So, what is the hardest age to homeschool?

[Marie131]

My oldest is in 2nd so we are really just starting and I'm curious. :)

[swellmomma]

The age I am currently teaching any given year lol. Every year I think that's it, this is the hardest age, and then the next year I think it all over again.

[nmoira]

The age I am currently teaching any given year lol. Every year I think that's it, this is the hardest age, and then the next year I think it all over again.

 

This, precisely.

[Marie131]

haha, I am trying to tell myself that it will be all good until highschool :lol: It's such a distant marker it does not scare me. I'm hoping for validation here - lol

[Starr]

I loved the freedom of the early grades. It's been most difficult as they've gotten into middle/high school. School is more demanding and you can't just take off because there is something interesting going on at the museum.

[sassenach]

12 was pretty horrific.

[PachiSusan]

So far (I have a 4th grader) 3rd grade was the most fun and the most challenging attitude wise.

[CyndiLJ]

We've been homeschooling 3 1/2 years, and the first 3 months were the hardest for my then 5th grader coming out of public ed. I didn't know what I was doing, had no confidence, and he was lonely until we brought his siblings home as well (long story). We eventually got our groove on, and now, though it is a lot of work, we are having a great time!

[Jilly]

For me it was when they were young. When my twins were 5/6 and my youngest was 1/2 I was tired, overwhelmed, and far too hard on myself. As they have gotten older, and I have gotten more experience, homeschooling has gotten easier and more enjoyable.

[Ali in OR]

There are different challenges at different ages. All learning is so Mom-dependent before they read well--that can be a tiring age. Currently we have so many activities that we're a lot more time-challenged than when they were younger. We are planning to put them in school for high school; if we weren't, there would be a lot of stress in making sure they are appropriately challenged and doing high level work in all subjects, even the ones that aren't my specialty. There are also advantages and cool things about each age too though!

[Lily_Grace]

11/12. My kid went stupid and didn't break out of it until 13, and even that was halfway. The hormones, the added responsibility/expecations, and the need for constant hand holding nearly drove us both insane.

[klmama]

I would say 12-13 is the hardest stage.

[Lori D.]

Depends on how you define "hard". And it depends on the child.

 

"Hard" to me is butting heads, attitude, and trying to figure out physical or learning issues. So for me, due to trying to figure out how to handle one DS's learning disabilities AND extremely strong-will AND extremely out-of-the-box thinking -- it was DEFINITELY the early years (grades 1-4).

 

Middle school (grades 5-8) we finally got over the hump of the above issues, so we had a lot of fun! A bit of "boy pre-teen hormones and issues" -- but believe me, it was *nothing* compared to what we'd already gone through, esp. when DSs were babies/toddlers/pre-school aged :ohmy: . I know for many others, however, hitting the pre-teen/young teen stage can be horrible, so for many people this would be the hardest stage. It wasn't for us -- in those middle school years, it was really fun seeing them beginning to develop as people, being more independent in their learning, and finding school a bit more interesting at this age.

 

High school took a lot more TIME, so for those who are time-challenged, that might be hardest. But for me, it was probably the most interesting and mentally stimulating, with amazing conversations all the time, and being more of a mentor and facilitator and getting to just enjoy the fruits of the earlier labor. ;) Unexpectedly stumbling into some fabulous extracurricular activities. And what a privilege to see them become such amazing young adults with interests, ideas, and delightful personalities!

 

 

12 years of homeschooling here, and I sure wish we had a few more at home -- it was such a wonderful journey overall! I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)

 

 

ETA:

WOW! I really am "odd man out" in this thread! I can't believe that there's no one else out there who has found it gets easier as you go?? Guess I really am a weirdo from another planet. [insert picture of Gonzo here] -- LOL!

[Holly]

I have a hardest child to homeschool. :blush: And it happens to be my oldest...everyone else seems to have an easy time with their oldest. My 2nd child is so easy to homeschool by comparison.

