Would you homeschool in this situation?

[PennyP]

Homeschooling simply isn't "done" where I live. Kids around here are all in school till 1:30 (earliest), but more often till 4 or 5 or even later at older grades.
We also don't have a car, so I don't know how frequently we'd actually be able to get out and take the bus to meet up with the one lone small homeschooling group in our region.

Would you homeschool if homeschooling was such an oddity where you lived and you had no car?

[caefi]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Would you homeschool if homeschooling was such an oddity where you lived and you had no car?

Personally, I would. I'm known for coloring outside the lines, though. I chose to homeschool b/c it would be best for our children. I felt it was best when we lived in a more isolated area and had to travel a long distance to meet up with others. I felt that way when we moved to a new area and didn't know anyone, nor what was available for homeschoolers. I felt that way when we all shared on room in my aunt's house and had so little funds we could rarely go into town. I continue to feel that way today - the benefits of homeschooling, for us, outweigh the negatives that our current situation may cause.

I know you'll find the best fit for your family. Good luck finding your path!

[skueppers]

I think that for me, it would depend less on the circumstances you describe, and more on what homeschooling would actually look like for my own family.

If the fact that we don't have a car would mean that we were stuck at home all the time, then no, I wouldn't do it. If I couldn't come up with a way for my kid to spend time with other children (scouts, swim team, etc.), I wouldn't do it.

But if I thought homeschooling would be a positive experience for our family, I'd do it regardless of what others were doing.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Would you homeschool if homeschooling was such an oddity where you lived and you had no car?

Homeschooling was an oddity here when we started--we were the only ones in our town doing it and the closest hsing group was an hour away. The kids I had at the time were homebodies and we could have been perfectly happy at home for a couple of years or so when they were little.

It was easy then to spend the day building pillow forts, making clay, baking, playing pretend, reading, etc. It was NICE to go to the zoo and museums and such, but not necessary. As they got older, it was a different story--they needed to be out in the world more. We did have a car, but if we hadn't, I'm sure we would have gotten one, or moved to a place that was walkable or that had public transportation as the kids got older.

[AAK]

Yes!

But, my reasons for hs specifically revolve around the fact that the ps was not a good fit for my children. We rarely do anything with a hs group. We do other things though, we aren't isolated. However, if I didn't have a car--I would want to live somewhere that either had a good transit system or I would need to live within walking distance to a library & a park at least.

Amy

[lach]

Originally Posted by AAK

Yes!

But, my reasons for hs specifically revolve around the fact that the ps was not a good fit for my children. We rarely do anything with a hs group. We do other things though, we aren't isolated. However, if I didn't have a car--I would want to live somewhere that either had a good transit system or I would need to live within walking distance to a library & a park at least.

Amy

Ditto that. I wouldn't so much mind not having access to a homeschool group, but I personally would mind being stuck at home. Ironically, I think one of the major perks of homeschooling is how we won't need to be tied down to one location, like kids in a school are. Not having a car wouldn't bother me, so long as I had relatively easy access to libraries, playgrounds, museums, cultural activities, etc.

[nov05mama]

Originally Posted by lach

Ditto that. I wouldn't so much mind not having access to a homeschool group, but I personally would mind being stuck at home. Ironically, I think one of the major perks of homeschooling is how we won't need to be tied down to one location, like kids in a school are. Not having a car wouldn't bother me, so long as I had relatively easy access to libraries, playgrounds, museums, cultural activities, etc.

Ditto! I definitely would, even without a car as long as I had access like I do where I live now. We have a great playground with nature trails literally behind our subdivision and the library about 3 miles away.
I would look into the public transportation in my area (which is great here locally) and/or work out a system with my husband (I am assuming the reason you have no car is b/c he has it for work?) where for certain events (or maybe even once a week or so) I took him to work that morning and used the car for us to attend events and then picked him up later.

[Nemesis]

When we started homeschooling, I was in a very rural area with no access to any local groups. Now, we have a local group but I am not a member for other reasons.

We have a car, but limit its use pretty strictly. I get one car day a week, usually. Once in a while I will splurge if I am sick or hurt, but even in subzero winter I try to stick to it.

We walk, bike, and take the bus sometimes. Biking is faster than the bus and cheaper in the long run.

Most of my friends that have kids that we hang out with are not homeschoolers. It doesn't matter to me, as long as the parents aren't pushy/anti-hs.

[PennyP]

Originally Posted by skueppers

I think that for me, it would depend less on the circumstances you describe, and more on what homeschooling would actually look like for my own family.

If the fact that we don't have a car would mean that we were stuck at home all the time, then no, I wouldn't do it. If I couldn't come up with a way for my kid to spend time with other children (scouts, swim team, etc.), I wouldn't do it.

