What is your biggest gripe about homeschooling?

[Mekanamom]

The biggest complaint I have is that I have way too many shoes to fill! Wife, mom, teacher, cook, maid,

 

Yeah. Too many shoes. That's me too...

 

It's not too much to want a clean house, tidy yard, healthy/tasty meals... clean, well educated children, a hobby or two, and an opportunity to provide a little service to help others is it?? It just doesn't seem like too much to expect of myself and yet it is always just too much to attain all at one time.

 

Sigh.

 

When I can afford a cleaning service and a gardening service I am not going to feel even one tiny little bit guilty about it!! :D

[Sahamamama]

For me it's the constant dialogue in my own head. Am I doing this right? Should it really only take 4 hours to cover everything in a day? Is it okay that I'm reading a book (or on the hive) while the kids are playing? On and on and on. I wonder if my kids were in school, if I would still be so self doubting.

 

YES! THAT'S IT! :iagree::iagree::iagree: "The constant dialogue in my own head." Now there's a phrase, and my husband would agree, only he would ask, "Why can't it STAY in your head?" :lol:

[Carol in Cal.]

...the need to be a disciplinarian about life in general AND about all schoolwork,

 

and,

 

Gauging how hard to push on academics in different areas. How much is a reasonable workload? How much is enough? How much whining is reflective of reality and how much is just a ploy? Is that ploy working? It CAN'T work; I can't let it work!

 

But, it's worth it. Especially when DD comes out with some little random allusion to an obscure historical fact. Or when we are working along on something and she makes a little comment in German. Or when she quotes the Bible at me, to my detriment, but sort of respectfully. (So glad she knows it well enough to do that, and so glad that she feels strongly enough to do so, and so glad that she can do so assertively without being aggressive.)

 

See, I just CAN'T be all negative in a homeschooling post. Because homeschooling is just too cool for that!

[abbeyej]

I know, but you all are too far. :001_unsure:

 

Well, you know where to find a bunch of us! :) (And other sorts of home schoolers too...)

[Mekanamom]

The lack of more hs friends. Just not too many secular classical homeschoolers about.

 

Oh, I hear ya on that. I was part of an awesome group of ladies that I just loved to death, but I did get a little pressure about the whole classical thing.

 

Now they have all moved away and/or graduated their kids...

 

I tried a couple groups since then- but they were the kind of situations where "What church do you go to?" was asked within the first 10 minutes. On one hand, I'm glad to know right away that faith is an issue. On the other hand...

 

Just where do all the secular classical homeschoolers hide out, anyway??

[fosterisacoolcat]

Oh, I hear ya on that. I was part of an awesome group of ladies that I just loved to death, but I did get a little pressure about the whole classical thing.

 

Now they have all moved away and/or graduated their kids...

 

I tried a couple groups since then- but they were the kind of situations where "What church do you go to?" was asked within the first 10 minutes. On one hand, I'm glad to know right away that faith is an issue. On the other hand...

 

Just where do all the secular classical homeschoolers hide out, anyway??

 

I get asked that a LOT now that I moved to Houston. I never understood why!

[Mamagistra]

That my faults are magnified. Lack of self-discipline, procrastination, disorganization... The stakes are so very high if I indulge any of those faults -- it's not just a company or a pay-check in jeopardy, it's my children's futures.

 

That, lol, and no alone time. ;)

 

:iagree: This gig highlights my every shortcoming. :blush:

[laughing lioness]

:iagree: with what's already been posted. In addition, the independence of homeschoolers and the difficulty in working together on things (but maybe that's just where I live?). The lack of opportunities for high schoolers (again could be location).

[sleepy]

The lack of more hs friends. Just not too many secular classical homeschoolers about.

 

Yeah, this is a serious problem out here in the boonies where I live. :tongue_smilie:

[WTMindy]

That my faults are magnified. Lack of self-discipline, procrastination, disorganization... The stakes are so very high if I indulge any of those faults -- it's not just a company or a pay-check in jeopardy, it's my children's futures.

 

That, lol, and no alone time. ;)

Very well said, Abbey!!! That is exactly mine!!

[Tammyla]

:iagree: Those and finding a balance of lessons, activities, dinners at the table, laundry and a clean house, and enough sleep are necessary for me to function. Each year the balance part gets a little easier as my kids grow, but it is still an effort.

 

That my faults are magnified. Lack of self-discipline, procrastination, disorganization... The stakes are so very high if I indulge any of those faults -- it's not just a company or a pay-check in jeopardy, it's my children's futures.

 

That, lol, and no alone time. ;)

[ticklbee]

The one thing that bugs me about homeschooling?

 

Well, that would have to be the whiny, "I can't do it" from my oldest. She just doesn't like to try and if she can't do something perfect the first time (really, who can?), then she starts with the I give up and can't do it attitude. No amount of encouragement helps.

 

The reason this bugs me is because it's only with me she does this. Any other adult she would continue to persevere and try. But because I'm the one teaching her most things...well, you can guess :glare:

[Kim in Appalachia]

give as much attention as I would like to my younger ones. I focus a lot of time on the older kids, the little ones seem to get pushed to the side.

[Barb_]

I can handle homeschooling and life on a day to day basis. Now that I've graduated one and the younger one is attending a small, classical charter high school (and pounding through the rigorous curriculum), I'm finally beginning to realize my faults are only a small part of the picture. I'm doing far more things right than I am wrong. I take time for myself when I need it or simply want it. I've finally convinced my husband that what I do is a full-time job and need him at times to take off a day or a few hours when someone has an appointment and I have a scheduling conflict. This year is going swimmingly.

 

My biggest issue is with those extra things that take up huge amounts of time and don't go away simply because all of your time is spoken for--birthdays, Christmas, new babies, that sort of thing. It feels like someone throws a stick in my spokes.

