Please help me convince my husband....

[MarineMommy]

that homeschool is best for our children. I need good stuff, he was raised in the way of conventional everything. His parents don't agree with anything I do, and neither does he!! Studies would be awesome....he thinks because we have 4 kids, I won't be able to teach them cause I have to care for the others. I could go on and on with the reasons I want to do it....he is thick in the noggin area and I need something BIG to show him!!

THanks
Katie

[momtocuteboys]

No advice from me...but I'll be watching this thread cause I'm in the same boat as you. I want to homeschool but can't convince dh. We also have 4 kids.

[Leav97]

You really need to know exactly what his concerns are.

How does he think a teacher handles teaching 15-30 kids? Would he be willing to compromise and home school for K-1 and then evaluate for 2-12?

[MarineMommy]

He is concerned that I am not a "teacher" that I haven't been to college for "teaching" and therefor I cannot possibly be able to teach our children.

He doesn't think I can do the homeschooling and care for the other children and household duties.

I have asked him to do some research of his own on the subject. I said to him if he can give me 5 reasons, 5 good educated reasons, why we shouldn't homeschool, then I may consider putting them is public school.

As of right now, it is my choice, I am the one who has done all the research and I believe that homeschooling is best for our children.

I have tried many times to make my points, he needs to hear it from a "doctor" or someone who has been to college in order for it to be real.


What are your dh's reasons for not wanting to homeschool??
Thanks,

Katie

[oldermom]

I'm waiting to hear responses, too. Dd will soon be "school age." Our neighborhood school is really, really bad, and I don't want her to go there, if we can't find something better. But too many people we know are of the "all homeschooled children are weird" camp.

Alice

[camracrazy]

I don't know about any articles, but my DH was against homeschooling also. If you think about it, it's actually kind of insulting that he thought I couldn't teach K. I mean really, how dumb do you think I am?? :

We finally compromised and went with K12 through a virtual school. It's not what I intended to do, but he felt better knowing that my lesson plans were all laid out for me and that they had a "real" teacher I could talk to if I needed help. So after we did K, I pointed out that the curriculum we did was advanced compared to what the local schools were doing, so if she went to 1st grade she would be horribly bored because she would be so far ahead (she actually is already doing 2nd grade K12 math). I don't know what I'll say next year.

Good luck!

[Momof3boysinNC]

Originally Posted by oldermom

I'm waiting to hear responses, too. Dd will soon be "school age." Our neighborhood school is really, really bad, and I don't want her to go there, if we can't find something better. But too many people we know are of the "all homeschooled children are weird" camp.

Alice

I had a 'friend' tell me the same thing when she found out we were going to homeschool our three. I replied we were already 'weird' so we'd just be getting 'weirder'.

It took awhile for me to convince DH but the constant battles we had with the school system (all three of our boys have Aspergers) was the final straw. Of course no one really wants to have to pull them out in a crisis. I wish I had done it from the very start. It would have saved my boys a lot of pain.

[geek_the_girl]

Ask him about how great his early school experience was.

[4Blessings]

Is he willing to read?
I'd recommend Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense
by David Guterson
even short articles like this http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/editors/default.asp?id=157 can be helpful.


Good Luck!

[Lillian J]

There have been a number of great threads here where people have shared their experiences, tips, and names of favorite articles and books that can help with this. Look in this thread and follow the links:

How to teach DH about HS

Lillian

[Narn]

Check naturalchild.org. They have lots of good articles.

[simple living mama]

My favorite book for skeptics is Homeschooling for Excellence. I always tell folks of this one because all the boys end up at Harvard even though they schooled in a relaxed style up at their rural homestead in Northern California. You may have no interest in your kids going to a prestigious school but it is enough to relax those that think a child "will not" have a good education at home. It's also an excellent read.

[PumpkinSeeds]

I really like this article:

School's Out

[Adasmommy]

You could find an article by John Taylor Gatto, since he was a respected teacher. Here's one: http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/0...ptance-speech/
and you can find more.

You could show your dh a teachers manual for kindergarten and demonstrate that there's no way you can't follow the subject matter and relay it to your kids. You can point out that your kids will get one on one attention from someone who cares more about their education than a school teacher ever could. You could point out that you have all the hours in the day and all the days in the week to do your teaching and take care of family and house. You can point out specific things you want your kids to learn that are not covered or not covered well enough in schools, and maybe there's something like that that is close to your husband's heart?

I dunno--just throwing out ideas. I think pp's suggestion of trying out kindergarten and first grade and then reevaluating is a great idea. Good luck!

[schendledecker]

I just read this UK based research (draft of an MA thesis from 2002) and thought it was good http://www.dur.ac.uk/p.j.rothermel/R...rkingpaper.htm

I think she has some great findings that could be helpful to you--for example, that the class and education level of the parents has no impact on how well HS kids do academically. Also that following a curriculum doesn't lead to academic success, being with the parent(s) so much does.

[elizawill]

well, my answer won't be a popular one....but if i was in your shoes, i'd probably go with a prepackaged curriculum if you can afford it. this will put your dh at ease because the curriculum is specifically written assuming the teacher is a parent without credentials, ykwim? it is literally a step-by-step "do this" today. i would of course use it in a very flexible manner, but i would still purchase it just to win the first battle. find a curriculum with great marketing, so your dh will be oh so impressed. you can look at www.homeschoolclassifieds.com for ideas and reviews on what is available for purchase......and then hopefully you can use the first year of h-schooling to win him over & then move on with better suited curriculum next year. good luck!!!