do the entire room, sometimes it doesnt even take that long. Thanks to my pick up police, no room ever gets to messy because she is on everyone to pick up, she even picks up after herself because she doesnt want a ticket. Tickets consist of paying a specified amount (loss of allowance) no kid wants that so they tend to work at picking up after themselves. Well this has gotten really long so I will shut up now. IF you have more questions feel free to ask!
Lora

 

[tmli]

I am a rookie but so far my absolute favorite part is how relaxed my son is. He was always so stressed after school. Also after our first "real day" of schooling he was so proud of how much we accomplished in less time than school "and i didn't have to worry about any bullies" he said.

My least favorite part is the constant stress of worrying about what I am doing, if I am doing it right and what I need to be doing better.

I've also been trying to make life skills a regular subject and so far so good.

 

[Lora]

My favorite part: Cuddling on the couch and reading with my girls (still doing this in 5th and 3rd grades). Being able to go on vacation any time of year ranks pretty high also.

Least favorite part: I thought it would be easier to think of a least favorite part, but I'm honestly having trouble coming up with something. I thought of extra paper clutter and having to purchase curriculum (well, I like buying it - I really mean paying for it).

 

[DiznEeyore]

Favorite Part: Having him around all the time
Least Favorite Part: Having him around all the time


Seriously, I love the flexibility of it and the fact that dh, ds and I can choose what ds is learning. And to be honest, it is hard sometimes having ds around all the time (Especially now that he's a teenager -- those mood swings! Oy!) ... I definitely had more personal time (and money -- I was able to work outside the home part-time) when he was in school.

 

[rcpae]

What an interesting thread OP..Thanks!

Least favorite: Feeling like I am on my kids about something all the time. Rooms cleaned? School work done? All me! My DH is great, but at work during the day like most. He is extremely involved with our girls (3 of them), but I try to handle what happens during the day, during the day. There is nothing worse than walking in the door and getting dumped on. (See I am starting to learn this lesson!)

Most favorite: The flexibility. I agree with the others about vacations and days off. It's nice to be able to "do school" on a crappy day that others may have off and decide to go to the zoo on a beautiful mid-week day.

I have enjoyed reading all the other responses!

 

[MamaLema]

I don't homeschool but just chiming in to say I'm enjoying reading the responses

 

[TNKBELL]

Lora... Isn't great to still be able to snuggle with the Dks even when at thier age it typically isn't cool!!! I went outside the other day and the boys (9&7) were playing with thier neighborhood friends and I called them over just for a hug and they came running over and proudly hugged me!! I saw a few of the boys in the group snicker but my boys didn't even notice because the most important thing to them is what thier parents think of them!! This is how it's supposed to be!! Love is my favorite part about Homeschooling.

Now for my least favorite part....clutter, but I have to admit that this gets better with the age of the Dks, they help out more than they used to and the little ones tend to follow the older Dks example( except for Ds2 who is a tornado!!)

 

[disneymom3]

Well, all of my responses have been taken, but I will say them anyway.

My favorite part is that my kids school can fit who they are. DD learns very quickly and will pick up concepts after just a couple of repeats. Despite this, she still stinks at memorization of her multiplication tables. If she were in traditional school, she would be stuck or held back because of that even though she totally understands deeper concepts. DS on the other hand, is sooooo not ready for what passes for Kindergarten these days. No way could he sit in a desk all day and would probably be labeled a behavior problem. At home, he is able to be active while he is learning and is also able to play a heck of a lot.

I also love the vacation part, and having Dkids around all the time(though sometimes that makes me crazy too.)

My least fav part has got to be the clutter. I am sooooo not good at controlling clutter in normal parts of my day. Then add the extra load from school stuff and I am swamped and overwhelmed.

This is fun, Lisa, thanks!

 

[estherhead]

Favorite: Teaching my own daughter to read a watching the magical excitement.

