Why do you homeschool?

[VBoulden]

I wrote about this on my blog today.

 

But, I am also a little curious to see, why do you all home school?

[Hedgehogs4]

http://accidentalhomeschooler.blogspot.com/2005/12/on-sheltering-also-known-as.html

 

my reason hasn't changed, along with all the other reasons you stated in your blog.

[Mom in High Heels]

Very well written. We homeschool for lots of reasons. I have always wanted to hs and the year and half Indy was in pre-K and the year of K while I worked nearly killed me. I wanted to be the person he spent his day with. Here are a list of a few of the reasons:

Dh is military and all the moving is difficult for school kids, not to mention different state standards (as a Navy brat I know this first hand).

 

Indy is dyslexic and he gets one on one with me all day, every day.

 

He's a bright kid who was bored to tears in K and would be bored in ps where he would probably be behind (due to the dyslexia) even though he's capable of doing many things at a much higher grade level.

 

We can vacation any time of the year without worrying about catching up or missing too many days of school.

 

We can take a break if we need to.

 

We can sleep in!

 

I am the person who knows more about his educational abilities than anyone else. He is my priority, not standardized test scores or keeping my job.

 

There are a lot of kids I don't want him associating with at ps. This is not to say we're snobs, but it's the truth.

 

No homework!

 

No parent/teacher conferences to schedule.

 

I didn't have him so I could send him away all day.

 

We have fun!

 

If we want to know more about something, we can take our time learning about it and not have to speed through it to meet a schedule.

 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

[tricia]

Very simply. Because I gave birth to them, I love them, and I want to raise them and "homeschooling" is just another aspect of my life as a mother.

[jillian]

For so so many reasons. DD is young but here are some of the following:

1. because I feel like the quality of education in is schools is abysmal, even in so-called GOOD districts the other problems (see below) are rampant

2. I have major concerns about drug and alcohol content and the so-called "norm" that these represent. I abused alcohol (met diagnostic classification) in late high school and early college years, I knew so many people who became major drug addicts after high school

3. The belief that sex is something that should be celebrated and the idea that "sleeping with as many people as possible" is a good thing.

4. The complete lack of morals (especially those that coincide with our beliefs)

5. What John Gatto calls the "hidden agenda" or "real education" that comes from public/private schooling

6. The lack of the right to think independently or have differing beliefs (I know this still happens in college but I want dd to have the true conviction to stand up for what she believes in)

7. The farther my faith goes the more I realize that God calls me to teach and "train" (I believe this in the most gentle way possible) our children to be good Catholic and morally sound individuals

8. To teach my child my religion without paying out our nose for Catholic schools (even which have the above issues)

9. To introduce difficult concepts in the most appropriate fashion

10. To give her a rigorous education.

 

 

These are just of the reasons---I feel a very strong conviction that homeschooling is a calling.

[Dmmetler]

I homeschool because, very simply, there is no school in our geographic area which

 

1) can meet my DD's needs given her asynchronous development.

2) Is affordable

and

3) Fits my religious beliefs and world view.

 

There are a few that manage 2 of the 3, but none that do all 3. And I refuse to take the lesser evil when it comes to her education.

[Catherine]

I homeschool because my kids still want to and it's what's best for them. Also, it's fun!

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Well, I first looked at homeschooling because I despise the public school system and can't afford private school. I looked at it as a stopgap measure until I could get financial aid for a Catholic school (in kindergarten).

 

Then as I began investigating stuff to do with my toddler, I found I really enjoyed teaching her myself. I love the look on her face when she "gets it". Just as I wanted to be there for the first steps and first words, I want to be there for learning to read (because how amazing is that) and learning addition and subtraction.

 

THEN, because I was working with her, and because she LOVES to learn, she started to advance beyond her age level. We will be starting Singapore 1A in the fall, when she SHOULD be starting preschool. I don't think she would be stimulated in a school setting, and GT programs are a joke. (I was in them, so at least the ones I was a part of were).

 

I basically homeschool for ten million different reasons, but it boils down to the fact that I can provide much better academics, and I want religion to be part of her education.

[Alphabetika]

Daniel Webster said it better than I can:

 

If we work upon marble, it will perish; if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, and imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity.

 

:)

[Pretty in Pink]

We started because our oldest missed the cut-off for Kindergarten the year he turned 5 but he was ready for school (he was already reading chapter books at that age). I was kind of intrigued by the practice of HSing so we gave it a trial run that first year.

 

By the end of that year ds was working at a solid 2nd grade level and reading above that. HSing was working remarkably well and we saw no reason to stop.

 

There are many advantages to HSing that I'm sure have already been outlined, but the bottom line is we really, really love it. Our children are making excellent academic progress. It jives with our lifestyle. And so, we go on.

[kalanamak]

Academics, and not at $25,000/year

 

Old-fashioned values, but secular

 

A challenge for me in middle age

 

Independence and enough time for kiddo to be outside 4 or more hours a day

 

Why the heck not? I can, therefore I will.

[hazilsara]

I was fine with my son being in Public School for the most part. Where we lived in Washington for the first several years of his schooling career, the atmosphere was largely positive; he received a good education from caring, personable teachers, and all the kids he associated with were socially acceptable to me (or he himself chose not to play with them.) However, in 2007, when DS was starting 2nd grade, we moved to rural Missouri for financial reasons. We suffered through two years of PS here, with worsening attitudes from ds's teachers and himself! Finally, at the end of 3rd grade his teacher suggested (strongly, I might add) that if DS didn't get all his school work done, that I should disallow him from going to his extra-curriculars, including Basketball, and Cub Scouts. I observed his class and found that he was essentially getting told that he was stupid, and the teacher was using public humilation as an incentive!! And no way in #$*% was I not letting him do anything fun after having to spend 8 hours in the torture chamber of her classroom!

 

Long story short, my son has issues with reading--apparently not dyslexic, but other eye and focus issues. So by homeschooling, I am able to read history, science, literature and all directions to him, and he's surpassing his ps compatriots in all areas except reading!! We're just increasing the reading level at the usual speed, which means he's several grade levels behind--but that does NOT stop him from learning all the other subjects with ease. This would not be possible in a ps classroom, as the teachers here had not the patience, inclination, time, or compassion to work with his special needs like I can at home!

 

I would add, that now that we have started HS-ing, I would never go back, and any future children of mine will HS from the beginning! I so enjoy being able to emphasise our studies in those Learning Moments...being part of his education! It's fun for both of us (sans the arguing over actually doing the work!) Thanks all for sharing, too!

[bluemongoose]

Initially it was because DD asked to start reading at age 2.5 yo. I didn't think of it as homeschooling then, I was just following her lead.

 

Then we moved to our house we built in a not so great school district. It is a country school with little to offer, including advanced classes. Then DD did not make the cut-off. She would be starting Kindy this coming fall if we had not decided to homeschool. She is already in 1st/2nd grade depending on subjects, by fall most of her subjects will be in the 2nd/3rd grade level.

 

Once we really started doing K level work a year and a half ago, we found we really loved it. She likes it too. This DD would never make it in a class with kids her age, she would not have sat quietly while they tried to make her wait for her peers to catch up. It never would have worked.

 

Now:

 

We like that we can work at her pace.

 

We can instill our values and beliefs without having to unteach what they taught at PS.

 

She can stay innocent a little longer.

 

She can do activities during the day.

 

She gets to be with her family!

 

So we started for a purely academic reason, but it turned into a lifestyle that we love! :)

[Debora R]

(Rant deleted)

 

 

Let's just say that as a general rule, I don't feel that the ps system has any respect whatsoever for the health and well-being of the children placed in their care, and even less respect for their families.