Experiences homeschooling?

[jas3]

Has anyone here done homeschooling? If so, what was that process like? I'm curious to hear what has worked for other people and what they would've done differently.

 

[timf]

We homeschooled our children. One starts with some trepidation and then finds that the educational industrial complex is largely a fraud. Bright children are going to learn more than dim ones. Maintaining an enthusiasm for learning is key to raising a lifelong learner. Having resources like an encyclopedia can make it easier for children who have a question at the spur of the moment to find an answer. Even with the Internet, resource books can be useful. This is also useful with learning to use bible tools like a concordance or word dictionaries. Don't limit yourself to just curriculum.

We came to see a huge difference between learning (what the child does) and education (what is done to the child). Here is an interesting link to a page that illustrates that difference;

Christian Pioneer - What is wrong with Education?

 

[Gnarwhal]

Has anyone here done homeschooling? If so, what was that process like? I'm curious to hear what has worked for other people and what they would've done differently.

My wife and enrolled her twin high schoolers in a home school program called Seton Home Study when we got married. We thought it was great, the price was reasonable, the curriculum was complete faith-based so we had nothing to worry about, and it's all accredited and wherever you might be. The kids did their 11th and 12th grade years through the program, one in Virginia and one in New York. They work at their own pace and turn everything in online, which is then graded by someone with Seton. Any adult - a parent, tudor, etc can help them go through the material.

It was a little more complicated in New York just because there's so much stupid bureaucracy that getting the local school district to approve it was a hassle (they want that money for butts in public school seats so they kinda fight you on it). Luckily the kids graduated and we don't live in NY anymore anyway.

We plan to do it again with our two little boys now if we can't afford to enroll them in Catholic School down the road, so needless to say we give Seton Home Study 10/10 and "would do again".

 

[johansen]

People should take a childhood development class at a community college before they homeschool. -you dont know what you dont know lol.

My mom homeschooled her 5 children. We went to highschool after 8th grade, we all did significantly better than average.. although significantly traumatized..

I will probably have to homeschool our future children, due to mostly complete failures of the local k-8 education system.

 

[JacquelineDeane55]

I was homeschooled growing up. The fact that you never encounter bullies or evil people is nice since you are at home all the time, but it can be isolating and you might struggle with making friends. Homeschooled kids are notorious for not being as socially adept as kids who go to public or private school, for instance. Ah...something to chew on and think about perhaps? If I could rewind my life and choose myself how I wanted to be educated I probably would have chosen private school, but my mom was so afraid we'd be attacked by bullies (she was horribly bullied when she was in school after all) that she chose to homeschool us instead! I think she was being a good mom and just trying to protect us.

 

[timf]

One of the biggest objections to hime school was the lack of socialization. However, one might consider the institution of school similar to the institution of prison. The social skills one acquires is often similar to the social dynamics one can find in prison. This is why so many kids join gangs. John Taylor Gatto described this in his writings about school.

Starting to work on social skills when one is older has the advantage of bringing more skills to the process. While this can be less easy, it also helps reduce the number of bad associations one can fall into.

 

[JAM2b]

I've known a lot of homeschoolers when I was growing up and since then. Both of my kids were homeschooled for a short period of time, at different times. I've seen it work well, and I've seen it be a disaster.

My oldest son has a learning disability and needed the specialized help he could get at the public school for reading help. In every other subject he was at grade level, but had gaps in reading skills that I was unable to help him with.

My youngest struggled with severe anxiety, ADHD, and insomnia. Pulling her out in highschool was the best option for her. She ended up choosing to take GED classes, aced the exam, tested at college level, and received a scholarship at the local community college.

There are a lot more options for homeschooling now than there used to be. It can be done online with professional educators or there is a variety of curriculums you can choose from to use exclusively with your family, and there's also the option of piecing it together on your own, but I wouldn't recommend that to any parent who doesn't have a higher education themselves and access to resources.

Socially, depending on where you live and what the community is like, your budget and time constraints, you can have your kids involved in activities with other kids and people of a wide age range. I suggest not isolating them with people who are only Christians or only homeschoolers. Keeping children immersed in a bubble of like-minded people can cripple their ability to function in society and make the transition traumatic. Also creating an echo chamber is not healthy.

Academically, if there are struggles for any variety of reasons, get help outside of your household. Mismatch for curriculum, learning styles, imbalance of activities or curriculum, or learning or intellectual disabilities can be hard to address or recognize or deal with if you're hunkered down at home and not letting others in or reaching out to others.

If it's not working, stop. Evaluate. Try it differently. Try a new program. Get someone to help educate. Put them in a school or enroll them in an online program with an educated facilitator or teachers. Find a new community. Be open to trying anything necessary if problems arise and you can't resolve it on your own.