Why do you homeschool and where are you located?

[Anonymous]

I was homeschooled for awhile. Hated it with a passion. My parents certainly thought they knew what education would be best for me but they were wrong. I loved being in school. One of my sibs loved being homeschooled, the other was indifferent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was homeschooled for awhile. Hated it with a passion. My parents certainly thought they knew what education would be best for me but they were wrong. I loved being in school. One of my sibs loved being homeschooled, the other was indifferent.

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Why did your parents homeschool? What about school did you prefer? Did they pull you of of school to homeschool you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, there are a lot of secular homeschoolers in this area. I've been homeschooling here for several years now and the majority of homeschoolers I meet seem to be motivated by quality of education rather than religious or political ideology. I'm in Silver Spring.

Secular? Hardly. Not from my experience. All HS I know belong to religious groups. This includes my SIL who is a Southern Baptist and moved her family from NOVA to Lynchberg, VA, (her home town). In her case, it's more about running away from the secular world rather than being motivated by quality of education. The kids sometimes stay with us and I watch them study, I do not see much rigor in their curriculum. I suspect that the kids are behind as compared to students in Fairfax County. SIL was a mediocre college student and she could not hold down a job. She quit the "corporate world" when she became pregnant with first child. I hardly think this qualifies her to be a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Some of the homeshoolers I've met have been doing so for sports participation; competitive skaters who can't fit in with public schools or private schools schedules...
One has been Asbergers...very smart but almost a caricature of a geek

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, there are a lot of secular homeschoolers in this area. I've been homeschooling here for several years now and the majority of homeschoolers I meet seem to be motivated by quality of education rather than religious or political ideology. I'm in Silver Spring.

Secular? Hardly. Not from my experience. All HS I know belong to religious groups. This includes my SIL who is a Southern Baptist and moved her family from NOVA to Lynchberg, VA, (her home town). In her case, it's more about running away from the secular world rather than being motivated by quality of education. The kids sometimes stay with us and I watch them study, I do not see much rigor in their curriculum. I suspect that the kids are behind as compared to students in Fairfax County. SIL was a mediocre college student and she could not hold down a job. She quit the "corporate world" when she became pregnant with first child. I hardly think this qualifies her to be a teacher.

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Why would faithful religious families feel unwelcome in public schools, I wonder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was homeschooled for awhile. Hated it with a passion. My parents certainly thought they knew what education would be best for me but they were wrong. I loved being in school. One of my sibs loved being homeschooled, the other was indifferent.

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Why did your parents homeschool? What about school did you prefer? Did they pull you of of school to homeschool you?

We moved to a fairly remote area for a couple years and my parents decided to homeschool us rather than living nearer to the closest city and schools. There were schools in our area but they required long commutes so they decided given we were only going to be living there for a couple years they would homeschool us. What I missed was time away from my parents and family. I needed independence. I missed the hustle and bustle of a classroom, group work and having lots of friends all around. I missed the routines of school, the assemblies, recess etc... I was a very social kid and I hated being home all day with my family. We did activities but as a family and there were kids around but they were all in school during the day. Also because they were all together in school I was in the dark as to who they talked about, and what they were doing. I missed being on school sports teams and all the other teams and clubs. I had been in public school up until then, after homeschooling I went to private for a couple years then back to public for my last couple years of high school. I was homeschooled for grades 6 and 7.

[Anonymous]

My smart, funny and normal friend homeschools her dd, who has Aspergers and was mercilessly teased and ostracized by the other little girls in K and 1st in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

I know a family who does it bc the school wanted to test their kid for aspbergers and they refused.

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of moving to NoVA and I homeschool my only child. We are not religious. We made the choice to homeschool for a combination of reasons - mostly academic, but also because I have one incredibly active boy. Sitting is not on his agenda. I'm quite sure that we'd be pressured about putting him on ADHD meds if we were to put him into a standard school situation and we're not open to that possibility at this time.

As a PP said, we were pretty rigid with our structure when we first started - very much "school at home". We've become much more laid back over time and try to let DS lead at least part of the time. It's been fascinating to see what interests him. At this time, he is several years ahead in reading and math, so we have the freedom to indulge his whims.

We've had great experiences with homeschool groups in our current area. We've found some really great, progressive, smart and fun parents and children to attend classes, playdates and field trips with in the past. I'm hopeful that we'll find that again in the DC area. We're definitely an "out and about" homeschool family. I can't wait to learn about the opportunities for us in this area.

[Anonymous]

Are there SAHDs who HS while DW brings home the bacon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there SAHDs who HS while DW brings home the bacon?

