Homeschool Community

There are so many reasons why families choose homeschooling.  Why did you choose it? 

Let's share what motivates us!

Chris

We started to homeschool because our son was far advanced. Also I have always been a stay home mom and it makes sense to continue educating our children as we see fit and expose them to our beliefs while protecting them from the secular way of thinking that has begun to hugely infuence our local school. My children LOVE being schooled at home and it really works for us........

It seems as though we have tried a bit of everything...from private to public schooling and we have finally settled in nicely with homeschooling.  When our oldest was 2 we began to really think about schools and their options.  We found a wonderful Waldorf School that really opened our eyes up to the idea of alternative schooling and educational theories.  Our child was in need of being able to "break out of the box"  when necessary b/c he deals w/sensory issues and other physical and cognitive delays.  Waldorf education really spoke to us and it was great in theory but we soon learned that b/c it was a private school we struggled getting him the educational services that he was in need of.  That lead us to public school...here we found that the inability to escape from the public school box really interfered with our passion for individuality and creativity.  We were amazed at some of the things he was exposed to and how it went against what we were trying to instill in our child.  We ended up moving at the end of 1st gr. and we knew it was time for a change.   And so we started the homeschooling journey.  What a wonderful journey it has been so far!  

 

~ a

For me it was a matter of being led by God to do what was right for my granddaughter. I have been raising her since she was 4 days old. In prayer I heard the Holy Spirit say that she would never see the inside of a public school. Of course I became worried saying "Lord are you planning to take my baby from me?" I received the conviction to homeschool her. Three days later a friend came over and I spoke with him about it. He said that he and his wife homeschooled all 7 of their children. Michigan laws are very relaxed I was soon to find out. I called the Department of Education and they sent me a Grade Level Content Expectation. I found that some of the things she would learn I was already teaching her. Simple stuff like colors, days of the week song, months of the year song etc. By the time she was ready to enter kindergarten she was already doing some of the first grade requirements. My oldest daughter attended public school around 15 she became a little on the wild side. I looked for help from her school counselor. She told my daughter that if she did not like school at 16 she could drop out and there was nothing I or anyone for that matter could do. Guess what? In spite of my many repeated trips to the school, punishments and a lots of other stuff including volunteering in the office to pay for her summer school classes because I could not afford summer school, she dropped out. My youngest attended what was supposed to be a college prep private school along with her best friend (her best friend was the valedictorian) my daughter dropped out 6 weeks before graduating. Her dropping out was not the school's fault and I am not blaming them. Her friend who was the valedictorian said that even though she took all of the advanced classes she was ill prepared for college and struggled for the first year just to etch out a C in most classes. I am so happy that I decided to homeschool my granddaughter and I also volunteer to tutor many of the children in my neighborhood so that they will not struggle in school and hopefully they will in some ways be prepared to go to college.

 The reason I give my family is one that basically sums it all up.

I feel that they don't teach what they should teach, and do teach what I don't want taught.

One thing that you always hear is how homeschool children are deprived socially.  Well, that happens to be one of the reasons we homeschool.  There are certain "social skills" that  I don't want my elementary, middle school, or high schooler learning.  I went to school in a good suburban school district and I remember.  

Also, my mom works in the school systems.  Sometimes I wish I had a recording of some of her stories so that when she asks why we homeschool I could just play back some of the events of her students/teachers/classes.

I like being able to take a break from school when we need it.  Not when the calander says we should.  (ex: birth of a child, moving, emergancies, etc)

I like that my children can learn at their own pace.

I also like being able to adjust the day as you desire. 

Being able to use the bathroom or get a drink or snack when ever you need to is a small benefit.

 

First let me start by saying that homeschooling is very new to us.  We are just beginning our journey, halfway through this school year and thanks to God and we are on our way!  There are several reasons for us starting to homeschool  First - My daughter is currently 13 years old.  A very bright, caring, loving and energetic child.  She gets along great with most everyone and those she doesn't get along with, she simply tries to avoid.  Unfortunately, my daughter's desire to avoid conflicts with others sometimes leaves her open to be picked on.  While we live in a beautiful neighborhood, our school system is terrible.  There are a great many physical fights among the students, especially the girls these days.  52 STUDENT arrests have been made this school year alone!  Since the beginning of the year, my daughter has had problems with this one group of girls who have been consistently harrasing her.  Against all attempts to resolve this at the school as well as with the school resource police officer, I have reached my witts end.   Secondly - My daughter has missed a tremendous amount of school this year with being harrased, she wouldn't go, so she is now failing every single subject...(An A/B student every year prior)...  Third - the vulgarity, abuse, trouble, pregnancies, drugs, alcohol, attitude, etc., etc., etc., has gotten out of hand and we have decided it is enough for us to take....

My exhusband and I are considering an online school called The Grace Academy to help complete her education as we don't feel that we will be able to teach her what she needs to learn for college, especially in the latter grades....

 AmyPare

Hello, I'm new to this board, but thought I'd jump right in!  There's so many reasons why we chose to homeschool.

We were very diappointed with the bad things our children were taught (by their peers) and not being taught (by their teachers).   The schools out in my area are not good at all.  Even the best school (that we moved closer to for my girls to go to) is not the greatest.  It's overcrowded by more than 400 students and they're literally squeezing in more classrooms onto the playground to accomodate the growing population.  The city has NO plans to build a new school and they're just turning their cheek to that issue.

My girls are very smart and creative and there's no room for that in school.  The "No Child Left Behind" law is joke.  They're teaching at the level of the child that needs help and not where the class as a whole needs to be.  I volunteered in CC's (my 5th grader) class and helped with some schoolwork of a 5th grade girl who didn't even know simple multiplication.  CC had at least 2-3 hours of homework each night after being at school for 6 1/2 hours.  Sometimes she'd get assigned extra homework because of a few kids who got in trouble... the whole class got in trouble.  Oh gosh... I could go on and on... Many things that just weren't right.

But as for our family reasons, my hubby works the night shift and has days off that change every month.  He was barely seeing his girls and we were not getting enough family time and we think that's very important to have family time.  I'm a stay-at-home mom, so keeping my girls at home was the best choice for our family.  We can take whatever days off we want.  We can work only 4 days a week for only 5-6 hours a day TOTAL FOR BOTH GIRLS, and learn just as much as in school, AND they can be themselves in a loving environment.

our local district's idea of a gifted program consisted of having every single teacher in the school take the ExCet exam to get "certified" in gifted education...they neglected to mention that certified did not mean qualified. i have personally taken the ExCet exam in ESL and am ESL certified, but I know NOTHING about teaching ESL students...testing is meaningless! being a certified teacher myself...i just saw the light one day and brought my G/LD home to learn. he is gifted with dyslexia...we are all much happier at home he is fulfilled and challenged...i get to watch him grow and avoid some of the pitfalls that kids go through in school... having studied Sociology as my undergrad B.A....i am well versed in "socialization" and research shows that the family is the primary means of socialization in human culture...not school! we chose to hs because it was best for him due to a lack of qualified teachers...we continue because it works. is it easy? never! is it rewarding? often!

We started homeschooling because our daughter wasn't going to fit well into the standard age/grade divisions of our public school.  We were also alarmed by the anti-intellectual environment of school and how ill-prepared local graduates were for college. (I work at the local state University)  As we went along we discovered lots of advantages to homeschooling - the ability to make our own schedule, to let go of the concept of grade level, to follow interests deeply, and to really think about what a good education looks like to us.  We are in our fourth year and our daughter is thriving and we are very happy that we made this decision.