Were you homeschooled?

[Mimm]

I'm 29 years old (just to give a time frame of when I was a child) and was homeschooled in Texas. I always assumed I would homeschool my kids, then I had my daughters. My 9 year old has always challenged me. We have very different personalities and she's very active, seems to need to touch everything, very inquisitive and I felt I just didn't have the energy for her. We put her in private school and it's been the best experience for both of my kids. But this year we're homeschooling. (We'll see about future years.)

 

When I was a kid, my mom bought us a stack of books and handed them to us. We did lesson 1 the first day, lesson 2 the second day and so on. She didn't write out lesson plans and she didn't plan extra activities. It was all just worksheets and such. Some of it was good (I thought I would go nuts diagramming sentences but it taught me a lot) but some of it was mind numbingly dull. My mother didn't have an overall "philosophy of education", she just bought what she thought would work. I was the oldest, so I got new books every year, but it also meant that I got "experimented on" (as I liked to complain when I was younger). She would hear about something, try it out on me and when we hated it, my brothers didn't have to do it. At first she tried to recreate school at home. We had a school room with an alphabet around the top of it, and laminated Bible verses on the wall and a complicated reward system in place with stickers we could trade in for tickets and tickets we could trade in for other rewards (we absolutely loved this as kids). But as we got older, she got more burnt out, and of course, she had more babies and couldn't spare the room so we moved school out to the dining room table. Also, we moved to a place with fewer homeschoolers and had less support. My youngest siblings are now in public school and my later years of school were very fractured.

 

My parents always bought lots of books. They would go to a used bookstore and come back with two or three brown paper bags crammed full. We kids would converge on these bags and would fight, argue and barter for who got to read what first. There would be complicated wait lists and under the table deals. And woe to you if you left your book unattended because we were all shameless book thieves (to this day my brothers and I lend books with trepidation and borrow without plans to return). Lunch was always quiet because we all had our noses stuck in some book and to this day it feels weird to eat without reading something (I find myself reading junk mail while eating).

 

There are some things I really loved about how I was homeschooled and some things I actively want to avoid. For instance, I am creating a school area (I don't have a whole room), with desks and shelves and storage. I like having a space for it that we can walk away from at the end of the day. I want to buy lots of books (who doesn't?) I want to keep some of the fun flexibility in homeschooling. When the weather was really bad and cold and rainy, my mom would make chocolate chip cookies and we would feel smug that we didn't have to go stand at the bus stop. But I want to work to make my girls' education more cohesive, more demanding while being more interesting. I want to cater to their individual learning styles and nurture their creativity more. I want to get them more involved in outside of the house activities. And I want to avoid burnout.

 

So... after that looong post, I'm curious. Are there other moms here who were homeschooled as children? What did you like or dislike about it? Are there things your mother did that you want to do differently? Or the same?

[charmama4]

 

My parents always bought lots of books. They would go to a used bookstore and come back with two or three brown paper bags crammed full. We kids would converge on these bags and would fight, argue and barter for who got to read what first. There would be complicated wait lists and under the table deals. And woe to you if you left your book unattended because we were all shameless book thieves (to this day my brothers and I lend books with trepidation and borrow without plans to return). Lunch was always quiet because we all had our noses stuck in some book and to this day it feels weird to eat without reading something (I find myself reading junk mail while eating).

 

 

I wasn't homeschooled as a child. My mom was a single mother working two jobs. She's certainly loves that I'm homeschooling her grandchildren, though :D. But I just wanted to comment on this part of your post. This sounds an awful lot like me kids when it comes to books and it just made me laugh out loud!!!

[Skadi]

My DH was homeschooled. His parents didn't use the term unschooling, but for all practical purposes he was unschooled. Most of his regrets about his education was that his parents didn't push him hard enough. He was the kind of kid who could have started college at fourteen, but instead when he took the SAT at 18 he was completely unprepared because, for example, he had never been taught math higher than the equivalent of Algebra 1. He did get into a mid-level university, where he graduated first in his class in astro-physics (with three minors in chemistry, math and philosophy & religion), and later he went on to earn a master's degree in applied mathematics. His performance on the SAT came back to haunt him when he completed pre-med (GPA of 3.8) but was turned down from the more elite universities because his SAT was only 1380. You'd think that his achievements in university would have trumped the SAT, but the interviewers did not seem to like that he had been homeschooled and then subsequently recieved a non-competitive score on the SAT.

