Who here came to homeschooling by accident or used to be anti-homeschooling?

[LucyStoner]

So, in all the recent threads on poorly written anti-homeschooling articles the thing that sticks out to me is that 4-5 years ago I would have pretty much agreed with the authors of most of those articles. I thought school was for the greater good, diverse education required a public school, that I would never homeschool, that most homeschoolers were either left wing or right ring nut jobs. That sure schools were messed up but that just meant I would need to be active and raise money and run for school board :lol:. And I even was home/unschooled in 7th and 8th grades because I would not go (but I attributed that as an exception because I had been through a number of violent crimes at age 11 and just could not handle middle school.)

 

I grew up in a very liberal yet very religious home, bridging the gap between conservative Christians and politically radical liberals. Most homeschoolers I knew literally did meet the stereotypes- because I spent my high school years going to bible camp 4 times a year (where the homeschooled kids were mostly not learning all the subjects and often complained about having to be homeschooled) and getting my high school education at Hippie High (where the previously homeschooled kids grew up learning nearly nothing on communes). So this gave me a very distorted view of homeschooling. I also had an amazing high school experience, which gave me a very positive view of the very best that public schools can offer.

 

Then of course a little thing happened 3.5 years ago called: I sent my child to school with disastrous results. I found that I would rather extract my own fingernails or have a root canal without numbing medications than try and change the system "from within" that would so obviously not change in time to benefit my child. That no political or educational value system was worth seeing my son suffer severe bullying. We did one school for K, another school for 1st grade and then pretty much ran screaming from the building.

 

We both had to change our opinions pretty fast and learn a lot at once. But here we are loving it in 3rd grade (by age).

 

I can't be the only person here homeschooling because their whole idea of education and school got ran over by a bus when put to the test? :tongue_smilie: So what changed your opinions and brought you to homeschooling?

[danybug]

I never really put any thought in to homeschooling. It was not on my radar I guess. I would probably have said that it was for nutty or religious families if I was pressed for an opinion back in the day.

 

But this all changed after I sent my ds to public school for K and 1st grade. It was just pathetic. He was extremely advanced and our district did not have a gifted program until 2nd grade. My ds began the initial testing, but meanwhile the teacher complained that my ds was distracting the other kids because he knew all of the work and was always finished. We suggested to the school multiple times that maybe they could give him extra more in depth work. The teacher and school response was that they were too overwhelmed trying to bring all the other kids up to level :confused:

 

My dh and I were just so put off by the blatant disregard for the education of a gifted child because there are those that struggle. I understand that it must be overwhelming to have such a varying degree of ability in one classroom or grade, but I do not think it should mean that those that are gifted should be overlooked. We just felt like this type of system would surely hurt my ds love for learning and abilities to excel and continue at his pace. So, we pulled him out after Thanksgiving break.

 

Now he is in 5th grade and I would never look back. But I do find that as the years have passed that I identify with a myriad of other reasons why I believe my children should be home with me. Funny how times change and opinions evolve! I would have never imagined I would be homeschooling my kids and I could not feel more blessed!!!

[Slipper]

My husband always wanted us to homeschool but I didn't want to give up my free time. :)

 

Then, I realized that our school district was very, very weak and my daughters were actually tutoring other kids rather than learning new material. And so we started thinking about homeschooling.

 

Then my littlest started becoming ill - stomach aches/cramps, diarrhea, daily vomiting, lethargy, etc. We pulled her at Christmas, and she has been improving health-wise every week. She still has morning stomach cramps that she takes medicine to help settle them down. But everything else went away. I'm now completely sold on homeschool. :)

[Twilight Woods]

Me!! When we first moved into our house we introduced ourselves to our neighbors and found out they homeschooled their kids. DH and I had a conversation that night about how crazy we thought they were and felt sorry for those porr kids. LOL.

 

Fast forward 8 years and here we are. It's amazing how your views change as your children get older and you have to adapt to them.

 

:001_smile:

[kathkath]

I was a ps teacher in a good school and district. The hs kids we saw had reactionary parents who pulled their kids out and put them back in school as the wind blew. They were poor writers and were behind in academics.

[shalom22]

I never thought that I could stand to be around my kids 24/7. I was a workaholic and hated being at home taking care of the everyday mundane.

 

But that all changed when my ds had started first grade. He is a talker and he was always bringing home notes that he was disruptive in class. He had a difficult time sitting still and was bored. Plus there were things that they were teaching him that we did not agree with. The household was so stressed out with work, school, homework and no time to be a family, that something had to give. Also my ds was having terrible nightmares.

 

So after doing my research, we decided to start homeschooling the kids. I have two sils that homeschool and they were great help in getting me started. I haven't looked back since. I can't imagine being without my kids around me now. I have started working again parttime and I really miss having all day to spend with them.

[LucyStoner]

My dh and I were just so put off by the blatant disregard for the education of a gifted child because there are those that struggle. I understand that it must be overwhelming to have such a varying degree of ability in one classroom or grade, but I do not think it should mean that those that are gifted should be overlooked.

 

We experienced this too, even in the gifted 1st grade program. The idea was that he would do nothing while the other kids caught up.

 

my daughters were actually tutoring other kids rather than learning new material. And so we started thinking about homeschooling.

