Wanting to Homeschool again, but freaking out a bit

[redtexas]

Hi,

I have 5 children. Currently, 7th,4th,2nd,K and Preschooler (Boy,Girl,Boy,Boy,Boy respectively).

 

We homeschooled my oldest until he wanted to attend 5th grade at the local public school.  He now attends a charter school along with his siblings who have been in school for the past 2yrs.  My oldest kids are really on the fence about homeschooling again, especially my Girl.  They both do really well at school.  Sure school has it's tough moments but overall it's been pretty good for them. My middle child likes school a lot but is struggling and I would like to work more one on one with him but not in a afterschool mode because he's too tired by the end of the day and it's hard enough to get homework done.

 

The real reason I would like to homeschool again is because I feel like all my interactions with my kids are at stressful times of the day.  I feel like our family time has been taken away and we don't even do that many extra curricular activities outside of school. Weekends are always busy trying to catch up and most evenings are CRAZY.  I am not sure if it's just me and my larger family, but how do families deal with this craziness?  I keep thinking maybe I just don't got it together and if I have hard time with them IN school how can I now homeschool 5 kids.  Each week when I am at church I feel the impression to bring them home because we need to focus on more time as a family and my kids need to know how to interact with each other again.  It's amazing how my kids are little angels at school but crazy, whiny lunatics at home. However, there are many days when I take them to school or go help at school and I think they are just fine here or there's no way I can offer them what they are getting here at school.

 

I guess this post is bit more of what's on my mind and wondering if anyone else has gone through the same agony of whether to homeschool again?

 

Thanks for listening/reading :)

 

 

[momacacia]

It sounds like you would consider keeping some in ps and homeschooling some others. Maybe look at it as a "what's best for this particular child" perspective.

[Mom22ns]

My first thought reading your post was why not let the oldest two stay in school and bring home the youngers? If it goes well and the older kids decide they'd like to join you - wonderful. If not, ok. It would give you more individualized time to work with the younger children and then when the older kids come home, the younger ones have had lots of your attention and you can give a bit more focus on the olders. 

 

That isn't to say you can't bring them all home. I only have two, so I am no expert on homeschooling a large family and won't pretend to know how to advice you on that.

[Goldilocks]

I am homeschooling my 4 children, but I seem to share your same problem.

 

I feel like we do not have much free time together as a family. We do not do fun stuff together on the weekends because we are busy cleaning the house and then I prep for the next week. My days are filled and busy. I think, "Oh, if they were in school I could be the fun mom. I could clean and run errands while they are in school and have energy on the weekends for fun."

 

So, if you put our two experiences together, it sounds like it is crazy and busy either way. At least with homeschooling, I am in charge of the schedule. If we are going to take a day for family fun (which is rare), or I need a day (or a week) to take it easy, we can do it.

[redtexas]

Goldilocks, that is so funny about what you said.  I never feel caught up.  Your right, I guess it is just a large family thing.  

 

We have thought about the partial family home school.  The only glitch I have with that is not the freedom to take trips when we want and then I would have to haul all the younger kids to pick those kids up every day.  Probably not really good enough reasons but they are on our pros and cons list :)

 

Thanks for your thoughts and reply's.  

[Momto6inIN]

I didn't return to homeschooling, but I started homeschooling when my kids were about your kids' ages (8th, 6th, 4th, K and toddler).  In my experience it was a sanity saver to have all 5 at home.  The school schedule was killing us and I couldn't handle it anymore.  And the older they got, the worse it was.  Homeschooling made us able to do what worked for us when it worked for us, which as a large family means something very different from what works for most other more normal sized families.  I'm still just as busy as I was before, but I'm lots less stressed.  That's a key difference.  My kids were all on board with it though.  Not sure what I'd do if they weren't.

[Barb_]

I've done this.  I put all of the school aged children in a lovely classical charter for a year, but I just couldn't transition to the school lifestyle.  Mainly for the reasons you outlined.  I tried leaving the one who really loved school and was thriving there, but that didn't work because I had to be up early to drive to school and back.  Teach all day, stop for pickup, then help with homework and deal with school induced drama in the evening.  It was a nightmare.  I had all the drawbacks of homeschooling without the benefits of the flexibility and evenings off.  Don't do it!!  Lol

[speedmom4]

It sounds like you really want to homeschool again and feel that it's the right thing for your family. My advice would be to blend the best of both worlds and sign up for online classes for your oldest two. I've been homeschooling for 15 years and I wish I would have utilized outsourcing more and earlier than I did. I wouldn't have had as much stress. I started out just outsourcing writing for my high schoolers and then I added science but now my junior in high school is doing everything online and it's wonderful. She is getting a great education and I'm not stressed! Win - win! The kids are usually finished with school by late afternoon and we have our evenings free for extra curricular activities or just family time. 

 

My favorite online classes are through Landry Academy. Plus the earlier you enroll the better discount you get. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Elise in NC

[MomOfABunch]

I think what you're describing is large family stuff. I have 1 at school and 4 at home. Evenings are HARD. The only solution that really helps me is to hire help for cleaning and meal prep. Then *I* have less to do, less chores to assign and check up on, and more time for the kids. Managing a household with many people is a large job itself. Outsourcing classes for oldest DS has helped a lot. Next year he will do more.

 

For us, I wish I could bring DD home so we stop being slaves to the school bus schedule! But she's in a good place getting what she needs, which I can't give her at home now. Her school has a 1:1.5 ratio. We don't do that many trips these days, but if we do, I take her out of school.