 

He still believes that his homeschooling experience far exceeded what would he would have experienced in a conventional schooling institution. And he sometimes wonders aloud if he still would have had the love of learning that he does today if his parents had been more strict about his education. We both agree that we want to equip our children with a wider range of skills and abilities -- whether they whine about it or not, our kids will learn at least one other language, play at least one other instrument, and know at least three real-world skills that they could put to use in adulthood (e.g. a small side business, such as teaching dance, fencing, martial arts, etc.). And we will not hold our kids back because of what other people might think. If they're ready to take college classes at the age of 12, that's when they'll do it. If they don't want to go to college at all, we'll help them find a way to start a business (or at least learn the business) from as early an age as possible. I think DH's parents kind of assumed that college would take care of everything, which is a very different viewpoint than what we have.

[m0mmaBuck]

Nope. Both DH and I had awesome public school experiences.

[dragons in the flower bed]

So... after that looong post, I'm curious. Are there other moms here who were homeschooled as children? What did you like or dislike about it? Are there things your mother did that you want to do differently? Or the same?

 

My experience was so very different from yours, except that I'm twenty-nine, too. I was unschooled by my father when I was a teenager.

 

I liked the joy of following all the rabbit trails, the freedom to engage with the real world rather than limiting myself to practice experiences, the time to focus on just one thing and learn it well.

 

Like Skadi's DH, I wish my parents had pushed a little more. Maybe pushing is the wrong verb. I wish they had provided some scaffolding to hold me up when adolescence caused all my bones to melt out of my body.

[juelle]

I was hs'ed for 2 years when I was 7 and 8. I loved it. No stress, no pressure, no other not-so-bright people to wait for! We used the standard A Beka books type curriculum of the time (I'm 38), but we read and read and read. Then we had the opportunity to go to snazzy English girls' schools.

 

I would have been happier at home, and I think I would have done just as well academically. In fact, I took the SAT (just in case I wanted to come back here) at a US base, no prep, at age 14 and did well. My parents just had very high academic expectations for me, and I absorbed that thoroughly. Perhaps too thoroughly.:001_smile: But I always wished I had been hs'ed longer.

[Nestof3]

No, but I would have loved it. I enjoyed learning and school, but I really would have loved being surrounded by so much to feed my mind. I look at Nathan at the age of ten, and I think to myself, "That would have been me."

[oasis]

I was in private school from k-5th, then homeschooled from 6th-12th.

 

I preferred private school, but my parents didn't have the money to continue sending me (and my 3 siblings) there after my mom quit teaching at the private school.

 

My mom continued using the curriculum we'd used in private school (Alpha Omega LIFEPACS), so the transition was easy, although I missed my friends.

 

When I turned 16, I got a full-time job during the day, and did school work at night. It was pretty tough to be a full-time student while working full-time, but it was quite an accomplishment! I was able to purchase my own vehicle, and actually had a little spending money, too. Once I graduated, I had to pay for business school on my own, and working full-time helped me pay it off early.

 

I loved my homeschool graduation. Our local homeschool group had monthly graduation planning meetings, and the graduates were able to pick the class motto, Bible verse, colors, etc. Graduates were invited to participate in the ceremony by singing a song, playing an instrument, giving a speech, etc.

 

During the ceremony, a State Representative handed the diplomas to the graduates' parents, who proudly handed the diplomas to their graduates. When each graduate walked up to receive his/her diploma, the State Rep's wife read a short narrative about the graduate's hobbies and ambitions. The ceremony was a little long, but it was so interesting that the time seemed to pass quickly! After the ceremony, each graduate was given a full-sized table for setting up a guest book, family photos, trophies, and anything else the graduate wanted to share.

 

I loved every minute of my graduation day!

 

My dh had a terrible public school experience, and he vowed his kids were never going to go through the same thing. He also went to private school, and had a little bit of homeschooling (although his parents didn't end up sticking with it.)

 

I attended business school, and now have a successful full-time career in computer support. (My ultimate goal was to be a stay-at-home mom, so I didn't focus on attending a full-time college. Ironically, my dh has a Master's Degree, and he's currently the stay-at-home parent.)

 

My dh and I are now homeschooling our 6-year-old daughter, and when our 4-year-old son is old enough, we'll be homeschooling him, as well.

