Seriously thinking about homeschooling....

**daddys3chicks** · 01-08-2005, 05:18 PM

.....I have a 6 year old who is very bright and doing above her level in school. I have a precocious 3 year old who loves preschool. But, I have been seriously considering homeschooling to have more control of their education. So I wanted to ask...

Why do you homeschool?

Any insight is appreciated.

**NYC Girl** · 01-08-2005, 05:37 PM

We started hs'ing about a month ago, after thinking about and researching it for the last year. We've started with our middle daughter and will add our oldest son when school is finished this year. Our younger daughter will stay in school for the time being.

We do it for bonding. We adopted our kids last year (they're 6, 9 & 12 years old) and we chose this to be with them more.

**guest2** · 01-08-2005, 05:39 PM

If you look through the recent threads on alternative learning you will see a post there about reasons for homeschooling. Mine is there!

**kimmee** · 01-08-2005, 06:30 PM

I am not allowed by my ex to homeschool - but I have always wanted to and so I have always supplementally educated them at home - thi smight be something for you to consider to see if you are up to the task - to see if you enjoy it to work out your discipline issues before you go full time. I find alot of the public schools in Colorado areas where we have lived to be just OK at best - all three of my children are considered "gifted" though one has a different manner of learning - he is a kinestetic learner - and there are no programs for them - the one private school I found for them to attend that was a gifted curriculum had many character issues and when I asked them in a consultation about the issues - her answer to me was "and why shouldn't they feel and act superior??" wrong answer for me - I want my kids to be main stream so they can face the day to day challenges that life hands them - I want them to understand what its like to have friends who make bad choices , or bullies, or leaving things one place when they need them in another place - but I also want them to learn how to push themselves to the nth degree - to have high expectations for themselves and for others - to not just accept the status quo and morality as it has become - public school does not address these things and they don't backup or uphold what we teach at home -- these are the reasons why I would have liked to homeschool - that and the preponderance of germs at school!!

**Early Bird** · 01-09-2005, 12:51 AM

There are lots of reasons, but one of the things I like best about homeschooling is the amount of flexiblity the family gets. I have a friend who starts school after lunch! Her teen would far rather work late than start early in the morning....

**MarshHen** · 01-09-2005, 01:02 AM

Originally posted by hmsclmom
If you look through the recent threads on alternative learning you will see a post there about reasons for homeschooling. Mine is there!

I posted my reasons there also.

**i.m.cheap** · 01-09-2005, 02:31 AM

I love the flexibility. I wanted to spend more time with my child, too. I work at night. Three nights a week from 4-midnight. I find more reasons to love homeschooling everyday, like on one afternoon this week, Molly came in from playing outside in the snow and was so happy, and said "In public school we never even got to TOUCH the snow!" It was always "Stay out of the snow! Don't make a snowman! Don't throw snow!" "What fun is that?" she said.

We love homeschooling! DH and I both have our days off during the week. We work weekends. We would not get much family time at all if Molly was in public school. There are a lot of things we don't like about public education, but the main reason we homeschool is it makes us all happier.

**Early Bird** · 01-09-2005, 10:34 AM

Oooh, well-said, Deb! It is terrific for our family too.

I couldn't count how many times my 10-yr-old has come to me and asked tough questions about life (boys, friends, etc.) during the day. And, since we aren't rushed, we take the time to talk when these issues come up.

Of course, it's not fun to tackle questions like, 'When I hear gay on TV, it means something else than happy. What's that?' But I'm glad she's coming to me with her questions.