Why do you homeschool and continue to home school?

[Janeway]

Why did you start home schooling? And if that did not pan out, why did you continue, change, or stop?

 

I will start. I started home schooling because when I was growing up, I was very eager to learn. I went to a Montessori, go at your own pace school and while I was really behind my classmates in kindergarten, by the time I was done with 3rd grade, I was a few grade levels ahead. Then we moved and I had to attend a regular public school where everyone had to be at the same exact level. I brought up to the school that I had already been at these other levels in the previous school but was told it did not matter, socialization was much more important than academics. I was new at the school and did not have friends yet. I was miserable for the next few years. I actually begged to be allowed to learn Latin. I wanted harder math and math puzzles and such and was told I needed to focus more on friends. You get the idea. I was simply miserable. And by high school graduation, I was burned out on sitting in the classroom all day not learning. I had heard of home schooling and wanted to home school my children so that they would have many more opportunities than me. 

 

So now I home school. My boys have little desire to learn or work. They each have some sort of interest, but those interests are not academic (one in ballet and the other in karate). They also are not interested in cleaning or any sort of chores. If the public schools were not so harsh here, and so difficult about home schoolers entering the public school, I would seriously consider sending the kids. I feel like I waste so much of my time and money when they are so non-cooperative. SO, I started with the desire to give my children the chance for a better education, chance to pursue their interests and learn, and I continue because I don't like the public schools where we live and the public schools make it too difficult for home schoolers to enter the system.

[MEmama]

We started homeschooling because DS wasn't getting what he needed in public schools and his teachers resented how much further ahead he was.

 

In another year I guess this journey will come to end as he wants to go to our local high school. I've heard only excellent things about the school and it offers plenty of higher level courses, leaving no doubt he will find plenty of academic stimulus. It's a little bittersweet, of course, but I'm super excited to see him stretch his wings and rise to new challenges. :)

[MotherOfBoys]

We started homeschooling because my son was way too out of control to sit in a classroom. He wanted to learn, smart, and well behaved if you didn't restrain him. We knew he wouldn't make it. We set a goal to go to third grade and then send him. Giving him time to grow out of it.

 

We continued to homeschool because he is way ahead in everything. Very curious. Still needs physical labor every day. He has dug two grave size holes in our back yard in a year. I don't want to crush his curiosity and slow his studies. The public school was hit with a big teacher sex with boy scandal last year. Most of the teachers wrote to the judge saying they sided with the teacher. The judge said it made him sick and through out the letters. Most of the community hasn't healed yet because there is no remorse from the school district.

 

Every year our homeschool gets better so we no longer have plans to send them to school.

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I knew that I wanted to homeschool before I was married and had children.  I am a teacher who has taught in public and private schools and while I'm not anti-school, I know its limitations.  Once ds was preschool age, I knew that he was a round peg who would not fit in the square peg of school, so I was doubly glad to homeschool.  Later when dd was preschool age, I knew that she would fit in quite well socially in school but not academically.  I was still glad to homeschool.

 

 

We've had a lot of challenges.  I've looked at each one and have felt confident that I could address those challenges much better at home where they could be addressed individually.  I've been grateful to have the input of this board - esp. the learning challenges subforum - to help me to address things.  It's been a lot of trial and error but I know that I'm committed to not giving up. 

 

Things have only started to come together academically for dd14 in the last couple of months.  Which doesn't mean that there was no value to what we did before then, but our perseverance has paid off in a way that would be impossible in a large classroom with even the most devoted teachers. 

[regentrude]

I started homeschooling because my kids were not adequately challenged in middle school, and on top of it, the social atmosphere was awful.

It worked out very well, and so we continued. One more year, then I am done.

Edited June 5, 2016 by regentrude

[TammyS]

 The public school was hit with a big teacher sex with boy scandal last year. Most of the teachers wrote to the judge saying they sided with the teacher. The judge said it made him sick and through out the letters. Most of the community hasn't healed yet because there is no remorse from the school district.

 

 

 

That's appalling.  I mean, there are sexual predators everywhere that there are children.  No surprise there.  But that the other teachers, etc., would back the person up.  Just evil.

[Ethel Mertz]

We started homeschooling when we pulled DS out of preschool because his teacher would pinch him and other little boys who didn't sit still during circle time. No kidding. She pinched these little guys on the upper thighs and upper arms when they had too much energy. Once we started homeschooling, we realized that he was reading at age 4 and was going to be very bored in school. Added to all that was the fact that he is a bully magnet. 

 

DS is now a rising 8th grader and has no desire to go to a B&M school (though he may end up taking a course or two at the local highschool (math or advanced Spanish). We especially love the schedule flexibility. 

[marbel]

Why did you start home schooling? And if that did not pan out, why did you continue, change, or stop?

 

<snip>

 

What do you mean by "did not pan out?"  I think I am interpreting that phrase differently than you mean it.  To me, if homeschooling didn't pan out, I would have enrolled my kids in school. 

