Mental boost.......educational experiences our kids have bc they are homeschooled

[8filltheheart]

I thought it might be fun and uplifting to share some of the opportunities our kids have due to homeschooling....experiences that they would not be able to have if they went to the local ps.

 

(I shared this one on the high school board.) My dd was watching a clip of a Russian opera. The Russian is beyond her current level, but it had subtitles in French. So dd was translating the Russian from the French subtitles.

 

My 7th grader is definitely not like my other kids. She artsy and creative. She blossoms when she expresses her creative side. Rather than spending this yr on essay writing, I decided to let her focus on creative writing. Oh my, she is becoming such a gifted writer! Her stories and descriptive paragraphs are beautifully articulated and a pure pleasure to read.

 

I love homeschooling! Our family is so blessed by our kids being allowed to thrive in being themselves and not being defined, categorized, and confined by test scores and pre-determined scope/sequence.

[wintermom]

I've noticed as my own son and a few other homeschooling friend's chidren have headed to junior or senior high school that their time and energy to do certain activities now that they are in school is greatly descreased. While homeschooling, my son used to have time to do guitar, band, choir, art, drama and a whole variey of recreational sports and leadership. Now that he's in grade 7 at building school his time outside of school is limited, and the variety of subjects he can participate in during school hours is much less. Plus the homework he's required to do limits the time he has available outside of school. I've tried to keep him involved in as many activities as he's always done, but he's finding it very tiring.

 

The efficiency of time use while homeschooling, and the variety of opportunities homeschool parents often take advantage of or create, really enhances the learning opportunities my children have had. We have the flexibility to try new things (very often at lower prices and better times than mainstream classes are offered), pursue those we love and choose to master, and move away from things that are not the best fit at that particular time.

[Dmmetler]

My DD has been able to dig deeply into her interest in herpetology, participating in research projects, attending conferences, and doing education events. Most kids, at age 9, can't go to a preschool or kindergarten class for "S day" to share snakes and lead them through an "S is for snake" craft, because they're in school themselves. They can't go out with a group of graduate students and catch lesser sirens, weigh, measure, scan, and tag those who aren't already tagged because they're in school.

 

Even if she ends up drifting away from herpetology, she's learning a lot.

 

Another plus is that she is able to carry a full academic load, do all her science stuff, and still do cheer team and dance and have time for reading, building with Legos, spending time on neopets, drawing, writing fan fiction, and the like. The schools in my area seem to send home a lot of homework, so conscientious kids end up really pressed for time as early as elementary school.

[maize]

For my oldest, homeschooling means she is able to put the time and energy she wants to into dance. Her classes often run late at night, and I cannot imagine any way for her to do what she does and remain healthy if she had to be up early in the morning for school.

For dd9, I see him thrive when he has time to pursue independent interests. He just finished the Dino 101 class on Coursera; the other night he sat down and drew from memory a dinosaur family tree with all the main branches.

[SorrelZG]

I got up one Monday morning to find DS8 on his way out the back door carrying his pen, his drawing notebook, and a copy of his favorite fishing book written by a naturalist, author and illustrator whose artwork he admires. He'd been awake for a while studying local fish in a species identification guide he'd recently found online and was heading out to sit by the river to watch the fishermen and draw for a while before making breakfast.

 

I headed back to bed with my coffee thinking about how he could be in a classroom right now, just settling down after a busy morning getting ready to be there. I'd been struggling with some homeschooling insecurity over the weekend but that morning—not so much.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Educational experiences?  Well, mostly it's the time to pursue interests, as others have said.  My older dd spends 6+ hours a week at the riding stables and performs in 2-3 theater productions each year.  I don't know how she would do that if she had a full load of classes and homework.  She's been able to follow up on interests, too, particularly in science - equine science, astronomy, entomology - rather than study the same 3 boring things in a boring way in the 45 min a week allotted to science in the elementary school she had been attending.

 

But the bigger benefit, which has become more obvious as she's gotten older, is that she still has time to play and read for fun.  Her friends are all growing up (w/o maturing) so quickly.  She is much more mature, yet seems younger than they are, if that makes sense.  She still loves imaginative play, and spends hours playing with her Breyer horses, and reads fantasy and mystery stories every day, over and over again.  I love that she has been able to stay connected with that playful, imaginative side and doesn't feel the need to hide who she is and what she likes to do in an effort to seem more grown up.

 

For my younger, the biggest benefit is being allowed to go at her own pace, rather than the pressured pace she felt in 1st grade with the focus on getting ready for testing.  She's at or ahead of grade level with everything, but she has achieved this while being relaxed and enjoying learning.  In ps she was constantly, constantly stressed.  So stress-free learning has been her biggest benefit so far, but the time thing is also very relevant - she does Brownies, vaulting, arts  crafts, and drama every week, and she will doing her first theatrical production this year, she's now old enough to audition.  At this point money is the limit, rather than time, about what extras she can do.