 

I'm hoping to make homeschooling more fun for my kids. I can certainly see why my mom chose our worktext curriculum (which was sometimes boring) - she was familiar with it, and it allowed us three older kids to work independently while she had to work closely with my younger dyslexic sister. My mom took us on field trips, enrolled me and my siblings in piano lessons, soccer, etc., but she was too busy for individual teaching moments. Besides homeschooling her own four kids, she was also babysitting four other 2-year-olds.

 

I'll have more one-on-one teaching time with my two children, and I've been having a fantastic time perusing this board with all the wonderful ideas!

Edited July 20, 2010 by oasis

[Mimm]

My DH was homeschooled. His parents didn't use the term unschooling, but for all practical purposes he was unschooled. Most of his regrets about his education was that his parents didn't push him hard enough.

 

My husband has the same regret for different reasons. He hated public school. They tested him early and found out he was quite the little genius and put him in a gifted program but it wasn't enough. It was one or two mornings a week in elementary school and to this day is the only school that was good for him. He thought too much about things. Like, why should he have to do homework when the purpose of homework is to reinforce the material and he already knows all the material. Thus, he will not do homework. Well, homework was part of the grade. He would get a C in an advanced chemistry class, while getting a perfect score on all the tests. And he would go on to test out of beginning chemistry and math classes for college. He started programming computers when he was 8. He always felt that his parents should have pushed him to excel, to find his passion and throw himself into it. Instead what they saw was a kid who refused to do his homework.

 

I know this sounds critical of my inlaws, who I really do love. Pushing their kids educationally just wasn't their priority.

[SnowWhite]

Are there other moms here who were homeschooled as children?

:seeya:

I was! For grades 9-12.

 

What did you like or dislike about it?

I liked the closeness it gave me with my mom and brothers.

I loved the spare time I could use to delve into "hobby reading."

 

Are there things your mother did that you want to do differently?

 

She used just CLE LightUnits for everything, but I couldn't imagine doing that year after year, week in and week out.

 

Or the same?

 

I guess I did take away from her "style" a dedication to completing a course, and the ability to make homeschooling a high priority (she graduated 4 kids, three of whom went on to do at least some college).

 

I use a lit-based approach for history and science (WinterPromise, with some Heart of Dakota mixed in) and I love to use hands on activities. We have vacillated back and forth over school room or living area schooling. We're back at trying to use a school room but the space allotted for that is really too small.

 

Oh, and I'm thirty-nine.

Edited July 20, 2010 by SnowWhite

[Mimm]

I was in private school from k-5th, then homeschooled from 6th-12th.

 

I preferred private school, but my parents didn't have the money to continue sending me (and my 3 siblings) there after my mom quit teaching at the private school.

 

 

 

This is my fear. :( My children have been in private school all this time and it's been wonderful for them. Our reasons for homeschooling have been purely financial, but their education is important and we deliberately chose a classical Christian private school and will continue to teach them classically at home to the best of our abilities.

 

I've always felt that no matter how good a school is, there are just certain limits inherent to the classroom environment. You can't allow the children as much freedom to work at their own pace or to explore their interests. It would be too chaotic, even with the small class sizes of my daughters' school, to have everyone on different pages. They had a couple boys taking math with the grade above them, so they tried to accommodate faster learners. I'm hoping the extra freedom will make up for the things they are missing at their school.

[oasis]

This is my fear. :( My children have been in private school all this time and it's been wonderful for them. Our reasons for homeschooling have been purely financial, but their education is important and we deliberately chose a classical Christian private school and will continue to teach them classically at home to the best of our abilities.

 

I've always felt that no matter how good a school is, there are just certain limits inherent to the classroom environment. You can't allow the children as much freedom to work at their own pace or to explore their interests. It would be too chaotic, even with the small class sizes of my daughters' school, to have everyone on different pages. They had a couple boys taking math with the grade above them, so they tried to accommodate faster learners. I'm hoping the extra freedom will make up for the things they are missing at their school.

 

Truly, the only reason I preferred private school was I missed my friends. My mom was so busy with homeschooling four kids, plus babysitting four kids, that she wasn't able to meet up with the local homeschool group much at all. There wasn't anything else about private school that I missed, because my mom still took us on fun field trips, etc. :001_smile:

[Laurie4b]

My husband has the same regret for different reasons. He hated public school. They tested him early and found out he was quite the little genius and put him in a gifted program but it wasn't enough. It was one or two mornings a week in elementary school and to this day is the only school that was good for him. He thought too much about things. Like, why should he have to do homework when the purpose of homework is to reinforce the material and he already knows all the material. Thus, he will not do homework. Well, homework was part of the grade. He would get a C in an advanced chemistry class, while getting a perfect score on all the tests. And he would go on to test out of beginning chemistry and math classes for college. He started programming computers when he was 8. He always felt that his parents should have pushed him to excel, to find his passion and throw himself into it. Instead what they saw was a kid who refused to do his homework.