I know one personally. The wife used to do the primary schooling, but he works in the housing industry. When things went belly-up, his wife went back to work and he took over the primary schooling responsibilities. He still works part-time as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there SAHDs who HS while DW brings home the bacon?

I know one personally. The wife used to do the primary schooling, but he works in the housing industry. When things went belly-up, his wife went back to work and he took over the primary schooling responsibilities. He still works part-time as well.

I often wonder how folks manage the logistics of homeschooling: how does one work part time while homeschooling? How do so many people afford it? What about sports teams? How do you give adequate attention teaching your 5th and 3rd graders while also giving your kindergartner the enriching, learning by doing experiences, too? And what if you have an infant? They take enormous amounts of time? Truly curious. Maybe homeschoolers have naturally attentive children who work independently? I can't even get my 2nd grader to focus on 30 mins of homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there SAHDs who HS while DW brings home the bacon?

I know one personally. The wife used to do the primary schooling, but he works in the housing industry. When things went belly-up, his wife went back to work and he took over the primary schooling responsibilities. He still works part-time as well.

I often wonder how folks manage the logistics of homeschooling: how does one work part time while homeschooling? How do so many people afford it? What about sports teams? How do you give adequate attention teaching your 5th and 3rd graders while also giving your kindergartner the enriching, learning by doing experiences, too? And what if you have an infant? They take enormous amounts of time? Truly curious. Maybe homeschoolers have naturally attentive children who work independently? I can't even get my 2nd grader to focus on 30 mins of homework.

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--Several moms in my homeschool group run family businesses, too. They get creative. Just let go of the idea that school and learning only take place during the hours of 8-3 at a desk, and then there is time enough.
--Most of the families in our group struggle financially. But their kids' education and family life are priorities. So they let go of a lot of material things and focus on what is most important to them.
--Teaching multiple grades is not too hard, but it requires a ton of patience. There are many, many times that more than one child is asking for help at the same time. Everyone can get frustrated. But everyone gets what they need eventually. And big kids help little kids, which is good for them in many ways.
--Infants are easier to integrate into homeschooling than toddlers. Breastfeeding is a great time to get work done, but toddlers can wreak havoc in the time it takes to do a reading lesson
--Homeschooled families rarely have all independent learners who take care of themselves. My mom had several severely learning disabled kids at home at once, and it was really hard for her. But she persevered and figured out how to work past their disabilities, and every single one went off to college and did well, after being told by the public schools that they were "mentally limited" and my mom was just in denial. That's love at work.

There is just a huge difference between homework and learning at home. Not that my kids always willingly do what needs to be done, but for the most part, learning is our way of life, rather than something arbitrarily imposed by an external authority. Makes a huge difference.

As PP illustrated, coming home after having grown accustomed to school is much more difficult than always having home schooled. Both the student and the parents need to "detox" a bit if homeschooling is going to work under those circumstances. But it can still work, with patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I often wonder how folks manage the logistics of homeschooling: how does one work part time while homeschooling? How do so many people afford it? What about sports teams? How do you give adequate attention teaching your 5th and 3rd graders while also giving your kindergartner the enriching, learning by doing experiences, too? And what if you have an infant? They take enormous amounts of time? Truly curious. Maybe homeschoolers have naturally attentive children who work independently? I can't even get my 2nd grader to focus on 30 mins of homework.

I too know several families where there is a home-based business of some sort is part of the income. The man that works part-time does house inspections nights and weekends.

One thing that has surprised me about homeschool is how little time it takes to get through lessons (I only have 1 child). He is definitely not the "norm" for his age, but he learns things very quickly with little repetition. We do a couple of outside co-op classes with other kids as well as a homeschool gym class. We do a ton of hands-on field trips, both to local parks and some that require travel. In our current area, there are networks that offer us far more options than we could ever take advantage of - many of which are very low cost or free. Many businesses are happy to have homeschool groups use their services because they can attend classes or events when they traditionally wouldn't have any business. There are homeschool teams of all kinds - sports, Lego, scouts, drama, writing, bands, you name it.

As far as being able to afford it, that differs by family. We eat at home a lot. We bring picnics to the park or on the road. We make choices that make sense for our family in order for me to stay home. I love that when we are together at night and on the weekends, we have time to really enjoy each other.

I can't speak to juggling multiple kids since I don't have to do that.

[Anonymous]

Oh yes--sports. Any sport imaginable has a homeschooling team, though sometimes it is impossible to provide top-level experience, like high school football. Our homeschool group has its own PE class that meets once a week, and has about 90 kids ages 6-12.

My own kids swim and do mixed martial arts (competitively), and my oldest has been riding horses since she was six. Whatever floats your boat!