Not sure if I should homeschool or not..

[Josephsmommy05]

Okay..my son will be starting Kindergarten this August, and I have been thinking about homeschooling him.  I don't know anyone who homeschools...and I am not sure if its the right thing to do.  I don't trust schools to take care of my son, and I am feeling very nervous because I don't want my son to be bullied, or get hurt while he is at school.  I don't even know where to begin with homeschooling.  I just need some advice on whether you like homeschooling..and where to begin.  Thank you.  :)

[SundayCrepes]

Homeschooling isn't hard. AND the way we're doing it, it will only be fun. If you want to follow a curriculum, there are tons of them out there you can buy for next to nothing to super expensive. Most cities have homeschool groups you can join for ideas, support, and social activities. We’ve been on a tour of the miniature horse farm and a regular firestation and the airport firestation. We've been to a print shop, tortilla factory, recycling center etc. And my oldest is only 5.

 

I'm doing a lot of reading about delayed schooling. Most European countries don't start formalized education until 7 and their kids do much better than ours.

 

I recently got into the http://www.sonlight.com books. Their philosophy is that you can sit a child at a desk with a textbook and very little learning will happen or you can cuddle a child on mom or dad's lap on the couch and read an award winning book and lots of learning will happen. They are a religious group so I exclude their religious stuff. I also joined a secular sonlight users group.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SonlightSecular/?yguid=156716553 They've given me some great links to evolution books.

 

This book addresses how preschool kids learn:

http://www.teachers.tv/videos/sweden-early-years

 

Here’s an article about how play will help children get into Harvard:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/29/christakis.play.children.learning/index.html 

 

This is a great book on the advantages of homeschooling. (It recognizes that schools are also a valid choice for education.):

http://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Rediscovered-Socialization-Education-Family/dp/1430308257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1285964468&sr=1-1 

 

Here are a bunch of links that I hope are helpful:

 

Homeschooling and Socialization:

http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

http://www.homeschool.com/articles/socialization/default.asp

 

Movie about problems with education system:

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

 

Do schools kill creativity? Very entertaining video with some good points to ponder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

 

Article on why young kids’ brains aren’t ready for early reading/writing instruction:

http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007/fall2007/teaching_children.aspx 

 

Here’s an article that discusses how children who start academics at later ages do better in the long run: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2752895.stm

 

Here’s a video on delayed academics in Sweden:

http://www.teachers.tv/videos/sweden-early-years 

 

Youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQyP9WXKk8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIOogqa-5GA

 

Unschooling definition:

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/earl_stevens.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

 

I did a search on Peter Gray on the Psychology Today website and he has lots of interesting looking articles. Here are a couple I read: 

 

Math: 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201004/kids-learn-math-easily-when-they-control-their-own-learning 

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201003/when-less-is-more-the-case-teaching-less-math-in-schools

 

Reading: 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201002/children-teach-themselves-read

 

Sudsbury School: 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200808/children-educate-themselves-iv-lessons-sudbury-valley (The closest we have to Sudsbury in Tucson is the Kino Learning Center.)

 

Tons of great articles about homeschooling. http://www.besthomeschooling.org/gateway/inted16.html

 

ACT scores–homeschooled compared to general test takers:

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/olderkids/CollegeTests.htm

 

Some homeschooling research:

 

Home-Education: Rationales, Practices and Outcomes

http://pjrothermel.com/phd/Home.htm

 

Fifteen years later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults

http://www.hslda.ca/cche_research/2009Study.pdf

 

We've Grown Up and We're Okay

http://www.illinoishouse.org/a05.htm

 

Welcome to the National Home Education Research Institute!

http://www.nheri.org/

[MrsJewelsRae]

