I have a friend who home schools her 4 children.  she is a teacher by education and quit work to raise and teach her own kids. ( 6, 8, 10, 12)

the most organized woman I know.

She has her kids in several after school activities so they can interact with others and learn to be part of a larger group which I think is one part of school that is important.

I know another woman who is home schooling her 5 year old.  It isn't going well.  Mom has no control over child and child is very socially backwards and rude.

My guess is that the second child would have the same issues at school but at least there a trained adult would help her learn the value and important of "no" , taking turns and sharing.  I have no idea of the moms motivation but at least from my perspective she is doing her kid a disservice.

Guess it works for some, depends I expect on the parents psyche as well as the childs

I like school as a part of a childs life.  Schools arent' perfect and sometimes a little shopping around is important to find a good match.  I dislike the feminization of school which is tough on active boys and active girls

Hmm yes, schools are mostly run by women. I think it's a good plan to incorporate 1 in 5 empolyees as male, at least. Last year we had a male teacher and male principal, this year all the staff are women, including the janitor. It does make for a feminizing effect, not good. It makes it more like daycare.

I'm planning to try another school next year, but have also been thinking of trying homeschooling for the rest of this year to see how it goes. I agree about the social aspects, and definately want my son to attend high school. Lots of activities are important, a physical social network in place would be important too.

I am currently under the impression that some families do it well and improve upon what schools offer, and the kids turn out more mature, more secure inside, and better educated. But others, like the mom and child you described, are doing their kids a disservice. I have met one family where the kids seem quite insulated from the world, molly-coddled, and developmentally delayed.

So true about schools not being perfect. They have a lot to juggle, and a smart kid like mine can get left out becuase the ones having trouble need more of the attention. My kid ends up twiddling his thumbs a lot. They even send him to the computer lab to play games when he's done sometimes. I don't approve of that, and I have told them.

My experience with children taught at home by one or both parents has been quite mixed. 

One family in a large city used an approved curriculum from there department of education.  They belonged to a group of similar families that shared some of the teaching (a real artist,  musician or biologist parent) taught short courses in there field of knowledge,  The children had swimming and skating lessons, joint field trips and lots of extras.  These children were alert, curious and had extremely advanced general knowledge.  The home had computers but no televisions.  The children were years ahead of the peer group educationally and socially - except for holding there own against bullies.

Another  family lived in a very rural setting (several miles from any neighbor in a sparsely occupied area).  They used a Christian curriculum with no extras other than farm based work - raising chickens and livestock for sale.  The children watched tv, played computer games and learned gender specific practical skills.  How do I say politely that these kids were ignorant and barely literate in the full sense of the word?  They showed little curiosity or initiative and passively stayed at home once 'schooling' was completed.  They don't seem to have what it takes to even survive once the parents die. 

It seems to me that teaching at home can be wonderful or disastrous.

Elanor, I haven't seen schools being primarily run by women.  Even if they were, how does that make schools more like daycare?

I don't have a great view of homeschooling.  The few people I met who were home schooled were very socially awkward.  That may not have been caused by home schooling though, they may have been bullied and so homeschooling was started.  For them, I don't think it did any favours though.  Perhaps for others it wouldn't be so bad, but I haven't met any.

Personally, I would look into alternative options before home schooling.  For example, a school that has special needs programs, or one with an independent study component.  Depending on where one lives, there may be less options.  I think learning to cope with a classroom setting is an important skill, especially if the student is going to go to university one day.

I would agree Chemgal about the importance of classroom settings, and about standing up to bullies, though it isn't as necesary once one is grown up, I think it still plays a part.

Sorry to raise some hairs there about the all women school thought. I've just noticed that more women are getting jobs as principals, where it used to be a "man's" job when I was young. And it just happens that my school now has only women teachers. I think my son's previous school also had all, or mostly, women teachers too. I have heard a study on the radio, that said a balance of sexes in the workplace is better for productivity and emotional balance on the job. I can see that being true. I also think it provides a good balance for kids to see both men and women doing child oriented jobs, and tending to their learning needs. It makes schooling more serious I think. Daycares are where you tend to only see women caring for the children.

Kay, that first group you're talking about sounds ideal. Unfortunately our local homeschool community isn't like that. If we lived in Vancouver, we could probably find something like that.

I'd love to have a nice range of choices for schools, but we only have one choice left out of three, and it too doesn't cater specially to the bright kids, just to the learning challenged ones, but at least it's a larger school. 

It feels like a crime to let the potential seep away, where their minds are capable of so much more, and the world is so full of neat things to learn about, and advances that could be made for our species when they grow up. I feel school is holding him back. No, I know it is.

One of my grandkids had a male kindergarten teacher.  Another (different school) had a male teacher for 1st grade.  Exposure to a range of adults could be healthier (parents remain mom and dad!)

