What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

DS will be 4 next week so we have another year.

But I thihk my reasons would be more individual attention and that I've heard the HS kids are usually ahead of their grade. I have cousins that were homeschooled and they are at the top of their class in college.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

1) Because I believe that it is what God wants for my child. If I didn't then I wouldn't be doing it.

2) Our public schools are abysmal. The two elementary schools she would have attended will be taken over by the state this summer unless their test scores improved dramatically.

3) The Christian schools in our area seem to foster an entitlement mentality that I don't find attractive or for that matter very Christian. We had her on a waiting list for the day school connected to our church before God pressed it on my heart that she wasn't to go there.

4) I see an age appropriate innocence in homeschooled children that is absent in the conventionally schooled children that I know. I also see an ability to interact with people of all ages and races that isn't present (ironically...since the accusation I face often is that homeschooling in our area is racially motivated) in the conventionally schooled children that I know.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I homeschool so that I, not the public schools, can lay a moral foundation for my children. So that I can teach them right from wrong and guide them through the day's challenges.

I homeschool so that I can be with my children and know their hearts, and so they can be with me and know my heart.

I homeschool so that our family is the number one influence in their lives, rather than peers and teachers.

I homeschool so that my children can "have a life" outside of school. Eight hours spent traveling and in school, 1-3 hours doing homework, chores, dinner ...when do they get to climb trees, curl up with a book, collect rocks, draw pictures...

I homeschool so that my children can learn at their own paces, not be pulled along or held back by 25 other dear children.

I homeschool because my heart and my God tell me it's the right thing for our family, and I am thankful every day that I can. :heart :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I didn't write this, but I did put it on my website because I think it is a great list of reasons why someone might homeschool! :)

http://www.interactivedesigncompany....schooling.html

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

1) Protection - spiritual and physical. Dh is law enforcement and I know more about what can happen with a 30 to 1 ratio than I care to think about.

2) achievement - homeschooling gives the opportunity to work to whatever academic level they are challenged at. It also gives more time for outside achievements in other areas, such as Girl Scouts, etc. For example, we are learning American Sign Language

3) flexibility - whether it is starting the day early or late, doing Saturday school, or skipping a week, we have control of our time to use as we see fit.

4) experience - they have the opportunity to go more places, see more things, meet more people, do more things than traditionally schooled children. For example dd1 gave an opening prayer at our denominations state convention when she was 7, and last month she read scripture at the local National Day of Prayer commemeration.

5) cold, wet, winter mornings - nothing solidifies my desire to homeschool like watching the schoolbus drive by at 6:45 on those cold, wet, winter mornings, knowing my children are still safe, warm and dry in their beds.


I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that spring to mind first.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

A few of them are.....

1. Because we believe God wants us to.
2. We believe we are the best teachers for our children.
3. Protect them from a negative environment, negative peer-pressure, etc.
4. To give them the best education possible.
5. To allow them to learn at their pace.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

My reasons don't have so much to do with the public school here, it's really quite good. But we weren't happening with the way a few things were handled on an administrative level. At any rate, here are my reasons:

1. The most immediate one and the one that really pushed dh over is that Zach was coming home almost daily with reports of bullying. In a lot of cases, I think he was being oversensitive, but at any rate, it was affecting him in an unacceptable way.

2. Zach was also bringing home a lot of not-so-nice imitative behavior. I know he'll still get this from TV (which I let him watch more liberally than probably most people here do) and his friends in the neighborhood, but hopefully the extra time spent with me will make him imitate me more than those other things.

3. Time. After spending 6 hours in school (7 when he was still riding the bus, but I had went to taking him & picking him up because of the bullying), I wanted to let Zach do what he wanted to do when he got home, and that was usually playing with his friends. He was so dead-dog tired at the end of the day, he crashed at 8, and dh & I felt like we were hardly seeing him. Next year, in 2nd grade, the homework picks up considerably, and so he'd be spending 6 hours a day at school and coming home to do more seatwork. I just can't imagine that!

4. There are things I want him to learn that the school just isn't able to offer. We were spending less and less time reading together, and we were in danger of skipping some really important works of literature. I was wanting to work on Spanish with him as well as start giving him some piano lessons, and we just couldn't fit those things in.

5. One-on-one attention. I think Zach will thrive on this, and that I will be able to teach him good habits that the school couldn't because they couldn't spend the time focusing on it -- not their fault, they just can't possibly do it with all those kids.

