Why do you homeschool?

[aristocatz]

I've noticed that quite a few people on here homeschool their children.

I was just wondering your reasons why?

 

[aristocatz]

I see some replies in the poll-thanks!

To those of you who chose "religious reasons", is it because you don't believe in the science curriculum taught at public school? (i.e. the evolution debate)

and

To those of you who picked "disability reasons", does your child have autism? (i.e. ABA-based teaching model for home or other teaching model commonly used for children with autism)

 

[Buckalew11]

I've only been homeschooling for 1 year. I personally think it is one of the "best kept secrets" around.
My dd's going to be a sophomore next year and we'll take it year by year. it was her choice. She talked me into trying it and we've all loved it.

 

[aristocatz]

I've only been homeschooling for 1 year. I personally think it is one of the "best kept secrets" around.
My dd's going to be a sophomore next year and we'll take it year by year. it was her choice. She talked me into trying it and we've all loved it.

I'm glad to hear that things are going well. Why was your daughter interested in home schooling in the first place? I just realized another option to the poll would be "due to teasing/bullying" at school. Was this her reason or something different?

Also, when you homeschool, are you (the parent) teaching your child or do you hire an outside teacher? Do you have to submit anything to your state's DOE?

 

[Momvic5]

I agree Buckalew11...it is one of the"best kept secrets" around.

I homeschool my children because I can, and we all love it. I went to school to be a math teacher, and when my children came along, I found myself longing to homeschool them. My children have attended both private and public schools, and they did fantastic in both settings. However, I just felt a strong desire to homeschool my children. After researching and finding all kinds of wonderful curriculums, I decided to give it a try. We just completed our third year, and so far, we are loving it. I am doing what I love (teaching) with the three children I most adore. As long as everyone is excelling and enjoying it, we will continue to homeschool. I am so excited about the upcoming school year. My oldest DS13 will begin Algebra 1 which is what I so love. We are total math geeks.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Other:

I don't have one reason. These are the ones that come to mind at this moment.

*I enjoy having my kids home
*I enjoy thinking outside of the box and looking for different ways to learn things.
*I enjoy catering to my children's specific educational needs
*It provides us more family time
*It provides more opportunity for their activities.
*We do wish to provide the religious component and parochial school is too expensive (Bible study and catechism)
*I know some folks have suggested to just supplement the school system, but that would be time consuming and ineffective for us (and would be on top of homework time.)
*Because I can.


We use Mother of Divine Grace Syllabus but sub out math with Math-U-See and supplement with a few different things here and there that the kids would enjoy.


Hope my spelling is okay--it's getting late. Grammar errors are due to being tired and no I am not correcting them. (though I did correct "hear and their" b/c I knew folks wouldn't like that )

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm glad to hear that things are going well. Why was your daughter interested in home schooling in the first place? I just realized another option to the poll would be "due to teasing/bullying" at school. Was this her reason or something different?

Also, when you homeschool, are you (the parent) teaching your child or do you hire an outside teacher? Do you have to submit anything to your state's DOE?

HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) lists the requirements for all 50 states.

Each state has different requirements.

I live in Florida and we are able to either:

Submit a portfolio review by a certified teacher.

Submit test scores (not suggested by the homeschooling community so as not to give the state "ideas" on making this a permanent requirement).

OR

Submit a test score review by a certified teacher.

These are all submitted to the county of residence.

We also have to maintain a portfolio with samples of their work for 2 school years.

We also had to send in one letter indicating that we are homeschooling within one month of beginning when they are old enough to be compulsory for education.

My oldest is entering 4th, so I must keep her 3rd and 2nd grade work--I no longer have to hold onto 1st grade. K was not compulsory for her due to timing of her birthday though I have a sampling, but for my middle child it is. My son will not be compulsory for K either due to timing of his birthday.

Compulsory age is the school year in which they turn 6 by Feb 1st.

Only my middle child meets this requirement for Kindergarten year. the others wouldn't meet this requirement until 1st grade.

 

[Buckalew11]

I'm glad to hear that things are going well. Why was your daughter interested in home schooling in the first place? I just realized another option to the poll would be "due to teasing/bullying" at school. Was this her reason or something different?

Also, when you homeschool, are you (the parent) teaching your child or do you hire an outside teacher? Do you have to submit anything to your state's DOE?

She was bullied at a private Christian school. I spent a little too much money to have my daughter treated like that at school. Plus she wanted to move at her own pace through her studies. She's very intense, very focused and homeschooling works well for her.