 

We realized this too when his birthday book came home and each of the other kids had written a page about what they liked about him and more than 1/2 said something along the lines of thank you for helping me with my math/spelling/whatever. One kids phrased it as "giving me all the answers". Oy.

 

It's amazing how your views change as your children get older and you have to adapt to them.

 

Exactly. When the rubber hits the road, you have to pick what works best for your kids and not what matches your preconceived ideals. :)

[rocketgirl]

Yep, me too. I 'became' a teacher & taught 10 years. As my little ones were born I began sending them to daycare to be taken care of so I could teach other people's kids & after awhile it didn't make sense anymore....so I stopped but let my kids continue in the system...til that didn't make sense anymore...

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

I didn't think I had the personality for it. I'm a classroom teacher, I thought. My son and I would never make it work. I wasted 4yrs of his life on traditional schooling. I kick myself everyday.

[nertsmommy]

I mostly just lurk here, but I had to reply to this.

 

I was in college studying to be a public school teacher. I passed the state exams the first time through. I left college just before I did my student teaching (or I'd actually have my certificate). After observing several classrooms I knew I wouldn't be able to teach the way I should. I also said then that I would never send any children into that.

 

Also it didn't help knowing that some of the ones I had courses with had taken their state exams at least five times before they passed with help from tutors. And yet I'm still told those ones are qualified to teach my kids better than I am. :001_huh:

[Alte Veste Academy]

So what changed your opinions and brought you to homeschooling?

 

I loved school. Loved, loved, LOVED school. It was an oasis for me, a place I was always happy. Homeschooling was not on my radar at all until I met DH. He was 23 and his little sister was 7 and homeschooled. She was the only one of his siblings who was, as she was a much later baby. I remember thinking it was fine but a bit sad because my school experience was just so wonderful. It pretty much stayed out of my mind though.

 

Fast forward 6 years and I got a job as a Social Worker in a local elementary school. Oh my word. That did me in. I made an almost instantaneous decision to homeschool my future children, based solely on the socialization I witnessed. :001_huh: Never mind the pep rallies for the TAKS test. :glare: :confused: I could tell a thousand stories from my year at that school, all of them filed away as reasons I'm homeschooling now. There are even more reasons now, of course, but those were the first.

[The Governess]

I never thought I would homeschool. It wasn't even on my radar. We chose our home partly because it was in a great school district and close to the best elementary school in that district.

 

And then my daughter started reading soon after she turned 3. And I started teaching her. And people kept telling me, "if you don't stop teaching her so much she will be awfully bored in kindergarten." :001_huh: So we decided not to send her.

 

Then I found this forum and fell down the rabbit hole of classical schooling.... It's been quite a ride so far, but I'm so glad that I was forced down this path. I can't imagine educating my kids any other way and I love how much I am learning along with them.

[LucyStoner]

I loved school. Loved, loved, LOVED school. It was an oasis for me, a place I was always happy.

 

I was lucky to have had a great high school experience and a number of great elementary school teachers as well. My high school was my safe haven and my teachers were truly like a second family. I always did really well in school and fine socially but my son was just the right combination of gifted and shy to have an awful time of it in school. I still remember my K and 1 grade teacher, Tom R., with great fondness. My son will def. NOT remember his K and 1st teachers in 25 years with fondness.

[kalanamak]

 

I can't be the only person here homeschooling because their whole idea of education and school got ran over by a bus when put to the test? :tongue_smilie: So what changed your opinions and brought you to homeschooling?

 

Bad scores in our area (27th%ile in the state), a horrible experience in my own ps career, and hubby dyslexic. I started gearing up for a dyslexic child. Read all the book: but kiddo didn't turn out to be. Oh well, why waste all that effort? ;)

[creekland]

While I did not love high school, I went to an extremely good public school and was very well educated + prepared for college (first year in college was extremely easy). My parents were both teachers as were several aunts and uncles. Homeschooling never hit our radar.

 

Then we moved where we live now and I wanted a part time job that was flexible. I started subbing in our local public high school (mostly math/science). I've watched the decline in education over the past 13 years - and this school has never been up to the level my own high school was to start with. Nonetheless, our kids were enrolled in school. Homeschooling still wasn't on our radar.

 

When my oldest hit 6th grade we were concerned about the top level math offered (Pre-Alg - 1 section - 36 students in it). We went to the middle school principal to talk partially wondering why they didn't offer more than one class. We were flat out told that "Public school is not here for the academically talented child. Those students will do well wherever they go and it doesn't matter what you choose to teach them. Public school is here for the average child and the below average child. Around here the average graduate goes to community college, joins the military or works for _____. Our education concentrates on that." BUT, even with all that homeschooling wasn't on our radar. We just complained.

 

When oldest was about to hit 9th grade (the high school where I worked), our school district decided to switch to one of the fuzzy math curricula and switch to block scheduling. Those were the final straws - well - coupled with dropping AP tests (we rarely had anyone score better than a 2 anyway) and seeing too many top graduates (A's in Calc, + Advanced Sciences) test into remedial 4 year U classes.

 

So, we pulled all three to start homeschooling with nary a clue how to actually start. It worked out, though I had to catch the younger two up in math quite a bit. My guys have done well. It was enjoyable. Two of the three preferred it. The last opted to return to ps for high school as he couldn't deal without the socialization factor. He thought all the stories I told him were just that, stories - made up to keep them at home. It took less than two months for him to verbally tell me I was right and has since added tons of stories of his own. I keep hoping he'll want to come back home, but alas, he does not. So we're supplementing... but that's not as good as full time homeschooling would be for academics.

