Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

--Homeschooling more easily facilitates parents as disciplers of their children because of the amount of time spent together. I believe parents should be the primary influence. I don't want a bunch of same age children telling my kids how to act. :/ (Hold Onto Your Kids is a good book about why peer orientation is a bad thing)

--My kids don't have to move at the exact same pace as everyone else in school. I was bored so much in school because we had to go slow enough for the people who needed it.

--School is such a time waste. Research shows they only accomplish a couple hours worth of education in the 7 hours they are there... 7 hours + time to travel there and back.

--Speaking of time, I want my kids to have time to really play and enjoy nature and not have to sit there all day

--I love how education flows naturally from our real life rather than sectioned off to something they do elsewhere with other people. 'So what did you do at school today?' becomes an unnecessary question, and thankfully so.

--I want my kids to be close to each other and have a real relationship rather than just give each other the leftovers after a long day at school with their "friends." Family is a relationship that stays with you for life (in most circumstances) and that makes it important to me.

--I don't think 5 and 6 year olds are emotionally and socially mature enough to be on their own in social situations without their parents.

I love how my first post on here my oldest was 1.5 and now he's approaching 5 so I changed my answer to reflect some of our journey since then. :)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:popcorn :grouphug

We chose to homeschool because we believe this is what God wants as the best choice for the children.
They can work at their own pace. There is always that issue out there that always comes up about socializing and how does the children
spend time with other children their age? They do socialize. By getting involved in local homeschooling groups, meeting new people, getting involved in the local church where other families have children and finding out that other people there have some of the same likes and beliefs that you do.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Loved hearing the replies, I just decided this this school year with my kindergardener. Number one reason is children at the public school were way to sexual and totaly inapropriate. I cherish my DD inocennce and would like to preserve that. Now reading what you all say makes so much sense and we want to homeschool our kids new to the scene of it and not sure my exact reasons but the number one reason it feels right in my heart.

Points I do like.
I can incorprate God anytime in our lesson plans like on our History Day we learned about the Crusifixtion of Jesus and by Easter Sunday We knew the story. I can teach them that Abraham Lincoln Prayed before he worked and show them how our country was founded on God. Love that.

My DD and I can go out and look for bugs for science and come back in and read about them.

For reading we can read what ever books we want and not worry their christian.

For worksheets and the like I can have her do them and on days she is not interested we do more hands on things.

I like the idea of not forcing her to sit still and learn from workbooks she can have more hands on, life experience learning style.

She can have friends from Church and around the nieghborhood and we can socialize plenty we go to the store, the park, the library.

I love the fact that she don't have to compete with the most popular kids for what she wears. I got her a few things from a yard sale today and she was like cool. Even if the pants had a bit of hole she said "That's ok who cares if they have a little hole" No influence in the fashion department love that.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

The really short version:

We simply see no reason to stop doing what we've always done just because our kids have reached an arbitrary age that declares them ready to sit in a desk and be spoon fed their education.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:highfive

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Love the responses here...I saw all our reasons for homeschooling and more.

Oh, :laughtears that banner was hilarious! The math error plus the grammatical error??? :laughtears I'm sure it wasn't originally intended that way. :giggle

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

We homeschool simply b/c we prayed about it & it is what is right for our family :-) That is all there is to it, of course we are thankful for the many benefits that come with homeschool!
The journey began when I started to see just what homeschooling was. As a teen I babysat for a few homeschool families & so I had some experience with what homeschooling was to their families. However, as an adult I remember saying, "God will have to tell me to homeschool B/c I just don't think I am cut out for that!" Well, well, well... it is amazing what God calls us to. I am ever thankful that He equips us for what He calls us!!!

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Because I don't believe in farming out my children and relying on strangers to actually help them learn.

Because the ps system is a complete failure.

Because they are MY children, not wards of the state.

Because I love them, and love having them home with me everyday.

Because I want them to LIVE, and LEARN, and LOVE.

Because I don't want to see them wither away, wilt, and be beaten down by such a system, and by children raised in such a system, by teachers who are trained to beat them down within the system/with the system.

Because, IMNSHO, ps is no place for children.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:rockon BRAVO ladies! I :heart you guys :kiss.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I haven't read through all of the responses (yet) but wanted to share our reasons...

