Home Schooling: Have You Chosen the Winning Side?

The Benefits Can Be Worth More Than Their Weight In Gold.

Published on April 5, 2004 By mikimouse In Home & Family

My wife and I decided to home school our children. We've been at it for at least a year and a bit and the benefits are worth the time and effort. Lots of people say it screws the kid up if he doesn't interact with kids in a school. Well for us that argument is moot since my kids still see and interact with other kids many times each week. There's homeschooling get-togethers twice a week, and we take them to many places where they play with other kids. I was just wondering if anyone else has taken this route (it's getting more families each day). If not, tell me what you think about it. I've been surprised at some people's opinions about this subject.

Comments

WiseFawn

on Apr 07, 2004

Good for you! I home schooled my daughter. I wrote a blog about it, but I deleted most of my blogs. There is a young lady being home schooled that writes on JoeUser that I enjoy reading.

mikimouse

on Apr 07, 2004

thanks wisefawn. I'll keep my eyes open for the articles. You don't remember her name?

Sherye Hanson

on Apr 07, 2004

I didn't homeschool, but we did take our daughters out of school for six months and traveled. It was a good decision all around. They learned far more than they would have in school and they got out of high school and went to community college instead. Homeschooling can be either a disaster or a good thing. It takes a good deal of commitment on the part of the parents and the children, but it can be fun if you do it right.

Sherye Hanson

on Apr 07, 2004

WiseFawn

on Apr 07, 2004

Her name is BigDreamer415.

BigDreamer415

on Apr 07, 2004

Hey all... I feel so special you are talking about me *blushes*... thanks WiseFawn.

I'm curious, mikimouse, how old are your kids and do you plan on homeschooling them all the way through high school? If you want to ask me any questions, go for it. I'm fairly knowledgeable about High School curriculums, but I'm guessing from your article that they're younger.

I've also been wondering, what's the difference between writing an article on the forum and writing an article from your blog site? I wasn't sure where to post this question, but if anyone here knows, I'd greatly appreciate it if you told me. Or is it just that when you write an article it also goes to the forums? Are "replys" on forums the same thing as "comments" on blogs? Does the point system work the same for each?

Sarah

mikimouse

on Apr 07, 2004

when you post an article it gives you the option to post it in the forum as well. I have it set to yes. My kids are 7 and 4. They're learning waayyyy more than they would at a school. We're planning to do it until at least grade 5 or 6 when we'll give the the choice to go to a regular school if they so wish. We'll see. But for us a big thing is how crummy the kids in the system can be. It may sound silly but grade 2 kids I've heard talk about kissing girls and dating and other grown up stuff, including the bad words and such. We want to keep them away from the fodder of society. I was wondering: here it seems the home school groups are all fairly religion-based. Is it that way for you as well there? I may be wrong but we haven't come across any groups that are nondenominational.

BigDreamer415

on Apr 07, 2004

The last group we were in wasn't "religion-based", but I would say that 80% of the people belonging to the group are Christians... is that what you were wondering?

Thanks for the heads up on posting/forum stuff.

Sarah

mikimouse

on Apr 07, 2004

yes christian is the word I should have used. Duh. Yeah it's all christian based here. Which is fine I guess.

JillUser

on Apr 07, 2004

Mikimouse, your title intrigued me. What side are you referring to? I know children that thrive from all forms of schooling. Homeschool, private school, public school, it all depends on the individual needs of the family. There are many parents that don't have the patience or self discipline to do a proper job of home schooling. Your family might be in a perfect situation for homeschooling. I don't assume that I child is getting a superior education either way.

There are very good public schools out there. I personally chose public school because we have such great schools in our district. My children benefit from experiences they would never have if I were in charge of their schooling. My oldest who is only in 1st grade has already gone to theatres, met famous authors, had a school carnival, performed in a school "circus" (he was an elephant), had a camping day in the library and does things in music and gym that I just wouldn't be able to do with him. And those are just some examples off the top of my head.

Beyond the academic, there are social experiences that I personally feel they just can't get unless they are away from their parents. Kids need to be able to deal with diversity. In a homeschool setting your kids may have a lot of social interaction but it is very controlled. They need to be able to deal with all sorts of people in their own way. Of course on the other side of that coin, there are bad social experiences that home schooling can prevent.

There are times when I am not all that pleased with the school but I have a lot to do with the education my kids get. I read to and with them. We go on nature walks and I nurture their creativity in every way I can. I talk to the teacher any time I have a concern. There are pros and cons no matter what approach you take with education. I think as long as the parents stay involved and have their child's best interest at heart, the child will thrive.

Best wishes.

mikimouse

on Apr 07, 2004

thanks Jill for the comments. It's true what you say but overall I believe the kids better off being taught at home, at least a the earliest stages of their schooling lives. I find no need or desire to leave my kid's brain with some teacher I don't even know to trust. There are more pro's than cons when you homeschool. Kids grow up too fast at public school.

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