A couple people expressed an interest in homeschooling on another thread, so I thought I'd start a new thread about homeschooling in general.

We have done the homeschooling thing for seven years. It has its rewards and its drawbacks. Everything in this life does. It just happens to be the best choice for our family.

Our state, Maryland, is relatively easy on homeschoolers. For now, that is. I have only been seen by the Board of Education twice in seven years. For me, that is fine. The law says they can check our records three times a year.

This year is a relaxed year. We have had so much upheaval in our family we decided to take a step back and concentrate on the 3 Rs, so to speak. It is working well.

The biggest problem I face is when a person tries to "test" my kids. They think they are being sly about it, but I can tell. It makes me angry. These people will ask them a question and when the kids don't have the answer they get this smug look on their face as if to say "home schooled kids are soooo lacking". Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I doubt it.

I think I'll sign off before I start getting preachy about it. Chime in with your thoughts!

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), November 29, 2001

Answers

I love homeschooling! It works well for our family. Here in KS, there are very few rules and regulations for homeschoolers, which I like just fine. I go online and check the state education site to see what the standards are for students that are at the same grade level as mine. Then I just make sure that my standards are a bit higher, and we have no problem whatsoever. We spend, at most, 3 hours a day with school. Of course, the learning goes on 24/7! :-)

My 11 year old daughter is really getting into creative writing, and I must brag and say she's quite good! Homeschooling gives her the extra time, and the opportunity to pursue what she loves.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), November 29, 2001.

Jo, Let me try to get an address for you that will put you in touch with a group of about 700 families in texas who homeschool all of their children it is quite an organization they even publish their own text books. I know they can be reached on line and I'm sure that they could be of some help as a. their are so many of them doing it, b. they have been at it for about 15 years, c. they are good people who are helpful and kind. Sometimes a simple thing is just what you have been looking for and all you need is a suggestion. Sally

-- (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.

I would love to homeschool, but so far the Lord hasn't convicted my husband of the need for it, so I just continue to pray. Both of my SIL homeschool and love it. Do you belong to a homeschool group? The ones around here are very active and I know my friends who belong feel that they are definitely an asset.

It is funny how people sometimes are condescending to homeschooled kids. I don't know why, because all the ones I know are as academically and socially adept as my public schooled kids.

-- Ivy in NW AR (balch84@cox-internet.com), November 29, 2001.

My son is in Kindergarten this year. We homeschool. I did preschool also. Everyone has given me such a hard time about this and I finally got so sick of all the remarks and "check-ups" I had my son a few Sundays ago, the whole family meets on Sundays for dinner a G'ma's, asked my son to stand up and tell the people what he has learned at school. He started with the ABC', not a big deal, but then went on to the solar system, stating the plants positions inreguard to the sun , the 50 states and their location and ended with reciting from memory all the presidents in order and a little about each. Needless to say I don't think I will have the problem of interference and questions from friends and family again. Some times they just need to be put in their place.And it always tastes much better when it is a child that makes them eat their words!!!!Keep up the good work and someday alot of people will have to eat crow!God Bless.

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), November 29, 2001.

We have been homeschooling since 1983, in three different states. It was nice that my children didn't have to adjust to a new school each time, we just adjusted to a new state as a family :-).

Our oldest graduated in 1996 and has a very good job right now. He lives at home, helping us do things around our small homestead and financially (you know, room and board :-) ), while he is saving for a place of his own once he marries. Our second oldest is away at college and serves in the Ohio Army National Guard. Our youngest is 14, has Down Syndrome and has greatly benefited from homeschooling. I just cannot imagine that he would have learned much at all in a government school as he is easily distracted which is not a problem at home. This year he has started reading!

Here in Ohio we are required by the state to notify them each year that we are homeschooling (not ASK permission to do so), send them a list of our intended curriculum and send them copies of either testing results or that a written narrative was done by an Ohio certified teacher showing that the student made progress over the past year. There are certain topics that must be included in the curriculum and nine hundred hours of education are required (super easy for homeschoolers to meet).

