Why do you homeschool?

[Marie463]

Ah, isn't this a classic question?!

 

For those of you who homeschool, did you decide to do so because your child is advanced? Or would you have homeschooled regardless of your child's abilities? Did you perceive - or experience - that you gifted child would not receive the attention/stimulation/opportunities in public or private school that they would at home?

 

I'm just an "on-the-fence" possible homeschool mommy of a bright preschooler trying to figure out our path! Just curious about the experiences of others!

 

Marie

3yo ds

10mo ds

[musicianmom]

I've been planning to homeschool since before I was married! It just makes so much sense to me for a number of reasons.

 

Now that dd is advanced, I feel a little bit stuck sometimes. There are two good classical schools nearby that are reasonably priced, and I would be tempted, except that I can't bear the thought of making her start all over and putting her in the same position I was in as an academically advanced kid.

[matrips]

we're in a similar position, as ours are still young too.

 

I had always thought I'd want to homeschool for the young ages just based on some of the bullying stuff I'd heard of (this was before I even HAD kids!). I wanted my kids to be confident and sure of themselves and able to stick up for themselves before any of that happened. And then we had triplets so the cost of preschool times three was pretty much the same as a mortgage! so I figured I'd homeschool preschool and just take it a year at a time. well, they're 4 years old and two of them are reading at least a third grade level. hard to tell exactly because they still like pictures, but they can pretty much read anything they pick up. yesterday it was a bird book at a wetlands sanctuary. I'm assuming (these are first and only kids so not really sure what four year olds 'should' know) they're ahead in math though we haven't officially taught it. They'll pick up the Singapore workbooks I have laying around and whiz through them on their own. They're quick at learning new things and absolutely LOVE to learn. However, they're still just typical 4 year olds who will whine and fight and play too! ;)

 

So now I'm thinking they seem to be fairly advanced and maybe I better keep this up. and that while they would enjoy the social aspect of school, they would not enjoy sitting still that long and having to learn whatever the teacher planned that day. plus, chances are, they'd already know it. I don't want them to turn into a bored discipline problem. Though I own curriculum and we're doing CC next year, we seem to closer to unschoolers at this point. having tons of fun and just enjoying learning. we go on lots of fieldtrips, have lots of playdates (just got back from the pool), and I love the freedom of not being tied to a school schedule.

 

I still officially have a year to year mentality for homeschooling, but I have an inkling we're in it for awhile.

 

hope some of this made sense! and good luck with whatever you choose!

[Truscifi]

I never thought I would homeschool! I planned on being a working mother and having a career (social work) just as my mother did. I worked in the social work field for about 10 years and was starting to get burned out, then the Montessori school I had my son in closed. He was already advanced at that point, starting 1st grade work. When I talked to the school system about him they said due to his age they could only put him in VPK (voluntary pre kindergarten) no matter what he was already doing. The other private schools in this area are pretty crummy, so we had no where else to turn but home. We just finished our first year - he finished 1st grade math and history, is working on 2nd grade language arts and 3rd grade reading level, is thriving in pottery class, and i have no idea how to classify him in science (his favorite subject) except to say he probably knows more about animals than any kid I know and most adults. He would never have been able to do all that in VPK.

 

That is why I started homeschooling and why I currently plan to continue. I'm also having him tested for the gifted program through public school and if he qualifies he will go there one day a week, so he will have some experience with 'regular schol'.

[Jorsay]

My son failed Kindergarten. By the end of first grade, the teacher assured me that he was doing great. He got all 1's on his report card, which, I guess, is like all A's. Anyway, before he started second grade, I tested him myself and found that, going into second grade, he couldn't read Hop on Pop, and he couldn't really add beyond 2 plus 2.

 

Obviously, if this was acceptable to the public school, I needed to remove him. Now, after two years of home school, he excels. Many think he is a prodigy, but I know better. He has just had a solid two years of diligent study. Given the same training, any normal child would be where he is now.

 

It's very hard work for me, but home schooling is for my kids.

[coralloyd]

Reasons:

1. I was homeschooled and loved it.

2. My girls are best friends and I didn't want to seperate them for so many hours. Hsing cultivates their relationship.

3. They are advanced, and I didn't want them to go through what my dh went through in school. He got bored, and then got into a lot of trouble.

4. I also went to public and private school ;).

5. I hate most text books and tests.

6. I would miss so much of their lives. I love being with my children!

7. I want to be the main influence in their live, not their peers.

8. I want them to love learning.

9. Dh wants me to.

10. I'm not a morning person, neither are my children.

11. My dh works at home and we have an RV, so the flexibility of hsing works best for us.

 

These are just a few of my reasons :).

[AnitaMcC]

Ah, isn't this a classic question?!

 

For those of you who homeschool, did you decide to do so because your child is advanced? Or would you have homeschooled regardless of your child's abilities? Did you perceive - or experience - that you gifted child would not receive the attention/stimulation/opportunities in public or private school that they would at home?

 

I'm just an "on-the-fence" possible homeschool mommy of a bright preschooler trying to figure out our path! Just curious about the experiences of others!

 

Marie

3yo ds

10mo ds

 

 

Yes and no that we homeschool because our kids are gifted/talented.

 

We have four school age kids: son going into 3rd grade, son going into 5th grade, son and daughter going into 9th grade. I have always wanted to homeschool since twins were little. Dh was not so willing. There were times that school was going very difficult for Ds#1 and I was very close to pulling twins out of school against Dh's wishes. But things did get better once he got his dx's of Asperger Syndrome, Sensory Integration Disorder, and ADD summer before his 4th grade. The school finally gave him a IEP and finally got a little "ah ha moment" about Ds.

 

We have decided to homeschool our going into 9th grade twins for many reasons.

 

First the school system we are in went from one of the top academic schools in the state to one of the worst academic schools in the county and surrounding counties. Went from a school district size of 1 high school, two middle schools, 6 elementary school... to 4 high schools, 7 middle schools, 17 elementary schools in under 10 years. We also have a middle/high school academy for troubled students and a preschool. Our school district used to be a rural district and now it has around 30,000 students.