There are other reasons, but those are the main ones.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

My reasons for homeschooling are pretty similar to everyone else's. I wanted to write them out anyway, so that I could refer back to them.

1. Connection - to foster a connection with my kids, to teach them that I love them and will always be there for them, to be the number one person in their lives, to keep other people (teachers and students) from becoming more important than their parents

2. Moral purity - to keep my children from losing their innocence, to teach them about Jesus on a daily, hourly basis (a goal that I have yet to completely realize, but I am trying!), to tie in the big questions of life with our religious beliefs, to keep them from false religions until they are mature enough to handle it, to make sure they hear and understand the gospel

3. Education - to give them the very best learning experience possible, to teach them things that they cannot get in public or private school, to let them learn at their own pace, to let them follow their own dreams and desire, to keep them from humanistic philosophy, to teach them according to their learning styles and use curriculum that is fun and interesting or no curriculum at all

4. Freedom - to sleep as late as we want (which is not real late around here!), to stay home all day if we want, to be out all day if we want, to go on vacation in September, to not be a slave to the school schedule, to take field trips where we want, to be with daddy when he's off (shift-worker)

5. Safety - to keep them from bullies, negative teachers, sexual predators, scary images in curriculum (I saw a video in 7th grade that showed what happens to drug users. Very graphic. I fainted and peed in my pants. Another boy vomited. I still tried drugs when I was 19.)

6. Time - to keep from wasting time!

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I used to teach in the public school system. Nuff said.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

It's encouraging to read through these and be reminded of some motivators I had forgotten. :) I think I'll make this thread a sticky so others can find it and be encouraged.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

This is great information - thanks everyone. I had a woman at the playground today ask me if Justin was in preschool. I said, "No." She then asked if he was going next year and I again said, "No." Then she asked if I was really going to wait until kindergarten, at which point I responded that I was homeschooling. "Oh, why would you want to do that? I teach dance classes and all the homeschooled children ask the most useless questions." Thankfully Nathan was running to the sliding board on the other side of the playground, so I had to chase after him before I said anything rude. It would have been great to have a list like these to rattle off the top of my head. :mrgreen

Terri - I think I understand what you are saying, but I was wondering if you could explain this more. I'm not thrilled with Christian schools either and I can't exactly put my finger on it, so maybe your point here would help me. Thanks! :-)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I posted a reply here and then realized I don't want to take this thread in that direction. I'll start another thread to discuss the question posed above.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

1. This is probably an incredibly selfish one, but Kevin is my only child, and I want to be able to spend as much time with him as I can.

2. I enjoy being there when he learns something for the first time. It was so cool this year to watch him "get" the idea of silent e! :D

3. Socially, I know Kevin is a bit "different". I was "different", my youngest brother was "different", and we both had some bad experiences in school because of it.

4. Kevin's not on the same level in every subject, so I know there's no way one teacher with one group of kids in one classroom can effectively meet his educational needs.

5. I also like not being a slave to the county school year calendar. Next year, we're starting on July 5th and will be done at the end of April, with several breaks along the way, including nearly a month off for Christmas and a week and a half off for Spring Break!

6. DH does some traveling for business and can also work from home and take half-days off frequently. Having Kevin at home allows him to take advantage of the extra time with Dad.

7. Homeschooling allows us to be flexible when emergencies come up. When DH's grandmother passed away last August, we were able to hop in the van the next morning, drive to FL and stay for the rest of the week and not miss a day's lessons because we brought it all with us -- We were doing Language Arts on I-75 between Atlanta and Macon one day, Math-U-See at my MIL's dining room table another day, and demonstrating rotation and revolution (solar system) in the hotel room one evening! ;) I hate to think what a hassle it would have been to try to gather and complete make-up work (and he'd still surely miss something) if we were in school -- or that we might even have not been able to go because of having to miss school.

8. I'm not a morning person, and I quite frankly had my fill of rushing around before dawn trying to catch a school bus (and they come earlier now than they did when I rode it). Plus, like someone else said, seeing kids waiting out in the cold and rain before 7am (and knowing they've probably got another hour to go before they even get to school) just makes me feel so blessed that mine is safe and warm in bed and will stay safe and warm up to the time he starts his lessons without any extra distractions to inhibit the learning process.