 

My relatives were against our homeschooling, but came around in less than a year. We let them quiz the boys without the offense so many on here feel about quizzing. They've seen my older two really succeed as they transition to college. They now encourage youngest to change his mind. ;)

[Wheres Toto]

Homeschooling wasn't even on my radar, never thought about it at all. My oldest has always gone to public school and has always had a good experience and done well. We live in a very good school district right now.

 

Then along came my son. This kid was born quirky. He had trouble in his very first experience at preschool when he was 2 1/2. He already knew his letters, was bored and didn't like sitting still or playing the way he was told to play. He was also speech delayed and ended up going to Early Intervention from 3 to 4 for speech and some odd behaviors that the evaluator had never seen before. EI was a good experience but in a class of 6 boys with a teacher and 2 aides, he was the one driving them nuts. When he "graduated" at 4, they said not to send him back to kindergarten until he was 6. We had already missed the cut-offs for decent preschools around here so we decided to home preschool. Then we started discussing how he was already ahead since he was starting to read and thought about how far ahead he would be if I did anything with him for the next two years. This is a kid who will NOT sit still and quiet being bored. He is an opinionated, argumentative, non-stop talker. So we're thinking boredom combined with daily visits to the principals office would not give him a love of learning and we decided to homeschool.

 

The fact that I hated and was miserable in school and dh was always bored helped us decide this was for the best. So far it's going very well.

[GinaPagnato]

I love all of your stories! Mine is a similar mish-mash of others stated.

 

It is so moving to me that we, as parents, have been moved by our intense love for our children to do WHATEVER is needed to ensure a strong education and a solid mental/emotional foundation for them.

 

Keep on keeping on, and don't bat an eye at the naysayers. Dream big dreams for your kids and teach them how to work to achieve those dreams. The results will speak for themselves!

Edited February 26, 2012 by GinaPagnato

[NittanyJen]

I used to give my sister the.hardest.time. for homeschooling her kids. She gave the same back to me for putting my kids in the PS every time she heard what was going on with them. I looked down my nose at her isolated kids as I went off to work each day. (I do still not regret working; I loved my job. In hindsight though I do not regret so much that my car accident cost me my job).

 

You get the idea... Homeschooling was not on our radar at all. My kds were going to be college ready, whereas my sister's had no hope.

 

:::::insert large plate of crow here:::::::

 

You can read the details of our journey here: http://hillandalefarmschool.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html

 

Here: http://hillandalefarmschool.blogspot.com/2011/03/journey-toward-homeschooling-part-2.html

 

And my early reactions to the switch from career and packing them off on the bus each day, to spending 24/7 with them here : http://hillandalefarmschool.blogspot.com/2011/04/too-much-togetherness-or-have-i-lost-my.html

[DawnM]

I NEVER EVER thought I would homeschool! I used to make fun of homeschoolers. I thought they were all a bunch of Bill Gothard following crazy folks.

 

Now, mind you, I was a public school teacher and counselor for over 16 years, so my view was tainted considerably. :D

Edited February 26, 2012 by DawnM

[NanceXToo]

I wouldn't say I was anti-homeschooling, but it was never really on my radar and I certainly never thought I would do it myself until I just got so fed up with so many things about the system in general and our district in particular during my daughter's K-3rd grade years, that by the time she was in 3rd grade I was contemplating it and researching it and by the end of that year, I'd pulled her out and never looked back!

[Ester Maria]

Homeschooling was NEVER on my radar, not in my wildest dreams.

 

The most "alternative" schooling options in my extended family included sending children to schooling abroad or putting them into international schools. But schooling outside of some kind of an institution was not happening. I knew it existed, but I thought it was only for kids who live in geographically isolated areas, or very rare cases of children who are ill and cannot be educated otherwise, or who live on the road due to a traveling lifestyle and who thus cannot have a continuity to actually attend school... and for a small fraction of children of religious nuts, LOL. :lol: I could not conceive why on Earth would one homeschooling if they did not belong to those groups, and for the latter I believed it to be way more harmful to children than beneficient and at times questioned whether homeschooling for no "special reason" should even be legal.

 

And, oh the little ironies of life, I ended up homeschooling. :tongue_smilie:

[Ellie]

We had a weird homeschooling neighbor (1980). We came to be good friends, but they were just...weird, everything Mr. Ellie and I were not, lol. We were all white-bread American Christian Family, with daughters who wore black patent-leather dressy shoes and white ruffly socks to church, where we went every Wednesday and twice on Sunday. We were all about Christian school (not public school, no way). They were crunchy vegeterians--we'd never met vegeterians before; they kept a lock on their refrigerator because otherwise the children would eat the food :001_huh:; they were really, really INTO science fiction--I like scifi, but they were really INTO it; in their living room were two chairs, which the parents sat in when they were in there and the children schlepped around on the floor (the mother said that when they had sofa and chairs and whatnot, the children schlepped around on them, so they just took out everything except those two chairs); they dressed slightly slovenly. And they homeschooled. I figured, you know, they were the kind of people who would do that. :lol:

 

And so I sent older dd to a Christian school (which used all ABeka, BTW), where she got good grades and learned to read. There were things at the school that disturbed me some, such as the children's not being allowed to talk in the bathrooms, and one of the girls was sent to the principal's office because she dared to ask if there was TP in the next stall :glare:, and my dd's being accused of cheating (long story :glare:). But I figured it was just life at school. And then after Christmas of first grade, dd began to change. She became emotional over the smallest things at home, and I decided to send her to a different school for second grade. And then there was the day she came home and cried for 40 minutes over half a page of arithmetic homework.