 

The high school we are zoned for is the worst in our district. Worst academics, worst in discipline, worst in safety (a lot of gang issues stemming from a near by city where students are bussed in). Such a horrible environment and not conducive to the education that our kids want and for what Dh and I want our kids to have available to them.

 

The high school isn't willing (per district rules I guess) to accommodate Ds#1's need to be challenged in academics as well as meet his special needs. Ds wants to go a faster pace and the district won't let him take some virtual courses through the Illinois Virtual High School program (run by Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy) except for two credits for whole high school career and only courses that are not offered at the high school.

 

The high school isn't willing to accommodate (willingly) Ds#1 IEP. Found this out at last IEP meeting a few weeks ago. Surprisingly it is the special ed dept at the high school causing the problem ... they just don't understand gifted autistic kids. One comment from the special ed person was "Ds#1 will have to take social work sessions to get over his attitude of noncompliance". Because Ds just won't sit there and do repetitive and redundant homework like a robot. Also she said that the homework and test modified assignments won't be allowed in the honors/AP courses. Um, not true according to the science chairperson who was more than willing to make the modifications (not decreasing the work, but challenging Ds with more at his level of academic ability).

 

Then there is the flexiblity. Schools control too much of our lives. I just hate that!!!! That is one of my original reasons I wanted to homeschool the kids from the start. I just want us to be a family who does things that we feel is best. So much time in public schools is wasted every day. We have more and better things to do. Homeschooling will allow the kids to pursue more of their interest areas, to focus more on what they want to accomplish and to reach their goals. Ds wants to be an astrophysics major. He wants to take way more science than the school will allow/offer. He wants to start dual credit courses on a full time basis in two years at the jr college. He is very gifted and often I am told by the schools that they don't know what to do with him... that they really have little to teach him especially in science. That he needs to go much faster pace than the school enviroment can do for him. Dd competes in martial arts and needs to be able to go to tournaments without regard to how many days she will be absent from school... and she has the chance to go to China for a competition next year. Dd also wants to major in music and our school district doesn't have much at all available for her. Dd wants to start her music courses at jr college this year and attend full time in two years. She is very talented in music and our school system will not be encouraging this talent. Dd self taught in guitar, clarinet, drums. And now she is self teaching on the dulcimer, and wanting to start on violin and piano.

 

Then there are the health issues. All our kids have asthma (Ds#1 severe/chronic). Too often they miss a 3-5 days of school at a time when they get a virus, etc. and then get stressed and frustrated in trying to catch up while trying to learn/do the current work because the teachers just keep piling on the work. I rather homeschool them so that they don't get behind in academics. This way... if the kids get too sick to do much school work.. no problem. They take the time off they need to get better and then they can just pick up where they were. No big deal and plenty of time for them to get it done since we are doing year round schooling.

 

I also like that with homeschooling... the kids go their pace. So if they breeze through some areas and/or need to slow down in others... no problem. They go the pace they need. They don't go to the next lesson until they are done with current lesson. Ds#1 tends to get several assignments behind in each class. Then at end of each quarter he was overwhelmed in trying to catch up... and often do a crappy job on the work. And if they wan't to accomplish their goals they need to get the work done in a reasonable time. Also to do their extra curricular activities... they have to keep up with their academics. And there is the "threat" of being put back in public school... they do NOT want that.

 

The younger two boys are doing well for most part in elementary school. Ds#2 is dx with ADHD. Ds#2 is very very social and hasn't asked or even shown interest in homeschooling... yet. Ds#3 is dx autism spectrum and ADHD. I plan to start them homeschooling at 6th grade (although dh is saying not until high school). We will see... Youngest I definitely need to wait a few years before homeschooling him... he is extremely stubborn but also gifted in math. He struggles a bit with writing and reading comprehension. He does great with factual information so no problem learning things. But difficult for him to show his learning. Ds#2 is very bright. He is going into the accelerated math program for 5th grade. Our schools are slow at offering gifted programs. Had none available until high school for many years (and then it was very limited in offerings). Finally when twins hit 7th grade the accelerated language arts and math were available.... now the school district is offering the accelerated math in 5th grade starting this year.

[nova147]

I had no intention of homeschooling until this spring. He spent two years in preschool at our parish school and I always intended for him to go there forever! But DS surprised me by learning to read, write, and do arithmetic by age 4. We had put him into preschool early (he has an October birthday and started preschool the fall he turned 3) because I felt like he needed some time with other kids. But as he learned more and more, we started talking about early kindergarten enrollement and the princpal eventually decided she wouldn't allow it (I actually think she decided that right away, but just kept telling us maybe). The public school did IQ testing with him, but the superintdent decided they were not allowing any children to enter kindergarten early. So for this fall, our only options were 1)do nothing 2)drive an hour to and from school every day (gifted school) or 3)homeschool. With a 1 year old and a baby on the way, I know driving every day would be ridiculous (plus the tuition is more than twice our Catholic school's cost). So we're homeschooling. And I think I'm likely to continue doing so.

 

Having been forced into not sending him to school this fall, I've been able to step back and realize how difficult it would be for a "normal" school to accomodate my son's rapid learning style. He might be ok for a year or two, but it wouldn't be long before he was bored and irritated with the slow pace and constant repition of material he had mastered years earlier. Unforunatly, our school systems are not equiped to handle the brightest children in our communities. Teachers are taught about gifted learners; administrators often created gifted programs to appease parents, but those programs are frequently little more than extra practice on the same topics. There are some wonderful exceptions to these generalizations, but they are not frequent enough to make much difference for most kids. Will I sent him to a school someday? Maybe. I'm keeping my options open. But I will never blindly trust that the school knows how to educate my son. He just doesn't fit into their box.

[HeatherInWI]

I decided that I wanted to homeschool back when I was an extremely bored gifted child in elementary school back in the 1970s. I begged my parents to homeschool me, even sent off for Calvert information, because that's what there was back then, but my dual career parents wouldn't even consider it.