 

We started for a few reasons:  we could see that traditional school was not going to be a good fit for our oldest, and we had a built-in support group of family friends who were planning to homeschool.  So, we did it.  Then there seemed to be no reason to stop.  I actually did want my daughter to go to public high school, but she would not do it.  But she started community college dual enrollment in her sophomore year (not a full load). 

 

It has not been all fun or even particularly gratifying at times.  My kids were not always model students and I surely was not a model teacher.  I can see things I did wrong and things I wish I could do over, but I also see how things have worked well.  I guess I won't know if it panned out till... they're successfully settled into a career, maybe? 

 

[Laurel-in-CA]

We started because my oldest asked to read @ age 4....and our local elementary was 60% bilingual. I was convinced that a quiet kid who was reading fluently in kindergarten would be a) bored and b) ignored by the teacher and c) labeled as shy. I had been in that position myself and struggled with the results of it for a number of years.

 

When child #2 came along, he had a late Sept. birthday. He was ready for academics but NOT ready to sit still, so he came along for the homeschool journey, which allowed him to have lots of breaks and still make progress. Vision therapy, strong will, and other personality issues also made it a great solution for him.

 

By the time child #3 arrived.....well, I would have eventually had 3 kids in 3 different schools, all getting out at the same time. No stinkin' way. Child #4 came along late in the process and just came along for the ride. She's been the easiest of the bunch....or else she had the most experienced teacher. 8-)

 

[ondreeuh]

I started homeschooling my then-2nd grader in February when it was clear that between the school and private tutoring, no one was able to teach him to read or write. Our bank account was drained and my child was anxious, and I figured that I should at least try. Homeschooling hadn't really ever been on my radar, but we quickly made the decision to give it a go and see if I could get him ready to go back to school in the fall (ha!). Around the same time, my then-7th grader was having a heck of a time with the new math program the school adopted. It made no sense to either one of us, and she was spending all evening, every evening, trying to do her homework. I pulled her out of her math class and taught her just math at home (she just got picked up an hour early).

 

The next fall I homeschooled my son because he was making good progress but still nowhere close to being caught up, and I homeschooled my daughter FT because I didn't see how the school was preparing the students for high school. No lit analysis essays, no real science or history, same crappy math ... I wanted to give her a good foundation before entering public high school. That ended up being a real challenge and we agreed that she needed the accountability of an outside school, so I was glad to send her back for her freshman year.

 

Then her sophomore year we moved to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. I put my younger son in the school there so he could meet the other 4 kids around his age. My daughter was so far beyond the other kids that I ended up getting her Oak Meadow biology, an Algebra 2 program, and Spanish through Oklahoma State - so while she was not officially homeschooled, she sort of was. I pulled my 4th grader out because the academics were so weak and he needed more help.

 

A couple of years later, I put my "baby" in public kindergarten to give it a try. He was so far ahead of the other kids that he wasn't learning academics there, and he was such a mess emotionally that it was a negative experience socially for him. I pulled him out in Feb. I continued to homeschool him because it works for us, but there is a small chance I will enroll him in  gifted program this fall. I am putting off making a final decision. It comes down to the need for a peer group - if I can put together activities that make up for the lack of a peer group, I will keep homeschooling. He just did 2 weeks of day camp through the gifted program and I was not too impressed. He even asked me what the point of going to the school FT would be, as we could do the same things at home (and more!).

 

My older son is about to start 9th grade, and I am going to work on getting him ready to take some outside classes. He is a dream student for me, but he is lonely. Our schools are fine, but I think he would crumble under the homework load. No easy answers.

 

So as you can see, I have gone back and forth. Both public schooling and homeschooling have their pros and cons. I feel like I am doing great at the academics portion but not doing so hot at preparing them for real life & independence - and it's the latter that I'm feeling may end up being more important.

[Guest]

Why did you start home schooling? And if that did not pan out, why did you continue, change, or stop?

 

I will start. I started home schooling because when I was growing up, I was very eager to learn. I went to a Montessori, go at your own pace school and while I was really behind my classmates in kindergarten, by the time I was done with 3rd grade, I was a few grade levels ahead. Then we moved and I had to attend a regular public school where everyone had to be at the same exact level. I brought up to the school that I had already been at these other levels in the previous school but was told it did not matter, socialization was much more important than academics. I was new at the school and did not have friends yet. I was miserable for the next few years. I actually begged to be allowed to learn Latin. I wanted harder math and math puzzles and such and was told I needed to focus more on friends. You get the idea. I was simply miserable. And by high school graduation, I was burned out on sitting in the classroom all day not learning. I had heard of home schooling and wanted to home school my children so that they would have many more opportunities than me.

