Posted on 03/02/2017 11:40:53 AM PST by TASMANIANRED
The public schools here are deplorable.
Thanks you.
Congrats on 2 great kids.
I understand that.
Thank you
I found home schooling to be one of the most intelligent and rewarding experiences I’ve ever undertaken with any of my children in my life. Of three kids, I homeschooled the youngest son. He was extremely intelligent, and a super strong willed child who was failing school. His teachers hadn’t yet discovered that he was a natural multitasker and a fast learner so he became bored rather quickly and would play with his cars in the desk or read a book tucked into his text book. He tested well, but failed the daily school work. He was also known to get up from class, head to the library, grab a book and read something of interest.
He was a good hearted kid who was loyal to his friends and often took the blame for him...he’s still like that to day and he’s in his 40’s now. If you’re his friend, he has your back.
We lived 50 miles from the school so if for any reason he was banned from the school bus, and that did happen often...he got no education. Sometimes being banned from the bus was valid, often not and when it wasn’t, there was a highschooler from a prominent, respected family who would let me know that the real story was.
Fed up, I put notice appropriately with the ‘authorities’ of my intention to home school, We didn’t have money and in those days there wasn’t any internet, home schooling hadn’t taken strong root so resources were slim, but we had books. We had lots of books. One of them was an old McGuffie’s reader from the 1800’s. It was designed for 1st to 8th grade and it was my best friend!
I bought some workbooks for things like math, but mostly I designed his curriculum myself. I designed his tests, myself.
My philosophy with him was “There’s no such thing as failure.” We will practice and study as long as it takes to learn it, and learn it well. In some areas, he was a quick learner, in others a bit slower. Some days all he wanted to do all day was math...so that’s what we did. In addition to paper work, he had practical work. He had to learn to run a tape measure, a saw, a pencil a basic blue print and a hammer. I put him to work building a hen house. He had to use his math skills. I taught him how to manage a checking account using his allowance. I was the bank.
I took him grocery shopping and he had to figure out how to feed the whole family on a small budget so he learned nutrition and budgeting, how to be creative with foods. He’s good at that to this day, and a fabulous cook!!!
You see, the beauty about home schooling is that you aren’t a slave to a class room or a text book. You are free to explore what works with you and yours. You get the insight into how your children’s minds work, and you get to communicate with them in meaningful ways....not just arguments about what they can wear to school, curfews, and whether or not your help with their homework will pass teacher approval.
And when they look at you with admiration in their eyes and faces and say “Mom, YOU are the BEST teacher I’ve ever had!” You know you are headed in the right direction.
I loved the creativity a home school environment provided, and so did he. In six weeks time he caught up to grade level, and before the end of the school year, he was two grade levels ahead of his class. At 7th grade, he was doing highschool and sophomore math...ahead of the pack.
He graduated highschool, went on to study photography and graphic design. And MY credentials? On paper? pathetic. The last class I completed at that time was 9th grade...But..I’d gone to super schools and contined to learn. Later I went to college and graduated with honors. The point is, don’t be intimidated. There are a lot of helps out there today, free, used, new, and a wide variety of learning styles.
Thank you for your insight.
Thank you
You have an inspiring story.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I meant to say also, that I also helped grand kids when they were in school and were struggling in a subject. I often did summer school with them and they went on to do well in school after that. Their mother recognized the value of home school, but her husband didn’t. One of her kids was a math wiz who studied college algebra when she was in 4th grade...ON HER OWN.....and who grew up to become a teacher.
I was fortunate that my state was pretty liberal when it came to home schooling. You could rotate with other parents for example...if you were good at math, but not good at English grammar, you could trade off with another homeschooling parent who was good at the English and you took their math student.
Grandparents often have a grace with their grandkids that parents don’t have...use it!!
You’re welcome, Red. Happy home schooling!
You asked about linking up with home school groups, HSLDA has a support group link on their home page. Many local groups also maintain a members only Facebook page for support and to co-ordinate for group activities.
I remember when all we had was a monthly newsletter by snail mail, but the internet has definitely made it easy to find like minded people.