 

By high school, in the early 1980s, I was reading everything I could find about homeschooling (still wasn't much out there) and decided to get my degree in education partially because in some states, being a licensed teacher was the only way to legally homeschool. It was a good career decision, and I really enjoyed my pre-children years as a public school teacher.

 

Teaching in ps made me even more sure that hsing was the best thing for exceptional students, either gifted or "slow", who had competent and loving parents. My husband wasn't sure about the idea, but he respected my opinion and experience as a teacher, and so agreed that, if we had children, we would homeschool. Now, after ten years of homeschooling, and having seen what our children have been able to achieve at young ages, and comparing that to his own achievement while attending top quality schools, plus seeing the closeness and contentedness homeschooling has given our family he's become a huge fan of homeschooling and encourages others to try it.

 

So our main reason for choosing homeschooling was for academics, so that our children would be encouraged to learn rather than bored and marginalized, but we've reaped great family and spiritual blessings as well.

Edited June 3, 2009 by HeatherInWI

[dee67p]

We moved away from a brilliant classical private school curriculum because of my husband's new job. I wasn't in favor of h-s. I just wasn't satisfied with what was provided by the school we moved our kids into; it just didn't meet my expectations. I'm a graduate of teacher's college and certified in several different states to teach and I would rather not teach full time. I like flexibility. I love to travel. I want my kids to develop a world view while experiencing the world. AND we fly stand by on United to various destinations in the US as well as abroad in the past 3 years.

 

No intentions to change the program unless my husband switches away from the airline job. I'm still pretty fried on this last day of school, but very satisfied that my kids are growing toward the goal my husband and I want for our family.

[Colleen in SEVA]

I never thought we would homeschool. :) I was actually researching homeschool so I could prove to a friend how BAD it was and how she was going to screw up her kids. I read WTM... realized homeschooling wasn't AT ALL what I thought it was... and here I am 6+ years later.

 

For our family, my kids' level of advancement does play into our decion to homeschool them long term. When Blue was the age to start K I had a momentary freak out because I was pregnant, had 2 toddlers, and was doubtful that I could do it well. I met with the principal of the school, was given the tour, and it just felt so institutional! He was telling me how great the school was because most K-ers could read c-v-c words by the end of K. I told him that wouldn't be a problem because my son was already reading at at least a 2nd grade reading level, and he looked me in the eye and said "That would be pretty incredible if THAT were true" (I informed the man that he was currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins).

 

So I asked him what the instructional plan was for kids who enter K already reading, and he informed me that ALL K-ers spent the first 9 weeks learning the letter names and phonemes, then at the end of October they were given a phonemic awareness test and those who scored high enough would be put into one group to begin learning to read. So -- I asked again what their plan was for kids who could already read before K, and he said (actual quote) "if we allowed kids to read at the beginning of kindergarten, it wouldn't be fair to the kids who are ready to begin learning to read in November."

:001_huh:

 

In our discussion about math -- when he told me they spend a lot of time on basics (ie colors and matching) for the first half of the year to be sure nobody gets left behind, I asked what the kids do who are ready to learn more advanced math and he said (yes, he actually said this out loud) "At this school, we don't believe in acceleration of ANY kind."

 

So... ummm... no, I don't plan to put my kids in this school system. At any time. For any reason. No matter what. (Not just for academic reasons.)

 

HOWEVER -- I do know that I will have to put some of the kids in some kind of school situation at some point. We will cross that bridge when the need arises -- we are considering online classes for high school, or some sort of alternative-type school for my "different learners", or maybe we will win the lottery and I can send them all to a fantabulous private school (although I'm not sure one exists that would meet my mile-high expectations :tongue_smilie:).

 

For now, we are just enjoying the ride. :grouphug:

Edited June 3, 2009 by Colleen in SEVA

[LisaDSB]

I had never considered homeschooling until last year, when I pulled my sons (now ages 7 & 9) out of Montessori school to bring them home. They are both level 4 gifted and I was worried about their diminishing love of learning, even at a good school like Montessori.

 

I won't say it's entirely a bed of roses to homeschool, but I do think that they are thriving and are learning lots and keeping their passions alive.

[Spetzi]

I did pull ds out because he is advanced. The rewards have been so much richer than simply having him challenged, happy and accomplished.

 

I made a list of pros and cons to public school, private school and homeschool. I suggest anyone who is considering homeschooling also make lists. I found it very helpful. You can actually address your concerns about every situation and you can also see the benefits of one over another.

 

Best of luck,

[Mommy22alyns]

I never thought I'd end up homeschooling either. :) We got closer to Becca's kindergarten registration and I just kept getting cold sweats. She'd been in a MDO preschool for 2 years, but it was mainly just for play and fun. The idea of putting her on a bus and sending her out to a school just... didn't sit well with me. Every decision I'd made for her up until then, I felt 100% sure that that was the best thing for her, but I didn't feel that way about sending her to K. And then we started to realize that she was pretty advanced - she's our firstborn, so we just figured most 4 year olds were doing the things she was doing until we started to hear from her preschool teachers how surprised they were that she read the directions on the worksheets. :confused: We were nonplussed - oh that? She's been doing that (and then some) for a while! I talked to her teacher, who actually said that Becca seemed a bit bored in class. So we put everything together and chose homeschooling. It was a decision we made for a lot of reasons, but her acceleration played a big part.

 

Sylvia's personality is different, but to us it makes the case even more strongly that we will homeschool her too. She had her fill of preschool after about 4 months and declined to go back. :001_huh:

[KAR120C]

We decided to homeschool when DS was a toddler... We had a nice private school in mind, but really what we liked about it was its "homey" feel... which of course we could do ourselves... LOL! But mainly I was not looking forward to the juggling of career and parenting, and daycare, and public school schedules. Also, we had always taken our vacations in the autumn when the prices went down and there wasn't as much demand for time off from work... and it's really nice to still have that flexibility.

 

Once we had started homeschooling and were really enjoying ourselves, I couldn't imagine giving it up for any of the alternatives we have available here. So at this point I know he wouldn't get the same opportunities in PS... but it's only partly related to the age-grade mismatch.