Least Favorite: Handwriting arguments. She just refuses to change and do it the right way no matter what the book says. I wish a teacher could teach her handwriting.

 

[Kewz1]

My favorite part is the flexibility!!! I love being able to plan a trip during the "school" year. I also love knowing we can adjust our schedule if special things come up.

My least favorite part is probably still having to do school even when I'm not feeling well. But that hasn't happened much, thankfully.

Kristen

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Today I discovered what homeschooling is really about---we have nothing outside of the home schedule today (YEAH!!).

We are doing our celery stalk lab in anticipation of our flower science fair project.

So we woke up--I did some work this morning before they got up. We had breakfast--started the celery to drinking their purple water and then made Peace Cake (got it out of the Kindergarten seasonal activities calendar).

Today is our chore day (I copied the tasks in order that the housekeeper we hired before Christmas used in cleaning our home)...so we are doing lesson--chore--lesson--chore.

Anyway--today I feel like a *real* homeschooler. Letting the day flow as it goes while still accomplishing all we need to accomplish.

And that all goes under flexibility .

 

[minkydog]

I'm no longer homeschooling,but we did it for 12 years. There are times when I really miss the closeness. I truly enjoyed having my children around all day and homeschooling enabled them to grow the way they were "bent." ADD & depression were easily accomodated for DS. Illness & injury was less of an ordeal for DD.

Because they were together so much, my kids are extremely close. My youngest has a lot of severe handicaps and he has made enourmous progress partly due to the fact that his sibs were with him so much. He was included in every field trip, every library trip, and they were included in all his therapy, horseback riding, and swimming lesson. They pushed & pulled each other through the days. They all get a long great,with no fighting or name-calling. Don't ask me how I take no credit

Unfortunately, we had to stop homeschooling due to severe health crises, but the kids have all adjusted well. My DS19 graduated last summer with an American School diploma, which is popular with a lot of HS homeschoolers, and now he's in community college. DD12 has been in public school for 2yrs and she's the life of the party, involved in band, music, theater, loves PE & Girl Scouts. And DS10 continues to make progress in his special needs class.

I can think of a lot of upsides to homeschooling, but we had very few downsides except where our health crises kicked in. Had it been a minor situation i'm sure we wouldn't have stopped. And who knows, we may do again? Ya never say never

 

[laceemouse]

Love....the slower pace and less stressful day we have. We are new to hsing but generally I let my kiddos sleep a little later and we still get things done. We take breaks throughout the day so they can play and I can do housework. My younger three (12, 10, and 8) do not miss going to school at all. HATE....my oldest dd (14) is having a hard time adjusting to "not being with her friends all day." We also just made a long distance move and that has not helped. We are all in agreement that the huge schools in the ps system are just NOT for us, but she is now wanting to try a small Christian school next year. Really, it would be easier for the rest of us to get things done if she were gone a few hours every day, but there goes our vacation flexibility I also worry about "covering all the bases" and getting them ready for the future, although I have done LOTS of reading/research and I love our curriculum choices so far. I am looking forward to meeting moms in this area with older kids who have done all this and can "mentor" me....

 

[Mrsduck101]

Love - The fact that my children don't have to be gone all day and then come home and sit at the table and do more work. Homework was such a struggle. My 7 year old ds has ADD and some delays and he was labeled a behavior problem at PS. My dd works quickly and picks things up quickly so she was so bored with the work they did at PS. Here, we are usually finished with our work by lunch. It is great to let them have the afternoon free to pursue their own interests. Of course the Sept and Jan trips to WDW are GREAT

Don't Love - I am always trying to make sure I don't miss something, worrying if I am covering everything they should know I am told I will relax as time goes - I hope so! This is our first year and I have changed things so many times. The cost of curriculum isn't fun, but I don't mind the shopping and picking it out.

I am so happy we decided to homeschool. Who knows where life will lead us, but at this moment this is definitely the best decision for us.