Homeschooling versus private school

[Nikkie85]

I noticed that there tend to be a big group of parents who home school. I was wondering what made you decide to do this and how your children feel about it. Do you plan on homeschooling k-12 or is it just something that you are doing for now? I don't think that I could home school because I don't think I would be able to teach my children things I don't understand like fractions ! I think one should do what is best for their family and don't really think one method is better than the other.

[Loudmouth_Mormon]

Originally Posted by Nikkie85

I was wondering what made you decide to do this and how your children feel about it.

We decided to do this after researching the various educational options open to our kids, and coming to an understanding that we were their best option.

Our kids (9 and 6) love it. We ask them a couple of times a year if they'd rather go to school, they look at us like we're crazy and politely decline.

Do you plan on homeschooling k-12 or is it just something that you are doing for now?

We plan on homeschooling through college. Of course, "Homeschooling" is a bit of a misnomer. There are cooperatives, and homeschool supplement programs through schools, and a ton of not-at-home and with-other-kids sorts of things going on.

Your thread title mentioned private school. It was one of the many options we considered, along with charter schools, academies, faith-based stuff, tutoring, and various public options.

LM

[Bini]

I don't know much about homeschooling but if you're a parent that cannot do elementary-level problem solving, I'd say it's best to enroll your children into a school system. We don't have children yet but my husband and I have discussed private school as an option. I attended private school up until my sophomore year in high school, when I moved to the US. The education I received was not nearly up to par in comparison to my former schooling.

[Blackmarch]

Originally Posted by Nikkie85

I noticed that there tend to be a big group of parents who home school. I was wondering what made you decide to do this and how your children feel about it. Do you plan on homeschooling k-12 or is it just something that you are doing for now? I don't think that I could home school because I don't think I would be able to teach my children things I don't understand like fractions ! I think one should do what is best for their family and don't really think one method is better than the other.

pros of homeschooling- you get to decide what materials you use for teaching required curricula, don't have to worry about bullying and a lot of the more questionable aspects of public school.

Cons: It's very easy to get sidetracked... and you have to stay on top to keep your kids on track. So it's a lot more tough in that sense, and it's a big job.


Quite frankly if you have the means and the will to homeschool I very much advise going that route.
You can choose to do it for a year or you can choose to do the whole k-12 (or more even)

[Elgama]

To be honest I see it as a much better option, you don't need to know much you can learn together, I am not using a curriculum, just being mostly child led, have no definite targets or goals yet. I can't afford private school for 3 kids so its out, our local schools are actually good so there would be no need, however thiss way my children get to follow their interests we get loads more time together as a family, my children are not living a hectic lifestyle, there is more time to build sibling bonds etc, plus they get 1 to 1 teaching

[Jenamarie]

One thing I think people aren't aware of about homeschooling, is that the parents aren't necessarily "free-lancing" the instruction (i.e. just passing down what's in their heads to their child's heads without any outside assistance). There are curriculums that parents can use that are *scripted* that explain the concept to the parent, explain to the parent how to explain the concept to the child, and then have lots and lots of review and drill to make sure the concept is practiced enough to really get into the student's head. So even if a parent sucked at math in public school, they can still teach math to their children if they use a scripted program that teaches them how to teach it, and in so doing re-teaches the concept to the parent.

I mean, even public school teachers don't perfectly understand everything they're teaching. My dad was a 1st grade teacher for over a decade when his principle decided to switch him to a 4th grade classroom. He had exactly 2 months to prepare to teach that grade (and he turns 60 this year, so his 4th grade experience is waaaaaaaaaay in the past ). Just a few weeks before the start of the school year they said "Oops, nope, we need you to teach second grade!" He had to buy different curriculum, write up different lesson plans, and prepare to teach entirely different levels of math, grammer, and history than he'd been preparing for, or than he'd been teaching for the past decade. But he's doing a good job.

IMO, there are three important aspects of teaching:

*Knowing how to learn, and
*Knowing how to teach a love of learning

If you know how to learn (seaking out sources of information, following rabbit trails in thought, studying and practicing the new information, etc.) they you can teach yourself anything, even if it's just one step ahead of your student.