 

So now I home school. My boys have little desire to learn or work. They each have some sort of interest, but those interests are not academic (one in ballet and the other in karate). They also are not interested in cleaning or any sort of chores. If the public schools were not so harsh here, and so difficult about home schoolers entering the public school, I would seriously consider sending the kids. I feel like I waste so much of my time and money when they are so non-cooperative. SO, I started with the desire to give my children the chance for a better education, chance to pursue their interests and learn, and I continue because I don't like the public schools where we live and the public schools make it too difficult for home schoolers to enter the system.

I want to speak to the bolded, although I will also answer your bigger question, too.

 

To me, whether or not the kids do chores is not a matter of interest. Although *I personally* loved cleaning and organizing from around age eleven on, it is not common. I do not subscribe to the theory that, left to their own devices, most/all kids will build replicas of the Eiffel Tower out of toothpicks, pick up War and Peace just because, or start composing concertos in the basement. I believe there is a certain inertia that people most often sink to unless there are payoffs (abstract or concrete) to working. Even though I gravitated toward being a neat freak, there were payoffs I wanted (such as lauding) and punishments I wanted to avoid (such as having a friend exclaim that my room was a stye).

 

I love the flexibility inherant in homeschooling but I don't view it as a way to let the kids get around to deciding whether or not learning math is a worthy goal or choosing whether or not they want to eat of clean dishes.

 

As for my reasons, my initial reason was that my first child was very bright and I didn't like the idea of having her pulled out of class for the "Gifted and Talented" program (which frankly was mostly becoming a teacher's aide while the other kids learn what they already know). It also made sense to me as a natural extension of being a SAHM. I wanted direct input into my children every day and I couldn't see why that should be greatly reduced at the tender age of five. Plus, then the mom gets the "leftover" kid; the child's energy and behaviour is all tapped out by evening. I wanted the fresh, alert, happy kids. ;)

 

I have continued to Hs each child until high school and now have one remaining hser, who is finishing fifth grade. HS high school was not in the cards; initially, it was DH who simply wanted them to go to school by that point. But I did come to agree with DH and have been most often happy that was when we changed schooling environments.

[Janeway]

What do you mean by "did not pan out?"  I think I am interpreting that phrase differently than you mean it.  To me, if homeschooling didn't pan out, I would have enrolled my kids in school. 

 

We started for a few reasons:  we could see that traditional school was not going to be a good fit for our oldest, and we had a built-in support group of family friends who were planning to homeschool.  So, we did it.  Then there seemed to be no reason to stop.  I actually did want my daughter to go to public high school, but she would not do it.  But she started community college dual enrollment in her sophomore year (not a full load). 

 

It has not been all fun or even particularly gratifying at times.  My kids were not always model students and I surely was not a model teacher.  I can see things I did wrong and things I wish I could do over, but I also see how things have worked well.  I guess I won't know if it panned out till... they're successfully settled into a career, maybe? 

 

If the original reason did not work out "pan out" ...did a new reason replace it, did you continue to home school anyway, did you send them to school, etc. That is what I meant by "pan out."

[DawnM]

I started homeschooling because my oldest was struggling in K.  He was actually asked to "take a break" for a while.  It was a private school.  

 

He had gone to full time pre-school and had issues there too.  We had no idea what was going on.  He has since been diagnosed with Asperger's.

 

We homeschooled the others because it fit our new lifestyle of me being a SAHM and us want to go and do during school hours.

 

We homeschooled oldest through high school.  

 

Middle is now in a B&M high school.

 

Youngest is homeschooled but going to a B&M middle school next year.

 

I am done.  

 

I can't say they are ecstatic about academics and we got lazy at home with school work, but oldest and middle are now doing very well academically and my youngest is still home but very bright.  I think he will like school when he gets there.

 

We have excellent schools here though.

[OlgaLA]

This is my second round of homeschooling. First time I decided to try it was when my DD just started 3rd grade. The year started with worksheets with hundreds of "add within 10" problems. I did summer school with her before after the disastrous 1st grade, but with those worksheets doing anything beyond was impossible, they took my easily distractable DD forever,  between all the dropped pencils and reacting to her brother. I homeschooled her for 7 months, covered most of 3rd grade program, and then did something I consider the worst mistake of my life - I put her in a supposedly good Catholic school. I saw other kids from this school, and they really did great. But I suspect my DD is not 100% NT, and it became progressively worse, with her ITBS scores falling, and her mood deteriorating. She became convinced that she was bad at math and not worth being around because she couldn't support conversations about the latest TV shows. Plus, she lost most of her natural curiosity. So I brought her back home. I am still fighting the results of those 3 years, but at least she laughs again now and almost stopped crying over her being stupid. My son could probably be fine in school, but for some reason both of them became raging atheists in that school, so every time there was a mass I had to listen to his whining. Plus, this year they got a new teacher. The old ones separated children by abilities, this one insisted on one size fits all. When he started bringing home more busywork 3 grade levels below his abilities I had enough. DS is very social though, so for him a school is still a possibility down the road. However, I wouldn't consider our public school at this point, and the good non-religious ones are 35+k a year around here.

