[AngieB]

We are planning on homeschooling in the fall. My 2 oldest have until now gone to public school. My dh and I keep pointing out to each other things that will be different next year when the kids are home. I would like to know from others who have left public or private school, how has your life changed? How has the way you run your home changed? How has your family changed? I would like to hear both the good and the bad.

 

[Lillian J]

Everything simply got easier for us - we had much more time, and the freedom to enjoy it in our own way. I can't think of what you're pointing out that's going to be different, but my experience was that:

• There was no more need to rush to bed when we wanted to stay up finishing parts of a book that intrigued us. We could read into the wee hours if we felt like it.
• There was no more need to get up earlier than we wanted to and rush around getting out to schoo.
• There no more round trip drives to school.
• There was no more need to pack lunches for school.
• There was no more need to deal with ego and power problems from a teacher who didn't agree with the way we lived.
• There was no more need to fit ourselves into someone else's idea of how or what our child should be learning.
• We were free to take off on field trips or vacations whenever we wanted.
• Our child was able to see much, much more of his dad - and he no longer had any reason to sadly wave goodbye to me in the mornings at school until I was out of sight.
• Our child regained a happy demeanor and comfort with himself - was a lot easier to be with.
• Our child no longer struggled with so much in the way of allergies and flues.
• I no longer had to spend grueling time at the table with my little boy to get him through homework and study for stupid tests - we could spend our evenings enjoying sunsets and walks and reading and whatever we felt like.
• Our child no longer had to be subjected to witnessing the weird and unhealthy dramas over power or anger or whatever it was that had been going on in the school playground at school.
• Our child no longer had to put up with a big bully of a teacher who had the maturity of a troubled teen and had never matured to her real age that was over 50.
• Our child was able to regain his sense of relaxation and pleasure in learning.

Well, those are the things that were the biggies. If you're looking for the negatives, I can't offer much of anything. - Lillian

 

[Serendipity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J Everything simply got easier for us - we had much more time, and the freedom to enjoy it in our own way. I can't think of what you're pointing out that's going to be different, but my experience was that: There was no more need to rush to bed when we wanted to stay up finishing parts of a book that intrigued us. We could read into the wee hours if we felt like it. There was no more need to get up earlier than we wanted to and rush around getting out to schoo. There no more round trip drives to school. There was no more need to pack lunches for school. There was no more need to deal with ego and power problems from a teacher who didn't agree with the way we lived. There was no more need to fit ourselves into someone else's idea of how or what our child should be learning. We were free to take off on field trips or vacations whenever we wanted. Our child was able to see much, much more of his dad - and he no longer had any reason to sadly wave goodbye to me in the mornings at school until I was out of sight. Our child regained a happy demeanor and comfort with himself - was a lot easier to be with. Our child no longer struggled with so much in the way of allergies and flues. I no longer had to spend grueling time at the table with my little boy to get him through homework and study for stupid tests - we could spend our evenings enjoying sunsets and walks and reading and whatever we felt like. Our child no longer had to be subjected to witnessing the weird and unhealthy dramas over power or anger or whatever it was that had been going on in the school playground at school. Our child no longer had to put up with a big bully of a teacher who had the maturity of a troubled teen and had never matured to her real age that was over 50. Our child was able to regain his sense of relaxation and pleasure in learning. Well, those are the things that were the biggies. If you're looking for the negatives, I can't offer much of anything. - Lillian

Yep. I can't think of a negative, best thing we've ever done.

 

[LilyGrace]

Simply put, we have more time. That is a huge plus. And like Lillian, I saw great changes in his demeanor and attitude. He likes to learn. He's interested and wants to take charge. I love that about him.

We do have a few negatives, though, one being that we have more time. I have a chatterbox. He will talk from morning until night nonstop and by February...that starts to get to me.

I have to make sure I carve out time and a passion for myself. It's so easy to get caught up in the routine of schooling that I forget I need a break and need time to focus on me. And if I forget...I get crabby. I get annoyed. I start feeling overwhelmed. The breaks are important.

I worry more, I think, but in a different way. Before, I could blame the school or the teacher. Now, when something isn't working it's up to me to find other options. Right now I'm debating whether to continue our writing curriculum and try something else next year or quit for the year and try the same program next year. I've had to deal with criticisms from those around me when they were less on board - for example, dh making little comments to push him toward school or questioning negatively the progress that was being made. It took a while to get him to back down and show his concern in a more positive way.