[chai]

I thought homeschooling was wierd. I had every intention of continuing my career once dd was in K. When she was about 3 (and reading), the leader of the tot program we were doing told us that the purpose of kindergarten was to level the kids out before they got to 1st grade. :glare: I didn't really want my dd to be the one leveled down, so I started looking into other options. I did a lot of research, found the WTM and decided homeschooling was my best option. I did start homeschooling when she was 4 and in preschool, so that I could try it out without a major commitment. We both loved it and I intend to keep going through high school.

[AnneC]

DH and I agreed that we would homeschool because of bad school experiences. DH was bored at school, I was bullied and bored. We didn't want that for our kids.

 

I didn't realise that our kids were gifted until the oldest was 4.5. Then I had a look at what she was doing (reading on a grade 4/5 level and grade 2 math). When I looked objectively I realised that she was unusual. The realisation that the kids are gifted has not made any difference to the way we homeschool but it has made me even more reluctant to ever send them to school. The schools here would never make the accomodations that my kids would need to be stimulated at school and at least one of my boys would end up in big trouble when he got bored.

 

I never learned to learn at school. I was always at the top of the class without ever needing to study. When I got to University I managed to get through without studying. I don't want that for my kids. I want them to be challenged and know how to learn and love learning. I want them to know how to study and excel, if that is what they want to do. My education experience was very disappointing to me and I want something better for my kids.

[Willow]

My (now adult) twice exceptional dd went to HS and got put in a remedial class. She did not fit in, and the other kids set against her. The school tested her (gifted, but dyslexic, could have told them that and saved them the money) but they said although she should be in 'extension classes' she would have to stay where she was for the rest of the year as extension was full! :confused:

 

The bullying got worse. One day she said she was not going back. No shouting, no rudeness, just a simple statement. "I am never going back to that place." I made an appointment to see the school, she got agitated. The day we should have gone she blew an almighty asthma attack, we ended up in the major hospital (transfer by ambulance from the small one), on the Children's Acute ward. As, sadly, some of you will know, this is a boring place, particularly if you set out to the local dr to use the nebulaizer (sp?) and have nothing at all with you.:tongue_smilie:

 

So we talked. She laid out plans for homeschooling. She had it all worked out. So after a long talk with dh etc, I gave up my job and we began as homeschoolers.

 

Almost a year later we bumped into another kid who had gone to dd's school and had been in her class. This kid had not been involved in the bullying but had known about it. She asked how dd was getting on. We said fine. She then said "Was it the burning incident that made her leave?"

 

Burning incident? As in fire? Excuse me?

 

Turns out she had been set upon by some others who had frightened her and singed her leg using an aerosol can as a flame thrower........she never told us. We asked her and she said "that wasn't the worst!" It wasn't!!!???

 

I asked her to tell us what had happened and she said she would rather not say, too upsetting to her to re-live it, too upsetting to us to hear. asked her again recently, now she is adult, and she reassured me it was not s**u*l in nature, but other than that she wasn't saying.

 

Thank goodness we listened to her and took her out. Her siblings followed and I now have only one left at homeschooling, others grown and flown.

[Willow]

I never thought we would homeschool. :) I was actually researching homeschool so I could prove to a friend how BAD it was and how she was going to screw up her kids. I read WTM... realized homeschooling wasn't AT ALL what I thought it was... and here I am 6+ years later.

 

 

 

 

:lol::lol::lol: Serves you right. I hope you ate humble pie! :tongue_smilie:

[skaterbabs]

We homeschool each of our children for a reason unique to that child. DS #1 had discipline issues at school. DS #2 is still in school (for two more weeks), but will come out at the end of this year when he finishes elementary school. Our local middle school is known for being less than stellar. :glare:

 

Until a few months ago, we had every intention of sending DD to school too, at the same elementary school the boys attended. Then we discovered that our four year old was reading on a first grade level and doing kindy-level math with NO instruction whatsoever. Six months after that, we applied to a very well-respected, but $$$$$, private school. She wasn't accepted; we suspect they took one look at the amount of financial aid that it would have taken for her to attend and just couldn't do it. Homeschooling her was our fall-back position.

 

She has a late birthday, so if she were to attend public school in '09/'10, it would be as a kindergartener. This is a child who is easily reading on a 3rd/4th grade level, and doing mid-first grade math. We just started formally doing school with her about 6-8 weeks ago. Um, no. The school claims to seperate kids by reading level, but I know that what they have available for her won't be enough. (We're on lesson 117 -ish of OPG, and just started it three weeks ago.) Academically, she would need to be enrolled as a first-grade student, not a kindergartener. Even if that weren't more of a fight than I really want, she's still going to be as much as a year younger than all the other kids. That's probably not much of a problem in first or second grade, but later on it is. I'd rather give her the 1st/2nd grade academics at home and call her "kindergarten" with the state.

[rowan25]

Homeschooling was something we had toyed with for a while. Then when she turned 3, I started looking at schools and discovered that the private schools in our area were out of our price range. Public school was never an option. Then she hit 4 and asked to do school. This year she is 5 and we will do our first "official" year beginning the fall. I have realized I couldn't possibly send this child to school. What would a kindergarten teacher do with a child who reads on a 3rd level, skip counts by 2's, 5's and 10's, counts by 1's to 100+, and does some simple addition?? I figure I'm doing the school system a service by keeping her at home! :tongue_smilie:

[VanessaS]

Wow. The aerosol story freaked me out. Nothing that dramatic with me. I just happened to read an interesting article on homeschooling in The Economist and did some research and decided I wanted to homeschool my kids. I wasn't even married yet. :) It took me years to convince my DH so I'm glad I started so early. Now, we've compromised. We're joining a part-time Christian school. Languages and maths are at home.

[rowan25]

 

Sylvia's personality is different, but to us it makes the case even more strongly that we will homeschool her too. She had her fill of preschool after about 4 months and declined to go back. :001_huh:

:lol::lol: Gotta love it!!!