9. He doesn't need special clothes.. or even good clothes...to wear to school. ;) If the situation ever arises (and knowing me, I'm sure it will eventually), I would have no problems having him do his math sitting at the kitchen table in his boxers on laundry day! :giggle

10. Bottom line, I believe God gave me this child to take care of and raise, and that includes educating him. For some people, that may mean providing the best education outside the home as possible, but for as long as I am capable of doing it, I feel I'm shirking the responsibility God gave me if I don't educate him at home.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Thanks for all the great replies! I'm glad I posted that question.

Katherine

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I'm glad you did too!

We are getting ready to start homeschool with my oldest and I was having serious self-doubt. I decided to log onto to GCM for a little encouragement and this was the first thread I found. I'm feeling really good about it again. This forum is such a blessing. :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Well I'll tell the big reasons I am considering homeschooling...

I don't want my child being influenced solely by peers and a stranger for the majority of the day 5 days a week
I want my child to have a 'curriculum' that is personalized
I want my child to be able to eat healthy foods and at leisure)
I want my child to have physical fitness play every day

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I have attended public school, private school and been homeschooled and homeschooling worked best for us. I believe it will be the same way for my children. I am very concerned about the morals (or lack thereof) being taught in the schools and the fact that SO much time is spent at school while little is accomplished.

If you're interested, here's my experiences:

I was homeschooled for pre-k through 1st grade. I started public school after my mom had two babies in 17 months and while my youngest brother was hospitalized for cancer and my experiences were NOT good. I was the only one in second grade who was already reading and I was bored a lot. I was a tiny little girl and a big bully boy picked me up (!) and basically body slammed me on the playground. He was not disciplined and the principal blamed it on hormones. !!!! I think that was 4th grade.

After that I spend two years (5th-6th grade) in a church school that used ACE curriculum. I really loved it as it allowed me to go at my own speed. I was ahead when we left the school... which we did only because we were moving out of state. Once we arrived in Indiana it was best to homeschool while we searched for a home so I was homeschooled for 7th and 8th grade. The summer following 8th grade I decided I really wanted to go to school again so my parents found another church run school for me to attend. I really didn't like it much and there was a boy who teased me a lot and I was basically told that I was egging him on. :sa At the end of the first semester, my parents thankfully pulled me out and I finished out my schooling at home; with the exception of taking driver's ed and a semester of Spanish at the public high school as a non-traditional student. I passed my GED test (without studying :blush) shortly after my 18th birthday and two months before the school year ended. I already had a job at the local library, so I was able to move up from shelving books to a variety of other jobs requiring more skill.

A funny note, but our local library loves to hire homeschoolers! :tu

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

i say yes, mmmm. yep, aha.. etc to nearly all of these here.

the one i would like to add is that it comes (to me) as a natural extension of our parenting. (i am not saying it is the only "AP" "GBD" way to do things or anything like that)

and i LOVE that my life and the lives of my kids aren't cut up into little segments.
it's all cohesive. part of a whole. :grouphug

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

The thread about being able to afford homeschooling reminded me of some less obvious reasons.

Public school parents are expected to be involved--to help in the classroom, to help their children learn whatever their children couldn't understand in class (or what their teacher didn't have time for because she was too busy teaching about whatever the PC issue of the county made her teach). I've seen public school parents who put in as much time with their children's education (PTA meetings, cafeteria work, teacher's helper, and homework) as I do homeschooling. But they had no say about the education their child was receiving. It makes me wonder what they think their child is getting from school that's so valuable that they'd make that kind of sacrifice for it.

Public school parents have to pay for stuff when the public school tells them to. Not when it fits their budget, but when they get a note from the school. There are school supplies, suitable clothes, field trips, class pictures. Homeschooling parents spend money when they can. If they can't, there are ways of getting an education without money. They can use the library, for one thing. And homeschool parents never have to pressure their co-workers and distant family members to buy candy bars, candles or magazines to fund their school.