Other things, neither up nor down - we still try to make the first day of school in the fall special. It's important to the kid that he doesn't lose that. We already traded other schoolish aspects for hs'ing ones, this one was non-negotiable. Still celebrated, just in a slightly different way.

 

[joy_seeker]

Agreeing with Lillian and Serendipity... the only thing I would say is develop thick skin because your lifestyle will be called into question. I have taken on the attitude of pity for those who don't understand instead of allowing them to ruffle my feathers.

Of course when my dc were in school I had to deal with even more people who thought they were "experts" on raising MY child so that isn't really an exclusively homeshooling issue.

 

[Momma Aimee]

subbing

 

[kewb]

Here is ds's list: We have more time to do stuff. It is a lot more comfortable at home. You don't have to sit at a hard desk chair all day. You can go move into the living room and sit on the couch. We can end our official lessons for the day whenever we want. His negative is that when we are done with school for the day his school friends are not home yet.

Dd says: It is great having time to do what we want and go on lots of field trips. The negative: Sometimes I give boring work or take them on a boring field trip.

Coming home has been wonderful for us. I feel so much less stress and this has made our home life more pleasant. Our family unit has only grown stronger. Lillians list pretty much covered all my other positives.

 

[3momkmb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngieB We are planning on homeschooling in the fall. My 2 oldest have until now gone to public school. My dh and I keep pointing out to each other things that will be different next year when the kids are home. I would like to know from others who have left public or private school, how has your life changed? How has the way you run your home changed? How has your family changed? I would like to hear both the good and the bad.

Good:

• DD was happier
• We were much more relaxed as a family not having to wake her up, nag her to get ready and rush her out the door.
• everyone was more well rested (I still have a DD in school, but she is an early riser naturally and needs less sleep then here sis so the school schedule never bothered her).
• DD began reading for pleasure
  :
• no...more...head...lice
• DD had time to explore her passions and I discoverd she loves cheerleading, which I love too! We would never have time for her to do cheer (or dance or anything else) if she was still in school. this has opened a lot of doors for all of us.
• DD feels free to be her own person
• I am learning a lot! I have rediscovered my own love of learning and have taken to reading non-fiction, something I never did before homeschooling.

Bad:

• I had to find ways to cover the PE requirement and for DD to be around other kids. Not a huge deal, and definately doable, but since I hate (literally hate) to drive and we are rural it is not something I consider a posative.
• The financial cost is higher. I know this isn't true for everyone but since our district is very low income we never had those imfamous supply lists and there were plenty of poor kids in school (so not many designer clothes and such). Homeschooling costs us more then PS would have.
• I do get burnt every now and again and need to get out without the little heathens
  I expect this might happen even if they were in school but since we brought DD home while DS was still a preschooler I have no experience being sans kids all day.

 

[LovemyBoo]

I agree with pp's, the change has been the best thing for our family.

My son is a lot more relaxed and less stressed. He's a different kid.

I love having my kids around. And I'm one of those parents who said, just a few years ago, "Ds and I need time away from each other, we couldn't be around each other all day." I know what's going on with them, we are well connected. It's not always easy but, in all honestly, public school was much more stressful and was the cause of a lot more conflict and difficulty in our family than homeschooling has ever been.

You don't realize how beholden you are to the school schedule until you no longer are. I LOVE being able to relax in the mornings, not worry if someone is getting ill or if something keeps us all up late. Appointments can be made for whenever it's convenient for us. Last fall my mother took unexpectedly ill. We live across the country. If my kids were in ps I'd have been able to, at most, go see her for a long weekend. Because we hs, the kids and I packed it up and went to my hometown to help out my mother for almost 3 weeks. It made a big difference to my mother and I'm so grateful we were able to do it. Our time is OURS to do with what we want to do as a family.

My ds and dd are very close and very good friends, kind of amazing for kids who are 5 years apart. I'm convinced that that is, in good part, because they are together all the time and have to learn to play together and get along.

My son regained his love of learning. When we pulled him out in 3rd grade he was miserable in school and questioning his own intelligence. Now, two and a half years later he's a happy kid who really enjoys learning. He'll spend hours reading, playing around with our science stuff, writing stories, making up his own board games. His passion has come back and it's wonderful to see.

The only negative I can possibly think of is homeschooling is a large commitment on my time. Once inawhile I find myself thinking of all the stuff I could be doing if both of my kids were in school all day. Mostly when I'm looking at a cluttered house, piles of laundry and dishes, and thinking about how I haven't exercised in a week. But the commitment is worth it a thousand times over and I wouldn't have it any other way.