[rowan25]

 

She has a late birthday, so if she were to attend public school in '09/'10, it would be as a kindergartener. This is a child who is easily reading on a 3rd/4th grade level, and doing mid-first grade math.

I'd rather give her the 1st/2nd grade academics at home and call her "kindergarten" with the state.

This is SO our situation! And exactly what we are doing about it.

[MariaT]

We started because we read the WTM and other hs books and really wanted a strong science and history curriculum. Our small, private school was not really interested in that. Then my oldest son's first grade teacher told us he was reading at the 8th grade level. My second son was coasting through kindergarten without any challenges. And we really, really were tired of spending the few hours every day we had with our children trying to un-do the negative socialization problems they brought home with them. By 2nd grade my oldest was already paying more attention to his peers than to us, and he refused to play with his brother, who adored him. On weekends he would mope and say he wanted to be with his friends. At school he got into trouble when he retaliated against kids who bullied him, or when he picked on some other kid.

 

We were deeply unhappy.

 

Four years later, it feels like a golden age. My kids are each other's best friends. They are extremely close-knit, caring and sensitive to each other. They make extravagant plans for amazing projects together. Academically they can go at their own speed. They are making wonderful achievements. And we are very, very happy.

 

Maria

[Kissy]

My son went to school. He was so smart when he went he was top of his class..then he began to be held down..I actually had a teacher tell me in 1st grade my son could not be bored and know what they were learning in class about animals, but he did know it..my boyfriend had been reading him a college biology book and he was reading everything he could get his hands on. We moved out of state and I kept him public school and once more he was having those problems again. Then because he could not memorize his multiplication tables with rote memorization (which wasn't being practiced either) his teacher publically humiliated my son. She kind of made fun of him and then the kids did too. He asked me to homeschool him. We struggled through 3rd grade and then decided to try homeschool. I was able to get him to memorize his multiplication tables within a month and when he took his tests he scored so high on reading that I knew I made the right choice. His grades have improved since giving him harder material..it is crazy. The easier his classes are the worse his grades get.

[joannqn]

Homeschooling seemed like an extension of our parenting up to that point; however, my daughter was extremely social and wanted to go to school with her older friend. Then she asked me to teach her to read, so I did. I added some math in there as well. When it was time to register for kindergarten, I realized that she was pretty far ahead and would be bored in school. No one at the school or district would talk to me about accelerating her straight to first grade (she would have been fine in 2nd), so I just kept her home.

 

My son began homeschooling for a different reason. He was diagnosed as severely delayed and went to special ed preschool at a local elementary. By the time he was done with preschool, the teachers evaluated him as being ahead (about half way through kindergarten level). However, I saw other issues that I felt would cause him to have trouble in a regular class and left behind. Namely, he was totally lost anytime he was part of a group. He just didn't seem capable of hearing an adult in front of a group. So, I kept him home too.

 

We homeschool for other reasons but these were the original things that pushed us over the edge into homeschooling. I see academics as being the primary, especially now that my kids are so far ahead in their best areas.

[ElizabethB]

I used to think homeschoolers were crazy!

 

Then, I started tutoring with phonics.

 

By my 3rd student, I knew I would homeschool any future children I might have at least until they were reading well. My 3rd student was going into the 6th grade and reading at a 3rd grade level. I worked with him for 6 hours over the summer and got him reading at a 6th grade level--both grade level tests were done by the school. After talking to his Dad, the school still refused to consider phonics for any of their students, remedial or otherwise, even after seeing his progress. His dad moved to a small rural school district that listened to parents, adding 30 minutes to his drive.

 

My future students and their parents' lack of success with changing curriculum at their schools convinced me even more.

 

Then, I accepted Jesus Christ and had a spiritual reason to homeschool as well.

 

My husband's hours and our frequent moves are another reason that makes homeschooling a good choice for us.

 

I also love how well my children are learning to get along with each other. (It helps that my oldest is a generally compliant, nurturing girl who is very inventive in making up games that they can both play and enjoy. I've seen my son's dynamics with other boys!) And, I love how it is not quenching my daughter's natural love of learning.

 

I hated history for years because of the way it was taught in school. I was also bored in school, but it worked out fine in elementary school--I was allowed to read when I finished my work, I read at least a book a day at school! (Mostly junk, but some quality literature.) Junior High was another story, it was boring, I wasn't allowed to read in class anymore, and also the kids were mean. High School was better--I got to pick most of my classes and found some nice geek friends and friends in sports. (And a few friends who were goth geeky and sporty!)

[Donna]

I sent my oldest to preschool for 2 years. He was reading at 3yo and during his year as a 4yo was a distraction to the teacher. I told her over and over he could read and was probably bored and though I had picked this expensive, private school because they supposedly "taught each child to their potential." she obviously had a set curriculum and they could only learn a letter a week.

 

Ds's birthday was after the public school K cut-off so my choices were either another year of preschool or send him to the expensive ($10,000/yr.) private school where he had been going for K because they said they would take him early or homeschool. It was a heart-wrenching decision for me because I was not a "go against the grain" kinda girl but it seemed like the only logical choice and I decided to try it for that first year which would have been a waste anyway.

 

After my decision, I received ds's final report card from preschool and the comments were "___ knows his letters well. He should pick up reading easily." Ds was reading Harry Potter to me every night...I knew I had made the right decision and we have never looked back.

 

Ny oldest will go to public school next year for sports reasons. My middle son will probably end up in public school eventually. My littlest one, with her music schedule (lessons and practice), will most likely not go to school until college.

[Melinda]

Homeschooling was something we had toyed with for a while. Then when she turned 3, I started looking at schools and discovered that the private schools in our area were out of our price range. Public school was never an option. Then she hit 4 and asked to do school. This year she is 5 and we will do our first "official" year beginning the fall. I have realized I couldn't possibly send this child to school. What would a kindergarten teacher do with a child who reads on a 3rd level, skip counts by 2's, 5's and 10's, counts by 1's to 100+, and does some simple addition?? I figure I'm doing the school system a service by keeping her at home! :tongue_smilie:

 

This is pretty much the same way we are, except that we will are finishing up our first official year in the next couple weeks. There is a school here I would love to send my kids to, but can't afford it for 3 of them simultaneously so I homeschool and my kids are thriving because of it.