 

The other issue I run into is ennui. I can't look at certain curriculum choices that have always worked in the past simply because I'm so darned sick of the books. I want to cry every time I dig out the Rod and Staff Grammar. I'm sick of little Fanny and her hymns and I don't really care that Dorcas is always helpful. Some days my whole life feels like Groundhog Day. Maybe I have the 14 year itch.

 

Barb

[Mom-ninja.]

The one thing that bugs me about homeschooling?

 

Well, that would have to be the whiny, "I can't do it" from my oldest. She just doesn't like to try and if she can't do something perfect the first time (really, who can?), then she starts with the I give up and can't do it attitude. No amount of encouragement helps.

 

The reason this bugs me is because it's only with me she does this. Any other adult she would continue to persevere and try. But because I'm the one teaching her most things...well, you can guess :glare:

 

This is my ds! It's so frustrating isn't it?! That is one thing that tries my patience.

[Marie in Oh]

My biggest regret with homeschooling is the loss of special "little ones" time. When my older kids were little, we did so much. We went to story hour at the library, park days when it was gorgeous outside, spent way more time wiggling our toes in the mud and just relishing in being alive and little.

 

Now that my older kids' school days take so much of my time and energy, my little ones are the ones that lose that mommy time. There is only so much of me to give.

 

I do honestly regret the loss.

 

Even reading to the littles suffers. I am trying to do those little things with my younger ones, but it is hard when school takes up so much time. And my oldest is only in 5th grade. I can't imagine high schoolers.

[asher]

That my faults are magnified. Lack of self-discipline, procrastination, disorganization... The stakes are so very high if I indulge any of those faults -- it's not just a company or a pay-check in jeopardy, it's my children's futures.

 

That, lol, and no alone time. ;)

 

Oh, wow, good point. I'd have to agree here. :P

[Nicole not in CA]

Teaching math. :) On a more serious note, sometimes I get overwhelmed by the fact that I am solely responsible for my child's education. There are no second chances. Having said that, I love this life and would choose no other.

[littleleadvillelady]

That I get emotionally involved in math lessons. I mean think about it, when you were in school as a child, did you ever see your teacher in tears or on the verge of tears because of your math lesson? LOL

Amy

[littleleadvillelady]

Oh I also forgot to mention the self ceated pressure. I have a daughter that struggles with reading and because I homeschool I am convinced it must be my fault and that I messed up somewhere along the way. It is hard to accept that some kids just are that way no matter how brilliant there teacher is. :)

[FlockOfSillies]

See, I look at those things as parenting things, not homeschooling things. I don't care about paychecks, I get enough alone time, but I really don't want my kids to turn out with my worst traits (i.e., becoming diluted versions of my mom).

[Ferdie]

For me the down side of homeschooling is my desire to reach out to others, but I just don't have the time to do it. This last year two of my neighbors brought home an aging parent. I really wanted to go and support them by taking a meal or offering to sit with their parent so they could go run an errand. But six months later, by the end of the school year, both parents had gone to retirement homes and I never was able to support them the way I hoped.

 

We also had a family in our small group that was struggling financially. The dh was out of a job for over a year. Our group adopted them for Christmas, but I really meant to take the wife a wonderfully smelling candle in the fall or a bag of fun groceries in the spring - something to show we cared. Now here it is a year later, the dh has a job, (praise, God) but I never did anything tangible to show our support.

 

The list goes on and on: writing to my invalid Aunt, calling my nieces and nephews, serving in our children's program at church, taking a meal to someone in need. I just wish I could fit it all in.

 

On one hand I love hs and I know that this is where God wants me to focus my time and energy. On the other hand I feel like we are very self-absorbed and that is the hardest part of homeschooling for me.

[Staci in MO]

Math? I can handle. Dawdling? Yeah. But I'd rather have them dawdling at ten in the morning than at 7 pm over homework.

 

But I get tired of coming up with lunch. I joke that I'm going to see if I can enroll my dc in ps for just lunch. Kind of like an elective.

[Staci in MO]

That my faults are magnified.

 

I was thinking about how one particular child never wants to do his work. He will put off anything he possibly can, and do whatever he can to wiggle out of something - especially if it's difficult.

 

Where did he get that sort of attitude?

 

:blush: His mother.

 

Like you said, my faults are magnified. In my case, they were being reflected back to me.

[Diana in OR]

Mine's completely different. For me, the worst part of homeschooling is running my dc around to their outside activities and sitting in the car for a couple of hours while they are in said activity. Add to that trying to "car school" one dc while the other is at band practice or whatever. I just plain don't like that!

 

Fwiw, I know lots of hs moms who enjoy that time and use it to do their crafts, knitting, etc., but that's not my thing at all.

[Raini]

Stuff, stuff, and more stuff. I struggle with organization and it's hard to deal with all the curricula, art, books, paper, toys, etc.

 

I'm dealing with the dining/school area today and I feel like I'm drowning.

[Mamagistra]

I'm sick of little Fanny and her hymns and I don't really care that Dorcas is always helpful.

 

:lol::lol: Hysterical, that!

[Frontier Mom]

The being responsible for ds's education. Scary sometimes to think I might not be covering all the bases, or I am and he is not getting it.

 

Living life so transparently...little alone time, etc. I told my husband not too long ago that I was tired of being a good example. I wanted to sit on the couch, eat junk food and watch TV all day. ;)

 

I'm with you all the way!! I told my dh I feel like once we actually do finish the year I have to start working to figure out the next year. I feel like I can never check that little box "DONE" and relax, eat chocolate and read or watch TV all day.

[melmac]

The cost of curriculum. and that's it.

 

I love, love, love everything else about it.