I wrote them here in my blog in 2005 and our reasons haven't changed one bit... in fact over the last 3 years of HSing, they've only strengthened.
http://www.hoguechronicle.com/parent...d=109&catid=34

:)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I have always wanted to home school and I am still trying to decide what i will be doing next fall. What drove me to the edge was when I put my DS in public pre school when he was 3. Just to try things out. It lasted two weeks. I went to a parent meeting when they past curriculum around that they were going to teach the next week. It was on good touch and bad touch. No problem I thought, we have been over this. Then I thumbed through the children's book that they were going to read to a male/female group of 3 and 4 year olds. Graphic pictures of both sex genitalia. I though I was going to get sick. I pulled him out that very next day. I was horrified to find out that they start sex education in our school system in 4th grade. Not personal hygiene like I was taught but actual how to prevent STD's and such. So yes I am still debating. I don't know why. Maybe because I do have some family members against it. My grandmother says they deserve a proper education. She does not live in the schools in these times. I don't think she realizes how bad it has got.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

In semi response to one poster...(something tambourine?)

1. My 4 children are my only children and I want to spend as much time with them as possible ;)

my other reasons are a bit different form those posted...

2. In school I always wanted to go outside....even to do worksheets or listen to the teacher, I felt like I was wasting my life indoors.

3. So my kids can learn about subjects for however long they want, no time limits

4. On the opposite end, if they arent ready for something they wont be afraid to say so. I constantly fell behind because I was just too afraid to raise my hand and say "this isnt making sense"

5. Learning will be limit less and all day. No longer will I feel they need to zone out on the TV afterschool. To just be blah and not listen to anyone... it will be a thing of the past

6. To have my kids learn about the Bible throughout the day, we can in no way afford private school

7. To see my kids excited to learn and discover and enjoy it with them

Christine

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I am so glad i found this thread. I really needed to be reminded of all the reasons i choose to homeschool. I have an 18 yr old son that i homeschooled pretty much from 4th grade through the end of highschool except for when he went to 8th grade PS for the last half of 8th grade cuz he wanted an 8th grade diploma (which he got with no problem). And his 2 mos attempt at Public highschool.

Anyways, i have another son who is turning 3 in June and i have a baby girl that is due in June. I have had every intention of homeschooling all the rest of my children through atleast 8th grade, possibly highschool. Now it turns out my son that is about to turn 3 has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS with Dyspraxia. (he is supposedly high functioning but on the autism spectrum, and he isn't talking yet). He has been in Early Intervention for a year and all the therapists have been coming to the house. Now they are PUSHING me to sign my son up for the special education offered through the school system starting THIS SUMMER on his 3rd birthday. The problem is...its 5 days a week, 3 hours per day! I didnt mind a few therapists coming to MY HOUSE a couple days a week to help him, BUT to send him 5 days a week at age 3 to SCHOOL!!! eeeeek! i am sooooo torn! i had NO intention of sending my children to pre-school or any school. Now i have a son that isn't TALKING and has sensory issues and NEEDS occupational therapy and speech therapy and such and the school system offers all this for free. I think its possible to HIRE these therapists for MEGA BUCKS to come to the house, but we dont have MEGA BUCKS! i am torn torn torn as to whether my son NEEDS this or doesnt NEED this help!! He is extremely SMART. He knows his colors, numbers 1-12, shapes and his entired alphabet and isnt even 3 yet.

I dont know why i am going on and on ....this is probably the entirely wrong thread...if this belongs somewhere else..then please move it if need be. sorry.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I was just thinking about this in the shower yesterday. One of my DD's has been sleeping really late all of a sudden. Obvious growth spurt.

I am so happy I am able to accommodate that for her instead of having here at school at 7:45 when she still needed to sleep for a few more hours :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:hug2 perhaps make a new thread?

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

My reasons for homeschooling were not as pure as everyone elses. Isaac went to ps...and he is very very intelligent...and bored....we found that he was a behavior problem because of it....we were reminded that meds were a great options repeatedly....we kept saying that we thought he was bored and no one would listen.....then we had his IQ tested to prove to them that he wasn't just a "ADD/ADHD" kid that needed meds...and his IQ is 138. Well nothing much changed...so we decided to pull him out. Since he has been home we realized that he was left to read all day long...he is an avid reader (not an ADHD trait) and would literally read whole chapter books in a day....as long as he was quiet...they were happy!