 

That's when I went down and talked to my weird homeschool neighbor. :D

 

I didn't send dd back to school after Easter vacation. I decided that with only six weeks left of school, we'd just have an extra long summer vacation, and that we'd be Officially homeschooling in the fall, and that if we were all normal and we all still liked each other by Christmas, we'd continue homeschooling. :D

 

BTW, it took 18 months for dd to return to her normal little self. That was 18 months of unschooling. We did things, but none of them looked anything like school.

 

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :D

[chepyl]

My husband and his siblings were homeschooled, only one of them truly regrets it and 4 of 7 are homeschooling their own kids.

 

I never planned to Homeschool when we got married. Then, I saw the results of the schools where we used to live. They started block scheduling in 5th grade, 10 year olds were ezpected to sit through 90 minute classes. Most universities don't even ask that of college students! The kids told me about propping for tests, the teachers would spend 45 minutes giving the answers, and 45 minutes letting tje kids take the test (end of year testing). I decided I would Homeschool if we stayed there.

 

We moved back to Oklahoma and into a great school district. DS missed the K cutoff by 3 weeks. I called the district to see what our options were....he would be in preschool. I explained that he was reading at a sec.d grade level and doing basic addition amd subtraction. No exceptions, no testing, no grade skipping for boys. I asked what would happen in K, as he would progress in tue next year. The reply I got, "we would hope that the teacher could keep him.busy with work on his level." In a class of 25....not likely. So we homeschooled K with the intention of trying to get him in first this year. He progressed far beyond what I expected and we loved being together all day. Now, I can't imagine sending him off to strangers all day :) what was I thinking!

[Guest]

Yup, you people were crazies. :) Then, we moved out of state and there was an incident at the school my son was supposed to attend (news-worthy incident) and we started asking more questions of my SIL who homeschooled and we never have looked back! I'm so glad that God changed our hearts!!!

[GoVanGogh]

DH and I attended the same school district, but four years apart so we didn't know each other at the time. We graduated at opposite ends of the academic spectrum - DH was top of his class, I at the bottom (though I later went to college and redeemed myself.) But we both felt that our school had failed us miserably.

 

As new parents, we weren't really against homeschooling, it just wasn't something we had thought much about. We did know one homeschool family (my sister's inlaws) and they were certainly "that" homeschool family. :lol: Otherwise, we didn't know or think enough about it to have an opinion.

 

We bought our home in a very nice district, one block from the elementary school, and just assumed our child would go there.

DS started reading a few months before he turned four and we realized we needed to start thinking about his education.

We went to the elementary school and they told me that we needed to quit teaching him and hold him back a year. In their words, "If you hold him back, he will be more mature and able to sit quietly while we are teaching the other children to read." :confused: Clueless, I asked them, "But he's reading on a second grade level now, what level will he be reading at if we hold him back?" They became insistent that we not teach him anything more nor should we allow him access to books "above his age level."

Scratch going to the local elementary school. :tongue_smilie:

 

At that point, we decided we would look at private schools. Every private school we looked at wanted to push DS up a grade. That would have been great, except he was a left-handed boy that couldn't sit still and certainly couldn't hold a pencil well enough to write at a first-grade level.

 

Interestingly enough, DH and I were both researching school options - including homeschooling - without talking with each other about our research or thoughts.

 

We had just toured this private school for the second time and were walking out their front door when we looked at each other and said in unison, "What do you think about homeschooling?" :lol:

 

So we went home and talked about that and made our decision. And here we are, six years later. :D

[desertmum]

I hated school with a passion. I was in class of 32 but didn't have friends and was socially awkward. Some subjects I was bored out of my mind because I was ahead; in other subjects I was left behind (The teacher's promise of "Don't worry if you don't understand this now. We will go over this again after class" -never happened). I was bullied and developed some OCD behaviour.

 

However...I never dreamed of homeschooling my kid. The whole thing started because the local nursery was oversubscribed. then we moved to the Gulf and the local nurseries were, yes, oversubscribed. Then we couldn't find a school place. The only school with opening had fees so high we couldn't afford it. So we thought maybe we could do school at home and started my research. I found this forum. :D

 

I'm still terrified we are doing the "right" thing. I mean, I am not the most organised of mums here. But the other day I was under attack from a well-intentioned ps teacher and I found myself digging in my heels and answering her arguments in a calm collected manner. Then I realised I had been turned around. I love homeschooling.

[Amber in SJ]

I had two examples of homeschooling in my life. Both were bad. My BIL & SIL homeschooled their three children, but my SIL had pretty severe depression that she refused to treat. This meant the kids were on their own for weeks or even months at a time when she couldn't get out of bed. They did not use a curriculum designed for independent use so the kids were just floundering. The time that she was not immobilized was spent on enrichment so while the kids had some fabulous experiences they were lacking in basic math, reading or writing skills. At that time I was a PS teacher and I offered to help, but all attempts were rebuffed. I worked for the enemy. Please don't think I am bashing someone who struggles with depression. I have my own challenges in this area and because I know that about myself, I choose curriculum in a certain way and I make very, very detailed school plans so my kids can do a minimum for themselves if I am incapacitated. It is just hard to watch my niece & nephew struggle as adults.