 

As far as age, my kids at age 4-6 tend to be very emotional...lots of tears and temper tantrums over the smallest things. By age 6 or 7, this stage has passed. My current 6yo has been no exception. I'm hoping she moves past this stage soon.

[TheApprentice]

For me, it's the 12-13 age range. I have one already past this age, one currently in it. And it's not the academics, it's their growing independence/attitude. And I still have one more to get past this stage. :eek:

[Jane in NC]

I homeschooled my son from 7th through 12th grade. Despite the overwhelming fear that I had during the college app process (Did I screw up my kid for life?!?!?), I would say that the worst was around age 13 or 14. These are the crazy testosterone rage years where hormones create little monsters out of our sweet little boys. I quickly learned the value of exhausting physical exercise in my son's daily life.

 

By the way, sweet young boys become delightful young men.

[Crimson Wife]

I have had more issues in the past few months since my DD started puberty than the previous 5 years of HSing combined. I remember 6th grade being the worst when I was growing up. Now with DD being HSed, hopefully she won't have as much of the mean girl cliquishness to make her miserable, but we're still dealing with the hormonal angst.

[briansmama]

So far (I have a 4th grader) 3rd grade was the most fun and the most challenging attitude wise.

 

 

This gives me hope. We are in the thick of the 9yr change and third grade and it's pretty rough sometimes. I find myself dreaming of last year when ds was in 2nd grade and it was so peaceful (except for my youngest who was going through a difficult phase himself last year and I spent last year looking forward to this one).

 

Although for us, the challenges are more parenting than homeschooling. My ds do really well together and with me during lesson time. It's when I leave the room to do laundry or something that all heck breaks loose.

[AimeeM]

Puberty.

All of puberty.

:p

[Mandy in TN]

For us, middle school (5-8) is the most difficult as far as dealing with the children and their education. Those late logic stage kids and puberty. They are exhausting.

 

The first time around I was worried about high school and if I was messing up by not sending him to a traditional classroom. I worried about college applications and college interviews. I worried, but actually dealing the high schooler and his education wasn't difficult.

 

I love K-4. They are so easy-peasy- no worries, lots of mom-and-me time.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Lilaclady]

I have only homschooled k-4th but I think middle school might be the most challenging with all the puberty stuff and kids thinking they know more than they actually do. For us, behavior have been more challenging than the academics for now. I can't say what it will be in high school

[FloridaLisa]

Hands down it's 15 years old with a boy. Daily sports for the boy are mandatory and a thick skin and strong spine suggested for the mama. :001_smile:

 

Lisa

[Jaybee]

I have a hardest child to homeschool. :blush: And it happens to be my oldest...everyone else seems to have an easy time with their oldest.

 

 

:iagree: My oldest was the hardest, no matter what age he was. The other (five) have all been easy compared to him. He's 26 now. I do find the early grades tiring, as they are so teacher-intensive, and you are still finding your/their style. The older grades have different challenges, but we try to move toward a lot of independence as they get older, and it is also very satisfying to relate to the thinking young adults.

 

Right now, my ds9 is a challenge (ds12 is relatively easy), because he is so sensitive that the slightest correction, such as a wrong math problem, sends him into a funk. I'm trying to imagine that he is getting a little better. :001_unsure:

[boscopup]

The age when my youngest was 18 months? :lol:

 

Really, this year has been super duper easy with my oldest. He's 3rd grade. So for me, it HAS gotten easier each year... so far. I haven't hit the scary middle and high school years yet though, so I know things could change! :tongue_smilie: The nice thing about this year has been that he's getting a bit more independence, but we don't have a TON of work yet because it's still elementary.

