Thursday, February 16, 2012

Why I'm Considering Homeschooling Part 1

      So if you've read my previous post here, you know why I started thinking about possibly homeschooling. That was a little over a month ago, and I've been reading and researching ever since. Before learning more about homeschooling I would have thought the idea was crazy, I've personally never known anyone who was homeschooled, so I was not very familiar with it. I guess like most people I just assumed my children would go to school because that's what most people do. Of course I wanted it to be a good school, but I knew we couldn't afford private and honestly there is not a private school in our area that I think is worth the cost. When I learned our public school was going all Montessori I was excited, being a former Montessori teacher myself. I knew it wouldn't be a true Montessori like I was used to since they have to follow all the state requirements, but I knew  it would be better then traditional school in my opinoin. Then with talks of 7.5 hour days with no funding or plan I began to wonder if I wanted Liam gone that long in Kindergarten. I thought our school still had a half day Kindergarten and Liam would go to that, but I guess they recently got rid of all half day Kindergartens.
    Then I started to look into a virtual charter school in our area that meets one day a week then the rest of the work is done at home. Most of the parents I've talked to are happy with the program and from what I've heard it seems like it may be a good option for us. The only negative is that you are tied to the curriculum and books they use and I'm not sure if there will be much room for my children to pursue subjects that interest them, but I do like the fact that if my children decide they want to go to school they will be familiar with the material.
     I also started researching homeschooling and wow there are so many different styles: Montessori, Classical, Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Eclectic, Unit Studies, and I'm sure I've missed a few. There's great parts to each and I'm sure I'll do Montessori along with influences from other styles that might end up an Eclectic style in the end, we'll see. The one thing I can say is that after doing some research it really made me begin to think about my own school experience and how nice it would have been if I could have followed things that interested more.That's the one definite plus of homeschooling I will be able to let my children pursue topics and areas that interest them and do more hands on learning. They will be able to enjoy learning more instead of looking at it as a chore.  For me there seems to be so many positives that the few negatives I have found really haven't sent me running yet. The only negatives I see is it will be a lot more work for me which may at times seem stressful or overwhelming, it will take time to figure out a routine and what works for our family (from what I read that can take up to a year) and I'm sure there will be some power struggles and such when being asked to do something they may not want to do. Those are pretty much the only things I have found to be negatives so far. I know homeschooling doesn't work for everyone, heck I don't even know if it will work for us, but at this point I'm pretty sure we're going to at least give it a try for one year. More on the subject to come, but don't worry this is not going to turn into just a homeschool blog. I'm sure I will include parts of it, but this blog has always been about what is going on in my life and for now this has been my main focus and besides being sick this past week that's the other reason I haven't posted as much since my free time has been spent researching. I working on finding a balance, but it may take some time so thanks for the patience:)

7 comments:

  1. That's a hard decidion to make, can't wait to see how it turns out! Found you through Blog Hop Till You Drop! Friday Blog Hop . Stop by and say "HI!" Hoping you have a great weekend!

    Stephanie
    Trying To Be Super Mom
    tobesuper.blogspot.com
    @trytobesuper

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  2. We have quite a few homeschooling families here in our community though I have never tried it myself. Good luck with your decision; just remember as a mom, any decision made with our children's best interests at heart are always the right decision.
    Stopping by from Hop Along Friday! Have a lovely weekend,
    JJeanette
    http://jeanette-myownfourcorners.blogspot.com/

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  3. Oh goodness! I am loving this post, I would love to homeschool but have NO teaching background and I am terrified I would DAMAGE my son.

    I saw your blog on the blog hop till you drop, and of course I am going to follow but bookmark. I am book marking you so I can keep up daily.

    Being a former teacher, I am sure that quells some fear, do you have any other trepidation's about the home schooling route?

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  4. I never even considered homeschooling when my kids were growing up. And I'm still not sure that I could possible do it. I've met a variety of people from the homeschool environment, some who were very ahead (graduated at 16, went on to be a doctor) and some very behind. I think with your background you would have a certain advantage. Good luck!

    I'm coming by from Blog Hop 'til You Drop and following via GFC.

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  5. Well, I have homeschooled for 22 years now!! Our older 4 have graduated (yes, we went all the way through high school) and our younger 4 are between 5th and 11th grades.

    I have loved it! And, more importantly, my children have loved it. We had to make sure to give opportunities for friendships, but it has enabled our children to really follow their "bent".

    Just a comment. Yes, it is more work for mom...you don't have the 6-8 hours a day without the children at home M-F and you have to actually do the teaching. But with the curriculum available today (not like when I started and I had to design most of my own), there really is very little teacher prep in what you do - unless you go with a unit study approach. And you get to watch as your children blossom before your eyes with their joy of learning watered and fed by your very own hands! And believe me, YOU will learn tons yourself!

    I've gotten a better education homeschooling my children than I EVER did in my own school experience!

    Wishing you the best as you seek to pursue what will be best for your whole family in this. Of course, I vote for homeschooling ;-D, but it sounds like you are doing a great job of researching.

    Found you through the Blog Hop 'til You Drop. Come on over and check my blog out. I do have a section on our homeschool.

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  6. Thanks for posting! I'm definitely going to look into homeschooling. We don't have too many school options around here. I'm going to be hitting you up for info when I start seriously researching (I still have over 2 years before this is a reality for me).

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  7. Stopping by from the Spreading Love Weekend Blog Hop! http://queenofsavings.com

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