 

The other example was a much younger cousin who had been expelled from several public high schools due to anti-social behavior. We only saw this family once a year or so, but every time we saw them the parents were bragging loudly about how their son doesn't "do" school, how they managed to pay someone to take the standardized tests and the GED for their child because he didn't feel like taking the test. More to the point he couldn't pass the test. They cheated on everything; papers were plagiarized, county education officials were befriended & bribed, and for a year they did some kind of satellite school and they paid another high school student to do all the work.

 

Those two examples made me run screaming at the thought of homeschooling. I put my dd into our PS and it made me crazy. All the bureaucratic carp the school put on us, all the fundraisers, all the bullying, all the intrusion into our family life because we were "required" to attend the Cinco de Mayo celebration on my grandmother's birthday or my dd wouldn't get to have recess the next day, every day my dd came home & said all she did all day was read her book from home because the teacher was running around dealing with her overcrowded classroom, even the parent I became as I hurried everyone out the door in the morning drove me nuts. Still I stuck it out because that is what you do, right? Soon I had two kids in the same school, I was on bed rest with baby # 3 and I read WTM. Everything fell into place in my head and I knew with that kind of road map to guide my first steps I could do it. Convincing Dh was a whole different story.

 

Amber in SJ

[Mommyfaithe]

Yup...us.

 

I loved school. Dh loved school. I hated high school, but I was having a rough go back then.

 

My dd entered K knowing how read....that was a disaster! She was marked a "troublemaker". I made the mistake of calling the superintendent to ask about homeschooling....he told me it was just for religious fanatics.....Well, I wasn't one of those so.....I ended up spending a LOT of time at the school.

 

I purposely did not teach dd 2 how to read, because I didn't want her to deal with the same nonsense.....

When she was at the end of 1st grade and STILL couldn't read, I went ballistic.:D

 

Easter vacation was coming, so I decided to teach her to read during that time.

Mission successful.....and ds learned to read as well.....he was just 4.

 

I decided no one was going back. We would try to homeschool for one year.

 

I talked with some people who were homeschooling, who helped me fill out our paperwork....I submitted it...went in to tell the kids teachers....principal basically sneered and said I'd be back.....and dd's 1st grade teacher cried. That was a little over the top....seriously.

 

Anyway, here we are almost exactly 18 years later.

 

I just love those news press releases where I get to put dd's name in the paper for receiving scholarships, making the dean's list 4 years consecutively, having oldest dd....the troublemaker graduate Summa Cum Laude, Having her receive statewide awards for her graphic design work etc.

 

This is a small town....everyone pretty much knows everyone....sometimes, I just feel like " I showed them!". I hope I can continue:D

[sparrow]

Oh, gosh, me. I remember watching some talk show in the 1990s and the topic of the day was "homeschooling". I ranted to my husband that "these people think they actually know enough to teach their kids ALL the subjects" :blushing:.

 

When our son was a toddler, he didn't just think and learn outside the box, he went down the street, circled around the box three times, and came in a side door of the box :D He made me question how a kid like that manages in school. I read Gatto's Dumbing us Down and then my husband read Dumbing us Down. We lived in a city with very bad schools, but knew we'd be moving when he was near K-1st age. Why not try homeschooling before we moved?

 

Here we are. We still take it one year at a time, but it keeps working, so we keep doing it.

[Dmmetler]

I wasn't anti-homeschooling, but at the same time, the only people I knew who were homeschooled were kids of Mennonite missionaries, usually in Africa, who came back to the USA when the oldest child was ready to enter high school. So even though I played with kids who were currently homeschooled (until they entered high school), it was definitely something that wasn't on my radar, since I had no plans to go to Africa :).

 

I taught in the public schools for a decade, in less than ideal schools where teachers had a lot to struggle against, and became aware that I couldn't subject my child to that when I had one, so DH and I planned to send DD to either suburban schools or private schools, and moved to the "BEST" school district, the one with excellent test scores and the most active PTA in the state, when DD was 1.

 

Within a few weeks after the move, DD started reading. Within a year after that, I was in a developmental neuropsychologist's office, hearing the words "Highly gifted, probably at the exceptional to profound range of the scale, with multiple overexcitabilities". And started reading on those words and kept seeing just how poor the outcomes were for children at that end of the range unless they had the right school setting. The nice suburban schools told me, point blank, that they didn't believe GT labels were appropriate for kids below age 8-9, and that they didn't provide services outside the classroom until 3rd grade. Furthermore, since my DD missed the cutoff by a few weeks, she wouldn't be eligible to even enter kindergarten until she was almost 6 years old. The fact that she was already testing above K level across the board and hadn't yet turned 3 was irrelevant. About the same time, DD and I found a local homeschooling group that met at the park once a week to let the kids play, and while playgroups with just preschoolers had failed miserably with DD, she loved being with the mixed age. Sitting and talking to those moms started pushing homeschooling onto my radar, but I still wasn't quite willing to give up on schools.