But if I thought homeschooling would be a positive experience for our family, I'd do it regardless of what others were doing.

Well, we live in a very communal child oriented community. All the families around have lots of children, so even just leaving our house, our kids get to interact with lots of kids on a regular basis. We're considering sending our kids to some structured activities should we see a need.

[PennyP]

Originally Posted by lach

Ditto that. I wouldn't so much mind not having access to a homeschool group, but I personally would mind being stuck at home. Ironically, I think one of the major perks of homeschooling is how we won't need to be tied down to one location, like kids in a school are. Not having a car wouldn't bother me, so long as I had relatively easy access to libraries, playgrounds, museums, cultural activities, etc.

We live in walking distance from a library, many playgrounds and a few grassy parks, a "nature trail", some flower gardens, a bit of a further walk to a small petting zoo, and museums and cultural activities are a bus ride or two away.

[PennyP]

Originally Posted by nov05mama

I would look into the public transportation in my area (which is great here locally) and/or work out a system with my husband (I am assuming the reason you have no car is b/c he has it for work?) where for certain events (or maybe even once a week or so) I took him to work that morning and used the car for us to attend events and then picked him up later.

We're a completely car free family. We rely on walking, bicycling and public transportation for all our traveling needs.

[Roar]

If the question is "would I..." then my answer is no. For our family one of the most essential aspects of homeschooling has been the ability to interact with other people during the day and to participate in our community. It doesn't necessarily have to be homeschoolers, but we need access to the university, to plays, to lessons, to experiences of various sorts. Especially with an only kid, for me it would not have been a happy thing to be without a car unless we had very good, very convenient public transportation.

If the question is "should you..." I would say I'm not qualified to answer that.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Well, we live in a very communal child oriented community. All the families around have lots of children, so even just leaving our house, our kids get to interact with lots of kids on a regular basis. We're considering sending our kids to some structured activities should we see a need.

Originally Posted by PennyP

We live in walking distance from a library, many playgrounds and a few grassy parks, a "nature trail", some flower gardens, a bit of a further walk to a small petting zoo, and museums and cultural activities are a bus ride or two away.

Sounds like you are in an excellent situation to homeschool. Possibly others will join you once the kids hit 1st/2nd grade and school becomes more problematic (there seems to be a bit of a trend with that for boys around here). We homeschool because school was a poor fit for ds. He's an only. We've had limited car use most of the time. There are no neighborhood kids available for play. And there isn't much cool within walking/biking distance. We are doing just fine. We've been trading playdates with his one good friend once a week. We usually get out another day, too.

[lonegirl]

I would and I will be. I am truly the odd man out. In my hometown there are 35 families in the only homeschool group (city is 75000 people plus all the small adjoining towns) No relatives in the area support me...it just isn't done. Fortunately half our time is spent in Toronto where it is much more common and applauded.

[moominmamma]

I would and I do. Well, except for the no-car part. We live where the only things bike-able or walkable are remote hiking trails, so we have a car which we use to get to music lessons, the store, the post office sand such. Our nearest support group is 90 minutes away and while we're on the e-mail loop, in the past 5 years only one of my four kids has done anything with the group, that briefly. It's just too far away.

My kids are good friends with each other and we find a ton at home, around home and in the general community to keep us busy. And there are plenty of after-school-hours ways for them to socialize with other kids. It works for us.

Sounds like you have a situation where it could work for you.

Miranda

[briansmama]

No one in our neighborhood homeschools except for us, and my boys play out front with the other kids in the later afternoon nearly everyday. The other kids don't care that our boys don't go to school, and my boys don't care that the other kids do go to school. They usually all play sports together out front.

I envy your walkability to the library! I would LOVE that- as homeschoolers, we're there quite a bit.

We rarely meet up with our homeschool group these days- we're just too busy doing other things and our kids get so much interaction right out our front door.

To answer your question, Yes, I would definitely still be homeschooling given those circumstances.

HTH!

[Lisa1970]

It depends on how I felt about the schools and the kids going there and how things were run and so on. If the schools were like the ones here, yes, I would still homeschool. If they were like the ones I grew up in, no, I would send them to school.

Good luck with your decision!

[hotmamacita]

Originally Posted by PennyP

Homeschooling simply isn't "done" where I live. Kids around here are all in school till 1:30 (earliest), but more often till 4 or 5 or even later at older grades.
We also don't have a car, so I don't know how frequently we'd actually be able to get out and take the bus to meet up with the one lone small homeschooling group in our region.

Would you homeschool if homeschooling was such an oddity where you lived and you had no car?

Yep, I would and I have.