If the schools in your area are really bad, there is going to be a well developed home school community as the primary impetus is horrible local schools.
One of the greatest benefits of home schooling for our family was not being tied down to the public union school calendar. We often took our family vacations off peak season just before school lets out for summer or after it starts in the fall or after the Christmas break. Prices are often discounted when you travel and stay off peak or midweek, plus you often have nearly deserted facilities as the great masses are living centrally controlled lives that revolve around school. Home schoolers do school around their lives.
My children also played on the local school districts football and volleyball teams because it is allowed in my state. They also did 4-H animal science and raised market lambs and pigs to sell at local shows and the county fair. Ballet and swim team for a decade. Their dad’s hobby is stock car racing so they have all learned to drive a race car and the middle girl has actually been a points winner in her division.
My overall point is that home schooling lets the family grow and develop in many directions that can’t happen when you are tied down to somebody else’s calendar.
Homeschool ping.
Homeschooling is a family endeavor. It’s a way of life. Grandpa, unless the kid(s) live with him, can not do it right by himself. Especially with mom and dad against it. They have to be involved, too.
thank you
They do live together.
Do a "search" on "homeschool networks" or "homeschool co-ops" in your state/region.
There are Christian groups and secular groups - you exchange ideas (and sometimes curriculum) with other homeschoolers, plan group field trips, and make play dates, find coffee friends and prayer partners, etc.
We went into homeschooling our three daughters with some uncertainty. There were just so many options out there and just as many opinions. In the end we settled on a hybrid program that uses a classical Christian education curriculum. They do most of it at home, but they have tutors they see in class with other kids once a week. It provides an outside social group and gives the whole thing a bit of structure. It has worked really well for our family. All three of my daughters get their work done early, so they have time for other things they want to do. They each take piano lessons, one earns $15/hour as a math tutor, one operates her own ETSY business, one works for me in my business, two have been volunteers at a local children’s hospital, they have played basketball and soccer, etc.
Last week we learned our oldest has earned a full scholarship at a major university that will cover everything—tuition, books, room, and board—and she is a finalist for a couple of other awards that may pay for her to live and study overseas for a year. We won’t know about that for a few months. Last summer, before her senior year of high school, we enrolled her in the summer session at another university where she took psychology and statistics. She earned an A in each class. My point isnt to brag, it’s to show that homeschooling hasn’t set them back. In fact, it seems to have given them an advantage. I can’t recommend it enough.
Absolutely outstanding.
The credit goes to God: I was following orders....
BTW...Nay-sayers will ask, “ What if you fail?”
There were a dozen kids in our rural area who were also homeschooling. I am not aware of a failure among the families: engineers; paramedics; writers; Marine officer who graduated West Point: all friends of my daughters. And a couple of their friends...children of one of their former public school teachers...would come to our house on Saturdays to get involved in the fun.
The question I would ask is, “What if you never try?” That would be the tragedy.
I read the thread and you have gotten good advice here.
One thing is that for my son, he finished his studies in around three hours each day so we had to fill up his day with field trips, wood working, electronics, computer programming, music and art lessons. Also we were involved in martial arts and town sports. He did service projects. We hung out with a group of homeschoolers in town twice a week. No t.v. and internet, except to study. We played cards and board games. He had a lot of reading to do.
Home school is very organized and focused, so if they are smart, they blast through the academics and have much more time for application. For example, he was studying soil erosion one week and noticed a neighbor’s property eroding out back when we drove by one day. He drew up a plan to fix it and gave it to them. They hired him (where he went, I went) to help on the project. He was in the third grade. They were surprised when they met him.
He had money to invest and spoke with the bank manager about how to invest it. When she realized he was home schooled, she took it upon herself to give him a real lesson in investing - interest and risk. She took him through the bank (tellers area and into the vault).
We found people were very nice to us. He went on a tour of the post office, police station and fire station. He went to offices and learned about different jobs adults do in various professions. Anything he wondered about, we could explore. This is why I say homeschool is a lifestyle.
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