[Mrs.MacGyver]

# 1 reason: DH was one of those extremely gifted children that simply fell through the cracks at PS.

#2 : DD was 2 and she was crying because she didn't know what the words in her books said...and then by three was reading rather fluently... Before K registration, we took her in and explained that she was ready for 1st grade both academically, mentally, and emotionally...they basically laughed us off. They tested her for 3 hours straight at 4.5 years old, and she patiently sat through it while scoring very high, and then they told us that they don't let children skip grades.:confused:

#3: We put her in Kindergarten...they sat her off to the side to read by herself. She came home crying every day saying "they made me read "baby" books", "Can you believe that all we did today was learn the letter D?", " I hate school!" - We yanked her out that very day...

#4: Flexibility - DH is in the Army, and he works all kinds of crazy hours. HSing gave him a chance to see his kids, and when he is off - so are we.

 

I am so glad we did it. It is a challenge for our family, but it has been so worth it. Good luck with your decisions!:grouphug:

[Desert Rat]

I was dragged kicking and screaming into homeschooling. I had Huck tested at 5 with the intent and purpose of finding out what school to put him in. LOL The tester looked at me and asked me what I was doing now and I replied well preschool and afterschooling. He said, "I recommend you homeschool." Yicks!

So here we are 4 years later. It was a great decision for us. I kept my 6yo home because it's easier and he wanted to be taught at home.

Our decision was swayed by the fact that Nevada ranks 49 out of 50 for public education and I think that is being kind. Bright kids are completely overlooked in PS here and the private schools are outrageously priced-over $15,000 a year. I thought at the time that I could do better. Some days I still think I can! :)

[JenneinCA]

We started homeschooling because my daughter's birthday is in October and the school district deadline was in August. They were dealing with massive growth and were not interested in letting her start school even a few weeks after the deadline. So we homeschooled Kindergarten and it was impossible to go back.

 

We tested shortly after she turned six, she would have been in Kindergarten. And the tester said that homeschooling was far better for her than public school kindergarten.

 

Once we had committed to homeschooling one child it made sense to homeschool the second one. So we did. And we will homeschool my little guy too.

 

We have since moved from Arizona to California and I would love to look into the private schools here. But the expense is huge. One that looked like it would might meet my daughter's needs was $12,000 a year. We simply do not have that kind of money, especially not three times that amount to put all of them in that kind of school. California's public schools are not terribly awful, but the school budgets are being slashed as I write to deal with a huge budget shortfall. I can't chance my kid's education to the politics of Sacremento.

 

And so we continue homeschooling.

[Aurelia]

For those of you who homeschool, did you decide to do so because your child is advanced? Or would you have homeschooled regardless of your child's abilities? Did you perceive - or experience - that you gifted child would not receive the attention/stimulation/opportunities in public or private school that they would at home?

 

 

 

 

 

I homeschool in part (probably a large part) because Ariel is advanced (she's never been tested, so I have no idea how "gifted" she actually is) and I know she would be bored out of her mind in public school, especially since she is "young" for her age-grade (April birthday, so she would be starting K in the Fall), but she has already gotten through all of the K level work and quite a bit of 1st grade work.

 

I was labeled gifted in school and for all the classes that weren't "gifted," I was terribly bored, and never learned how to study because I did all my homework while the teacher was teaching the concept to the rest of the class. This made studying and getting good grades much more difficult when I started taking AP classes in high school and classes in college. I don't want Ariel to have to deal with that. I want her to be challenged and enjoy learning, not just look on school as an exercise in busywork.

[~FireFly~]

I was working as a preschool director, went to my yearly check up, was told the job was going to kill me (lots of stress), and that if I wanted to have a healthy family again and be healthy myself I needed to hand in my bookkeeping ledger and checkbook, the apron I wore when I cooked all the meals, the director's "hat", and stop altogether. So, I left the job that I so loved but was truly killing me and took a year to get my head together.

 

At the time B was in 2nd grade and S was in K. I had plenty of time to help in their classrooms - what an eye opener. I saw for the first time in 2 years how jacked up the system was, how my DSs and the other children were left behind or pushed into direction they had no idea of where they were going. Frustration everyewhere. The quick kids were held back the slower kids were ignored. The only ones benefitting were the ones in the middle lane.

 

There were times that if I hadn't gone in to volunteer there would be no one in the class room b/c the teacher would be in the hall or worse yet down the hall in the principal's office with a misbehaving disruptive student. Sometimes she was taking up money, talking to parents, all kinds of things that teachers shouldn't have to do during class time. Great teachers - both of them. We just saw flaws that we didn't want our DSs to be a part of.

 

I had enough, my dh was tired of hearing about it; so, one day he brought home the laws of homeschooling and we decided this can be done. They were homeschooled ever since.

 

Now, ds18 is in colllege, ds16 is coming home again after a year of public school and ds10 continues to homeschool happily.

 

The end. :O)

Edited June 5, 2009 by ~FireFly~
extra wording

[SunshineMom]

My next door neighbor told me I would be a great homeschool teacher when my children were infants. I thought she was nuts. I did not know anything about homeschooling however she had homeschooled both her children from 1st-12th grade. My 7yrdd was born premature with speech delays/learning disabilities and so in working with the specialists we enrolled her in special ed preschool. It became apparent that their expectations of her were way too low. I began to notice that shortly after sharing "what we were doing at home school stuff" the teacher promptly began copying my projects with her class. I pretty much decided that if she was copying my teaching, then why would I need my daughter away from me with those that thought she could do less? So we opted out of special ed kindergarten. Not only am I reclaiming an education on her behalf, I am also saving her from experiencing crushing peer abuse. She can remain to be the happy, confident learner safe at home. I never considered sending my other daughter (just turned 6yrdd) to public school. She would be bored out of her mind and frustrated as well. She would probably shrink to fit in or become a trouble maker or both. I don't think my oldest will ever want to go to ps but I worry sometimes that my youngest may in the future. I hope to homeschool them thru 12th, just like my neighbor. Her and I still talk about how silly I reacted to her encouraging me to homeschool. People often come into our lives to lend a hand when we don't even know we need one.

