Home schooling

I don't have any personal experience, as my eldest hsing child is 10. That said, I do know of family members that hs'd through highschool grad, and other hsing families that now have children in college/University and never attended 'brick and mortar school', so it most certainly can be done, and done well. I can say that the hs'd teens that I've met are quite honestly the nicest young people I've ever had the pleasure of being with. Mature, responsible, level headed...very little of the 'teen angst' that is so often touted as being 'normal'. Not to say that they don't have moods, etc, but it seems waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less than public schooled peers. I've witnessed it first hand, and had parents tell me that its an astounding diff, where one child was hs'd and the other in public school. I honestly think its about socialization. For homeschooled children, the majority of their hours are spent with parents and family, so that's who their biggest influence is. Public schooled children spend the majority of their time with peers and teachers. Its like parents and children become a type of stranger to each other, because for 40 or so hours a week, they're apart, and as parents, you really have no clue what's going on, beyond what you see in homework, report cards, and what your child chooses to share. I don't intend to EVER send another child to school.

u can contact 6boysrus through a pm, she's well versed in home schooling. bprice215

I home schooled some of my teens. I used online and Satellite school programs for them as that allowed them to sort of set their own pace. (I did require a certain amount done each week, they got to pick when they did it). It was a good thing for us, though I would have liked to have belonged to a home school group just to get more ideas and input and more social stuff for the kids to do. (they had sports and friends, and church stuff) My youngest hopes to finish in the public school but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks guys for the ideas and input. What about for a teen who has always been in the regular school system? Is it "fair" to home school them at this point? My DD is really social, not too sure how this would affect her. I've heard about books on "unlearning schooling" or "unschooling" - any recommendations?

It could be unfair to home school her. If she is a good student, likes school, and stays out of trouble, I wouldn't do it unless she wanted it. I did some unschooling but mostly just googled online. For most my younger kids, I hand built their curriculum according to their individual needs. The child I unschooled had severe needs so his entire environment became the classroom.

I guess that is the problem. She is a good student, but is starting to make some really bad choices. If she keeps making these choices, she won't be a good student for much longer! Because she is so social, to me this means she is also influenced heavily by what others are doing, and wants to fit in. She's always loved school, but for the past two months or so really dislikes it.

Sounds like you are talking about my son. He's 13 and is doing GREAT in school but it's the choices he's made lately that concern me. He is also very social and is influenced by what others are doing. My son still likes school but I'm concerned for him (that's another thread though). He's been at this school for 2 years. He came from a very small private school into a public school setting. Last year is was too much for him to handle and his grades went from honor roll to D's & F's. His Educational counselor recommended therapy. He's been going to Therapy since the summer and it has helped SO MUCH. This year he's doing awesome gradewise BUT he asking for too much freedom, which we are not giving him....again...another thread.... Good luck!! I'd be interested to see what others say.

I can't speak to your particular situation with your daughter, but in my line of work, and at the particular university where I teach, I meet and teach new students every year who were homeschooled through high school. From the number of kids I've dealt with, it's not just homeschooled vs. not...it's more in HOW the homeschooling was done. Mostly, they are respectful and articulate model citizens. There are the few, however, who enter college at a very low maturity/independence level-- not immaturity as in brattiness, but more as in the inability to operate as an independent young adult, rather than like a young teenager who must ask parents' permission for everything. I've had 4 students in the past 5 yrs who entered college with no driver's license and were dropped off and picked up by their parents everyday, as if it were junior high. On the flip side, their relationships with the parents who were/are still driving them around is very close and loving. I have one mother who still calls me occasionally (although she's been told it's not appropriate) regarding her 22-yr old daughter, to attempt to discuss her workload and performance. She says she's paying for it, so she views herself as the "customer" who should be getting the product delivered as she wants it. One student, who lived on campus, had to call her father to ask permission to leave campus, even to go to her own brother's apartment adjacent to campus. She was told what her major would be, and that she was only allowed to marry a future pastor. She did (I thought the guy was a jerk...but hey, nothing I could do about it!) Another was just lazily homeschooled...it was more about the parents not having to deal with school and homework than it was about actively educating their own kids, so she was behind in almost everything and then began to act out like a 15-yr-old (even though she was 18) would on being thrown into college with no preparation. She is in her 4th year now, but only progressed the equivalent of one yr. Others are wild successes, academically and socially. One boy who entered as a freshman at 16 from only homeschooling, is advanced compared to others several years older, and is popular among peers and teachers alike. He's not the only one. So, my advice is that if you are going to do it, for whatever reason, do it well. Realize it's more work, not less, and do your best to keep them progressing towards independence, rather than a prolonged childhood. Done well and developmentally appropriately, it can be a great thing for a child and for the whole family. Done poorly, it can be a great handicap for being successful in college and the working world.

