Don%26#039;t be afraid to go into detail - I am really interested in hearing your experiences.
If you are a parent who is homeschooling your child, are you teaching them the same curriculum for the same grades as public school or at a higher level? Do you ever plan on putting them back into the public education system? If so, in which grade? How do you help them develop socially? And how do you think the public education system could improve so that you feel it good enough for your child? Looking back on it now, do you still feel good about homeschooling your child or do you wish it had been otherwise? Do you have any similarities to public schools, like taking your child on field trips? Do you make sure they learn art and music as well or is it merely textbook academia?
If you are a %26#039;child%26#039; [I use that term loosely] who has been homeschooled in your past or is being homeschooled right now, would you rather have been enrolled in a public school or did you think your homeschooling experience was beneficial? Were you still able to make good friends and if so, how? Now, do you find that your are at a higher or lower academic level than your friends who have not been homeschooled? Did you find it hard to focus on learning since you were comfortable at home instead of a professional environment like a classroom, or did it help you learn because you weren%26#039;t intimidated by other kids and learned at your own pace? What would you have changed about your homeschooling experience?
Let%26#039;s hear the stories! =)
Share your homeschooling experiences?
Oh wow... so much that could be said! I started out teaching him where I felt like he was... and still do for the most part. But I%26#039;ve also %26#039;loosened up%26#039; a bit on what I try to %26#039;teach%26#039; in the first place. I%26#039;ll never be a %26#039;real%26#039; unschooler... but I just have become much, much more relaxed.
There are things I was taught in school that he will want to learn much deeper... and things he won%26#039;t want to learn at all. I plan on doing a %26#039;gloss%26#039; of the %26#039;required%26#039; things we were taught, but for the most part we are going to follow his lead on what to dive into full force. I want him to actually *retain* the knowledge long past when I hand him a diploma (and we will be doing this right up to the diploma)... so he needs to be learning things that mean something to him.
Socially homeschooling has been *perfect* for this child. He has Aspergers and would be a %26#039;target%26#039; like I was in public school. In our homeschool group he isn%26#039;t expected to be %26#039;just like everyone else%26#039;... so he fits just fine. He is involved in Theater and Martial Arts... he has friends from church as well. I do think as he gets older (he%26#039;s 11yrs now) he will see them less at formal activities and more in individual plans and such... but even now he has sleepovers and such with a close friend.
I think a lot about what will change as my younger three get started. We will start Kindergarden with my 4yr old next year... and have a 3yr old and 1 1/2 yr old coming along after that. More than anything I think I%26#039;ll be looking at them more as individuals from the start... and less as a set of lessons that must be accomplished before 12th grade.
My daughter is more of a %26#039;social butterfly%26#039; already... and the activities with the homeschool group have been great for that. I will be %26#039;watching%26#039; her for signs that she needs %26#039;more%26#039; in the social area... but I think really she just needs the same choices my oldest had. She%26#039;ll just chose different groups, different friends along the way.
I%26#039;ve watched a friend with six kids burn out trying to teach five different grade levels (one set of twins)... so that has taught me to combine subjects that we can instead of keeping everyone seperate. As different as my kids are we can still be covering the same time period in history and each of them can tackle it on their own level and through the topics that interest them most. I%26#039;m excited to see it happen!
We have been blessed with a great new %26#039;co-op%26#039; where the kids will be able to persue individual interests a bit more as well. We%26#039;ve done a lot of art and music through programs like that since it isn%26#039;t my area of expertise... and since it is such an individual thing! My son loves taking Art classes that would have bored me to tears. It is great to have a group of homeschool parents to trade and share with so we all get to teach someone who is *excited* by what we have to teach and to have someone available to teach our kids what they most want to learn.
Public schools are just so %26#039;cookie cutter%26#039;. The more I homeschool the more I realize my kids don%26#039;t have to fit that mold!
Share your homeschooling experiences?
I%26#039;m 14. At a sleep over with my public schooled friends last night, they told me all about the mandatory %26quot;tri city dance,%26quot; where the middle schoolers freely grind and some use drugs. Although police are present outside, there are no adults inside. I live in a nice, middle class area, and this is our school system. Why would I want to be a part of that?
I love math, psycology, and writing. I wouldn%26#039;t get to focus on those and other favorite subjects if I was in a public school. As is, my friends give me odd looks when I say that I actually ENJOY school. I%26#039;m lucky to have a family that has my best interests at heart. I miss out on nothing, and anyway, will the %26quot;public school experience%26quot; really matter when Im looking for a job down the road?
Yes it is beneficial because now I am so much closer to my family if I hadn%26#039;t been homeschooled. I have learned a lot more from my parents that I would otherwise have had to learn from schools, and I am glad I learned it from my parents, and not the schools.
Yes, I have made friends. Maybe not as much as if I had been public schooled, but I go to youth group and church and there I can see friends, there%26#039;s also facebook and email that I can be friends with people on. And here too!
I have been found to be on a level or higher then my friends around me as far as school goes. I think that I am about the same as everyone - same grade, same lessons, basically. Some I%26#039;m ahead, some I%26#039;m behind. Like every other person, homeschooled or not.
No I haven%26#039;t really found it that hard. In a public school everything going on around me (like drama, etc)would be distracting and I would easily make stories out of the people around me.( I have a vivid imagination and love to write and make stories) I would probably be intimidated by some of the kids, and I would feel pushed by the pace in schools. I would suck at math! :-)(not that I don%26#039;t anyway!)
I would want to live closer to other people, and maybe take band again at a public school. But I don%26#039;t really think i woudl wnat to change the whole thing! :-)