Edited June 6, 2009 by Jewel

[MamaT]

The reason we initially began homeschooling was because ds #2 was advanced. His brother is also very bright and was tested for the gifted program after 2nd grade. He was in the gifted program in 3rd grade and we hated it. They totally isolated these kids from the rest of their schoolmates - different building, isolated lunchtimes, etc. They really were brainwashing these kids into somehow thinking they were better than everyone else.

 

At the same time ds #1 was experiencing this gifted program in 3rd grade, the school decided to move ds #2 to 2nd grade. He was reading on a 4th grade level and multiplying in his head when he entered kindergarten. He spent the first half of the year in K and the 2nd half of the year in 1st. So, he ended up in 2nd grade with a teacher who resented the fact that he was advanced. He was still bored.

 

When ds #2 was tested for the gifted program after 2nd grade, the tester at the county office told us that their school system had nothing to offer our son and we should bring him home. So we brought them both home.

 

We found we loved homeschooling. It became more than an education for my kids; it was a wonderful way of life. We have graduated the two oldest and are homeschooling the younger four.

 

It's hard to say if we would have homeschooled if our oldest two had not been advanced, but I am very glad that we did.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I was interested in homeschooling even before I had children, probably mostly because of my own giftedness and experiences. And I think I might have been swayed that direction by a neighbor/congregation member even if things were different.

 

But what got me jumping into researching was my daughter's abilities. At 3, she was about a 4th grade level. I was tutoring an 8th grader who was on a 4th grade level and Kimber was keeping up well :) School wasn't an option. We were living in Texas and they wouldn't even consider taking her for years yet because of her age/birthday. We moved to Louisiana about that time and the situation was better there (the bday thing was moved back; they tested into preK, Kindy and 1st; they were open to skipping grades). But it just didn't seem ENOUGH academically. Also, I wasn't keen on all day schooling for young children.

 

So the more I researched the more sure I was about not sending her to school. She's been home all but 8 weeks (2001) and graduates next weekend (though she's been in college this past year).

 

Would I have homeschooled had she been more average or delayed? Again, I kinda think that maybe it would have worked out anyway. My interest and knowing homeschoolers probably would have helped.

 

I did decide to homeschool my son who did have some significant delays and "diffabilities." But of course, that is different as I had already done a ton of research and such, had homeschooled my daughter awhile by then, etc.

 

Anyway, homeschooling is AWESOME and I'm so glad I made this journey with my kids. It is GREAT to graduate your own kiddo. Even if we hadn't gone that far though, I was so fortunate to get to spend so much time with them when they were little. I am glad we had so much freedom. I'm glad they got more time to "just be kids" than school kids get. I love how they got to follow interests and have the time to learn naturally.

 

I'm definitely biased. I say keep them home. If you will be a conscientious homeschooler, your kid will be better served in all areas (socially, spiritually, academically, mentally, emotionally, physically and family wise) from home.

[Impish]

Well...

I started researching homeschooling because of the Littles. They've both given me plenty of warning signs that there's no way they'd be manageable in a ps setting. Way too bright, and Tazzie especially doesn't do well with the whole, 'sit down and repeat this over and over again til we tell you its time to move' thing. He does something once, gets it, announces he's done, and moves on. I'd be getting calls from the school telling me he's ADD/ADHD and demanding I medicate him. I considered Diva, but she was already in school, in grade three...I couldn't pull her, could I? I mean...she was already used to school! How could I get her to switch to homeschooling when she was already used to the public school setting? That was my thinking at the time. Then the bullying set in, and steadily worsened. I went from thinking I couldn't pull her to my dh and I agreeing we would let her finish the year and homeschool her the next year. Then dh and Diva went to the Parent/Student/Teacher night, where the teacher told them both that Diva had no reading comprehension at all, didn't think rules applied to her, and she had a niece who was the same way about rules at Diva's age, and the niece was now a 16 yo highschool drop out meth head, and Diva would end up the same way if she didn't start obeying the rules.

 

Well! That was about it for me. We pulled Diva Valentine's Day, and haven't looked back. Its only been through homeschooling that we've realized that Diva IS advanced. At ps, she was a C student. Now at home, she's blowing the doors off, and its amazing. She's going into gr 6 this fall, and will be doing gr 9 credit work!

[mktkcb]

Well, I hsed my first dd because she was one of *those* kids (see the gen board). Quirky, & hyper. As it turns out, very smart as well, but I wasn't thinking that when we started, and she wasn't especially asynchronous or anything. Passing on religious values was important as well. Turns out hsing is a good fit for my kids, so we continue. DS is DEFINITELY one of *those* kids, maybe a little more than his oldest sister LOL! Gifted, quirky, hyper, probably mildly spd. I'm glad we hs. Oldest dd graduates next Fri., and she has turned out to be lovely, and gracious. No regrets.

Kayleen

[Donna]

And the tester said that homeschooling was far better for her than public school kindergarten.

 

The tester who evaluated my dd at 5.5yo also said that homeschooling was the only option that made sense for her. We had been homeschooling since my oldest was K age (7+ years) so it wasn't a big shock.

 

This is how it was explained to me... a kid like dd learns at a rate 1.5+ times what the average child learns per year. Even doing a grade skip in school would only give her a year's worth of material for that year. Also, dd is a very "outside the box" thinker and nonsequential learner so her needs would not be easily met in a school setting. Plus she was already thriving at home so why change what's working.

[lionfamily1999]

A problem teach, an advance son, and a refusal to let it have a negative impact on his future.

