Homeschooling

[duckie1978]

Hi! I am thinking about writing a paper on homeschooling for my Educational Psych class because I am interested in homeschooling if I have kids. However I have found mostly religious reasons for homeschooling. I was wondering, for those who do homeschool, why did you decide to homeschool? What methods do you use in teaching? How do your kids socialize with other children? (My husband insists that homeschooled kids are social outcasts and religious freaks-he can be so close-minded some times *sigh*) Anything else that you might want to tell me about your homeschooling experiences.

If anyone doesn't homeschool for a particular reason or has adverse feelings towards it, let me know too.

Edit-My paper is already completed, thanks.

Thanks, Dawn

[duckie1978]

Sorry that should have read: "Anything else you want to tell me about your homeschooling experiences would be helpful."

[veganerd]

my daughter is now almost five and i have been planning to homeschool my children since i was in highschool. mostly because of all the crap i had to endure through school. i never felt challanged and i never really felt like i was learning anything. i was always questioning things within my classes and a lot of teachers didnt like that very much. and i think its mostly because of this that i failed a lot of my classes. once i got into college however i felt a classes were much more conducive to learning i guess and always had a 4.0 but life doesnt always turn out i guess and when i became a single dad that made it a bit hard to homeschool so then i had to do something different and now my daughter is in a montissori school which is almost the same as homeschooling. (at least where she goes it is) well anyways there are is an awesome book that isnt even about homeschooling that is a great argument to do so. it is called lies my teacher told me. i cant remember who wrote it but after reading it i cant imagine anyone not wanting to home school.

[Anna]

I am a sophomore in highschool, and I have been homeschooled for my whole life. The reason my parents began to homeschool me was because my Dad was playing Professional baseball, and he didn't want to put me or my siblings in 3 different schools every year. He is retired now, but my parents liked homeschooling so much that they have continued to do so since my Dad retired.
I am not socially deprived either! My family goes out and sings and does musical programs up to several times a month at local events and other things of that sort. Almost all of my siblings play musical instruments. 6 of us play piano, 3 play violin, and I play the flute. 2 of my sisters and I are in the community orchestra. We have alot of friends that we see quite often. :)
Hope that helps!
*~*Anna*~*

[inkie]

I am also a sophomore in highschool, and I am homeschooled. I was homeschooled due to knee problems though and I like it so much that I am going to homeschool my children at least until they are into junior high and can deal with the dietary positions without having it looked down upon as much or being bullied into eating animal products. I have never drank milk, because I hate the taste of it and I remember in elementary school two of the lunch ladies telling that I would never have strong bones and that I wouldn't ever get enough calcium and crap like that. I don't want my children to go through that.

Alot of people look down on homeschooling saying that it causes children to lack social skills and can make them socially deprived. In my opinion it does the opposite, because you don't have to worry about your children getting bullied at school or them getting false information and start thinking that what they learned outside of school is wrong. But I believe if the kids are put into other social places such as church or a once a week play group type of thing that they will turn out perfectly fine, if not mentally healthier than non-homeschooled kids.

Sorry if this doesn't make too much sense. I am on prescription drugs due to a car accident and my brain is kinda like a big pot of mashed potatoes :D

[duckie1978]

Thank you so much! All of your responses were great. I have just been trying to find people who actually have had some experience with homeschooling--aside from Dharma & Greg--that were positive. Even my Ed. Psych professor thinks that homeschooling is more effective that public schooling as long as they are able to socialize with other kids.

Anyways, thanks again for your insight!

[capersmama]

I am a homeschooling mother to 4 sons. We are into our 8th year of homeschooling.

I 'fell into" homeschooling. It wasn't a preconceived plan when my children were born that I would homeschool. I like many parents looked forward to my oldest going to kindergarden. Assuming this was the only possible way of educating children.

My son went to kindergarden and was ahead of his class and was bored beyond belief. He finished all lessons and projects before the rest of the class..and instead of the teacher commending him for his effort and request he wait for the class to catch up..she chastized him in front of the class. The school supervisor felt there was no reason for concern.

My mind was made up..there has to be a better way. So the thought of homeschooling was born for me. I did my research..gathered my supplies..and when that school year was over..I began "reprogramming him to like school and continue to explore his curiosities.

Just because I was all for homeschooling didn't mean my husband was along with the program..he insisted that it was merely playing hookey until they go to "real school". After playing the public hokey pokey 3 more alternating years because of my dh refusal to accept it as a legitimate education..he finally gave in and now is the biggest homeschooling advocate ever! :-) The boys are home to stay now with my dh approval and support and HELP! :-)

I didn't begin our homeschooling as a religious statement..more like a rebellion of an establishment that needs a fresh perspective as well as morals upheld.

We are very involved in our local homeschooling support group. We have started a homeschool share day for the kids to share their lessons and activities with other homeschooled children. Our group has a unit studies group also..not to mention park days and field trips with the other homeschooled children.

