school vs homeschool - Page 2

[WCM]

Just the thought of packing lunch 5 days a week makes me feel faint. All-day PJ's it is!

[Mary]

You have to find what you are happy with whether it be school or homeschool, so I'm not going to tell you one is better than the other- that is for you to decide.

I have done both though and right now I find I have more free time homeschooling. I know that's hard to believe, but my typical school day looked like this- wake up at 6, make breakfast and lunches, get dressed, wake up kids, get them ready, eat, get backpacks together, get out the door, take them to school. Get back at 8:15. Could work out, but just want to recover from the morning grind, sit and waste an hour on the computer, still don't want to work out, straighten up, take a shower, go up to the school to volunteer for lunch, get back home at 1pm. Now I only have 2 hours, clean, laundry, rest, back to school for pickup, home, snack, homework, make dinner, go to afterschool activities, finish homework, clean up from dinner, bed.

Every day went something like that and I'll tell you, there are days when you need some alone time, I hear you. But it also gets incredibly monotonous and the chaos of mornings and evenings don't justify it.

My days homeschooling have been more relaxing, I wake up at 6 still, but I get some alone time and we don't have to rush out. I wake the kids at 7/7:30 and we eat and get started with school at 8:30. At 12:30 we tend to be done. We don't have the big afternoon bustle that we have when they are in school.

For me, well, I'm more productive when my kids are around. I found myself being an undisciplined bum much of the time when they were in school. I justified it by being so worn out by the school schedule and all of the volunteering I did at school. I guess it all just depends on your set of circumstances, your kids, and of course yourself. I hope you can find some relief and hey, if you really dislike homeschooling, putting them in school is always an option. You might love it, you might hate it. I had a hard time with the school schedule and my house wasn't any better off.

[Lisa1970]

If my children were in school, today, I would have gotten up by 7am and fought with them to get them out the door. I would have worried about them all day. I would be in fear of my daughter's safety since a boy was threatening to her last year and school administration said that"boys will be boys" and turned a blind eye to it. I would know that my children were just playing games like Halo at school and looking at porn, at school. Then at the end of the day, I would get them from school. If I want them to have an actual education, I would then start to teach them. I would listen to their stressful tales of the day. The 1st grader would tell me about the kids bullying in the class room. The 3rd grader would not have much to say as he has autism spectrum disorder. But I would be stressed over the marks on him and knowing he spent part of the day in an empty room staring at the walls and not being allowed to eat with the other kids and being treated like a freak. I would wonder how long until he commits suicide like a number of other kids in our district. Then I would wonder each day when my 14 yr old daughter comes home if that was the day she was finally raped, as the boy all but threatened to do that and would not stop following her or bumping against her. Then I would wonder how long before my 15 yr old goes over to using drugs or having sex at school, since so many other kids openly do it at school. Ok, so the sex usually happens in the stalls in the bathrooms and such, but no one hides they are doing that. The drugs are done openly though. Then I would be disgusted as I see the school ranked exemplary again, because much of what the state ranks the schools on has to do with money rather than what is really going on in the schools. We live in a wealthy area.

Then I would wonder how my children could possibly function in college and the real world after hanging out in the cess pool all day.



NOW, because I do homeschool, my older kids go to a small private charter school run by people who use to run a very good small private Christian school. The academics are not as high as they would get at homeschool, but they are much higher than the local public schools. They go half time and work from home the other half. That gives us free time to do extra study on the side as we please.

The younger children swept and vacummed today. I oversaw their school work and knew what they were doing was of actual academic value. Other than what my 2 sons did to each other, no one was threatened, beaten up, or sexually harrassed or sexually threatened today. No one looked at porn today. I drove DS8 leisurely to Lego Robotics at 1pm, not 7am. While he was there, ds6 and the baby and I hung out and had lunch together. Then I picked up DS8 and was told how great he is. Drove home.

Oh, I likely would play Frontierville all day or something while worrying about the kids if they were off at the prison, aka public school, all day.

[One_Girl]

I have had my dd do school while I am working, school while I am not working, and homeschooling while I am not working, and I think that list of things is not realistic if you don't have yourself organized and motivated to stick to that orginization. I have found that when I have myself very organized then it is possible to do those things without any trouble. When I am not organized and motivated I do nothing whether I have a ton of free time or have to find my free time and make the most of it. I suggest taking a step back and looking at how you can structure your days and your breaks so you can do things that give you energy and peace of mind while still following your heart and doing what you feel is right for your family. If you haven't looked into your local YMCA then I suggest you do so too. They are a wonderful resource for kid activities, homeschooling activities, family activities, and parent nights out here in our area. They offer great financial assistance for families of all sizes and make life better whether you homeschool or not.

[zinemama]

I have the greatest respect for homeschooling and homeschoolers, but I'm not sure I think it's worth it if the only reason you're doing something you don't want to do is because your daughter says school will "ruin her life."

I mean, I thought not owning a velour V-neck pullover would ruin my life back in 7th grade, which was - as my mother deduced - obviously an extreme exaggeration. Is there actually some issue going on with your dd that would make school dangerous or otherwise agonizing for her? Maybe you need a break.

[momtokea]

I really think it's a good idea to put your kids in school. If you are burnt out after one day of homeschooling and you dislike it so much ... well ... that's not a good sign.

Originally Posted by jeteaa

If my kids were in school this week I would have:
cleaned my house
organized our storage room
read, read, read
listened to MY music LOUD while I cleaned
went to the gym
enjoyed grocery shopping by myself
volunteered w/ OTHER ADULTS
planned and made home cooked meals

Because we hs, this is what we did this week:
Drove 1.5 hrs to the "big" city and went to the zoo
dd1 slammed her finger in the car door in the grocery store parking lot, so no groceries, no dinner
I had NO personal time
the house is a mess
the kids had alot of free playtime

I'm not sure how I feel about any of this. My dd1 says "I will ruin her life if I send her to school". So we hs, and I know she is getting a better education rather than at a public school... but its more often then not that I feel bitter about being a hs mom.... but I do have fun on our special outings that we could not do if the kids were in school. I hope I as a hs mom find balance in this life style.