I too was tempted to teach my kids at home - especially for the early grades but realised that I just didn't have enough energy to do it around my other responsibilities with the younger children.  I was not favorably impressed by what I was seeing and hearing when I went to the school.

Bottom line is - the kids all survived - even have happy memories - they could all have had a better education (that we, as parents coldn't have supplied at the higher grades) - there curiosity seemed to be stifled within the school environment but came out at home. 

i've also heard mixed...

a friend of mine had 7 kids (!!!) and homeschooled them all until grade 10.  when they entered the school system at that point, the teachers had to scramble to find things for them to do - for example in english, the teacher had to find them separate books for them to read and report on, because they had pretty much covered all the books that were approved by the school curriculum.  they all were OUTSTANDING in terms of their knowledge... she was amazing at it. 

my cousin works in the alberta school system, and i believe the kids there have to re-enter the school stream in about grade 11, so that they have their grade 12 transcripts for university etc.  he has seen kids come in who were so far above what he could teach them that he had to give out special assignments for them so they wouldn't be bored, to kids who barely knew how to read or thought that science was all about a literal reading of genesis. 

i know that it has become easier to do this now, as most areas have a home school curriculum that you can access, as well as all kinds of social activities with other homeschoolers so that the kids always have that socialization aspect in their lives. 

personally, i simply didn't have the energy or desire to homeschool my kids.  i've found that as long as i keep current and involved in their school lives, they seem to be doing just fine.

Thanks Kay. My son had a  male kindergarten teacher briefly too, between the one that was fired and the replacement. Your experience sounds similar to mine for the school years, so hopefully things will be similar when he's all grow'd up too. I'm trying to fill in gaps at home, knowledge-wise, with documentaries and fun exersizes and looking things up whenever there's somethign we don't know (something we couldn't do when I was a kid, shrot of taking a trip to the library). ANd I'm doing a language with him at home which gives him something extra. I'd love to do Latin together with him, if I were to find a good kit, with a dvd or cd's...

Sighs, Wow! 7 kids!!  don't know how they do it! Yeah wow. I think those are the two main reasons for homeschooling, religious objections, and wanting to teach more than the schools do (my case).

I've decided again, to keep him in school. We just got a new principal, and I think that will make a difference. Lots of factors involved, and it was causing me some tension, so for now, that's what I'll try, just extras at home in addition to school.

I think most learning should occur at home for children, especially when they are young.

@ Sighs-In AB you can homeschool all the way through grade 12. You just have to write the gr. 12 exams for your core subjects-like all other students.

AB provides a range of homeschooling options. You can do all your courses on line with telephone support from Alberta Distance Learning. This awesome program is used world wide-especailly by canadian students overseas. You can do the paper option and send assignments in to be marked-there are booklets you complete.

You can do a blended program where parents choose to have their children assessed in 4 courses and follow curriculum for those and otrherwise do what you want.

You can join your local school-perhaps for gym, music and use of library.

The key in Alberta is that parents MUST register their child somewhere.

My personal expereince is that we have many friends who have home schooled for part of their children's schooling. While in Edmonton we did a fair number of activities with homeschooler.

One of my friends taught a science for homeschoolers class. Her girls were homeschooled until grade 10 and then went to high school and post secondary.

Another friend with 4 did different things each year-and even often registered her kids with different boards.Her older 2 entered school at grade 10 and one is now an engineer, one in university. Her daughter tried junior high but went back to homeschooling due to homework demands. She went back to school for grade 10 and is now set to graduate 12 this year. The youngest is in his second year of a "shared school/home program". Twice a week he attends full days and specific subjects are taught. 3 days a week he homeschools. (It's a class designed like this-the whole class does this)

All 7 kids above were active in groups like choir, brownies with other kids and have fine social skills.

I also met a father who was unschooling his son. The boy basically watched TV all day.

O and another gal R who thought oral tradition was so important that she neglected to teach her son to read=at 10 he could not read "Happy Birthday"

and J whose homeschooling curriculum for her kids was very academic and rigouress-and they excelled at it

and N. who homeschooled kids were the most polite and respectful children-and whose youngest-with multiple special needs attended school.

There is no one size fits all-but there are many workable solutions.

Our Kindergarten teacher told us the parents are the most important teachers in a child's life. At the time I thought, "Well Duh!! You better believe it woman!" Well it was good that she was at least granting us that. I taught my son to read and write before he entered Kindergarten, because he could and he wanted to.

When I was a kid, we watched a lot of educational documentaries, almost every evening, and I did a lot of exploring and discovering. Good stuff.

Thanks for that Tabitha. That half and half school and home deal sounds good. I hadn't heard of that arrangement.
 

