Interesting to me- reasons

[tamlynn]

The top two reasons why people I have talked to irl do not want to or won't homeschool:

#1. Don't have the patience/don't want to be around their kids all day/need the break. Belive me, I totally understand this reason.

#2. They want their kids to be with their friends. This one is surprising to me.

People don't say anything about quality of education which is my #1 reason for homeschooling. My #2 reason would be to focus on family relationships over friend relationships.

What have you learned when talking to people? And what are your main reasons for homeschooling?

 

[Dace]

I don't home school although I seriously considered it for a while.

DH was completely against it for the socialization aspect (um, we have FOUR children)

I think the benefits of HSing sooo outweigh any potential or perceived drawbacks.

At this point I have convinced him to explore on traditional schools at least for our son....who would likely do much better in a HS situation.

Sorry to have hijacked!

 

[Wifezilla]

I didn't homeschool. We both had to work. We did do opposite shifts so our kids weren't daycare babies, but homeschooling wasn't an option.

If we HAD, it would have been hubby doing the schooling. He is WAY more patient than me

 

[Javamama]

As bad as this sounds, right now I just don't want to be around my kids 24/7. They suck what little energy I have right out of me. I love 'em, but I can't keep up with them all day every day.
But I would do it if felt the need to. Things would have to change drastically with regards to housework and yardwork though.

 

[rebecca100]

Here is probably the strangest reason of all. I like the kids school! The whole school including elem., junior and senior high is less than 400 students. The teachers and principal in the elem. really do care and know my kids, dh and I personally and always act glad to see us. They also have lots of in school or after school tutoring available to all the students and they also offer things like after school guitar lessons which my dd is supposed to start. I went to the same school as a child and the kids know some of the teachers I knew as a child. I had considered home school very seriously after my son was diagnosed as dyslexic, but my DD cried so hard at the thought of not having her teacher anymore that for this year at least there won't be any homeschooling. I think we are very lucky to be in a small school rural area.

 

[ducks4you]

All good reasons, and I understand. When I was an undergraduate my piano professor suggested that I get someone else to teach my daughters how to play. Why? Because, she said, you'll never get around to doing it yourself!! She was right, and that's probably why my 3 DD's play violin and cello, instead of piano!!
I believe that this site is valuable is so many ways, among them, to rethink how we we brought up to do things and to depend upon others to do for us, for compensation, of course. In our small city the biggest school districts are just plain embarassing. Even in this terrible economic climate ALL of the private and parochial schools STILL have a waiting list of 5-7 years if you do not start your child there. Anybody that lives here and is sitting of the fence who would ask MHO about public vs private (in our town, mind you) would be told to cough up the money and go private, if they could afford it. There are also many very fine small home schools that cost less. I know of one teacher who used to be a college professor and after moving here, she runs her own tiny home school. Here's some perspective:
One of the public school districts no longer teach the following:
1) English grammer
2) Calculation math--they now emphasize estimation (Bet your bank would like that!!)
3) American History, unless it's revisionist
They also teach communism as good, capitalism as bad.

AND, child disruptive behavior is the norm in BOTH of them. You send them out of the room, they send them back to you. (I KNOW this, because I worked for them for 2 years.) They SHOULD be making the child's behavior become the parent's problem, but they don't. I managed to get 2 of my daughters out of there by 2001, and when we moved in 2000, my third daughter started 8th grade in a rural district without dangerous students in the classroom with her. (She still, as a Senior at the University of Illinois, chuckles about the lack of discipline problems at her rural high school.)

We have heard from too many politicians over too many years that the schools need fixing, but it's the leadership and principles taught by the Universities that needs changing. Same youngest daughter made mincemeat out of one of her history teachers. It was his first year teaching, she was in his American History classroom--he was a history major--and she grew up in a family of Civil War Reenactors, rubbing shoulders with hobbiest who live, eat, breathe and sleep the American Civil War. (Also, her dad got his degree in History many years ago.) She countered every false statement he made with a counter-arguement and documentation to back it up. Of course, he was flustered, but he only regurgitated what he was taught. DH taught American History at a Community College for a decade, and he used a history text published in 1875 as reference for the first semester. We in CW refer to diaries, journals, letters, and you can even purchase a CD with ALL of the Union and Conferderate after-action reports--all of the sources that Ken Burns drew from in his fine documentary about the CW.