I liked the reason about being able to limit your child's diet, too.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Yeah, I'm glad somebody else mentioned diet. :shifty The fact that my ds is seriously allergic to all types of nuts (including peanuts.. where the allergens are actually airborne :eek ) has been sort of an extra motivation for me to consider homeschooling. (He's still 3, so we haven't definitely decided yet, but I have am testing the "homeschooling waters" by starting some more structured art and preschool stuff with him.) Yes, I know there are plenty of nut-related dangers in other places.. the park.. restaurants, stores, church, social gatherings, etc. BUT.. I'm always somewhere close by with an epi-pen in hand, and I'm in the habit of being more aware than a teacher who has 25 or 30 kids to think about.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Well we have had some problems with our daughetr in ps system for years. I mean yes she has learned a lot but the other stuff she is learning worries us more. My daughter is not as emotionally and socially mature as others her age and easily gets overwhelmed with the way other act and their interests at her age. We noticed she was writign love notes to boys because she thought thats what others do and just wanted to fit in. Since she is so nieve she is easily talked into doing anything someone dares her to do. This can be a very troubling thing. I have been for homeschooling for a while and was about to last year but hubby decided not to. After the occurances this year we both agree Hs would be best for Madalyn. a few reasons we have decided to not do ps this year is: repeated very stressful standardize tests (freaks her out and stresses family), bulling teachers to try to make you out your child in extra tutoring classes so their test results will be higher and they can get bonuses, child being left behind when they do not understand a skill, being made fun of by teacher and classmates when they do not understand a skill and have more questions, peer pressure, not having to do a bunch of school fundraisers, child not having to get up at 5 am to catch bus on time. and sooooo many more.

Marie

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

"I liked the reason about being able to limit your child's diet, too.
Yeah, I'm glad somebody else mentioned diet."

I wanted to say that in addition to diet being a good reason to home school, what about adding to the list the idea of being able to eat when you're hungry and use the bathroom when you need to? I know for me when I was growing up, you had to eat lunch when they told you it was lunch time even if you weren't hungry at that time.... and for me, I never went to the bathroom in school {until I got my monthly, that is...} - I would use the bathroom at home, go to school ALL DAY and not use the bathroom until after I got home. To this day, I don't like public toilets, but I now go and use them when I have to.....

~~ Jacqui

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Oh, the list just keeps on growing.

1. We want them to have the best education. Learning at their level without any restrictions.
2. The socialization offered in public school is NOT something we want our children to learn from. Bullies and Peer Pressure are not required for healthy growth (although some think it's normal :rolleyes ).
3. It's hard to teach about loving Christ when they go school and learn about loving self. We usually don't have a problem loving ourselves, it's sort of human nature.
4. Say no to TRENDS. We really don't want our kids to be into trends, wondering why they don't have the newest whatever. Clothing, toys, beliefs, etc. It's materialistic and superficial. :blah
5. SHARE. Our children will learn about sex from what we teach them, thank you. :) Also, kids in highschool are hormone crazed. I really don't want them to have to deal with all that comes with being around the harmone crazed opposite sex, six hours a day. :giggle I mean, I had guy a rub his you-know-what on me when we stood up to get off the bus(I clobbered him right away), or times when we were groped in a crowded hallway, or guys staring at your behind as you walked to the next class, or finding out one of your close friends was gay.... It's worse nowdays. Our youth group has told us some horrific stories. :eek
6. Our kids are also kept "innocent" longer. Why should they have to grow up so fast?

This is just a short list of reasons. I find new reasons all the time.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

3. It's hard to teach about loving Christ when they go school and learn about loving self. We usually don't have a problem loving ourselves, it's sort of human nature.

Wow. This is really good. Thanks for that reminder. :tu

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Here's something that was in the directory from the homeschool expo I went to a few weeks ago. I don't necessarily agree with everything this woman says, but this was pretty good:

(I know there's an odd "to" in there, but I'm staying true to the quote...)

Read the whole article here: http://www.homeschoolyellowpages.com...ticle.php?id=4

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Wow.. Great quote. :) It reminds me of some of the things I've heard Joanne say on this board.. stuff like:

The more time parents spend away from their kids, the easier it gets to be away from them.

And various comments that refer to the fact that we have to *LEARN* how to be mothers/parents.. that we have to *develop* things like patience and tolerance, structure and organization, etc.

It was a great relief to me to hear someone SAY that these things don't always come naturally, and we have to learn them. The thing that makes me the most unsure of myself when I consider HSing is the thought that I am just not the right "kind of mom" or that I don't have adequate skills/resources to manage and educate my child properly.