I would consider home schooling if the act of going to school put my children in real danger. Inner city, that kind of thing or if the school neighborhood itself was dangerous. It's not worth my kids' health, safety and life to push on in the public school if that were the case. How is a child supposed to learn properly when they have metal detectors at the door and lockdowns and bomb threats in the neighborhood?

Totally.

Hey, seeing your post prompted me to finally register (rather than lurk) and join the discussion :)

I started homeschooling my four children last September, and absolutely love it.  Our kids were in a good school, they fit-in (no bullying problems) and had friends;  overall they liked school just fine.  For us, it was just too much of a good thing! In our school/home roles, I found my relationship with the children centred about nagging directives to make sure they were prepared/well rested/properly fed to suceed during the school day.  I paused one day, and thought about my interactions with my kids . . . time to get up, have you eaten breakfast, don't forget your homework book, your teeth-brush them!, I don't know where your gym shoes are . . . and on and on, it made me so sad. I began to feel like myonly job was to have them at their best for someone else to enjoy, and I felt jealous of their teachers getting to experience their childhood with them everyday.  And lets be honest, my kids looked exhausted, pale and run down most days Oct-April.

There really isn't anything we don't like about homeschooling.  The academics are shockingly efficient, leaving so much time to have fun!  We spend the bulk of our days at homeschool classes/activities, nature walks, playdates, bike riding and playing.  My children have never looked so happy and relaxed ~ when they're tired they sleep, when they're hungry they eat.

I'm not suggesting it's for everyone, but for our family it really works.

Jan

http://borealisbunch.blogspot.ca/

We Public schooled our two oldert, and we're home schooling our youngest.

I started homeschooling my two boys this year, mostly because of problems we were having with the school.  Not only do I believe the school was lagging behind with their studies, but there were also bullying issues, and not just from other students.  We have a son who doesn't fit in with most of his classmates and struggles to fit in the classroom setting.  We met with a teacher that told us, "This may sound very 'un-United Church', but your son needs to man-up."  That was the last straw for us.

And we didn't have other options.  The next closest school was 40 minutes away.

Before the last couple of years, I didn't know anything about home-schooling.  I didn't even know it was legal to take your child out of the school system.  I definitely think it needs to be held up as an option when needed.

And I do believe classrooms struggle to meet the needs of all.  I know it tends to be more of a struggle for boys, because, in general, boys don't work well in a setting where they have to sit and be quiet.  Girls tend to be better at this, although I don't want to generalize.  Since being a part of the home-schooling community, I have noticed that there are many more boys.

We are moving this summer.  We are moving to a community with many more options for schools and my boys will be going back into the school system.  The boys are ready to try it again.  I'm ready too.  My partner and I are both working full-time and it's not always easy, although it helps that they are older (11 & 12).  It's good to know though that we have this option if we need it.

Thanks for starting the conversation!

I very nearly homeschooled at one point.  And there are some things I regret about not doing it, though overall, we did just fine.  The school was mostly good, except for one lousy teacher.  My daughter & I would have been at each other a lot if I'd tried - just our nature.  Sometimes we're great, sometimes I'm the only one she can be mad at ;)  I still believe that and it was a big obstacle 10 years ago too.

My son did beautifully in school, and so we could have had a ball at home, but he did fine where he was.

I read literature that made me cry about how good homeschooling can be, and how education that honours the child is so critical.  But in the end, it was bigger than our issues were and I was able to become a doula and work in the church and we all had good experiences. 

I guess I'm saying that homeschooling is a really great idea to keep your kids well socialized with more than just a pile of peers.  I think that is the biggest reason I wanted to homeschool - classes are just a pile of kids the same age jockeying against one another to be cool enough.  Mixing people by age is critical life lesson IMO and school works against that.  Middle school is the worst for it!

But in the end, school isn't that bad and my kids have had some great experiences there.  And they have learned tons beyond what I know.

Thank you Jan. Sorry I haven't been to this thread for a while. I am thinking about it again, as a fall back option, or partial option, if the new school next fall doesn't work out. I can't say I'm jealous of the teachers, I just don't think they are doing enough for him, and I dislike the lack of control I have over his education. I enjoy having the day to myself.

SO Witch, what are your feelings regarding the issue? WHy did you choose homeschooling? Pluses? Minuses?

Sophia, Thanks for your input. Always good to hear from someone who's done it.

Thanks Birthstone. Funny, that very issue of a difference of ages is what I want to get away from. My son is presently in a class of 4 grades with only one other boy his age, who he isn't friends with. I want him to have the opportunity to meet and make frineds amongst a larger selection of kids his own age. Presently he's friends with younger kids, and I think that holds him back. I guess we allways worry no matter what we do eh?

Even the mother of a 19 year old still worries about him and the influences upon him. I would have thought a 19 year old is grown up now, and his mistakes are now his own to make, and his foundations from his mother are allready in place.