It just proves, yet again, that we need to be vigilant about our government, and NOT blindly trust them to educate our children.

BTW, I wish you all well with your childrens' education, 'cause I'm finished with mine, now--all adults.

 

[gettinaclue]

I considered home schooling my kids but decided against it. The major reason my not being able to handle them 24/7 I do NOT have the patience. I just couldn't take it. There's no way. I love and adore my children, but I just couldn't do it. The thought makes me cringe.

I am upset about the publice school system and the way they "run" things - which is why I considered homeschooling - and looked into the cost of private school..but both of these were a definate no go for one reason or another.

I would have really loved for my kids to go to a house of a very old friend of mine. She has home schooled all 3 of her children. I wish my kids could be home schooled with her kids...but she's in NC so definately not gonna happen.

I do try to enrich their education with different activities. DS (4) and I pretend to be different animals every weekday and we learn about that animal. Today, we are ducks, friday and thursday we were horses (he really like being a horse so we did it twice) and wednesday we were bees. You get the idea. I let him pick the animal. DD (12), DH and I really enjoy discussing history and sometimes politics. Dinner time conversation can be really lively.

Enrichment is something that I definately aim for and am determined to do...another reason for this lifestyle.

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

I too thought I wouldn't have the patience, and with my chronic migraines, I didn't believe I could believe I could handle the added stress of homeschooling. My husband and I talked about it on and off for most of my oldest son's second grade year. He was obviously struggling. He couldn't keep up with the other kid's in the classroom and had some issues with being bullied that the school wasn't dealing with properly. The thing is, it was/is a really good school. We actually moved here so that we could get in this school district. When they finally told us that my son was "incapable of learning how to write" which is code for "I don't want to do my job and teach you kid" (this was the occupational therapist, so it really was her job) we finally decided that I needed to pull them out and teach them myself. Not only have I had the patience to do it, I've thrived, they've thrived, and it is now my favorite part of the day. Oh, and it only took us two days to teach him to write correctly.

 

[redux]

I chose not to homeschool my child because my degree is not in education, so I don't feel qualified. I believe that in order to teach, you should be trained to do so. I also feel that children need to make social connections, learn to work in groups, and get a taste of the real world - which isn't always pleasant, but they have to learn to deal with life on life's terms. I don't believe they really benefit from being sheltered and secluded.

 

[freemotion]

The top two reasons why people I have talked to irl do not want to or won't homeschool:

#1. Don't have the patience/don't want to be around their kids all day/need the break. Belive me, I totally understand this reason.

#2. They want their kids to be with their friends. This one is surprising to me.

People don't say anything about quality of education which is my #1 reason for homeschooling. My #2 reason would be to focus on family relationships over friend relationships.

What have you learned when talking to people? And what are your main reasons for homeschooling?

I don't have kids, but have come into contact with a lot of homeschooled kids over the years, especially with my travels to horse boarding and show stables. Also, my nephew was homeschooled for a big chunk of his schooling. My brother and his wife do not have degrees in anything.

My observations: The homeschooled kids are FAR, FAR more socially adept than kids who go to public school. I have had many intelligent conversations with homeschooled kids, while many (I didn't say all) public school kids barely make eye contact and won't/can't hold a conversation with an adult.

Kids learn about bullying or being bullied at public school. They learn bad habits like swearing, drinking, smoking, drugs, pre-marital sex, etc and are far more skilled at pulling the wool over their parent's eyes. I went to public school myself and looking back, it was a collosal waste of time. I learned to be an employee....go to your place when the bell rings, do your work quietly, ask permission to eat, drink, or use the bathroom, and leave when the bell rings. Expect consequences for anything outside these norms, including, in many cases, creative thinking.

I would have received a much better education from my parents, and neither has a degree in anything. They introduced me and my siblings to a wide variety of music (including classical and opera), science, social studies, math, etc. Mostly they instilled in me a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to learn new things and aquire new skills. I most certainly did not learn that at public schools.

Go for it!