 

My middle one is only in K, and so far, his year has been pretty easy, though teaching reading is requiring a LOT of patience on my part. Really, everything requires patience with him. :lol: But it's also been very rewarding, we've had a lot of good discussions, and I have loved teaching my sweet little guy. :001_wub:

 

I really think the hardest years are going to depend largely on the kid. My oldest has been fairly easy every year, except maybe with writing. That's so much better this year than previous years! But overall, he's an easy kid to teach. He learns quickly, follows directions (usually), and now he's starting to get a little more independent. Middle son is not bad to teach, but he is an imaginative 6 year old boy. :D And youngest is already independent, at age 3.5. I'm sure he'll be super duper easy to teach. In fact, he'll probably be like, "Mom! I know that already! Just let me do my work!" :rolleyes: He's my baby sponge and picks things up easily like his oldest brother, but has that "I do it myself!" attitude about everything, including school. He has his pile of workbooks that he does as his "school", and he doesn't want me to teach those workbooks.

[Walking-Iris]

Last year when my oldest was in 3rd grade. It was horrible. I wanted to quit a million times. This year hasn't been perfect but it's been tons better.

 

In my case I think it was a situation of drastically changing homeschool methods and philosophy that did it. Now I'm finding a middle ground, a balance.

[Carrie12345]

12 was BAD!!!

 

[OhanaBee]

WOW! I really am "odd man out" in this thread! I can't believe that there's no one else out there who has found it gets easier as you go?? Guess I really am a weirdo from another planet. [insert picture of Gonzo here] -- LOL!

 

 

No, I found it was easier as they got older. I think the worst year we had was the first one with my oldest dd. I put so much pressure on her to "get it right" that we were both miserable by the end of that year. Thankfully I had sane homeschooling friends who talked me through realistic expectations.

 

With my middle dd 11/12/13 were tough years. So. Much. Drama.

 

My youngest is scaring me a little because I can't ever remember a tough time with her. We still have 3 [ish] years to go and I really hope I'm not going to be eating my "Oh it's easier as they get older...." words in the next few years!

[amyco]

I vote 7th grade, or 12 years old. Oh dear. So hard to homeschool 7th graders. If it's this hard at home, I wonder how they do it at public school?

 

ETA: I guess they don't homeschool at the public school, and maybe that makes it easier for them! lol

[mama27]

My oldest is in 2nd so we are really just starting and I'm curious. :)

 

 

For me it's been pre-readers. I really do not like teaching reading. I'm thinking of having a party when my youngest 2 can finally read on their own.

[Hockey Mom]

Depends on which grade DS10 is in. He is my challenging child. Head strong + Super smart = Exhausting. DS8 just wants to finish school as quickly as he can so he can go play. So he tends to concentrate and move through the required work. DS10 would rather reenact the Battle of Gettysburg in his head, using shadow puppets and pencil toppers instead of doing his work.

 

Someone once told me that little boys are harder when they are little, but easier as teens. I pray she knew what she was talking about.

[AK_Mom4]

ETA:

WOW! I really am "odd man out" in this thread! I can't believe that there's no one else out there who has found it gets easier as you go?? Guess I really am a weirdo from another planet. [insert picture of Gonzo here] -- LOL!

 

 

It definitely has gotten easier here as we have gone along. I think 2nd & 3rd grades (DD's first two years being homeschooled) were the toughest. I find elementary school to be VERY boring.

 

These days, DD11 is studying pretty interesting material. We have intelligent discussions about what she reads. It's quite fun most days.

[lllll]

..

[oldskool]

I think it is harder for me to homeschool them during the younger years and harder for them to be homeschooled in the teen years.

[momtokea]

I think 12 - 14 is kind of hard. My girls are 13 and 15 now, and I have found the last couple of years difficult. The reason is because they stop playing and don't know how to fill their time productively. Up until the age of 12 my kids played with their toys, did crafts, played outside, baked, etc. The loved everything and were excited to do anything I suggested. They were never bored and always busy.

 

But then they outgrew all of that, I didn't know what to do to help them fill the time productively. They didn't know what to do and for the first time started to be bored. Now my 15 year old has a small part-time job, does some volunteer work a couple of times a week, and is generally happy and busy again, but with different things than what occupied her time when she was younger. 12 - 14 seemed to be a transition period where things change and it takes a while to get used to the new normal. They are too old for childish things, but too young for older things.