And of course, if you can teach a love of learning (and if you're kids see you doing the things I've mentioned above, they're almost certain to pick it up) then they can independently fill in the gaps in the education their teachers give them (whether public school teachers or parents). Plus they'll have an invaluable skill that will help them in the rest of their lives. Teachers (and homeschooling parents) are not (and should not be!) the end-all-be-all source of education for a child.

[Jenamarie]

And to actually address the OP.

We're homeschooling starting next year. We came to this decision after initially only considering it as a Plan B option. I was bullied in school, so I wanted to have a "back-up plan" in place if any of my children became victims and if we were unhappy with the way the school dealt with it. I started researching it so that I'd know a bit about it before we possibly faced making the decision, and the more I learned about it the more I started to think "Well, why don't we do this ANYWAY?" I am super excited!

Some of the pro's that lead us to this decision:

*Our kids can learn at their own pace. If they learn a concept quickly we can move right on to the next one. If they take longer to learn we can take as long as we need to learn it. There's no "falling behind" or "being ahead" of the rest of the class. They ARE the class.

*We, as parents, remain as our kids' main source of guidance, rather than their peers or other adults that we don't know all that much about and don't always know what they're saying to our children.

*Choice in curriculum. If one system of math instruction doesn't "click" with our child we can try a different approach.

*Field trips! (i.e. travelling in the off-season, and going to places like the park or the zoo during non-peak hours. )

*Rabbit trails. If the kids want to spend more time learning about a certain subject, or study one aspect of a subject in more depth, they have the time to do it.

*Religious instruction included in the school day.

*ALL THAT FAMILY TIME!

Of course I can go on... we have LOTS of reasons for why we're doing it. But I'm so excited to do it!

[Tamiele]

I can say all of what Jenamarie said. I started to homeschool because my son had a learning disability that wasn't ranked "severe" so he didn't qualify for an aide in the school system here - so basically he would have been passed along and fallen between the cracks. To me it was an obvious choice - and one I was extremely thankful to have the opportunity to make that choice because it hasn't always been legal/easy for folks in the past to opt for this.

Our day is really tailored to our family needs right now. I have found a therapist that can help us overcome and fix my son's neurological disorders. He and I spend over an hour a day on his therapy alone. With that taking some time, there isn't much room for science this year so we don't have it in our program. Once the therapy diminishes, we will add it in at that point. Also Social Studies for Canada isn't being addressed either. What works is using STory Of The World (world history) as it is a short, couple of minutes to listen to a chapter and then answer questions from the work book. Will come back and learn Canadian social studies when time permits.

[Lilac]

To dislcose: I'm not LDS but seriously investigating. I am a practicing and devout Christian!

We homeschool our four children. (12,9,8,4) I have always homeschooled them and love homeschooling. Homeschooling is a lifestyle for us.

I teach my kids all the subjects and I am never just teaching off the top of my head. I am following a curriculum like all teachers do. Many things I do teach on the fly but many things we follow a set curriculum that I chose specifically to suit my children's interests, learning styles and our religious beliefs. We use Christian texts when we can because Christ is the center of our world.

I would just like to throw this thought out: If I am unable to teach fractions, what is that saying about MY eduction?

[Blackmarch]

Originally Posted by Lilac

To dislcose: I'm not LDS but seriously investigating. I am a practicing and devout Christian!

We homeschool our four children. (12,9,8,4) I have always homeschooled them and love homeschooling. Homeschooling is a lifestyle for us.

I teach my kids all the subjects and I am never just teaching off the top of my head. I am following a curriculum like all teachers do. Many things I do teach on the fly but many things we follow a set curriculum that I chose specifically to suit my children's interests, learning styles and our religious beliefs. We use Christian texts when we can because Christ is the center of our world.

I would just like to throw this thought out: If I am unable to teach fractions, what is that saying about MY eduction?

As an LDS we get lots of opportunities to teach each other, mostly at church - and I've found that teaching is also a time of learning- It generally means that there is more for oneself to learn and to share it as they learn.