I am so thankful that I have been able to spend so much time with my children and our schedules were always flexible enough to do things with "Daddy" when he was home. For most of our schooling years my husband has worked 2nd shift. The years that we have been able to take a traveling vacation we were able to due it during times that the crowds were not as bad. Our oldest son's "Senior trip" (as we called it) was one in which we ALL went, of course :-). We were living in Maryland at the time and made a five , four night trip that included driving through western Maryland, New York, seeing Niagra Falls, spending the night in Canada, driving along Lake Ontario, seeing the capitol of New York, spending a night in Vermont, seeing snow in Vermont on Mother's Day, seeing New Hampshire, spending a night in Maine on the ocean, seeing Mass., ate lunch in a nice little diner in Boston, visited Gloucester and saw the statue in town that is a memorial to all their men that have died at sea, went through Salem, saw the house of seven gables, spent a night in Newport, RI and toured all the mansions there - they are actually called "cottages" (from the outside only), walked along the coastline, drove through New York City and could see the Empire State Building and also went through Conn. on our way back home. There were other small but memorable stops we made too. It was a whirlwind trip and didn't cost us a lot because we mostly ate out of an ice chest but it was the trip of a lifetime for us. We will never forget it!

We spent many years in the beginning listening to others (including family members) negative remarks. Proof is in the pudding now :-0 and so we now have quite a lot of supporters.

Just want to add that neither of our sons had any trouble getting a job, being accepted in the military or into college. They get along with all types of people and have never been involved in any trouble (other than at home. LOL!).

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.

Terry--This is our first year of homeschooling. Who do you have give your kids the achievement tests every year?

We love homeschooling so far. Kyle is a smart boy, but has attention problems. In school he was distracted by everything. It's amazing how a little peace and quiet and how being able to work at his own pace really helps.

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), November 29, 2001.

Vicki,

I only have one left at home that I am schooling and since he has Down Syndrome we have a written narrative done by an Ohio certified teacher. We receive a local homeschooling newsletter and teachers usually advertise in in it in the spring that they are available to administer achievement tests and do narratives. We have used the same the same person for all three years that we have been here. She charges $25.00 for one child.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.

Hi. We have two preschool age girls we homeschool. We get comments from alot of people, and have had many moments when we doubt our own decision (the doubts are getting easier to overcome every time we get into a rut). We decided to HS for two main reasons: he (husband) works 2nd shift, and one child is very hyperactive like me. Sometimes, I get really down over the comments we get, but after a while I shake myself out of it by reading about homeschoolers' achievements and by talking to others on HS forums. My sister-in-law homeschools her six kids; I don't think she let's other people's opinions get to her. They are such intelligent and mature kids it's hard not to notice.

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), November 29, 2001.

Vicki,

Do you have the book "Home Education - Answers For Ohio Parents"by Diana M. Fessler? It is a very good reference book to have on hand. You can usually obtain one through homeschool support groups or order one directly from Cassidy & Nells, 7530 Ross Road, New Carlise, OH 45344 for $12.00. (937) 845-8428.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.

Jo:

Yeah, I know what you mean about the 'testing' people do - my own MOTHER does it to my two boys and it gets me so ticked off!!! She is there to love them, not test them! It got so bad at one point we had to tell her and my father to either back off or they wouldn't be seeing the boys nearly as often. My mother has started it again (yeah, they think they're being so sly), so we might have to bark up their tree again. What really gets me, is she manages to plant doubt in my own capabilities and our methods. We prefer to "unschool", and that is stressful enough without ignorant input.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), November 29, 2001.

Thanks a lot Terry!

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), November 29, 2001.

When I homeschooled, people would try to test my kids too, I hated that. Once a total stranger overheard me talking at a booksstore about homeschooling and he asked my son who was six at the time"Can you say the abc's?" My son said,"Yes. Can you?" I laughed and laughed.

I was fortunate to get into a group with other homeschooling Moms-we had about 8-10 families and we met on Tuesdays-we had about an hour of games, then snacks, then an hour of something"Educational" Sometimes we would visit local museums or something like that. We took turns doing the group "lesson" One family had lived in Brazil and brought photos and talked about thier experiences. My feeling was that these kids were far better "socialized" They had better manners and generally better behaved than the children my kids go to school with_ which is again why I am thinking of going back to homeschooling.

-- Kelly (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), November 29, 2001.