No, LOL, I'm not teaching her. At the HS level it is really not called homeschooled anymore (by our umbrella school). It is called Independent Study. I can't teach her anything. He dad can teach her some stuff but I'm not "the teacher". Now, if I had to, I could. I'd just have to study up for things myself, first.

We have the opportunity to do "co-op" classes where someone else teaches. We can also do dual enrollment classes at the community college here in town.

Lots of options when you homeschool.

 

[Buckalew11]

Do you have to submit anything to your state's DOE?

I have quite a bit of paperwork to turn in to my umbrella school. I like being accountable. I hate paperwork but love that they keep track of most kids.

Homeschool isn't for everyone. DD and I both have the personalities for it though. Are you thinking of homeschooling?

 

[DisneyFix321]

I have a silly question for those that homeschool. I've always wanted to know when your child reaches senior high school level, do they have to take some type of test to receive there high school diploma?

 

[aristocatz]

Homeschool isn't for everyone. DD and I both have the personalities for it though. Are you thinking of homeschooling?

Well, we don't have children yet , but we might consider it when we reach that stage of our lives.

I am currently a certified teacher though & I've read alot of posts on the Dis from people who home school their children. I've heard vry positive reviews and I'd like to learn more about it.

I wonder how it would work where I live in Massachusetts. Our state requires students to pass MCAS (standardized test) to receive a high school diploma. If I did decide to home school, would my child just schedule an appointment to go to the public school & take this exam?

Will your children receive a high school diploma? How does that work? Does homeschooling have any effect on their chances for college?

& how about socializing with friends? Do your children belong to community clubs or church/religious groups to have opportunities to make friends?

 

[Momvic5]

Also, when you homeschool, are you (the parent) teaching your child or do you hire an outside teacher? Do you have to submit anything to your state's DOE?

We live in Texas, and we had to submit a one time letter to our school district stating our intentions and goals. Beyond that, we have not had any other requirements. To keep ourselves in check, we participate in yearly academic testing given by one of our local private schools. It is not required. I just like the idea of keeping my children in the practice of testing and the accountablity.

 

[npmommie]

Well, we don't have children yet , but we might consider it when we reach that stage of our lives.

I am currently a certified teacher though & I've read alot of posts on the Dis from people who home school their children. I've heard vry positive reviews and I'd like to learn more about it.

I wonder how it would work where I live in Massachusetts. Our state requires students to pass MCAS (standardized test) to receive a high school diploma. If I did decide to home school, would my child just schedule an appointment to go to the public school & take this exam?

Will your children receive a high school diploma? How does that work? Does homeschooling have any effect on their chances for college?

& how about socializing with friends? Do your children belong to community clubs or church/religious groups to have opportunities to make friends?

No your child would not take MCAS. they cannot take it as they do not go to public school and mcas is to evaluate how well the schools are educating , so having a homeschooler take it skews the results I guess. LOL
if you homeschool in mass your child will not receive a diploma from your school district,
what many do is have their child enrolled under an umbrella school such as NARS, the homeschool parent keeps detailed records to submit to nars and they get the diploma like that.
the other option is just to keep detailed transcripts, or the child can take a GED.
but really it has no effect on getting into college, many colleges have sections for instructions for homeschoolers when they apply. its really common now. so not something I would worry about.

 

[npmommie]

Other:

I don't have one reason. These are the ones that come to mind at this moment.

*I enjoy having my kids home
*I enjoy thinking outside of the box and looking for different ways to learn things.
*I enjoy catering to my children's specific educational needs
*It provides us more family time
*It provides more opportunity for their activities.

I would answer as above.
We use different curriculum for different subjects, we didn't go with an all in one curriculum.

 

[mom2rb]

I also have many different reasons to home school, and they change every year.

Right now, I work in the evenings. I teach gymnastics from 3:30 - 8:30 every night. I would never see my kids.

My kids are very involved in sports. I have one son that is a gymnast and the other is a ballet dancer. This way they get all of their school work done.

I also have two trips to Disney this school year. I see that as more of a perk, but when my dad wants to know why the boys aren't in school, that is the reason that bugs him the most.

My boys are in sixth grade. They do a combination of private school and home schooling. They go to school two days a week and take Math, English Literature, Science, History, and Latin. On the other three days they do their homework, plus Spanish and Japanese. It works out great for my family.

 

[teacups]

Homeschooling is the BEST!