My kids also don't have much desire to learn and put in the required effort, but I don't feel like a BM school would be a solution. So at times when their attitude gets to me I feel really trapped by this. It's a lot of work, especially with HS starting. I am planning on outsourcing quite a bit this year, so maybe it will be better.

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 30, 2016 by cathey

[abcmommy]

I had the most wonderful public school education imaginable.  It was a joy and I thrived.

 

 

I could not figure out what the heck they were doing with my kid all day and he did not appear to be learning much at all.  He was very behind in reading and they acted like it was no big deal, he was probably dumb.

 

 

I continue to homeschool until high school for this reason- I can not figure out what they do all day.

 

Also I like my kids with me.  We have fun.

[MrsWeasley]

My firstborn hated kindergarten. I spent so many days physically forcing her into a carseat to get her to school. She is a highly asynchronous child and just did not thrive there. So, we pulled her. We continue homeschool in large part because my children have faced an overwhelming amount of change in the last year, and unfortunately, that will continue into this year. I want to try to keep as much normality and stability as I can for my children, and while I can't control some of the other changes, at least for the time being, I can continue homeschooling them. 

 

[Arcadia]

We started homeschooling because the assigned public school would be a bad fit and the affordable private schools weren't value for money for our kids. So purely academic reasons.

 

When our kids want to study in classrooms with other kids instead of alone at home, we just signed them up for outside academic classes using the money we would have spent on private school tuition.

[Tita Gidge]

Why did you start home schooling? And if that did not pan out, why did you continue, change, or stop?

 

So now I home school. My boys have little desire to learn or work. They each have some sort of interest, but those interests are not academic (one in ballet and the other in karate). They also are not interested in cleaning or any sort of chores. If the public schools were not so harsh here, and so difficult about home schoolers entering the public school, I would seriously consider sending the kids. I feel like I waste so much of my time and money when they are so non-cooperative. SO, I started with the desire to give my children the chance for a better education, chance to pursue their interests and learn, and I continue because I don't like the public schools where we live and the public schools make it too difficult for home schoolers to enter the system.

 

I homeschool two of my kids, but the others go (and have always gone to) public school.

 

I started because it was the right choice for my third kid. He taught himself to read early and has always been a voracious reader. He's not a genius or even gifted, but he's sharp. He will pour himself into something until he knows it inside and out, and then he's good to never spend time on it again. This worked fine in his Montessori preschool but was going to be a problem in standard kindergarten.

 

So we kept him home and spent those early years doing unit studies and mastery type learning. It was perfect for him. It's great that we can tailor his academic career to his needs and strengths because it allows us to work on (rather than push aside) his desires and weaknesses.

 

Middle school summer, my son and I agreed he'd try the local private school. By October we also agreed to bring him back home at the semester. He realized he wasn't missing anything and I hated that he was suddenly a slave to grades (which I had never awarded at home, he did everything to mastery). To finish the year, since I hadn't planned anything, he enrolled in our ISD's virtual public school program. That was a good choice for our situation at the time - no regrets - but the next year we got right back into homeschooling at his insistence and my preference.

 

Why do I do it? I ask myself that every day of the week. :hat:

 

I do because it's best for him and I can. This is the kid who will do me right in my old age LOL.  We have great days, horrible-no-good days, and many, many just okay days.

 

Is virtual school an acceptable option? The one I used is a nationally-rated ISD with classes from late elementary through high school. They were very supportive of homeschooling and non-traditional students. And it was free!

 

I homeschool my other one because she's a homebody and generally compliant. I don't homeschool my others because they're doing fine where they are and are now old enough to get themselves and each other out the door with lunches, homework, and everything they need. LOL

[knoxinsox]

We had determined to homeschool before we had kids.  It was pretty popular in the circles we ran in.  In addition, we thought we could give our kids a better education than the public schools in SC.  We now know less than when we started.  LOL 

 

#1 child has not been diagnosed, but has a lot of the markers for Aspergers.  He was an early reader and very smart, but did not have developed fine motor skills till 3rd grade and we did the majority of his work orally.  At the 3rd grade level, he began playing with Lego's and all of a sudden, we were able to have him write spelling words, penmanship, etc.  He is a difficult child, we struggle every day-like some of the others mentioned, he has no desire to do schoolwork or chores.  Unfortunately, we live in the US and there are certain rules we have to follow--no running away to join the merchant marines. So he is required to do what the state requires, some appropriate chores and the rest of the time he reads, works on custom Lego designs, and eats ham and cheese sandwiches. 

 

#2 is a late bloomer and is just now, at 7, beginning to read.  We tried many different programs for math and phonics but she was not ready and I just got a blank look from her.  Nothing clicked.  She is super capable, and very smart...so I just let it slide mostly, and every so often we would pick it back up to see if she was ready. All of a sudden, she was and now is flying through her work, doing pages and pages of math and phonics everyday, reading beginner books, plays piano, helps with cooking and is pretty sure she could grocery shop for me, even down to going ahead and making my list for me. 