[momacacia]

I'm hoping there is a good bit of international travel in my dc's future, especially if it can be wrapped into DH's work. He has an opportunity to go to China and I would love for oldest and maybe me to be able to go. It just happens we're coming up on Ancient China in a few weeks! We'll see if flight money is there.

 

And there's the benefit of spending the afternoon designing and hand sewing an apron for her writing tutor whom she loves (even though she gives her too much homework ;)) instead of sitting in school. Her creativity really gets to blossom. Oldest also spent K in our little four season room surrounded by windows, sunshine, grass, birds, trees and the occasional chipmunk instead of in the B and M K I would have put her in with windows above my eye level.

 

(Thank you for this thread. I need it. Seeing what I'm offering my kids helps me deal with my and their gripes. Gratefulness. :))

[Chrysalis Academy]

I needed this thread too.  I felt very discouraged yesterday.  Thank you for starting it, 8, and to everyone for sharing your positive stories! It's a good reminder of why we are doing this, right?

[creekland]

The biggest plus to me has been being able to work at their own pace - more quickly when things have been easily understood and slowing down if they weren't.  Then too, rabbit trails can be thoroughly explored.

 

The second biggest plus has been being able to travel whenever we wanted to.  Field trips to various volcanoes sure helped understanding better than reading a book about them.  Learning about DC is one thing - going there gives a totally different dimension.

 

Then we've enjoyed "our" schedule.  We can be schooling when we want to and have our family time when we want it.  When we've had outdoor projects it was no problem fitting them in.  All three boys learned to help hubby with his field work when needed (essentially learning quite a bit about engineering surveying).  They helped me raise ponies - from birth to training to - well, all sorts of things.  They helped in the garden on our schedule.  They helped others when they needed it from a widow needing lawn care help to youth group leaders needing assistance with projects.  They've traveled to assist with hurricane cleanup/rebuilding.  And even with all of this, their academic scores surpassed the vast majority of their ps peers.

 

Then college came.  Not only were my guys all accepted with merit aid, they've found it easy to do classes and get involved with both student activities and professor-led things.  They aren't afraid to go out there and DO things or ask things and feel like they fit in with a wide variety of folks - just as they did here.  Middle son was working in a research lab where the vast majority of his "peers" didn't even realize he was an undergrad rather than a grad student - they found out at a social get together at the professor's house. ;)

 

Youngest opted to go to ps for his high school years putting a BIG crimp on our lifestyle, but even he learned enough from his homeschooling years to impress ALL of his high school teachers (for his maturity and ability to look in depth at a subject), and is also currently doing well in college.

 

I have NO regrets overall about homeschooling.  If you want minor regrets, I'll add in buying Rosetta Stone, but overall - it was ideal!

[SarahW]

Well, my kid got to spend a lot of time with his grandparents on their trip to Graceland. When he got back and I asked about what he saw he reported that they went to some guys house. But the guy was dead now. Sooo....yeah. 

 

:lol:

 

But altogether, yes, he has many more opportunities to just go. Get out. Do something. Like this morning, I loaded up a clipboard with his math and LA, and sent him off with dad to run errands. Not very efficient, school-wise, but sanity-inducing for all of us.

[Jackie]

I was sort of having this conversation with my 4yo this morning, as she questioned why she wouldn't be going to the school down the street next year.

 

Her science includes Legos and Snap Circuits and nature. She is learning Spanish. History is Walking With Dinosaurs, Coursera's Dino 101, and lots of good books. She wants to participate in some way in NaNoWriMo and I'm trying to figure out how to adapt it for her. And she can do all of this, with adaptations from me, without learning how to write - which she has very little interest in. She has time to do lessons in dance, gymnastics, swim, and violin, which just wouldn't fit in with a full time school schedule.

[purpleowl]

We're able to have lunch with DH's grandmother on a weekly basis.  She turned 92 yesterday, and I'm thankful that my kids are able to spend time with her regularly.  Maybe not an educational experience (though sometimes it is!), but definitely a good thing for building relationships.  If we didn't homeschool, my oldest wouldn't be able to be part of that.  

 

More directly educational, I can teach my kids what they're ready to learn and move at the pace that suits them.  

[violamama]

I never thought I would homeschool and I seem to catch on real slow, so I'm continually surprised how much we get out of it. 

 

My older kid's first year of school would have been all about discipline had he gone to the public school down the street (with 37 kids per kindergarten class). It would not have been much of an educational year. From other experiences we have had, I believe it would have planted seeds of hating both himself and school. Instead, we learned that he loves learning about the elements, science, rocks, and how things work. I learned that at this stage we are able to get it done in just a few hours per day, and his pace seems pretty speedy (and his little brother's right with him) even though he is not a particularly focused child. 