 

I know this sounds critical of my inlaws, who I really do love. Pushing their kids educationally just wasn't their priority.

 

Hmmm. I've got a kid like that. Second guessing "what would have been" is not always fruitful. My kid who thinks about everything too much also thinks about everything I do to push him too much as well. It's made for a lot of conflict. So maybe your dh's parents chose just the right path! ;)

[DawnL]

:lurk5:

[Hannah C.]

I am the oldest child of another member of these boards, and I was homeschooled for eleven years (1993-2004). Of course, I'm also younger than most people on these boards, so I was homeschooled back when it was starting to get popular, I suppose. :)

 

I am constantly glad I was homeschooled. I can read very fast: years of free time plus the inclination to read --> lots of practice --> fast reading speed. The ability to read well and quickly has benefited me in countless ways in public high school and college. I also write fairly quickly. This is the most visible benefit of homeschool for me, but there were others as well. (Not that I wouldn't have been good at reading as a public schooled child, but I would not have had *nearly* as much practice time!)

 

DH was also homeschooled for a grade or two in elementary school. We're hoping to homeschool our kids at least through elementary if not longer, but who knows what'll happen before our child gets old enough for that.

[Teachin'Mine]

No, but I wish I was. I learned how to read at home, and I learned how to write from my mom more than from the schools. Home schooling would have been awesome!!! :)

[Mimm]

I am constantly glad I was homeschooled. I can read very fast: years of free time plus the inclination to read --> lots of practice --> fast reading speed.

 

I'm a fast reader as well. I never really connected it to homeschooling but perhaps it's one of those things that's like anything else. The more you do it, the easier/faster/better you can do it. And there's no denying that I read a lot growing up.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I'm a fast reader as well. I never really connected it to homeschooling but perhaps it's one of those things that's like anything else. The more you do it, the easier/faster/better you can do it. And there's no denying that I read a lot growing up.

 

I'm a fast reader as well. I guess I did spend five or six more hours reading every day than other kids could.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My hubby had was home-bound for a year due to illness and I was in an alternative program of sorts (long story) for 3 semesters. We each liked some aspects of the situations we had and that helped us tremendously in deciding to homeschool.

[NanceXToo]

Neither my husband nor I were homeschooled, but we both had some bad experiences in public school, and we both ended up dropping out in around 10th grade.

 

I since went on to get a GED and then an AOS degree at a business college, and my husband never did get his GED but went on to own his own business, which hasn't made us wealthy but does well enough that I can now be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom, so I have no complaints about how our lives have turned out!

 

I never thought I'd homeschool- I never thought I wouldn't either, it's just that, I never thought about it at all! My older daughter reached age 18 having always gone through special education and life skills type classes, part of the time in public school, part of the time in private school. My younger daughter started out in public school and attended it for K, 1st grade, 2nd grade and most of 3rd grade.

 

But during that time there were just SO many things I didn't like about her public school experience, that I began to look into homeschooling. I knew of someone who did it and talked to her a bit, began looking online, reading articles and websites and books and so on, and next thing I knew, I found myself talking my husband into it (which did take a little work)...

 

...and then before I knew it, I was pulling my daughter out of school with only about 2 1/2 months left in her 3rd grade school year. I homeschooled her the rest of 3rd grade, all of 4th, and I'm looking forward to homeschooling her for 5th in the fall, and homeschooling my youngest for K! :)

[Farrar]

My mother thought about it, because we lived in the middle of nowhere and the public schools were notoriously bad. Also, the county where I grew up had multiple incidents of KKK violence, after which my mother swore we wouldn't ever do business with anyone who lived there. Eek. We drove into the next county and the town there for everything, but, of course, we had to pay for me to attend private school. My parents couldn't afford it and it put a huge strain on their budget and their relationship. At one point, my mother heard of homeschooling and got all these issues of some magazine (probably Growing Without Schooling?) and some textbooks, but then she ended up backing down. We didn't know of anyone who was homeschooled at all and there was no community to tell her it would work out. Among other things, the financial stresses broke up my parents marriage and we moved away. Oh well, I think I would have loved it. I know I was excited about the possibility at the time.