We did pray and pray about it...and the answer seemed obvious...so we brought him home...we are discussing how long he will remain home...at this point dh wants him to return to school for 7th grade...I would like him to stay home until high school so we shall see....

we haven't decided if we will homeschool our dtr she just turned two....I figure we will montessori train her as we did Isaac for prek and then decide what is best for her!

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I just did a post about this on my blog last week. I homeschool for a ton of reasons, but I'll link to the main post here. If you want to read about why we STARTED to homeschool in the first place, go ahead and follow the link in the blog post.

http://joybox.typepad.com/the_joy_bo...sing_stat.html

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I'd like to add "safety" to my list :yes2 .... sad but these last few years have been eye opening both nationally and locally.... we've had schools in our area close because of threats

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Agreed. We'd already decided to homeschool but the horrible things these last few years have cemented our decision. :sigh

Even our small town schools have had trouble of various kinds... oral s*x in the upper elementary grades, school employees and the children attending school where they are employed being threatened by nutty neighbors etc. :neutral

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Its so great to see this thread - here I was feeling gulity about just wanting my children around - thinking I was being selfish but hey.... God gave us this maternal instinct for a reason eh? What's so bad about not sending them to school anyway ;)

My reasons are the same as most - there was also no way my kids were going to spend hours on the bus everyday travelling - forget that!

What a wonderful journey this is - we are learning together.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Future HS'er here

All the usual reasons.

DH has some interesting reasons. Me, I just can't get my head around a reason have someone else teach my child.

How come we never hear anyone say "What are your reasons for not homeschooling?" Wait, I have heard that. This is a big HS'ing town.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

When I first decided to homeschool, it was simply because I looked at what our public schools had to offer and found them lacking. My oldest son is not cut out for sitting still and listening, and, when we toured the schools that we were looking at for him, we saw that, quite frankly, children like him were treated badly. They were either punished heavily, ignored, or treated like they didn't deserve the attention of the teachers because they could not be the "easy" student. I could never imagine my sweet little boy thriving in an environment like that. :(

Now that I've been homeschooling a while, I could give you a whole host of other reasons (most of which have already been covered, so I won't list them ;) ), but the freedom to be together, doing what we want, to see my boys learning, all of it is so incredible.

But best of all, I know how my boys are being treated, and how their day is going. I don't have to put my trust in other people I don't know. There is just something about leaving my child, every day, with someone I don't know that sets off all my bells and whistles, KWIM? I made a point of never leaving my kids with people I didn't know and trust with my life, so why would it be okay now for me to just trust them with a new stranger every year?

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:yes

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

do you know who the author is? :)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

The Well Trained Mind is by Susan Wise Bauer I believe.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

thanks Terri :)

I have always dreamed of homeschooling my kids...before they were even born! for all of the same reason that you ladies wrote...well, most anyway...but now that we live in the faroe islands where my hubby is from, I dont think I have that option here? :( except to homeschool them in English and american studies and maybe art or something...but they are only three and 6 months...we may very well move home again (my home in CT) :pray4 so Id really like to know all I can about homeschooling...and I will be honest and say I dont know much...but Im learning alot from just being here :clap :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

This is a good thread, I still like to read it, I especially like my first post in it was 2 years ago :giggle

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Oh wow, mine was in 2005, too. :heart

I think I'll add (sort of furthering my previous education reason), that I know my son has learned what he's supposed to have learned. He doesn't move on from an assignment until it's an A, and there's no pressure, it's just our way of knowing he doesn't understand something. So, we go over it, and over it, until he gets it. My son learns everything that he is supposed to, nothing is missed or skipped over because the class has to move on... He's also ahead of his grade level, because we move at his pace. Sometimes we have to spend more time on one subject while we blow through others that are easy for him. School is really "all about him" and who HE is and what HE can do. I love knowing that he really "gets" school. :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Oh my goodness, this is exactly why I want to homeschool! I see things that my older daughters are learning at even the Christian school that they attend now, and I don't like it! I want them to remain children with only age-appropriate concerns until the time is right for them to have other concerns. :yes

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

A big reason we homeschool is because my husband is a pastor, and his schedule is kind of crazy. He has off on Fridays. We did have our oldest in school for a while, and it felt like we hardly had any family time together. Having them home definitely makes it easier!