Did I mention my oldest is 16 and has been giving guitar lessons (he is self-taught) to neighborhood (public schooled children) as well as our postal delivery lady for the past year. He has volunteered at our local opera house/theatre as a stage hand for a huge production and was begged not to leave when he decided he needed more time for his guitar. Devin is a helper in all of our unit studies with the homeschool group and is admired by the very young to children his own age. I almost forgot..he wrote a script for a movie retelling the Lord of the Rings for a production the homeschool group is going to make.

My second son (11)is currently giving the drums all of his attention. He is saught after by neighborhood public schooled children to play with. So definatly not an outcast. He is a neighborhood volunteer and cuts neighbors grass and does odds and ends.

My #3 (9)son is very active also and plays very well with homeschooled and public schooled children alike. He has self-taught himself sign language.

My #4 son Caper is 3 YO and loves to count things(in english as well as Spanish) and finger spell in sign language..and is all in all a ham and easy learner.

Do my children sound well rounded? They are well liked by their peers both public and homeschool. They are active in community relations and activities.

I am so proud that we came to this decision when we did. It has served our family well. I hope and pray that this experience blesses them with a desire to alwways learn and explore our world.

Does any of this answer your questions? I hope so. Good luck on your paper and your plans to homeschool in the future.
Alice

[annie7]

I have worked in two private Christian schools that use homeschool curriculum. The first used only ABEKA. The second uses ABEKA for spelling, Science, History, & Language, and uses BobJones and Saxon for math. All are good. It's a personal choice. ABEKA uses more metrics in math right up front. ~Annie (P.S. I prefer to start Kindergarten level with ABEKA for everything except math. I think Saxon has more useful tools up front: reading a thermometer, charts, graphing, etc.. along with math family facts).

[alexis]

Hey duckie...i'm not homeschooled, but i'm a living and breathing ;) reason why public schools do not benefit alot of kids. I'm currently in my last year of high school and absolutely hating it. in my first two years of primary school, i was a very sickly kid who missed school by the week, so needless to say i was unceremoniously dumped into the Underachiever's Program(Can you believe that seven years olds are stigmatised for being in the UAP?), but i was bored beyond belief in English classes, hated chinese classes with a deadly hatred and don't even get me started on Math. Then in my third year, there was the class mionitress from hell who bullied me to every extent, (yeah kids can be REALLY cruel, don't i just know), my form teacher turned a blind eye because she was his pet student, and because of my schoolwork, denied entry into any form of extracurricular activity such as dance and band and my parents were "advised" to stop me from attending ballet classes...In my third year of high schiool, i failed seven out of eight subjects because i was just plain bored in class and had to be droppd from the Express stream(Four year high school course) to the Normal Academic stream(Five year high school course). But well i continued to remain bored in school and teachers automatically assumed that because i'm a A+ student at English i would have no problems in Math, humanities and etc. which is waaaay far from the truth.
Also, because of my illnesses when i was younger and because of the bullying i encountered many many times, i became sort of withdrawn, shy and have this tendency to hide behind my parents or my boyfriend when being introduced to new people. Yes, i'm even doing it now. So much for school and socializing.
Anyway, i'm a real advocate for Homeschooling because first of all, i never want my kids to have to go through such suffering, i mean, learning to spell words like "astronaut" at five years old with the "encouragement" of a cane??? Besides, teachers here are very cruel to students who are way behind or way ahead of their class. And anyway i feel that the education system in Singapore is using their students as testing subjects . So here's my two cents worth...good luck with the paper...

[annie7]

I re-read my post and realized I completely didn't end with the point I originally meant to convey. TESTING SCORES! Using the state's standardize tests, The students using ABEKA scored higher in all areas than their public school peers. Generally the math score differences were remarkably high with students who started with Saxon. When my daughter was in first grade she was scoring at 8th grade six month in most areas. Math was fourth grade level ( I believe because she started with ABEKA). When we moved and she transferred schools, they used Saxon and the SAT scores went up. In fourth grade, most scores were between tenth grade level and post-high school. Although her scores were at the top percentile of the national peak, they were not uncommon in her class or her grade. You could probably research this in your area by conducting a comparative search with homeschool/private school vs. public school scores with a span from first grade through seventh. (Seventh being the cut off, because alot of private and some homeschoolers, go to public Jr. & Sr. high. * Note the higher scores in public schools in the areas where private schools stop at seventh grade*. I wish you the best with your paper. ~Annie

[Sheree]

My husband and I plan to homeschool our daughter (she's 3). Following are some of our reasons:

No bullying
Hassle-free lunches & snacks
To be treated and taught as an individual
Truthful history lessons (as opposed to the lies in school books)

Oh, these are just some of the many reasons.

I think the whole "social outcast" argument is so general. It's kind of like saying vegetarians are unhealthy. I really believe that it has to do with the particular family. I went to public school with many "social outcasts" (according to others...I tried not to label, even as a child). On the other hand, I've known several people who were homeschooled and extremely outgoing. My husband and I are musicians and our daughter is very used to being around large & diverse groups of people (including kids). She is involved in playgroups and classes and, because of our interest in life and doing things, I'm sure sure she'll be just fine. Also, we plan to co-op homeschool so it's not just her and us, but other kids will be involved along with their parents.