Today while I was out running errands, HSing popped into my head and the thought that crossed my mind was that I want to experience life *with* my children. I genuinely love being around them. (the vast majority of the time, anyway. :giggle :O )

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Very good points. Last year I subbed in public schools about a half a dozen times. I let my oldest son (who is about to graduate from Abilene Christian as an education major sub for the kids). I was shocked as an ex-public school teacher how much things had deteriorated. I highly recommend to anybody who is thinking about homeschooling to read The Well Trained Mind.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:tu
When we had dd#1's birthday party a few months ago, I remember one of the moms commenting to me, "T picked L out a baby doll. I wasn't sure about that, I told her that even though L was a year younger (8yo) that I didn't think she was still into baby dolls. But T insisted that L still really liked to play with baby dolls. I hope she's okay with her present." I replies that L indeed still loved to play with baby dolls, and she would love her gift. The other mom looked at me like... :hunh :scratch

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Oh, I know it. I can see the difference. My cousin, 11 years old (HSed), still loves her American dolls. My SIL, 9 years old (PSed), doesn't play with anything and is completely boy crazy. I see it all the time. :(

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

This is an actual banner hanging in the top public high school in Memphis right now. I'd say that qualifies as a reason to homeschool.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:giggle Fuzzy Math....

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Oh my! My dd's read 25 in two months, at least. :lol

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

well we're talking about it and i'm excited thinking it might happen now...in addition to what others said:

1. so much wasted time in class - i taught in public and private and even the best teacher can't avoid waisted time which goes up a lot with a higher student:teacher ratio. the local catholic schools have 30-35 kids in a class and i think that is awful. i know i could teach a K-1 curriculum in half the time they do at school.

2. they send home way too much redunant busy work homework.

3. K-1 dosn't allow for kids to progress at their own pace anymore. kids who aren't ready to learn phonics right away end up in the bottom and stay there.

4. money. we won't do public down here. they are awful. catholic schools are ranging from 3500-4000 for elem. not counting books, fees, never ending fundraisers, supplies, uniforms, etc.........

5. my DH works late, so by the time he gets home they'd hardly see him. this way they don't have to get up super early and be in bed super early.

6. the siblings would know each other so well and spend time together

7. money we save on tuiton could be use for exciting family trips where they see things in person in stead of in a book (and we could take them any time of the year we wanted)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

This is a great question! I have been asking a couple people who I know will HS and so this is perfect. My daughter is only 2 years old but I am considering HS and so this is great to find out why others are doing it.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

So many of the good ones have been taken! :P

Here is one I don't think was mentioned. Before becoming a Christian, I was visiting a good friend. We both were very new moms and she asked me if I ever thought about HSing. I hadn't. She said she was going to and started talking about it. I realized here I was holding this little boy, who I was APing to the max 24/7, respecting him so much in every way.... No WAY was I going to suddenly make him ask permission to pee from a complete stranger- just because he had turned five! :eek

I wanted him to be raised with basic human dignity.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Wow I am so blessed to have found this thread and forum. :) My son is only 1 1/2 but I have been thinking about homeschooling for many of the reasons previously mentioned. :tu

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I taught public school for 9 years (grades 2-4). The year I was teaching 3rd grade with 22 students, everything was my responsibility (no pull out classes or anything like that) and I had the smartest boy in the grade (no kidding, an IQ of 180) and the most LD kid in the grade (IQ less than 70) and the rest of the 22 kids were in the middle. And I was supposed to meet all of their needs. One teacher, 22 different sets of learning needs. How was I supposed to do that? Not to mention teaching to the test. It was an impossible situation and the kids were the losers- all of them, imo. That was before I had any real discipline problems a couple of years later to further convince me that homeschooling was what I wanted to do.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Thank you all so much for you input on HS, our child is very young and we have one on the way but it's something we are thinking about. I'll keep researching and listening....

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

1. I want dh and I to be the primary influences in their lives-not 30 other children from all different walks of life, and 1 teacher that we don't really know much about.
2. I want to be able to pay attention to their character, and help them in little areas that I might have missed if I only saw them a few hours a day.
3. I enjoy being with them and want to be there for their 1st time doing things as much as possible, and love to see their faces when the *get it*!
4. I want them to be immersed in the love of the Lord, and totally saturated with the things of Him all during the day (Bible, talking about Him, music, etc) and they can't do that in a school setting.
5. I don't want them exposed to "tolerance" programs, "family life" programs, "evolution" materials, etc., until I feel that they are ready for them, and then I want to teach them the issues from a Godly perspective.
6. Violence, bullying, and bad language in the classroom on a daily basis, on any given day, in any school.
7. I want to prepare our children for *life*-teach my children, boys and girls, to cook, sew, take care of children, run a home, clean, etc, by the time they graduate from high school.
8.I enjoy learning with them. It's fun to do projects with them and explore their reading literature with them! I like being able to customize their schoolwork to their little personality and interests that God has given them.
9. Most of all, I want them to be strong in their relationship with Jesus, and I can't encourage them in this if they're gone from me for so long.