 

For us the academics have never been hard, we just do our school work like usual. It was during their free time that I had issues, and finding constructive ways to fill their time.

[Pod's mum]

For me it was 40. And then again at about 45.

Or is that not what you meant? ;)

[Mommyfaithe]

I think the hardest for girls was11-13.....very hormonal, emotionally charged time.

For boys, after age 16. After my experience with my older 2, my younger 2 will be dual enrolled in the CC by 16....or in private High School......or working full time for Dad for. Few years to save money for college....but there is no way I will have them HERE full time in high school. There is only so much Mom a boy can take!

[momtoamiracle]

I homeschooled my son from 7th through 12th grade. Despite the overwhelming fear that I had during the college app process (Did I screw up my kid for life?!?!?), I would say that the worst was around age 13 or 14. These are the crazy testosterone rage years where hormones create little monsters out of our sweet little boys. I quickly learned the value of exhausting physical exercise in my son's daily life.

 

By the way, sweet young boys become delightful young men.

 

 

I've wondered this! My six year old is a wonderful child.he is so loving and sweet, I often wonder if he will stay like that growing up!

[ktgrok]

12 was pretty horrific.

 

agreed.

[Paula in MS]

I thought the first through third grade years were the hardest because my dd just didn't care at all about school. She wanted to play. We could go through the motions, but she wouldn't apply herself because she was always thinking about something else. Things have turned around now that we are in 5th grade because she is understanding that she needs to learn the material. We have entered into the puberty stage, but we haven't had any problems except the period of time where she needed to eat all day long which drove me crazy. We have made a lot of progress in the past year and a half. I pray it continues.

[jkeys]

We've home-schooled all of our children, and our oldest (13) is having the biggest difficulties, mostly due to all the social cliques that form at school. She's made some good friends through church groups but is singing the blues of "home schooling" lately...definately harder than my two younger girls (age 7 and 5).

[Kari C in SC]

11/12. My kid went stupid and didn't break out of it until 13, and even that was halfway. The hormones, the added responsibility/expecations, and the need for constant hand holding nearly drove us both insane.

 

 

Yep! I would say somewhere between 11 and 13. When my oldest was in 8th grade, I thought I might have needed a padded room at the end of each day.

[J-rap]

For me, it was when they were in the second half of their high school years. Not that their behavior was hard or anything like that, but that I felt less adequately prepared to teach certain subjects (like math!).

[Peaceful Isle]

For me, it hasn't been a "hard" age, but it's been a hard child. Now, I love all my children the same , but one is MUCH harder to homeschool than the others. It's more of an attitude thing, rather than an academic reason, kwim? The tears that easily come, the "I don't know why I'm crying", the this is tooooo overwhelming (at a glance, not taking time to listen to me explain it). She is a great kid, and extremely helpful in other areas in life ( dishes, playing with the baby etc..) sigh, one else have a child like mine? or am I the only one? :/

[Anne in CA]

I will say the hardest years for me have been 11, 12, because at those ages my kids want so much to be independent, and yet do still need me. So we have uncomfortable times when I need them to learn from me, and not the book, and they want to bypass me and go straight to the source. Because, by 11 and 12 they have figured out that I don't know everything and they are skeptical of me, lol.

[EMS83]

Depends on how you define "hard". And it depends on the child.

 

"Hard" to me is butting heads, attitude, and trying to figure out physical or learning issues. So for me, due to trying to figure out how to handle one DS's learning disabilities AND extremely strong-will AND extremely out-of-the-box thinking -- it was DEFINITELY the early years (grades 1-4).

 

Middle school (grades 5-8) we finally got over the hump of the above issues, so we had a lot of fun! A bit of "boy pre-teen hormones and issues" -- but believe me, it was *nothing* compared to what we'd already gone through, esp. when DSs were babies/toddlers/pre-school aged :ohmy: . I know for many others, however, hitting the pre-teen/young teen stage can be horrible, so for many people this would be the hardest stage. It wasn't for us -- in those middle school years, it was really fun seeing them beginning to develop as people, being more independent in their learning, and finding school a bit more interesting at this age.