Also, when we pulled our oldest out, everything was geared towards the PSSA. We want them to be learning for the sake of learning, not learning to take a test. I know it's not like this everywhere, but it was really bad here.

We also wanted to make sure that God, learning, family, all those things were integrated into life, and not compartmentalized.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Respect for the childrens natural abiltiy to teach themselves and a desire to protect them from the negative effects of forced schooling on the developing brain.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

That is a large motivation for us as well.
Our family doesn't run on a traditional Monday through Friday daytime schedule. It is confusing for my oldest to go back and forth from our natural family schedule and the school schedule. We feel it is very important for her to have access to daddy time when he is home which is often during regular school hours.

We have food issues that the school can't seem to enforce. I can't fathom how the ps would do with Bird's gluten intolerance that actually makes her sick not just act wonky.

We've found that the ps cannot really do anything to protect a child from a bully or stop the bullying. They don't have the time or the staff.

My 7 year old child is stressed out by the whole thing.
My middle child does not excel in a large group setting at all. If there are more than 10 kids at awana she doesn't participate. I can't imagine how it would be for her in a class of 18 kids and one teacher.

After seeing how my oldest went from a child with an intense desire to learn to a child who was praying for a snow day this week so she didn't have to go to school I knew we made the right decision.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Thank you for your honest thoughts. We have been considering homeschooling for some time (our children are under 2 so we have some time) and have been working through the decision. You've stated a number of motivations that I've had on my heart, but haven't had the words to express. These posts are encouraging to me.

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

this is good! I think most of the reasons for me you all have said it... but I wanted to add, some times I think, grrrrrr I should just send them to school and have some peace in my life, and right there God reminds me that this is a labor of love and the easy way out is not the best for my kids, and what they will learn out there is probably not what I want for them. :heart

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

Why do I homeschool? Because it is fun and why not?! :)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I just realized another great reason this week -- I'm so happy that my daughters are being integrated into the community, into real life, during our days together. They're always with me, so we go to babywearing or breastfeeding meetings together, and I appreciate that they are going to grow up having had the kind of exposure and education that our generation largely missed. It has value for them, not just for me. My 4yo and her poor abused baby doll tried to copy the babywearing leader's instructions as she demonstrated a back carry last month, LOL. At LLL last week, my 7yo put down her book and was listening avidly while we all talked about newbie breastfeeding tips with a pregnant mom.

It suddenly struck me that this is the way it was supposed to be -- girls learning about things like breastfeeding from a young age, watching their mothers and cousins and aunts help solve each others' problems and offer help and suggestions. A lot of women miss that basic foundation of knowledge, and have to re-learn it all from scratch when they have babies. Being able to weave my daughters into our community and mother culture from a young age is an amazing blessing!

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

That's beautiful! :)

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

I changed my answer to reflect where we are now. :rockon

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

This is going to sound funny, but another reason I'm glad we've homeschooled is that I've noticed that homeschoolers tend to be very accepting of others. We're part of a fairly large co-op and there's quite the variety of people there. Some who could care less how they dressed or what others thought of them, some who try to keep up with appearances and many others in-between.

Well, in ds's Chemistry class there's a kid who's, a little nerdy, I guess you could call him, but VERY smart. Ds has mentioned some of the funny-odd things he's done, but no one makes fun of him or tries to exclude him. During their last class, after this kid answered a difficult question, one of the other kids says something like, "you remind me of Albert Einstein". They all agreed and started mentioning all the good things about Einstein. The smart kid was quite proud to be compared to Einstein. Then one of the kids goes, "you know, Einstein used to shower with his socks on?" and the whole class, including the smart kid start cracking up.

In my experience with public schools, the smart-nerdy types were horribly mistreated. Something like the above mentioned scenario never would have happened. I'm glad my ds has had a better experience and naturally accepts others, despite their differences. I was also impressed how much a bunch of 5-6th graders knew about Einstein... :scratch I'd be surprised if half my 5th grade class even recognized the name...

Re: What are some of your reasons to HS?
 

:yes I totally agree! I like this aspect of hsing too.