We have traveled a lot. I have friends who have a hard time getting their kids out of ps for one day, let alone the weeks and months we take. We dug rocks at an old Tungsten mine in Montana and a thunder egg farm in central Oregon. We hit up a turtle hospital in Florida and chased lizards in California. They have seen countless concerts and lots of RC Helicopter flights. They have favorite composers and know how to sit quietly and listen, and they'll chat your leg off if they are in line next to you at a Starbucks or a bookstore. 

 

I learned that I really love spending time with my kids (okay, well, mostly) and it feels like we are getting all these huge additional freebies on top of that. My kids like to play together. They sleep a good 12 hours at night and have several hours a day to themselves, and I keep reading that that's supposed to do good stuff to their brains. Those luxuries and some of our closeness as a family would disappear if we were on the district's schedule.

[Farrar]

We got to spend a month in Africa when the kids were younger - time I don't think we could have taken if they'd been in school. It was a really amazing trip for all of us.

 

It's often so hard to quantify. I think most of the experiences my kids get to have are available to school kids too, it's just that my kids have the time to have more of them. So ds has time to dance and play soccer. He has time to spend reading in the evening and programming. There's fewer choices to be made in terms of those sorts of things.

 

Today we went apple picking. And it was just a perfect day. I don't know that it was "educational" but it was one of those days that homeschooling gives us every once in awhile when the weather is right and the opportunity presents itself and we blow off schoolwork to go be and do and see instead of read and work. And it just makes us all feel positive at the end of the day.

[SeaConquest]

This is such a lovely thread. I am thankful for homeschooling because I am able to meet my son at his level and explore his interests. He was already getting sent to the director's office regularly in preschool. As he has become more accelerated and asynchronous, I can only imagine what public school would be like for him. We are able to spend so much time together as a family, to read so many fabulous books, to explore so many interesting languages and cultures, and to travel freely on our sailboat.

 

I was a reluctant homeschooler, but I can honestly say that I have come around and am enjoying it much more than I imagined I would.  

[Gentlemommy]

Educational experiences? Well, mostly it's the time to pursue interests, as others have said. My older dd spends 6+ hours a week at the riding stables and performs in 2-3 theater productions each year. I don't know how she would do that if she had a full load of classes and homework. She's been able to follow up on interests, too, particularly in science - equine science, astronomy, entomology - rather than study the same 3 boring things in a boring way in the 45 min a week allotted to science in the elementary school she had been attending.

 

But the bigger benefit, which has become more obvious as she's gotten older, is that she still has time to play and read for fun. Her friends are all growing up (w/o maturing) so quickly. She is much more mature, yet seems younger than they are, if that makes sense. She still loves imaginative play, and spends hours playing with her Breyer horses, and reads fantasy and mystery stories every day, over and over again. I love that she has been able to stay connected with that playful, imaginative side and doesn't feel the need to hide who she is and what she likes to do in an effort to seem more grown up.

 

For my younger, the biggest benefit is being allowed to go at her own pace, rather than the pressured pace she felt in 1st grade with the focus on getting ready for testing. She's at or ahead of grade level with everything, but she has achieved this while being relaxed and enjoying learning. In ps she was constantly, constantly stressed. So stress-free learning has been her biggest benefit so far, but the time thing is also very relevant - she does Brownies, vaulting, arts crafts, and drama every week, and she will doing her first theatrical production this year, she's now old enough to audition. At this point money is the limit, rather than time, about what extras she can do.

 

 

Your second paragraph is exactly what I've observed and how I feel. You said it perfectly.

[phathui5]

My 14 year old is sitting behind me, reading me quotes from the Introduction to Mathematical Thinking course that he's taking on coursera. I don't think he would have time for that if he was in school.

[duckens]

--opportunity to dabble in several languages as a elementary student

 

--opportunity to explore science topics in depth, and with an occasional custom lesson from Mom that she knows will "pull it all together." 
Example: Recent "earth science" lesson we had discussing basalt, it's volcanic origins, and the sea floor; granite, its frequency as continental rock, and its quartz, feldspar, and mica components...all of which she was doing hardness and other identifying tests on the day before.

 

--exposure to art: dd watched a silly movie called Gay Pur-ee last week.  At one point, the cat has her portrait painted by all of the famous painters.  Dd listed off Seraut, Gauguin, Van Gogh, daVinci, and Rousseau.  I hadn't known how much she paid attention to our irregular art appreciation lessons.  Really, we just use the Usborne Art cards, and read what the public library has in the children's section.

 

--exposure to music: dd identified Swan Lake from a practice phrase I played from my piano practice book before I did. 

 

--opportunity to work ahead in math