 

 

I looked at private schools, and found a nice, sweet church-run school where the principal sat down with DD, who at the time was a few weeks from her third birthday, played with her, and commented "God gave her a lot of gifts. It's up to us to try to help her learn to use them". She entered their preschool. By January, her preschool teacher was in tears trying to keep up with her. DD was going back and forth between the two preschool and JK rooms, doing all the activities for all of them, talking to the teachers constantly, and they were trying to keep up and struggling. The preschool teacher suggested putting her in K the next year. At age 4, she started K, with her teacher giving her higher level books and materials. By January, her K teacher asked me flat out "What are you going to do when you find that the school can't keep up with her anymore". My response was "Well, I guess we'd homeschool until we found one that could". Her response was "That time is now."

 

So, I called my homeschooling friends in panic, started reading in earnest, and, soon after, started homeschooling. Still with the mental intent of sending DD back to school "in a few years, after everyone else learns to read and do math".

 

What I've seen is my child blossom. She's moved ahead SO much academically it's amazing, and more importantly she's developed a lot socially. It's also had other benefits. We're able to arrange our schedule around DH's, so we can see him more. DD can spend more time dancing, tumbling, and cheering, which she loves, because we're not having to rush to get homework done and her in bed so she can be on a bus at 7:15.The flexibility is heavenly.

 

But yes, I consider myself to have "lucked into" homeschooling-and probably wouldn't have found it had DD not been so asynchronous in her development so early. And I will forever love DD's K teacher for giving me that final push, and those wonderful ladies at the homeschool group who accepted DD and I even when I wasn't planning to homeschool.

[RegularMom]

Me too. :)

 

I had negative stereotypical impressions of homeschoolers in my head for many years. Then I had a chance to meet a couple of homeschooled children and they were intelligent and pleasant and very normal. But I still thought homeschooling was a bad idea.

 

Until I had a kid in preschool and watched her flounder for a year. And that was just preschool. I looked into our academic future and saw only more of the same mediocre academics and ridiculous social problems, and then I looked back at my own schooling and cringed just thinking about it, and then I stumbled across the WTM and began reading excerpts of it online and lurking at the old message boards.

 

I was so afraid to tell RegularDad for a few months, that I was secretly thinking about homeschooling, because I was sure he'd think I was crazy. But when I did finally mention it, he was all: "Really??? You would??? That would be SOOOO great!"

 

I was all: :001_huh:

 

But we stopped at a bookstore so I could buy my own copy of WTM and we haven't looked back.

[catz]

I wasn't anti-homeschooling, but I certainly never thought it would be something we'd chose! Anyone who is strongly anti-homeschool has never dropped an out of the box kid in a typical classroom and had to deal with day after day of learning nothing and complaining. The assumption that a particular learning environment (including homeschooling) should be a fit every kid is ridiculous to me.

[Mom-ninja.]

I never even knew home schooling existed. The first time I heard about it was when my oldest was a toddler. I thought it was odd. I mean who in their right mind would home school? :)

 

Of course I felt that way pretty much about all other aspects of parenting that I now practice.

 

 

I never pictured myself home schooling. Now, I can't imagine life any other way.

Edited February 26, 2012 by Kleine Hexe

[HappyLady]

I honestly never gave homeschooling much thought, but when I did I pictured families that kept their kids in the house all day, very rarely were seen in public, and we just all together strange. Then I joined a local moms forum and there was a forum for homeschooling. I perused it every once in awhile and was quite shocked to find that after I met the homeschooling moms at events that they were NORMAL. :lol:

 

My sister had children before me and for many years I saw her kids come home from school, start on their homework and continue with it until dinner time, then go back to finish up their homework, cry because they wanted to play and were sick of doing homework, and then go to bed. I just knew I never wanted that for my future kids, but really didn't know of any alternatives.

 

After getting to know the local homeschooling mommies and remembering what I saw with my niece and nephew I really started considering homeschooling. I would have never in a million years thought it would be something I'd do, but I'm really excited about it now. Scared, but excited. And happy to have a place like this to go to for help! I can't tell you how much I've learned from you all! :D

[Mommy22alyns]

I never used to be anti-homeschooling, but I did dismiss the idea out of hand and think it was just for religious.... um, people. Then the time came to put Rebecca in kindergarten and the rest is history. We had a great experience in her very small preschool (2 days a week), but I knew that that would not be the case in a small town PS kindergarten.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I was previously an assistant principal in a public middle school. I believed every negative stereo type about homeschool right up until the day I started researching options to public school for my own children.

[SKL]

I was desperate to find a way to get my gifted kid into an appropriate placement. She was years ahead and all I kept hearing was "the gift of time." I decided to take matters into my own hands (in the evenings) while continuing to try every angle for eventual acceleration and/or gifted placement.

 

Before, I never thought homeschooling was for us because I'm a single mom with a demanding work schedule.

 

Long term, it's not my goal to homeschool, because it isn't practical for my family. But having learned more about it, I can understand how it's best for many families.

[Tarreymere]

I can't say I was ever 'anti' homeschool. I was just pretty oblivious and I honestly didn't pay any attention to the entire idea one way or another. I never knew anyone who did homeschool and I had no idea if it was even legal. I've always been a sort of 'live and let live' sort of person who believed the best of people, so I just figured 'they' had their reasons and did the best they could.

