Help me decide!!

[peaceful_mama]

I have a bazillion and one reasons for wanting to homeschool.

Many of them are based on things that we would have to wait and see how they are for our children.

My oldest is 3. DH is in favor of him going to school ASAP and doesn't share my concern about too much time away from him too soon.

I don't have violent objections to the preschool program he would qualify for here in town. Other than that he may be required to attend 4 half days a week.
And I am worried that he may not do well with the circle time and small group (table work--though not necessarily ACADEMICS) times. They *do* have tons of room for free play and choice--at least the classroom I worked in until shortly after DD was born did!

The other thing is, I know now from talking to DH that I am not going to 'win' the homeschool argument up front. I MAY eventually get him to see my light, but it is only going to come after he has seen the American school system, we run into a problem, and it becomes the obvious solution to try.
Knowing this, I think it would be unfair NOT to prepare my child for public school.

The other part of this is, at this point in our lives, I see a lot of benefit that could come to ds from a couple days a week of preschool, if he had that opportunity. Prime example, we have not been ANYWHERE fun for him since the week before Thanksgiving, and I don't forsee us going anywhere 'fun' in the next couple of days. Why? everyone but him in the house has been sick. I have nobody else to take him. He is literally *begging* to go to the museum to make paints, to the library, to playtime at the gym. He LIKES to get out, WANTS to do something else. And he is high-energy, and we live in a small apartment.
And it is not fair to him that both DH and I get frustrated with his expressing his high energy level and general boredom.
We have no yard to go play in either, we will be moving in the spring...but I wonder if a few months of preschool this winter a couple days a week wouldn't be GOOD for everyone--he gets to go out and play or run around in a gym, baby won't be walking well enough yet for that. I get a break from all the energy, which would reduce my frustration at other times I think. He'd be busy and maybe wear out some!

I'm interested in other ideas too.

[MyLittleWonders]

Ok, so I'm biased against schooling in general, so take what I say with a grain of salt. That said, here are my thoughts ...

First off, sending him to preschool during the winter is more than likely only inviting every cold and flu into your house for the next 5-6 six months. Chances are he will get exposed to much more than he ever would at home with you, and with a baby in the house, you might want to keep that in mind on the side of the list that says, "Don't send him to school right now."

Secondly, and this is coming as a former school teacher rather than a hs'er now, is that I could always tell the difference in my classroom between my students ... but never based on whether they had been to preschool or not. I could tell the difference between the kids that had parents at home that interacted with them and "taught" them ... My "best" students, regardless of socioeconomic or ethnic or stay-home/work-out-of-home or any other background were the ones whose parents took them to the library, read books with them, spoke with them, taught them their letters and numbers, played games together, put puzzles together, and basically involved the children in their lives. Preschool taught them simply to raise their hands at 3 and 4 years old and how to stand in lines. It truly is the home that makes all the difference in the world.

That said, I can understand the need for a little down-time; I struggle with that still with 3 ... but at the end of the day, I'd much rather have them home with me instead of in a class somewhere with someone else "teaching" them for X hours a day.

As for the going "fun" places ... sometimes I think that is over-hyped in our society. For mine, sometimes the most "fun" place we go during the week is to the grocery store or the post office. Some weeks we don't go further than either the backyard or the front yard/around the block. I try to get to the park, library, and/or nature center once a week, but life happens and those trips don't always. At 3, and again, this is just from my personal experience and opinion, is that home is the most important place to be ... being a part of life, having Mommy time playing with toys, playing with corn starch and water at the table while meals are prepared ... "fun" trips are just a bonus, but not necessary. Families get sick (we just went through a week of sick here ... it definitely wasn't much fun for those that were healthy while others were sick), families get busy, and life just happens. To me, there is nothing preschool (or any schooling, but as I said, I'm biased ) can offer that is better than what I can provide for my children just by being home and together.

Now for your dh, would he be up for reading some stuff about homeschooling, especially stuff by John Holt and John Taylor Gatto? What are his biggest reasons for wanting preschool and eventually school-school for your dc? Maybe there are some good articles/links we could help you with to address his specific concerns. For now, though, I would try to find stuff to address the issue that young children's best place to learn and grow in the early years is right next to his parents and family.

Just my two cents. Good luck!

[ankh]

Ok, a few quick ideas...
I put my eldest in preschool for a few months when he was about 4. It didn't work for us for a few reasons:

He wasn't allowed to be a Power Ranger, ever (dont get me started

He would come home tired and grumpy -taking it out on his younger sister

It took over our lives, I had to plan the entire week around his daycare.

I did it because I wasn't sure about hsing or ps.

I thought it would be nice for him to get out of the house and meet other kids, it was, but he had friends already and I was told he would never make "real" friends because he only went once a week.

I put him in to "prepare him for the school system" It made me realise the "system" wasn't for us, but thats just us

I got my dh to read "Dumbing us down" that actually convinced him more than me!

It sounds to me like you have the right idea, open to trying things and willing to pull your child out and homeschool. It's much easier to do this when your partner is on board.
Sorry for the rambling post!

[elizawill]

my kids have never been to preschool or school in any shape or form, but having said that i'm not anti-school to be honest. it obviously does work well for some families. i think it's important to remember that your decision doesn't have to be permanent. your ds can go to preschool AND still homeschool when he's older. or he can learn from you in the preschool years and go to school when he's 5 or 6.....or he can homeschool all the way through.

whatever you decide...just remember....you have the right and privilege as his mom to change your mind at anytime!

[peaceful_mama]

I think *I* could do with more reading about homeschooling.

My reasons for wanting to do it are based mostly on my observations while working in the public school system, personal objections.

one--all the standardized testing. I think the public education system does far too much testing and devotes far too much classroom teaching to 'teaching to the test.'

two--the push-down of curriculum. When I was in kindergarten, it was paints, a doll corner, a group time in 'the pit' in our room, and I remember some table time with workbook kinds of activities, circling pictures and such. A little.

You didn't learn to read till first grade. *well I knew how to read but that's nanotehr story.*

Now......you're supposed to know letters and numbers, and general classroom behavior so that you can learn to READ in kindergarten!

I've heard and read lots that supports the idea of some kids many not being ready for reading till age 7 or so.....so most of my ideas would be met by staying home just till then even....