 

Both kids would have fallen through the cracks I think in a B & M school, and I really don't think they are a good fit for a rigid group think kind of classroom. We will homeschool as long as we're able and they are willing.  We all love the flexibility we have--DH works 3rd, and our (non)schedule is set up to have maximum "daddy time."  We generally homeschool most of the year, weekends sometimes, evenings...the kids love to do geography and reading with Dad so we try to make sure that happens.  Also, DH is teaching the pre-algebra portions of math now.     

[nobeatenpath]

Okay, get ready for a long screed...

I had always wanted to homeschool but my kid went to fulltime daycare at 13 months and I worked. Then we moved to another country when he was 4 1/2 and I enrolled him in school. It lasted about 18 months - he was acting out at home (not school) which I thought was because he was bored at school - he was two grades ahead and they could not keep up with giving him work - and while it turned out he had other issues, we didn't know. So we homeschooled.

 

Due to family issues and the fact we move so often, our son went to boarding school grade 5. Part of our reasoning was to start him early enough that if it didn't work out he could come home and we could have homeschool sorted by highschool. It really, really, didn't work out. Not because of the school but because it turns out the kid has Aspergers and Executive Function issues and he can't really cope with 'normal' school let alone boarding school.

 

So now we are homeschooling and likely will not do anything else. We continue for a) continuity (we move every 2-3 years and having been through 9 different schools myself, I am not doing that to my kid) b) the fact he can't flourish in traditional school, due to various issues and c) he is now so advanced from his peers in some subjects it would be extremely difficult to find a school willing to let him take classes across a broad spectrum of grades. But mainly a and b.

 

Edited June 6, 2016 by nobeatenpath

[foxbridgeacademy]

I think, at the very heart of it, the reason I started HSing is that I like having my kids around and I don't like others, who have very different ideological views, forcing those view on my children (you might be surprised by how much religion is in the P.S. system here in the South).  We continue to HS because, except for Math, it's easier than on me than sending them to P.S.  No teaching to the test, we learn for enjoyment (or at least for skill), no busy work, no stupid rules, like your hair can't be pink, or you can't wear PJ's all day.  Finally we HS and continue to do it because (like PP) we move, a lot.  I went to 11 different schools (3 different Kindergartens, 2 first grades, 2 third grades, 2 4th grades.....) and while I am rather well adjusted now, it did cause some serious personality developments as a child that I did not want my children experiencing. Plus we really like spending time together when we're not being our normal introverted selves.  HSing for us, so far, is a huge success, so why fix what isn't broken? 

[LisaKinVA]

I was homeschooled my last 2 years of high school (umbrella school program), my younger brothers for many years beyond that (one 5 years, one 10 years).  It was very strongly in my mind when I married dh.

 

We made the formal decision to HS when oldest was supposed to enter K.  He was academically ready (could read, handle quite a bit of math), but cried easily, had signs of mild dysgraphia which impacted his writing, and the school advised us to wait a year for K.  The school had no programs (especially for younger students) to accelerate or differentiate academics.  So -- he would have been in a classroom which perhaps met one side of his developmental needs, but would not have even come close to meeting his academic needs.  Homeschooling was our only viable option.  About 6 months later, ds met with the GT coordinator for the county school system who told us we absolutely needed to continue HS him.  

 

Homeschooling has become a way of life around here.  While my oldest three will take some courses at the high school next year, they still are home schooled to a large degree.  They take classes they are interested in, or that are more difficult to replicate at home (science, foreign language, choir/other electives, oldest will take AP English at the school next year, which will take a huge load off of my plate).

 

Out of my 5, I have one child who would probably do equally well in a school setting as at home.  However, I'm also bumping up the level of difficulty for her next year to sort-of test the waters and push her a bit for the first time.  She is more than happy to just do what everyone else does, doesn't mind being unchallenged academically, and would be quite happy to move along at whatever the class pace is.  My other four kids have never been like that (until the boys hit middle school -- but that's another topic).

[Luckymama]

We are accidental homeschoolers. We pulled youngest dd from her (good) school in fifth grade because her academic needs were not being met. I thought we'd homeschool for four years and then send her to one of the private or charter high schools in our area. We started looking at the high school choices while she was in seventh grade and realized that none would fit her needs. She started taking university classes this year (10th by age). We've made the decision to graduate her early, so this is her last year homeschooling :)

[73349]

Our main reasons for starting to homeschool were

• not having been impressed with what we got out of PS,
• not being impressed by what we were seeing in the large, unwieldy district we live in,
• lifestyle that would've gone with sending him to the private school where I used to teach was not very attractive to us (e.g., long commute after full-day K),
• kid who did not benefit from or enjoy preschool (Square Peg Syndrome?).

 

Now, why do we continue?

The lifestyle rocks--we can put DS to bed at 8 nearly every night with no worries about homework, usually no extracurriculars running late (swimming and piano are done in time to come home and cook dinner), no sudden panic as we realize the bake sale is tomorrow and we need 72 cupcakes, no running for the TV at 6AM to see if the ice is enough to delay. No scheduling vacations at the same time as millions of other people. (We went to TX/NM in the middle of May and will go to VA in mid-September.) DS has time to read whole books, and freedom to choose the quantity (I remember being limited to 3 a week from the school library, about half what I needed) and type (my youngest sister's PS did not let kids read books more than 1 grade above or below their grade, regardless of reading level).

 

Our kid is learning at his own pace, with no busywork and no phone calls about discipline issues. I told him that in schools all the kids are on the same page in the same book, and he was horrified, LOL.

 

I have more free time and energy than I did when teaching school. Maybe it's because I have less homework myself, not needing to write 95 report card comments four times a year or sit through faculty meetings.

 

[J&JMom]

I started homeschooling my then rising 3rd and 5th-grade boys due to lack of academic progress of my special needs youngest despite their tests and accommodations. It wasn't working to my satisfaction, and they weren't anxious to catch him up focusing instead on what state tests he would take. We had tried their way, so I was going to try mine. I pull my advanced older boy because it seemed easier to have both at home.  I estimated it would take 2 years to catch my youngest up. It took 1.5 :)

Now, we are planning our 4th year of homeschooling so we obviously enjoyed it enough to continue. IMHO, we are able to do more, in less time than a public school. We share long, filled days of books, hands-on activities, and field trips - experiences that are just too taxing for a classroom.  Best of all - the kids LOVE it. They are excited about learning and feel accomplished.  Much more so than the 7-year-old boy coming home in second grade saying he was stupid because he couldn't read...

We are preparing for my oldest to enter public high school after our 4th year.  I will miss having him home, but he needs things I can't/won't provide (art, science labs, math) and we can't afford private school and/or co-op, online classes, etc.  My youngest isn't ready to sit still in a classroom for 7 hours, so he will most likely homeschool solo until high school. 

Edited June 6, 2016 by J&JMom

[Lady Florida.]

I was a teacher and was not thrilled with the local school system. It wasn't anything against my fellow teachers - just the system overall. We initially planned to send ds to private school even though the only private schools in my area are religious and we're not.

 

I made an offhand comment one day when ds was a baby, telling dh we'd better start saving for private school tuition because it's not cheap. He made an equally offhand comment that maybe we'll just homeschool him. I knew nothing about hs, but his comment sent me on a research mission. The more I read about it and told dh what I was reading, the more we liked the idea. We made the decision before ds reached his first birthday (always with the knowledge we could change our minds and send him to school).

 

We continued to homeschool because we loved the lifestyle. Also, after ds was diagnosed with ADHD we were really glad he wasn't in a traditional school setting.

 

Ds wanted to try school when he was in 9th grade but he didn't want to go full time. Fortunately our state allows homeschoolers to take classes at their zoned high school. It lasted less than one grading period. We all hated how it affected our schedules. I asked ds if school just wasn't what he thought it would be. He said yes it actually was like he thought, but he also thought he'd like that. He didn't, and we didn't force him to finish the year as some people would. We told him from the start that if he didn't like it he could come home again full time.

 

We ended up homeschooling all the way through. Last week i sent in our Notice of Termination as ds finished high school this year. We're officially done. Dh and I have no regrets about our decision. Ds says he has none either. 

[BlsdMama]

Why did you start home schooling? And if that did not pan out, why did you continue, change, or stop?

 

I will start. I started home schooling because when I was growing up, I was very eager to learn. I went to a Montessori, go at your own pace school and while I was really behind my classmates in kindergarten, by the time I was done with 3rd grade, I was a few grade levels ahead. Then we moved and I had to attend a regular public school where everyone had to be at the same exact level. I brought up to the school that I had already been at these other levels in the previous school but was told it did not matter, socialization was much more important than academics. I was new at the school and did not have friends yet. I was miserable for the next few years. I actually begged to be allowed to learn Latin. I wanted harder math and math puzzles and such and was told I needed to focus more on friends. You get the idea. I was simply miserable. And by high school graduation, I was burned out on sitting in the classroom all day not learning. I had heard of home schooling and wanted to home school my children so that they would have many more opportunities than me. 

 

So now I home school. My boys have little desire to learn or work. They each have some sort of interest, but those interests are not academic (one in ballet and the other in karate). They also are not interested in cleaning or any sort of chores. If the public schools were not so harsh here, and so difficult about home schoolers entering the public school, I would seriously consider sending the kids. I feel like I waste so much of my time and money when they are so non-cooperative. SO, I started with the desire to give my children the chance for a better education, chance to pursue their interests and learn, and I continue because I don't like the public schools where we live and the public schools make it too difficult for home schoolers to enter the system.

 

 

Originally I homeschooled solely for religious reasons, feeling that I was called to give my kiddos a firm foundation, sound Christian teaching, and prevent a lot of ugly stuff from seeping in before they were old enough to have some kind of frame for what they see/hear/learn.

 

That is still a large part.

 

DH wanted us to continue to homeschool because of academic reasons.  Our oldest children are doing very well and he thinks homeschooling is academically superior.

 

Then I had a learning challenged kiddo and we continued homeschooling him, despite personality conflicts, because it was best for his learning, his character development, and just him as a whole.

 

But I 'd say now, as much as I school for all the reasons above, I truly believe that I school for the "sake of the children."  Stealing from the book  title, I honestly believe children need to be exposed to beautiful things, quality literature, huge amounts of time outdoors and playing.  I think my wiggly one would be always in trouble in school for not sitting still and it would destroy the amazing and beautiful child that she is.  I think it would harden my delicate, emotional child.  I think it would decimate my learning challenged kiddo who LOVES to learn, just differently.  

 

I do this for their well-being and because I see them as whole, complete, little people, created for a purpose and to live full lives outside of a closed up classroom, learning at one rate.

[gingersmom]

My sons father died at the start of first grade. It was beyond traumatizing for my son. A school "therapist" asked me when he was going to get over it. Apparently mourning your father should be wrapped up in 30 days or less. Idiots.

 

It was at that moment I knew public school was not for us.

 

We homeschooled through 8th grade. During 8th grade he attended a one day a week school that he adored and that was the end of homeschooling.

 

He started high school for 9th grade and two years later is still deliriously happy to be at public school.

 

Getting up early, long days and more don't bother him at all.

[OnMyOwn]

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Edited June 8, 2016 by OnMyOwn

[mamiof5]

So now I home school. My boys have little desire to learn or work. They each have some sort of interest, but those interests are not academic (one in ballet and the other in karate). They also are not interested in cleaning or any sort of chores. If the public schools were not so harsh here, and so difficult about home schoolers entering the public school, I would seriously consider sending the kids. I feel like I waste so much of my time and money when they are so non-cooperative.

For us, there are things that need to be done. Unless there's some sort of impairment that wouldn't allow them to do their school work or chores, that would be a different story. But, assuming your kids are healthy and there are no issues... we'd have NO tolerance for laziness and lack of cooperation, in the home and with their school work. Karate and ballet for us would be extras, no way they'd get to participate in those if they didn't get their school done. And, if they don't want to help with chores, I'd have no motivation to pay for such activities, drive them etc.

 

Answering the questions...we have many reasons why we started homeschooling. Didn't want the kids gone all day (life goes by too fast). Wanting a different education and environment. Summing it up, just because we wanted to. It's a lifestyle we were wanting to try and it works for us.

[Tita Gidge]

If I had to do it again, I think I would have had my son give 9th grade a trial run at the high school and see how that would work for him. It might not have been a good solution, but by the time he and I opened our minds to trying that, it was too late -- 11th grade. The schools here won't accept homeschool credits, so he would have had to start over in 9th.

 

I haven't had any children with allergies but if I did I think I'd have felt the same as you! That's a level of trust I don't think I'm capable of, especially in the elementary years!

 

I appreciate that you posted this. I think it's important for people to know.

 

My oldest boys are in public school and have always been. My middle boy has always been at home. We did do a trial year for his 9th grade because - thanks to reading threads here, specifically in the chat forum long before I needed to be reading in the high school forum - it was brought to my attention that some states and school districts don't recognize home school credits.

 

Turns out mine is one, too. We did bring him home in the end, but we were wiser for the information ... and the time he spent in school made him easier to have home after that point. He knew what he was, and wasn't, missing.

[EMS83]

When they were 5 and 6, I couldn't imagine having them gone for hours every day.  But even then, and still now, so they could have the space and time to develop their intellects/emotions/self images/worldviews/etc. without all the outside pressure, time tables, and agendas.  I realize that might sound jaded to some and over protective to others, but it's honest.

[purplejackmama]

 

Things have only started to come together academically for dd14 in the last couple of months. Which doesn't mean that there was no value to what we did before then, but our perseverance has paid off in a way that would be impossible in a large classroom with even the most devoted teachers.

Well this gives me hope. Thank you for sharing :)

[ScoutTN]

I love having my kids with me and we love the freedoms of homeschooling! As many others have said, the ability to tailor curriculum to the child's needs, no busywork, lots of time outdoors, non-traditional vacation schedule, no homework, no teaching to the test, lots of time to read real books, etc. It was an easy choice as I enjoy teaching and we live in an area with many homeschoolers.

 

My Ds did not read fluently until he was 7 would not do well in a traditional school. 

Our public schools are weak academically and I am not a big fan of government schools generally. High school is not too far away and while there is a magnet school which could be a possibility for Dd, I expect we will be homeschooling all the way through, with gradually increasing outsourcing as we go. 

 

 

We are totally unable to afford private school.

 

As Lisa said, now it is just our way of life. 

 

[Kareni]

We began homeschooling in 7th grade when my daughter asked not to return to her 6th grade school. (This was no reflection on the school but rather the hour long commute each way.) We gave her the choice of attending the local middle school or of homeschooling and taking some classes at a homeschooling resource center. We had her shadow a middle school student for a full day, and she also visited the resource center. She elected to homeschool.

In subsequent years, she had free choice. Prior to ninth grade, she visited the local high school and sat in on a couple of classes, took a tour, etc. Prior to 10th grade, she attended an information session for a newly opening charter arts academy. In each case, she continued to choose homeschooling. I will admit that the resource center played a large part in her decision -- initially due to fun offerings such as fencing and ice skating but ultimately due to the fact that she fell in love with Latin which she took there for five years.  We were fortunate that the resource center also offered some high caliber academic classes including AP classes in Latin, English, History and Government.

 

She went on to college and has since graduated.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mschickie]

We started homeschooling due to behavior issues with our eldest (sd).  We had started to notice personality changes around 7th grade but chalked it up to a rising teenager.  We knew her friends, she went to church and helped out there and was an honors student.  Well there was an incident in the 8th grade where she was in a fight in the locker room.  Because she was a "good" kid she did not receive a punishment at school (she did at home) but was put on probation.  In the 9th grade we caught her with a cell phone that a boy (who we did not know) gave her.  That was on a Sunday night, Tuesday her father picked her up and told her she was not coming back and we started homeschooling on Wed.

 

I realize that not all kids in ps are bad but we were involved parents, not really overbearing or restrictive (at least at that point, the next couple years that was another story...it is what happens when you loose your parent's trust).  For the 8th grade we had her best friend over to our house 3-4 days a week after school so her Mom could work on her degree.  Nothing showed at home, the key was what was happening away from home.  Her bf was running with a less than ideal crowd and was slowly pulling sd in with her.  When sd was in 8th grade she told us about a drug deal that went down at the youth group they all attended (discretely notified the church on that one).  It turns out that the kids involved were part of that new group her bf was hanging with.   Once we started homeschooling I also noticed all the major gaps in our honor student's education.  She was missing some of the basics and we found out that some of the requests we had made of the school (such as no calculators) had been ignored. This incident was an eye opener for us.

 

Dd was only 3 when this was happening but it caused us to really think about and pray about what direction we wanted to go with her.  Even though one of my sisters homeschooled I never imagined myself doing it (I had previously had certification to teach (just not the permanent one) )  I talked to the schools about what they were using and we determined that we did not want that for dd.

 

Dd is now in 7th grade and we plan on continuing through high school.  Homeschooling has become a way of life for us.  Does she always enjoy school, no.  Would I expect her too, no even if she was in a brick and mortar school she would not always love it.  We continue because of the flexibility and the fact that we can tailor her education to what is best for her and to the standards we set.  Dd is not going to get lost in the system.  Socially we are closer to her family friends.  With sd it was hard to know all her friends parents.  With dd we move in the same circle as most of her friends.  Dd has also been able to develop into her own person and is able to realize that not everyone will like her and that is ok.  She does not have that need to be accepted that you often find in ps kids.  She knows what she likes and if you cannot accept that then oh well.  I have rarely seen kids turned off by that attitude either, I think she has made some more diverse friends because of it.  I can say I will never regret homeschooling her even on the toughest days I know this is the best thing for her.

[heartlikealion]

I started because when we moved here I soon discovered the local public schools were not doing well. Teach for America sends teachers here and a couple of them have shared their opinions about the discipline side of things inside the schools. I don't have a particularly good impression of them academically, either. Many people in this area are poor and uneducated.

 

Most of the locals (that work with dh, anyway) either commute to work and send their children to another school district or pay for private school. I decided to try homeschooling since I didn't have a job and we only have one car, anyway. We have done it for a few years and now are looking into b&m school. Most days are a battle with ds, and I'm not calling it a homeschool problem on its own, but it affects homeschooling. Then, there's the toddler and the house. I just can't keep up and ds and I end up butting heads. I think ds really needs an external factor to motivate him into a routine because his parents aren't good at doing that. Right now ds is up watching a digital movie with dh despite the fact that I pointed out it's too late to start a movie. This family lacks structure. And I can't seem to meet his social or extracurricular needs, either. He doesn't usually complain, but I know he needs to get out more.

[calihil]

We knew we would homeschool before we ever had kids. We are Christians who want to bring our children up in a Christian home, teach them the Bible, and teach them from a biblical worldview. We have 4 kids so private Classical Christian school isn't affordable for us but I guess if we could afford it we'd consider it, at least for high school.