I was in the same spot several years ago when my oldest was 4.  A big part of me always knew I wanted to homeschool, but I was afraid to announce it and commit to it until he got to school age and everyone started asking me when he was going to start school (at 4!).  I realized there was no way I could entrust him to some system full of strangers.  It just didn`t make any sense to me.  His whole life I was a very protective mother, I took him everywhere with me, he had never been to a babysitter, the only person other than dh and I to watch him were our parents, and never overnight.  So all of a sudden the thought of him being away from me all day, interacting with total strangers in a place I could not oversee his safety was unimaginable to me! I also don`t agree with a lot of the public school things, like having 4 and 5 yr olds being rigorously educated and pushed to read, pressure at such a young age, grade 1 kids doing homework, and the homework hours piling on at such a young age- it`s crazy to me, and unfair to the kids, IMO.  Where is the emphasis on family time, or time to be a kid!! Dh was on board with whichever decision I made and we decided what I knew deep down in my heart all along- we were homeschooling!  It was a little scary telling the first few people when they asked at church, but it was a rush too, I was proud of myself for doing this, and really excited- I was going to teach my own!  I also go a lot of support from unexpected places, people coming out of the woodwork to encourage me.  For me, being very involved in our Christian church, I do know several homeschoolers, so it was a lot easier for me, in a way.  A good friend of mine, who is quite a bit older, had pulled her kids from school a few years prior to this and started to hs, she was the first in our church and her support was invaluable to me- she was the one who sort of paved the way for me, as the idea of hs wasn`t as new and weird anymore- but I still would have done it.  My MIL and FIL were opposed, FIL being a public school teacher of 30 years, but they`ve come around! :)   It has been so wonderful teaching my own at home- the most awesome thing was being the only one to teach my children to read!  It seemed daunting, but it turned out to be amazing to watch my kids grasp it in their own ways- it was so rewarding!  My oldest will soon be 9 and my dd is almost 7 and we are still going strong and loving it!  We have joined a great Christian homeschool group that is an excellent resource for trips, weekly skating in the winter, and other moms to bounce things off of.  We love homeschooling, it fits our family and our lifestyle so well, and our kids enjoy it and have no interest in going to public school, we even plan to homeschool through high school.  We are relaxed homeschoolers and it amazes me how much kids can learn in a day without the pressures and hours and hours of schooling of traditional education.

One of my favorite places to start at this age is Linda Dobson`s book Homeschooling: The Early Years - it has lots of great ideas and just made me feel empowered, like I can do this!  Check out the homeschool section of your library and used book stores to see if you can find anything.  Good luck!

[gaudynight]

Homeschooling is a pretty overwhelming thought when you're just starting out! I was in a similar position to you - I wasn't one of those people who have always planned to homeschool but as DD1 approached "school age" both DH and I began to realise we couldn't put her in school. What helped was reminding ourselves that we weren't committing to hs her and all our other kids right through high school, you know? We took it a month at time, a term at a time, a year at a time and a child at a time. At the moment we're hsing all our school aged kids but that doesn't mean that they'll never go to school but that if it's right for that child at that time, we'll try it - DD2 may go to school this year or next year.

SundayCrepes has some great links. At that age you don't need to do a lot of academics. Just take it slow, have fun, and try to keep things in perspective. Of course I don't know what the regulations are where you live but you probably need some sort of plan for yourself, just to know where you're going and how you're getting there, but otherwise, he's little. Enjoy it :)

[rockportmama]

Originally Posted by Josephsmommy05 

Okay..my son will be starting Kindergarten this August, and I have been thinking about homeschooling him.  I don't know anyone who homeschools...and I am not sure if its the right thing to do.  I don't trust schools to take care of my son, and I am feeling very nervous because I don't want my son to be bullied, or get hurt while he is at school.  I don't even know where to begin with homeschooling.  I just need some advice on whether you like homeschooling..and where to begin.  Thank you.  :)

Here's how I think of it. I love being with my kids and watching them learn. They are fascinating! No teacher who gets paid to teach a room full of 30 kids 6 hours a day will ever be as into educating my kids as I am. So they're better off with me. If the opposite were true, they'd be better off in school.

But it sounds like you have a real concern is for his safety. Perhaps he would be interested in something like a martial arts class?

As to whether or not I like homeschooling, I love it. Most days.