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| Homeschooling Parents |
| Public online group |
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Hello everyone!
My daughter is only 8 months old, so school is a ways off yet.
I have considered homeschooling because my husband and I travel a great deal and we will be living overseas 50% of the time when my daughter will be ready to begin school.
My questions are:
What made you decide on homeschooling as opposed to regular school?
What are some of the pro's and con's that you have discovered while homeschooling?
Thanks in advance for any insight!
Amanda
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| Posted by Amanda on 07/26/2007 11:17 AM
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Hi Amanda!
You know you are homeschooling now! Everything you do with her is a learning experience.
If I'd had it the way I wanted, I would have homeschooled my kids from the beginning - because the family will be closer and I would know what they were learning.
However, as it happened, I was a single mom for a while and they had to go to school. I was always uneasy - so many kids in a classroom, mainly.
I removed my son 3/4 of the way into his 7th grade year, because he was being bullied and his life was being threatened - and the administration weren't doing anything. He's entering 10th grade now and says he won't go back to public school. Oh, he learned to steal at school, and lying became a problem, and disrespect of adults was really bad.
I removed my daughter 1/4 into her fifth grade year because her social behavior became more atrocious the longer she was in school. She's entering 6th grade. About 1 day a month, she's mad and wants to go back to school. But mostly she enjoys homeschooling.
Pro's: socialization, family closeness, I know if they are having a problem and can address it before moving on, we can afford more field trips than the schools, I can teach to their learning style, my ADD son doesn't have to take powerful drugs during the day anymore, I can teach to my children's interests, sleeping in!
Con's: the cost: you either spend a lot of money for curriculum or a lot of time preparing one yourself; it's easy to goof off one day when you really need to be working
I know my kids much better now than I did when they were in school. I try not to laugh in the face of anyone who brings up socialization. That's a joke! At school they are constantly told they aren't there to socialize. When it is socializing time, like recess, the teaches aren't involved with the kids, so the kids are learning social skills from other kids who may have bad social skills! My daughter was so much into the social life of 5th grade, that she didn't pay attention in class and her grades were lower than expected.
Both of my kids' behavior has changed dramatically. Rachel's always going to have a bit of an attitude; she was born with one! But at least she doesn't act like she's the queen of the world, and the rest of us are lowly peons beneath her notice. She even treated her daddy and I that way! She doesn't now.
I encourage you to look more into homeschooling. Some homeschoolers won't agree with what I'm about to say: Homeschooling is not the best option for every family. You just have to make choices that fit your family's needs. |
| posted by Kelly on 07/26/2007 11:38 AM
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Hi Amanda,
I have recently enrolled my children into the Agora Cyber Charter School. It's considered a "public" school. They send you all the text books, etc. and the kids actually have teachers. I teach and guide them through their courses and they have to send in certain work each month to their real teacher. The courses are more advanced. Agora has meetings every month and socials at different places through out my state. So my kids will interact with other children. They also plan field trips through out the year, which is great. This is a good option for most parents today. You don't have to go out and purchase all the text books and figure out what your curriculam will be or how the schedule has to be set up. It's already done. The kids will have to log in for attendance purposes and some of their courses will be online. I will have to do an assesment for each course done each day. However, it is more flexible because if you have to run errands or need to take a break or have lunch, recess, etc., you have all day to do it. As long as the kids have spent a total of 5 hrs a day doing their work, it doesn't matter what time you start! Whatever type of schedule you have, their courses can fit into your day. This is my first year, so we'll see how it goes. But if you're thinking about home schooling, consider trying one of these schools. There are more than just Agora. I'm not sure what states the school is up and running in. I do know that it just began in Georgia. This year should be very interesting!!
Brenda |
| posted by Brenda on 07/30/2007 12:24 PM
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Wow! That program sounds great! Some of us would still want to do our own thing (rebels that we are) but I think that option could get even the most nervous new homeschooler off on solid footing.
Oklahoma has a limited number of High School Online slots, but the middle- and elementary schoolers still either go to school completely or not at all.
Except in cases of special needs - my friend's special needs son couldn't learn in the school environment, so they sent his assignments for him to so at home and his grades went up dramatically! |
| posted by Kelly on 07/30/2007 12:50 PM
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