Why homeschool? - Page 2

[2xy]

So many posters have covered our reasons. I'd just like to add one more.

In a nutshell: Freedom. Because I believe that the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should apply to all of our citizens...not just those over 18.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Because I believe that the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should apply to all of our citizens...not just those over 18.

[philomom]

Originally Posted by jessicaSAR

What public schools, even the good ones, do not teach/teach well every year (k-12):

math
grammar
writing
Latin
classic literature
history
science
art

My kids have learned all but Latin and they go to public school. I did enjoy my short time homeschooling but it is not for us as a family.

[jessicaSAR]

Originally Posted by philomom

My kids have learned all but Latin and they go to public school. I did enjoy my short time homeschooling but it is not for us as a family.

Let me clarify,

I suppose my highly ranked school district would claim that they teach most of these. But, IMO, they do a dismal job.

math - Investigations (reformist math similar to Everyday Math)

grammar - almost nothing, and certainly not systematic

writing - As a college professor I have seen the writing skills of top students coming out of highly ranked public schools in this state. Most students have no idea how to write an academic paper. They have that personal narrative down pat, though.

classic literature - not enough, not even close to enough

history - It's not even part of the curriculum until eighth grade. Up to that point they do "Social Studies."

science - I can't even talk about this one.

Art - not even mentioned in the curriculum handbook for elementary school.



The point I was trying to make is that I homeschool because the schools are not providing the kind of education I expect.

[MaterBum]

I love reading these posts!

I went to enroll my daughter in kindergarten last year, and couldn't follow through because of several things:

1. Just being in the building one hour with white, concrete and tiled walls and bright lights, I couldn't wait to get back outside. I couldn't imagine my 5 year old spending hours in there, with only an occasional peek outside. I was told the kids got one 15-minute outdoor recess a day, weather permitting.

2. My dd's class size was going to be 28-30 with only one teacher. When I taught high school, if i had more than 20 students, I never really got to know or help everyone. So I knew she wouldn't get much help/attention/encouragement with this student-teacher ratio.

3. When I looked at the curriculum, I was floored. My daughter was already reading little chapter books, and they put "learning the sounds of each letter, distinguishing between letters and words" as main objectives for the year. I wasn't convinced she would learn anything beyond sitting, busy work, and boredom.

4. When I looked at the planned fundraiser packet for the school, along with the list of supplies we had to provide for the classroom, along with the personal supplies for my dd, I started imagining the cool trips to museums, fun books, cool building kits, etc. we could buy with that money instead.

5. When I thought about someone else reporting to me what my dd could or couldn't do, was or wasn't exploring, did or did not like, it made me sad. I wanted to know those things without a scheduled meeting with someone attach some sort of grade to my dd's abilities.

Now, we continue to do it because it's fun; because the kids love the friends we've made in the hs community; because we don't have to worry about cool clothes or getting/not getting invited to so-and-so's birthday party; because I truly believe my children learn more through play and independent exploration that memorizing items from lists for state tests.

HTH!

[Reebekah]

i could list SO MANY specific reasons...but overall,
1)freedom to do what we want
2)flexibility in our lives
3)academic reasons....i am planning to primarily use a literature based curriculum that will teach them all they need to know while also teaching them to love to read
4)family time
5)to keep them away from a lot of things that are going on in todays schools

[cappuccinosmom]

Freedom and flexibility

Academic excellence

Self-determined pace (ds1 did 3 grades in 1 year, ds2 is just doing 1 per year)

I also feel that my children are *my* primary responsibility to teach and raise and love.

I think the institutional classroom is not an ideal setting for learning, particularly for boys.