I am a home schooling advocate, that said, my DD is in public school b/c of the special ed program. We do not plan to send our other children to public school. I taught in secondary public schools in our area for 7 years and do not want my children in that environment. Our DD will not be enrolled in public school beyond about 5th grade. If you see that the environment your daughter is in is having a negative effect on her behavior, I would take her out. I have seen too many kids go from great in early middle school to making terrible life devastating choices in a span of 3-4 years. Many of those choices were made before the parents caught on to what was going on. I think to leave her in that environment knowing that it is affecting her negatively would be the UNFAIR thing to do, no matter how much she protests. The above poster mentioned the bad things she has seen at the college level due to homeschooling, I think the things she was pointing were more due to parenting than the concept of homeschooling. We know a girl who is in public school, has been since day 1, and is the most dependent high school senior I know. Doesn't have a driver's license, has no plans for after high school other than live at home, shared a room with her parents til she was 9! Her parents parenting choices along with her personality have created this situation, not the educational setting they chose. This is just my opinion of course. 99% of the kids we know who are homeschooled (and we know many) are the most mature, considerate, articulate, socially adept, and hard working kids we know. There is a stark contrast between the kids I taught in public school and the homeschooled kids we know.

I agree that homeschooling is a lot of work. That said, I've seen public schooled kids who fit what you describe perfectly too. My son's Godfather was a bio prof at the college, and dealing with some of the students and parents was a nightmare. There's good and bad in everything. I have days with my 10 yo that I fantasize dropping her off at the local public school and running away, giggling maniacally. I look at my preschoolers and fantasize the peace in my life that I could claim if I put them in kindergarten/preschool. The quiet...the no "Moooooooooooooooooooom!!!" all day long...*sigh* The things you do for your family :arrow:

All of our children were Public-schooled. We have 3 girls (one is my sister, our parents died young) she is 34 now, married and still in Collage-loves it! Our other Daughter is 23 and attend a small public school. Our youngest is 14 now, she was public-schooled until 6th grade. We are now a Homschooling family going on our 4th year and she is in ninth grade. WE LOVE IT-SHE LOVES IT. It has been the best 4 years of our family. We belong to a good homeschooling group who has a teen group that meets monthly and we are involved in a Homeschool art school (Artios) that meets once a week, and she is testing for her Black-belt in Dec. We have a hs gym class every week. There are MANY HS classes out their for our teenagers that want to be with their peers (other HS Christian kids) and have fun learning in a friendly classroom setting. Our Daughter is a wonderful young lady and has made some real FRIENDS through Homeschooling. We are adopting through foster care and found out we will not be able to HS our new Son until we finalize. It hurts my heart to know how much he will be missing out on, skate day's, field trips, HS party's NOT to mention the BONDING that takes place each and every day in our home. It's kinda sad that he will have to be in public school 7 hours a day, away from his new family that LOVES him and wants nothing but the best for him. But we will do our best for him and stay VERY involved in his public schooling and help him in any way we can. We feel God has guided our family in the adoption journey and will continue to do so, we rest in him to show us the way. So to answer your question, their are lots of us that HS our teens through High School and the teens that we know from our HS group are a GREAT bunch of kids!!! Best of luck to you, and INJOY everyday you have with your children, they grow up so fast. Many Blessings for your family.

It might be difficult at first, but I think that the teen years are probably the most important years to homeschool through. I teach high school. You probably have no idea what influences your child is subject to. Most parents don't. Also, teens tend to group together by age group. I mean what good can you learn from a bunch of 15 year olds? Teens really need the be around adults in order to mature properly. You can always enroll your child in high school when they're in their junior or senior year in order to make it easier to get into college.

Thanks Sky - my DH is a high school teacher, and I sure I do know the horrible things they exposed to! And this post was so timely, thank you...we just had another incident this week where DD had a run in with a kid who is supposedly "her friend" who ended to run-in by first telling her to go back to Africa (she is CC and lived in Canada most of her life) and when that did have effect turned into "take your n****r family back to Africa." The worst part is that while she is super upset, she won't let me go to the school, his parents etc for fear of the social repercussions it will have on her. I'm pretty sick about it - but I know if I choose to HS her, she will put up a HUGE fight about - she is 15, almost 16.

Where do you guys even begin??? I've been casually researching homeschooling...I mean, I'm happy with the kids' school; but it IS a private school and they are closing at an alarming rate around here... But there is SO much info that I don't know where to begin to look! I'd be interested in reading something that basically said: Hello newbie! Welcome to the world of homeschooling! Here is a step by step guide on how to go about homeschooling your child...There are many different methods, but here are a few examples of what successful homeschoolers do... ...Anyone?

Lovemy2boys- I am in my fourth year of homeschooling my daughter, WE LOVE IT. With that being said. Every state has it's own laws. You need to find out what your state requires. Every homeschool looks differant. One of the best things about HS is, it is geared to each childs ability. There are great books on how to HS your child/children. We have a Educational Consulltant we work with for Curriculum choices. We belong to a very active HS group. There are plays, field trips, gym class,book clubs,marching band, spelling bee's, meetings for Mom's each month, teen groups,etc. You can be as busy with extra's or not busy, depending on what your child is like. We like to stay busy. We also have a great church. 80 % of us HS their children :) I like that because our church is geared to family activies. Not lots of programns where you just drop off your kids and go your own way. Our daughter is going snow tubing tonight with our Youth group from church, all family's are welcomed. Our family really enjoys each others company. We have a very close relationship with her. It is because we HS. I hope i was of some help to you. Like i said before WE LOVE IT!