Public school seemed like a poor option to me with rising class sizes, escalating behavior issues, and poor test scores. I had been severely bullied during my own public school experience as well and that played into my poor opinion of public school. So, once we could afford it we took the older girls from public elementary school (rural area) and put them in a private Christian school which we chose mainly because the only private schools in the area were Christian or Catholic.

The private school was a bust academically. I wasn't impressed. We decided to try out public school again when the older girls were in 8th and 9th grades. This time, public school was absolutely terrifying. Not only were the academic standards very low, that was the least of the problems we suddenly had to deal with. One daughter was severely bullied and the other became a serious bully (later arrested for things like felony witness intimidation, assault, a slew of misdemeanors, and finally made local headlines as the leader of a heroin ring). They were both pulled out within the first year, but the seeds had been sown.

I didn't feel confident enough to teach these girls on my own so we first went with a private online school. Again a big mistake and an academic bust. Finally as a last resort I looked into homeschooling, but I didn't find enough information and resources at that time to help me be very effective and basically I encouraged reading (they both read constantly), hired a math tutor, and tried to chart a basic direction. My older daughter is fine but has significant gaps in her knowledge base depending on where her natural interests were (which turned me off from pursuing unschooling). My next oldest daughter is currently not in jail but still runs with that crowd she connected with during that brief year in public school.

Since then, several kids later, I've learned a lot more about homeschooling. Classical homeschooling made quite the impression on me and offered the chance of the kind of academic experience I would have wanted for myself. I try to be available to people who are considering homeschool, because it would have been so very helpful to me to have known someone like that years ago.

[rutamattatt]

Uh, total anti-homeschooler here... :001_huh:

 

I am the daughter of two retired public school teachers (my mom also taught for a few years in a private Christian school). My sisters are/were both public school teachers. Aunts, uncles, cousins? All but three are in public education. I am genetically predisposed to hate homeschooling. :001_smile: It didn't help that the first person I came across who homeschooled was someone whose every inclination chaffed me somehow.

 

When my oldest son entered K he began struggling emotionally at school. We barely made it through K, and that is when I first started thinking very vaguely about home schooling. First grade year was great - great teacher. Third grade? Oh. My. Goodness. Bullying, yelling, belittling - and that was just the teacher. (And as the daughter of teachers, I tend to have LOTS and LOTS of grace for them.) DS was made fun of by other students for his interests (weather) and put down for his lack of interests (Sketchers). When I talked calmly to the principal about some specfic bullying issues, I was given parenting advice and a little pat on the head. DS was miserable, and no matter how much I tried to become involved and be present at school, there was just no way to push my way into the "in" crowd of parents who ran the place. I was ready to call it - DH wasn't convinced.

 

In April of last year, we adopted our now 14 year old daughter internationally, and while we were granted custody of her in April, adoption was not finalized until November (after two more trips), and in between we were not ALLOWED to enroll her in public school because of the Visa she entered the US on. Hallelujah! We decided to pull our two boys out (DS2 just finished K) and home school all three to help with bonding/attachment.

 

Best decision we have EVER made. Even my husband agrees. It is a TON of work on top of adding a new teen to the family mix, but I cannot imagine how we would've managed to come as far as we have as a new family of five if the schools still owned so much of our time. My parents are fully supportive of our decision, and even teach the kids when they visit. :D

 

And if you salt it enough, the crow doesn't taste half bad... :lol:

[LucyStoner]

And if you salt it enough, the crow doesn't taste half bad... :lol:

 

:lol:

[Mommyfaithe]

Uh, total anti-homeschooler here... :001_huh:

 

I am the daughter of two retired public school teachers (my mom also taught for a few years in a private Christian school). My sisters are/were both public school teachers. Aunts, uncles, cousins? All but three are in public education. I am genetically predisposed to hate homeschooling. :001_smile: It didn't help that the first person I came across who homeschooled was someone whose every inclination chaffed me somehow.

 

When my oldest son entered K he began struggling emotionally at school. We barely made it through K, and that is when I first started thinking very vaguely about home schooling. First grade year was great - great teacher. Third grade? Oh. My. Goodness. Bullying, yelling, belittling - and that was just the teacher. (And as the daughter of teachers, I tend to have LOTS and LOTS of grace for them.) DS was made fun of by other students for his interests (weather) and put down for his lack of interests (Sketchers). When I talked calmly to the principal about some specfic bullying issues, I was given parenting advice and a little pat on the head. DS was miserable, and no matter how much I tried to become involved and be present at school, there was just no way to push my way into the "in" crowd of parents who ran the place. I was ready to call it - DH wasn't convinced.

 

In April of last year, we adopted our now 14 year old daughter internationally, and while we were granted custody of her in April, adoption was not finalized until November (after two more trips), and in between we were not ALLOWED to enroll her in public school because of the Visa she entered the US on. Hallelujah! We decided to pull our two boys out (DS2 just finished K) and home school all three to help with bonding/attachment.

 

Best decision we have EVER made. Even my husband agrees. It is a TON of work on top of adding a new teen to the family mix, but I cannot imagine how we would've managed to come as far as we have as a new family of five if the schools still owned so much of our time. My parents are fully supportive of our decision, and even teach the kids when they visit. :D

 

And if you salt it enough, the crow doesn't taste half bad... :lol:

 

Yay for you. What a beautiful story and a loving mom you are. May God greatly bless your endeavors !