 

High school took a lot more TIME, so for those who are time-challenged, that might be hardest. But for me, it was probably the most interesting and mentally stimulating, with amazing conversations all the time, and being more of a mentor and facilitator and getting to just enjoy the fruits of the earlier labor. ;) Unexpectedly stumbling into some fabulous extracurricular activities. And what a privilege to see them become such amazing young adults with interests, ideas, and delightful personalities!

 

 

12 years of homeschooling here, and I sure wish we had a few more at home -- it was such a wonderful journey overall! I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)

 

 

ETA:

WOW! I really am "odd man out" in this thread! I can't believe that there's no one else out there who has found it gets easier as you go?? Guess I really am a weirdo from another planet. [insert picture of Gonzo here] -- LOL!

 

I'm just starting out, but I'm hoping it goes how you describe!!

[EMS83]

For me, it hasn't been a "hard" age, but it's been a hard child. Now, I love all my children the same , but one is MUCH harder to homeschool than the others. It's more of an attitude thing, rather than an academic reason, kwim? The tears that easily come, the "I don't know why I'm crying", the this is tooooo overwhelming (at a glance, not taking time to listen to me explain it). She is a great kid, and extremely helpful in other areas in life ( dishes, playing with the baby etc..) sigh, one else have a child like mine? or am I the only one? :/

 

My DD is a bit like this. She'll work up to a point and then after that, there's a lot of emotions involved. I don't know what to do about it, though, sorry! I usually take the "do it during school time or during your free time, you decide" approach. But it makes me wonder if I'm requiring too much and if maybe they should all be playing more.

[kristi26]

For me, the year we tried cyber school with the three big kids. They were K, 3rd, and 6th. It was awful. This year has been a lot of fun...then again, we aren't cyber schooling anymore! :tongue_smilie:

[jenL]

Depends on which grade DS10 is in. He is my challenging child. Head strong + Super smart = Exhausting. DS8 just wants to finish school as quickly as he can so he can go play. So he tends to concentrate and move through the required work. DS10 would rather reenact the Battle of Gettysburg in his head, using shadow puppets and pencil toppers instead of doing his work.

 

Someone once told me that little boys are harder when they are little, but easier as teens. I pray she knew what she was talking about.

 

I could have written this post about my eldest who turns 10 in April. I decided today that everyday I am fighting a battle that I can never win. I am EXHAUSTED. He has been hard from the beginning, and I'm beginning to freak out with all the answers of 12/13 since I can only imagine he will become worse - oh my.

 

My youngest is in K, and he is a joy to teach! He's a happier kid though, and he does very well with rolling with each day and finding joy in the simplest situations. I'm hoping he will be easy since my eldest has been so hard.

[Hockey Mom]

 

I could have written this post about my eldest who turns 10 in April. I decided today that everyday I am fighting a battle that I can never win. I am EXHAUSTED. He has been hard from the beginning, and I'm beginning to freak out with all the answers of 12/13 since I can only imagine he will become worse - oh my.

 

My youngest is in K, and he is a joy to teach! He's a happier kid though, and he does very well with rolling with each day and finding joy in the simplest situations. I'm hoping he will be easy since my eldest has been so hard.

 

I'm a little freaked out by the 11/12 answers too. My boy just turned 10 couple of weeks ago...maybe the stars aligned off-kilter back in 2003? ;) My DS8 is exactly like your K. He's very laid back and just-go-with-the-flow kind of kid. My DD, who is a young adult, was so very different than my boys. She's a 'people pleaser'.

 

I was attributing DS10's behavior to birth order. He's technically a "middle child", but there are so many years between DD and DS10, that he's more like a 'first born'. He seems to have inherited all of the good AND bad traits that come with being a first AND middle child.

[2squared]

I've only homeschooled up to 5th grade, but thus far, the most difficult years have been when we've had a baby or toddler. Oh....wait....that's been every year. :unsure:

 

My most difficult times are definitely tied to the little people and not to my schooled children.