[Mommy22alyns]

 

Sylvia's personality is different, but to us it makes the case even more strongly that we will homeschool her too. She had her fill of preschool after about 4 months and declined to go back. :001_huh:

 

:lol::lol: Gotta love it!!!

 

 

And that's exactly how it was too. So matter-of-fact, no histrionics. Christmas break ended and she just said, "I don't want to go back to preschool." We kept her out the first day, but she didn't want to go back the second day either. So we just kept her home.

 

The weird thing is, she occasionally toys with saying she wouldn't mind going back. I tried to explain that the other 4 year olds don't read and do K work, but she's convinced she could teach them. Um, they love us there, but I still don't think that would go over too well. :001_huh:

[EKS]

I homeschool for two main reasons: one kid is 2E and the other is just E.

 

I started homeschooling because my older son was failing first grade. Fast forward to today, he has been diagnosed as gifted with dyslexia and at almost 13 is going to be starting high school in the fall. I don't think if we had left him in school that this would have been the outcome.

 

My younger son is gifted without the LDs. He would probably do "just fine" in school. But I think a major problem for gifted kids is that in school they learn that they don't have to work to achieve greatness. So I'm trying to keep him challenged, though it's not easy! But I'm certain that he is more challenged here than he is in school.

 

The third reason I homeschool is that, even though we live in a district that is ranked 1st in the state, I'm not all that impressed with their curriculum, and I"m downright horrified by their math curriculum.

 

So there you go.

[Valerie in Chicago]

After 17 years in the Chicago system, DH was thrilled when I floated the idea and was immediately behind it for reasons related to both academics and values.

 

Because especially in the computer age, we don't really need a brick and mortar school anymore.

 

Because I took 5.5yo DD1 to be tested for Chicago's gifted schools just for grins and because it was a free test. She scored in the 99.7 %-ile. She's obviously doing just fine under my tutelage. And she didn't get into either school that I listed on the form anyway.

 

Because she could start Kindergarten in September, but has been doing at least 1st grade work for about six months.

 

In other words, we neither want nor need the schools here.;)

Edited June 7, 2009 by Valerie in Chicago
typo

[WiseOwlKnits]

I was a public school teacher before DD was born. She was advanced and I knew the sort of treatment she'd receive in public school so that was the spark to homeschool for us. I couldn't imagine putting her in that sort of situation and doing such a disservice to her. And at this point she's so far ahead of the game that she would be absolutely miserable.

 

Honestly though, I think my DS needs to be hs'ed more than my DD. After seeing how many boys are put on meds and end up in trouble because they can't sit still at such a young age, I am so very thankful that we're already on the path to homeschool. My DS, while very bright, is very active and absolutely loves to make people laugh. Put those together and would probably be in the principal's office every time he turned around.

[LisaKinVA]

I always assumed I'd homeschool. However, I am open to placing a child in a school setting if that proves to be best. So far, it is not.

 

It's hard (right now, it's really, really hard), but in my heart I know we are still doing what is best for our children.

[kpupg]

Replying late because we were travelling for a couple of weeks ...

 

did you decide to do so because your child is advanced? \quote]

 

Yes. Here's our experience fwiw --

 

I knew our son would need to be home schooled before he entered school. You probably understand what I mean. But my dh was adamantly opposed to home schooling, so our compromise was a well-respected Catholic school. In the privacy of my mind -- well, not so very private, as dh and I discussed the issue at length -- but I knew there would come a day when ds would hit the wall and the issue would come back at us, but we went with the Catholic school plan at that time.

 

Five years later, ds was a 4th-grader and suffering. He suffered greatly that year. First problem -- bad teacher. Those happen, and if that was the only problem, maybe things would have played out differently. Second problem -- most boys make a big developmental leap at that age, oriented toward physical development, etc. -- many of them become sports fanatics at that point. Ds was totally different -- he's a math genius and couldn't care less about sports -- complete isolation mentally, physically, and emotionally from his age peers. Third problem -- he didn't learn a darn thing that entire school year -- autodidaction on his own time exceeded the school curriculum in every subject area.

 

We tried working with the teacher and administration to get ds some enrichment or whatnot, with no success. At some point during that school year, I learned that that school's principal does not believe in the existence of gifted children. After much discussion and angst, dh relented and agreed to try home schooling for one year, subject to re-evaluation at that time.

 

By Christmas of our first year of home schooling, dh told me that it was the second best idea I had ever had. The best idea was having our children in the first place LOL.

 

So, yeah, it was about academics and giftedness.

 

Now, if you ask me why we continue home schooling, I would have a whole lot more to say about lifestyle, family unity, etc, etc, etc. But I didn't know about those factors when we made the decision based on academics and the needs of a particular gifted child.

 

Coda: Ds taught himself calculus at age 13 -- because he was "just curious" about it, so he's certainly thriving academically. He has never been happier, school-wise, and we plan to continue home schooling through high school, though we also plan to make use of varied resources, such as online coursework, specific courses at the public high school and local college, and whatever else we might find.

 

Hope this helps,

Karen

[zaichiki]

We decided to homeschool in fits and starts. When ds was 3 we didn't send him to preschool (like everyone else in our suburban neighborhood sent their kids) because I was home with newborn dd and hubby didn't think we needed to pay for a glorified daycare. The next year we skipped preK because everything seemed to be going fine: he had neighborhood friends, learned to ride his bike, took YMCA classes... I had never been to PreK, so I figured ds wouldn't be damaged by missing it.

 

His K year was when homeschooling really started, I guess. We had looked into private and public Kindergartens, but ds was already reading chapter books by this time and I quickly found out he wouldn't learn anything new in Kindergarten. A neighbor had a fluently reading dd in K and had shared the disappointing news that her dd had learned nothing that year but how to raise her hand and not talk to her friends in class. So, we homeschooled K.

 

We've been homeschooling ever since, though we do periodically investigate local schools. Actually, we WILL be sending ds to school next year. His younger sister and brother will be staying home, though. At least for now...

 

:)

[Moni]

We just homeschool as a matter of family policy.

Regardless of anything else.

 

It's just how we raise our kids

 

:seeya: