Do you love homeschooling?

[hollyhock2]

My sister and I have been discussing this (via email). She met an older homeschooler who asked her how she liked homeschooling, and my sister was honest about not totally loving it. The older lady was appalled. However, I am fairly sure that lots of people homeschool their kids without absolutely loving it, right?

So, do you love it or do you do it anyway for other reasons?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I homeschooled for 16 years and absolutely loved it.  But that doesn't mean that I didn't have hard days or times when I was frustrated.  It's easy to forget those hard days when you're feeling nostalgic for all the wonderful times that we also had (and which on balance outweighed the hard frustrating days.) 

[Kassia]

I had a love/hate feeling towards it and didn't feel like I was good at it due to my personality.  But I do regret not starting earlier because dd thrived at home.  There were things I absolutely loved and other parts I really disliked.  It was definitely the best decision for her in so many ways.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Kassia

[desertflower]

I love it!  I love seeing my children grow and develop!  Plus, I take charge of their education.  I know what they are learning (for now anyhow haha).  I also love that they have time to seek out other avenues that public school doesn't offer. 

[HomeAgain]

I am competent, flexible, and confident in my abilities. That makes it usually enjoyable for me.  I love the different stages and even the long progression of helping children learn to read.

Teaching 11-12yos, though?  I'd rather eat worms.

 

[8filltheheart]

I absolutely love it.  Like Jean, though, it doesn't mean it is flowers and puffy clouds.  It is hard work.  But, it is hard work with awesome rewards.  I am still in the thick of it even though this is yr 29 for me.  I love it so much that I have added my granddaughter to our homeschool.  (So this yr I am teaching 6th, 7th, and 11th.)

[teachermom2834]

I did. I stopped when I didn’t have a community and I found myself spending all my time and money trying to find one. I was not able to continue with just one child at home and no friends for her and nothing to participate in. I always loved actually learning with her and watching her make the strides and connections and all the time together. But I just couldn’t do it in isolation (well I would have been fine in isolation but she was not fine in isolation). 
 

I loved homeschooling my boys when they were all home all the time and we were all in on a homeschool lifestyle. When they were teens and into other things it got away from me a little. But I still liked it and I did so love when they were all under high school. Such wonderful times. Teen difficulties and life stress (unemployment, illness and death in the family, etc) took a toll and I did get burned out. But I still think of how I loved homeschooling for so long.
 

My dd just started a brick and mortar high school. The boys are moved out and she is my first one to attend school. I am reading with her and helping her study. I help her make flashcards mostly because I just love hanging out with her and discussing what she is learning as we work. She joined a quiz bowl team and I help her pull resources and study. She is auditioning for a play next week and I am helping her get ready for the audition. I love being involved in what she is doing. If we had a way for her to do these things and continue homeschooling, homeschooling her would have been awesome. 

[lmrich]

Loved it and miss it! I am a teacher by heart. I am still working and teaching home educated students.

[Ellie]

Absolutely.

[Slache]

I absolutely love it.

Most of my closest in real life homeschool friends don't. One hates it.

[caffeineandbooks]

I love it - but my husband and I chose it when our eldest was a baby, and we had lots of time to investigate and decide it was what we wanted to do.  I have so much respect for the mamas who always imagined their kids going to school for 12 years, but then a diagnosis, a bullying issue or some other trigger leads them to pull their kids out of school and put their hearts and souls into something they weren't originally drawn to, not for love of homeschooling, but for love of their child.

[Janeway]

I don’t love it. But I hated having kids in whatever those public schools pretend to be where we live. So, like changing diapers and cleaning vomit, I homeschool as part of parenting. There are good times and less than good times. That is just a part of being a parent.

[Loowit]

Overall, yes, I love it.  There were times it was very hard and I wanted to throw in the towel, but I am glad I have stuck it out.  Two years left with my youngest and then I am done.  I will be sad when the homeschool years are behind me.

[EKS]

I loved homeschooling, and it was the hardest thing I have ever done.

[wendyroo]

I love homeschooling three of my children. Not that it is always pleasant, but it is so, so rewarding. It is also enjoyable and interesting and challenging (in a good way) most of the time.

I absolutely, 100% hated homeschooling my other child. It was frustrating and painful and soul-crushing. It was also the right choice for many years. He is now starting his second year in public school and that is also frustrating and painful and soul-crushing...plus he is not getting educated (which I unequivocally did manage to do during his homeschool years).

[ScoutTN]

I loved it while we were real homeschoolers and my kids were younger.

Dd has been 100% outsourced for several years, so not the same. It has worked well for her and she is thriving. Very few things I’d do differently, looking back as the mom of a senior.

Ds is no longer homeschooled and while that is the right path for him now, it makes me sad. I detest so much about his public school. I have made wrong choice after wrong choice after wrong choice with him. His “education” is extremely poor. He is an impossible kid. So much potential, but very oppositional and unwilling to work. Like @wendyroo said, “frustrating and painful and soul-crushing”. Every.single.day. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by ScoutTN

[Ting Tang]

No, I don’t love it entirely. I feel stretched very thin with four kids, and everything else goes by the wayside.  It is exhausting. The younger kids are more motivated than my oldest, and I feel he belongs in a school setting. But our local k-8 is failing, and I still worry about Covid. I do this out of necessity. Yet I still hope I’m not failing them. I think it’s aged me, and I started to get Botox, lol. It helps because my bad faces would freeze, lol. Oh and it relieves my facial tension. 

[Shoeless]

I've grown to love it. DS14 was a kindergarten drop-out 😜 and I was unprepared for what lay ahead.

He's such a great kid and I love being able to spend so much time with him. I sometimes fret that I am failing him because I am not a skilled teacher, but he'd rather hole up with a book and teach himself 99% of the time, so it works out fine. I think. I hope. 

[Dianthus]

I do love it. I didn't plan on it though we started at K with oldest who is 8th grade now. I wish I would have been planning and studying for it since birth so I wouldn't have jumped around with curriculum as much. My kids see the difference in what they do and know vs their B&M friends and I love that they value their education. They are doing well and I'm so happy about it. However, we have crazy, stressful, get-back-to-the-table days too.

I cannot imagine not homeschooling. I definitely wouldn't have had a 4th child. We would never see each other because I would have to work full time for private school because the public schools here are terrible. They wouldn't be doing the extracurriculars either. Our house would be a mess and nice dinners would be less common. Though it's busy and sometimes stressful, it's less stress and better quality of life than if they were all in school. And they are learning great things. And I get to learn too. I love it.

[purpleowl]

On the whole, yes, I love it. There are things I don't love about it, and there are days I don't love. But mostly I love it. 🙂

[LauraClark]

It is the best job I've ever had and also the most exhausting. When people ask me if I love homeschooling it depends on if I'm focusing on the hard or the rewarding at the moment.  In the end, when my kids have grown and I look back on it I think I will see it as way more roses than thorns and tell people that I loved it.

[Eos]

I love it.  I will be sad and disoriented next year when I'm done after 30+ years.  Like @teachermom2834I spent a long time during the middle kids' early years searching for a community but never really found one, or had one for a few years until the other kids went off to high school.  If I could redo that era and not be so lonely I would.  On the other hand, the kids made their chosen community a vibrant and still connected group, even if I didn't have a community of moms.

Our journey has been all over the map in terms of resources and focus, but at the end of it all I feel incredibly blessed to have had this experience, and my kids are grateful for most of it.

[lulalu]

I LOVE homeschooling! I can't imagine doing anything else! 

 

I know several people who don't like it at all. One in particular has always planned on homeschooling, I think she enjoyed the first year or two, but doesn't like it at all and it shows. I think she just likes staying home and having her kids with her. They miss so many days here and there with schooling, and she puts very little effort into it. She hasn't learned alongside her kids, and doesn't help much when they get stuck. I think she overwhelmed and is sticking with homeschooling because it is the easiest option for them. Others I know do it because their kids need it to succeed as schools were failing their families. And many of these that I know don't love it, but keep going. 

[cintinative]

I do love homeschooling, but just like loving a person, loving homeschool involves intentionality, perseverance and hard work.  I tell people homeschool is not for everyone and I mean it.  I am so grateful I can do this, but that does not mean it is easy or without sacrifice. 

I also think homeschooling is pretty humbling.  I have not always done well by my kids.

I met someone early on (my first year homeschooling) who had eight kids and said she hated homeschooling. She was only doing it because her husband thought she should. And honestly, it was a hot mess.  I really think that this is not something you can do well with only a smidge of dedication.

Edited August 26, 2022 by cintinative

[J-rap]

I loved homeschooling, every minute of it.

[Servant4Christ]

I don't love it on days/weeks when we're facing major hurdles, but I 100% do not regret and have no plans to change our decision to homeschool. It's hard work, but I get to teach from a Christian viewpoint which is very important to us and I get to discuss things happening in the world around us in an age appropriate, God honoring way rather than allow the school system and state to dictate what/when. There is nothing comparable to seeing a child start reading on their own and knowing you helped facilitate that. I agree with @HomeAgain on middle school age not being as enjoyable, though, because the drama and hormones are raging at that stage. 

[freesia]

Yes, I do love it. There have been ups and downs as with all of life, but I am so glad we homeschool. I love the lifestyle. (17 years for me if we start with oldest’s K year.)

[Momto6inIN]

Yes, I love it!!! I love being with my kids and investing in them every day and I love the relationships we've been able to build and maintain and I love the education they're receiving.

That doesn't mean I like every single aspect of it every single day no matter what. I love my husband and my kids and my mom too, but that doesn't mean I like every single aspect of their personalities all the time 😉

[Eos]

8 hours ago, Servant4Christ said:

There is nothing comparable to seeing a child start reading on their own and knowing you helped facilitate that.

This.

[Clarita]

I love homeschooling my kids. My kids are pretty self motivated and my husband is very supportive. If those two things weren't happening I would probably get a job and send my kids to private school.

Everyday isn't the picture of perfect (in fact most of our school days don't look like the ones on pinterest or instagram), but in general both my kids (5 almost 6 and 4) are really motivated to learn. So at least during hard times I can have a discussion with them and we can work together to make lessons more tolerable or more engaging. With my son I actually think it'd be more stressful for me if he went to a brick and mortar school. He does not like busywork; he needs to always have a way to prove he knows (or doesn't know) the material to skip the tedious work. 

We are completely open to other options if homeschooling at any point stops working for us. Homeschooling is not a must for us in anyway just the best way currently for all involved.

[Clarita]

To add my MIL did it out of necessity my BIL had a tough Kindergarten year. I don't think she loved it and thus she has a lot of doubts surrounding it. I wish there was a public resource where people in that boat can talk to someone who knows all the options can really help provide the most optimal plan for a family. 

[Kezia]

I love it 😀 I love Socratic questions. I love logic discussions on the couch, poetry teas (which I may have dropped the ball on some weeks), and the  “lightbulb” moments. I love choosing the start time, choosing the curriculum and doing grammar orally and having fun playing with sentences. I love game days, weeks off, year round schooling and vacations while other kids are in school. I love feeling like I have an important job to do. I love taking his official school picture for the year using our home in the background. I love doing math problems together and finding that he solves difficult problems and can explain how he did it. 
 

I am not fond of days when he insists there is no reason to include planning, revising or editing when writing. When I notice that he still can’t pop off the answers to simple math facts as fast as I think he should so I need to bring back the fact drills. Every day that he has no stamina for the boring work and slacks off, goofs around, accomplishes very little, says he is done reading after 10 minutes of time or seems like he hasn’t mastered topics that I previously was certain that he has mastered. 

 

I have watched my son grow so much over the last 2 years. I could see myself going through high school, but my husband isn’t really on board with that. 

 

I also wish I had the ability to do it the way I always envisioned. Writing across the curriculum in amazing, fun, creative and meaningful ways. Somehow magically getting math, history, science and literature tied together in ways that helps him to make connections and enjoy learning. More field trips, more unconventional learning, more fun discussions… sometimes I feel I am severely falling short on taking advantage of all homeschooling has to offer. 
 

And of course I have many days when I feel I may be doing him a disservice by homeschooling. 
 

[Cordelia]

I love homeschooling. I do not love being a full time SAHM. My ideal scenario would be to homeschool and then work a bit on the side. 

I met someone once who homeschooled solely because she did not want to vaccinate her kids. It did not appear that any actual teaching was happening. As pro-homeschooling as I am, I found that situation alarming. 

[73349]

I love it, but teaching is my actual field. (I previously taught middle school English.) I don't expect everybody to love it, but I delight in learning and helping other people learn, and it's especially enjoyable when it's my own child.

There have certainly been days I haven't loved, and there are frequently moments I don't love. There are challenges. (The exact things I am gifted in are the ones my DC finds profoundly difficult.) There's nothing wrong with not loving it as long as you're doing it well enough anyway. I mean, I don't have to love cooking to serve a good meal.

[Dianthus]

1 hour ago, 73349 said:

I love it, but teaching is my actual field.

That is an advantage. I wish I had taken a class on elementary education before I started, though after 3 kids, I hope I have it figured out for #4.

 

1 hour ago, 73349 said:

There's nothing wrong with not loving it as long as you're doing it well enough anyway. I mean, I don't have to love cooking to serve a good meal.

Yes.

[JennyD]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:35 AM, cintinative said:

 

I also think homeschooling is pretty humbling. 

Boy, isn't that the truth. IME homeschooling is an unrivaled opportunity to confront every single one of one's personal limitations. and character flaws.

But I do love it.  It has been such a trip.

 

 

 

[Brittany1116]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:00 PM, HomeAgain said:

 

Teaching 11-12yos, though?  I'd rather eat worms.

 

This part. Send help! 

 

 

I do love most everything about it, but like anything, it can become a drudgery at times. File it under: The days are long but the years are so short.

[8filltheheart]

6 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

 The days are long but the years are so short.

Truth!!  Take if from a mom who has 6 adult children and whose baby will be turning 13 at the end of the yr.  It's like the blink of an eye since I was knee deep in diapers, toddlers, little kids, and ornery teens all at the same time.  It truly is a blink.  Hold them tight bc way too soon you'll be realizing that you are letting them go.

[sweet2ndchance]

I love homeschooling but like the others it isn't always sunshine and daisies. Like any job, there is good and bad to it. I didn't love every day and I had my favorite years to teach and my not so favorite years to teach.

My youngest is in public school this year because he needs way more social interaction than I can give him at home as my only little one left at home. The homeschool community around here is pretty non-existent so the only option left for us around here is public school. He is enjoying it and I'm happy that he is enjoying it but I do secretly wish that maybe after a year or two in public school he will be ready to come back home.

[2_girls_mommy]

yes, I loved it all through my older two daughter's 16 years of homeschooling, and was sad when it was over and time for them to go to college.  I was sad when I went from a home of 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 at home homeschooling each year, but I have also loved each new stage and developing the new plans for each year.   (I had 3 homeschoolers, but also had a niece for a couple of years, so it was like having four!)  This is my first year with one, so I took on another part time job. I juggle her with dh now, which is something we have never done.  I am enjoying working out of the house more.  DD is enjoying spending time with her dh on her own.  And with just one I can get her schooling done quite quickly.  We are still very involved in lots of things- co-op, church, a good friend group with bday parties and such, scouts, etc. that I do not feel she is lacking at all for friends.  I have known lots of homeschoolers who finished with just their one at home and found a good co-op group and jobs and such that kept them busy.  I am sure her journey will look different that my others' did.  But I do still love homeschooling. 

 

It was not all easy at all.  There were times of financial struggles to make it work when you are on one income long term, especially during layoffs.  There was trying to teach through illness and deaths and births that took a toll on me. But in the end I was glad we were doing that life together, and that they didn't have to grieve on anyone else's schedules.  I was happy to do without vacations and any extras during the recession in return for staying home with my kids and working hard to help make ends meet wherever we could. I am happy now that we can take some little vacations and such too, lol. 🙂  But it was all worth it. 

[BlsdMama]

I've been doing it for an awfully long time - it's our 22nd year.  Do I *love* it like I used to? Hmm.  I'm tired now and some days I'd like to just sit back and do the "rah rah" mom thing and not be the circus ringmaster.  Too honest?  I do it for a lot of reasons.  I genuinely believe it's the best education option, I can't picture my 8yo in a classroom all day. I have three dyslexic kiddos who need Barton.  I know that with the hustle and bustle of activities, we wouldn't take the time/effort in the evening to instill a biblical worldview.  I used to LOVE it and I'm hoping to get back to that spot. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

[Lillyfee]

I absolutely love it and I never thought I would.

I grew up in a country where homeschooling is illegal.  Like going to jail and get your kids taken away illegal.  I never thought that people who are not teachers could teach their kids.

When I saw my son failing in 3rd grade because he could not pay attention and nobody cared  I made the decision to pull all four kids out of school and that was the best decision of my life (at least for the three younger ones).

My boy got back on track and does so well in middle school now. 

My oldest also went back to school because I don't feel qualified to do high school but I enjoy to keep my two younger ones home and plan on homeschooling them at least through 5th grade.

I really really love it.

 

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I homeschooled for 9 years and this is my first year without anyone home. I have four kids but never homeschooled them all at once. The most I had was 3 at a time and that was challenging, but I loved it. I look back on those years now with great fondness even though it wasn't always easy. Last year was tough because I just had one home and she really needs peers and a teacher other than me. She's starting at a lovely school next week and I know it will be so good for her. I just wish I had more kids to homeschool. 🙂

[Moose]

We are entering our 3rd year and I've finally hit my stride on the schooling part. I have all this free time that used to be filled with panicked researching about curriculum and teaching methods. Now that I know what I'm doing, I feel like I can actually relax a bit. I love homeschooling. I love the time I get to spend with my son, that I get to help him and we learn together. But I wish it was easier to find people out there to meet up with. It takes so much effort to plan an event, and then 90% of people bail. It's disheartening. So I hate the fact that I feel like I have to try so hard and worry so much about finding my child social outlets, when most parents just send their kids to school or let the siblings play together. 

[Lillyfee]

We don't have many homeschool friends here. We are in a very conservative part in the Midwest and the one meeting I went to I knew immediately that we don't fit in (even though they were very nice and we are Christian too) .

All my good friends are non homeschoolers and the kids mainly play with kids that go to public school but sometimes I also meet two homeschool families at the pool.

Our neighborhood is filled with kids which makes it easy for the kids to find friends. 

I still hope that we find a cool homeschool group where we move now. 

 

[Rachel]

I do love homeschooling, but when I meet people who don’t, I always remind them it isn’t for everyone. I love learning alongside my children, I love the relationship we have built, I love the flexibility of being able to go hiking when the trails aren’t busy, or being able to take off if my husband  has been traveling a lot. 

My oldest child is an eager learner very easy to teach, I think starting that way has made me enjoy it more. My youngest is dyslexic and challenging. If he had been my oldest, I may not love homeschooling. But I gained confidence with my oldest and can really see the benefits for my youngest. A traditional school setting would be terrible for him academically and socially, but homeschooling works really well. 

[Lillyfee]

When I decided to start homeschooling my neigbor at that time yelled at me. She meant it well and was like a mom for me but she said "Everybody I know that homeschooles is depressed and tired. I know that because in the orthodox church many people homescho. You will get tired and look bad and eventually your husband will leave you because you are tired all the time." 

I csn remember my other neighbors husband standing next to us and laughing "Well, that escalated quickly." 

However, I love it and my husband is still there  but it'd true that it's not the right fit for every family. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Lillyfee

[Elizabeth86]

I love it overall! It’s like parenting, I love it overall, but some days I need a vacation. I will say my first couple years sucked because I have super rigid thinking and I couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact it didn’t have to look like public school. I thought relaxing meant I was a lazy teacher. Oh to do it all over knowing what I know now.

[ktgrok]

I love parts of it, and not others, sort of like I love parts of being a parent and not others, lol. 

I LOVE seeing a kid figure something out, seeing their eyes light up, hearing them ask really cool questions, etc. 

This week DD5 actually sounded out and read a word for the first time ever. I LOVED LOVED LOVED being the one to share that moment with her! I would have HATED to miss out on that!!

On the flip side, trying to teach DS23 to read was a NIGHTMARE. I gave up, he went to public school, and somehow he figured it out. He was very much a "do it myself" kid. He fought me every step for every year when we went back to homeschooling in 5th - BUT there were StILL so many awesome moments in between the shouting and the throwing of pencils. (and to be fair, when he was in public shool we fought like that too - just over homework instead)

Having 3 at once schooling now means I'm bouncing back and forth a bit more than is pleasant, but I still like it more than the alternative, by far. And truly, I wouldn't miss the conversations we have for the world!

But..I LOVE learning. And I HATED school. So for me, homeschooling is my chance to share that love of learning without the stupid parts of school. 

[bookbard]

I can't imagine not being involved in my kids' education - but then, I'm a teacher. Both kids were reading before school, and they were afterschooling a lot of stuff before covid lockdowns started us homeschooling in 2020. I really enjoyed the first lockdown, the second was not as fun, but both were better than juggling school and afterschool. Now we're homeschooling officially, and I love the fact  my kids can translate Latin and memorise poetry, and they don't have to waste their time on worksheets. I'd say they get less physical activity at home though (they were doing sport/physical ed. at least twice a week at school, plus outdoor games each day at recess and lunch). I'm struggling to provide covid-safe alternatives at the moment, esp as 2022 is officially the wettest year in living memory in our part of the world.