Home Schooling

[widdly]

I have read A LOT of info about homeschooling and unschooling and it sounds fantastic to me! My 15 year old sister has a boyfriend who has been homeschooled all his life, he is very polite and very smart, he was doing Uni subjects at age 14 cause he was interested in those subjects. The only negatives i see of homschooling is the negative comments people have about it, the loss of income for the main "teacher". My DS is only 2 years old but i am seriously considering homeschooling him (if i can convince my DH!)

[zoe72]

Well do you know that studies in the US show that even if you don't have a terrific education yourself those HS parents actually do a better job than most schools, whether thats because the parent is re learning at the same time during lesson preparation who knows. Or it could potentially be that one on one.

I used to be dead against homeschooling but I think I was ignorant and unaware of its potential to foster children's individuality and potential. I found myself HSing my special needs girl because the system could not cope with her and we began our journey by default about 4 years ago.

Most homeschoolers do a terrific job and their kids really flourish in the homeschool environment.

homeschooling comes in different forms, from the school at home version, natural learning, unschooling, classical, eclectic and more!

I HS because in short, it works and I have in all three of my daughters seen incredible progress both academically socially and emotionally.

I'm not against schools in fact one of mine goes fulltime at present at a wonderful school. But nothing replaces the opportunities, nurturing and fostering of a child's interests and individuality thats found in Homeschooling. There are so many benefits to Homeschooling and so much available!

[Jesswith6]

I ,too, used to be against homeschooling, but now I am considering it for my nearly high school child.
He has Aspergers and is finding it tough at school. His teacher has no idea on how to treat him and his problems has gone downhill. We came from a school with over 100 students and where he had 2 special aide teachers, to a school of 54 students and no special aide teacher. I honestly believe if he went to the local high school he would literally drown.

[zoe72]

Hi Jess,

I HS my DD's 12 and 13 who have Fragile X syndrome and AS and I have also HSed my 10 year old AS girl who is in school ATM. The important thing is knowing all the options that are available to you as a family and that suit your child's individualistic needs. Also it helps if you find a caring school, schools and teachers that embrace kids like ours are hard to find but they are out there.

In saying that Homeschool caused all three of my girls to excel. It is indeed a very viable option and kids like ours flourish in the home environment. You could also join some ASD yahoo Homeschool groups and get a feel for how hsing works for families like ours.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[halltribe]

Hi there - I am a homeschooling mum and I love it, I am currently teaching 4 of my kids ages 15 (special needs) 8, 7 and 5. My 4 year old is ready to start but I am holding him off until next term. There are many different ways to go about how you school your children and hundreds of different cirriculums. I like a bit of struture and routine so stick to what works best for me and my children. We school in the mornings, starting about 8am and work thru till lunchtime. We have 2 morning tea breaks. This half day is more than enough time to cover all their work. remember I am working 1 to 4 ratio where as teachers are working 1 to 30ish and classrooms have alsorts of interuptions.


My 5 and 7 year old are well ahead of themselves in reading and maths , whereas my 7 year old has dyslexia and is now catching up fast with her reading and excels at maths. My children do attend other activities with other homeschoolers when needed and do a variety of out of school things as well.

The big issue alot of people have with homeschooling in the social aspect but my kids are very socialable and well liked by other children and adults.

I don't think homeschooling is the only way to go but I do love it. I am happy to answer any questions.

[canberramomma]

One of my close friends is a teacher, and she offered to get me copies of studies detailing the social and educational disadvantages to home schooling.

In the end all she could find was the complete opposite. In fact, the only negative she could find was my own mental health in being around the children all day, but I'm actually really looking forward to it!

It will give my life a much more tangible focus.

That can only be healthy for all of us, don't you think???

[paradise lost]

I am considering homeschooling for my very bright daughter, mainly so she doesn't have the school experience i had - "You're smart, sit and do the work and the thicker kids will get the "teaching"" - story of my education up until uni, mainly i feel, looking back, because i was unlucky enough to go to school during the years when it was un-PC to stream by ability or encourage brilliance. If i find an adequate school i feel will nurture her gifts then i will consider sending her there instead because i believe the social experience of school is very important and it's the aspect most of my HSing friends have to work hardest at.

In my city there is an HSing chapter which meets weekly for social time, and most of the homeschoolers skill-swap (i.e. one dad might teach French to 30 kids over a week by calling on various homes and simultaneously another mum will be doing the same with physics). Most of the HSers i know have some structure, but it is generally child-focussed and child-led. For example the reading books are chosen by the children - i know a 9 year old who just did a book report on Brave New World because she'd been DESPERATE to read it. It took her a while, but she really enjoyed it and her reading age jumped about 2 years in the space of those months. Projects are defined by the parent/teacher, but subjects are often chosen by the kids - i know a family doing an extended year long project on the park i live next to - the youngest (5) is learning all the trees by bark and leaf while making a scrap book, the two middle kids (7 and 9) are looking at the annual changes and growth of a group of trees encompassing the commonest breeds, making their own elderflower and elderberry products, and documenting a family of swans which bred this year (cygnets are now fully fledged and independant ), the 9 year old is very into horses so she's also doing a project on the draught horses of glasgow, their history, use and breeding and profiles of the 3 heavy horses owned by the city and kept here in the park, and the oldest (14) is looking at the history of the Park in the context of Glasgow as a city, and in terms of the changes in Scottish law which have been lived out here.

I don't know a single HSed child who is not doing as well or better than a school-schooled child of a similar age.

Bx