Faithe

[LizzyBee]

The first time I heard of homeschooling was when a friend of mine pulled her kids out of a DODDS (ps on military base) to homeschool. I thought it was the strangest thing I'd ever heard of and I was certain I would never do that. Then I had kids. That changed my opinion on most things related to childrearing. :D

[NotSoObvious]

Me! Me! Another former school teacher! :)

 

Homeschooling creates poor performing, anti-social, weird kids, didn't you know?! Plus, you can't possibly teach your own children without a teaching degree!!! :D

 

Ha! It's like how I used to tell parents how to parent before I was a parent. Yep, just like that.

[missesd]

*raising hand*

 

I was one of those moms who couldn't wait to send little Johnny off to school. I had earned it, it was my "me" time... FREE childcare... WOO HOO!! I mean WHO turns that down??

 

I had one friend that homeschooled her son, and she was constantly tired, constantly complaining about how hard it was, she never had time for x, y or z, and I never saw her :( I had another friend who took all her kids out because the school argued with her over the contents of his lunch :confused: I thought they were both a little cuckoo for Coco Puffs... LOL

 

But then we moved BACK to Vegas, and now I had middle schoolers. My eldest who was gifted and talented, couldn't get into Algebra because they disn't teach that level yet. He was CONSTANTLY harassed by the other kids and bullied. The school did *nothing*. My other son who was a social butterfly always wanted to stay home :001_huh: After having it out with the Science Teacher about assigning to watch a Football game as "homework" (we didn't and still don't have mainstream TV), I made the (at the time) horrendous decision to pull them :blink:

 

I had NO idea what I was doing!! The first year we deprogrammed, and I pretty much "unschooled". The next year we signed up with Homeschool Learning Network. It was bare bones, but at least it was something... I was STILL scared to death!! The next year I got braver and added Saxon...YAY me!! LOL That was 2007. By 2008 and I was doing better, but I didn't actually sit down AND make myself read the WTM till the Summer of 2010!!! I checked it out every year, but with babies, nursing, pregnancy... it just seemed I never had time. It required me BUYING it, so I didn't have to return it, and knowing I shelled out x amount of $, so I didn't want to waste it. I had to force the kids out of my room and to leave me alone so I could study and take notes. I wish I had made myself do it sooner. With it came a sense of confidence. I finally had a purpose and a reason deeper then "my schools suck" to homeschool. It gave me a clear, concise plan... no more wondering or worrying what I was going to do, and was it enough?

 

Now, I am not going to say I am a model student of TWTM... we are behind, but I also know the little I do is still better then the "much" they do in PS- because I have seen that in action, proven by testing. Life happens, sometimes school doesn't happen everyday, and like many of you I am probably beating myself up for it... LOL But I LOVE it, I truly believe it is my life's passion and work. And having found TWTM, I am not sure if I would have gotten to where I am (or my kids) without it.

[*Inna*]

When my oldest was a baby, I thought homeschooling was only for missionaries. :tongue_smilie: My husband was homeschooled for a few years when they were abroad.

 

Then she grew older and we put her in a very nice Christian preschool. One day, I came to pick her up a little earlier and saw her reading aloud to her friends. I chatted with her sweet teacher and she told to think about homeschooling.

 

At the same time, we were looking to buy a house and the "good districts" were waaaaay out of our price range.

 

So, we talked, and talked, and read a lot of books about homeschooling and here we are. :D

[Momling]

I thought homeschooling was for weirdos. It never occurred to me that it might be a viable option. I'm also an ex-public school teacher. I just eased myself into homeschooling. First I afterschooled (because of the dismal math program), then we moved to an alternative public school using it first full-time, then part-time and now just two art classes a week. It's really just come down to knowing I can do the job of educating my kids better... At least for now...

Our local high school is really good and I anticipate sending them. But who knows?

[awisha.]

I was oblivious to homeschooling until my DD was bullied by boys in her class during her first semester of Prep/Kinder. My DS is not going to school next year. My DH says they have to go to high school (7-12), but I have 6 years to convince him that homeschooling is best :)

[YLVD]

Accident and against my will.

We homeschooled for 8 years.

 

Same, we did it for two years though.

 

My daughter had amazing experiences in public school. I was and am a fan.

 

But, she started having health problems and she had to miss a ton. Add to that she has a learning disability and homeschooling was ideal for a few years.

 

We found a great alternative style school in my district. Only 80 kids and geared towards learning challenges, etc. She LOVES it, as do I.

 

So yes, by accident and never wanted to, tbh. It was nice though in many ways. I'm happy she's back in school though.

[Runningmom80]

Me! I'm still a little iffy about it, if I'm being personally honest. :lol: my DS is a square peg, and I just have no desire to sand down the edges. :D

[Catherine]

I too had a child who was miserable in school. In fact, he was miserable for 7 years. Looking back, I wish I had made it happen sooner for him. I so regret those lost years of his happiness.

 

I was a little discouraged by the homeschoolers I knew IRL. One had kids who were woefully behind (I later learned they are dyslexic). I also know a couple of "unschoolers" who really just do very little academic work, or learning or any kind at all. I dunno, maybe they do. But their 18 yo can't do very basic arithmetic and reads mostly comic books so I did not form a positive impression of unschoolers.