OT - anyone here homeschool your kids?

I have three kids but I only homeschool one of them. The other two are quite happy in public school and have no issues socially or academically. My oldest daughter started struggling in third grade. I can't begin to list everything I did within the school to get her help but the bottom line the principal gave me was that it is a tiny school and they have no resources for her. Being from a very rural area with one school, my only option was to homeschool.

That was 6 years ago. She will graduate a semester early (December of this year. Yikes) and will start college in the spring. It has not always been easy and it certainly hasn't always been accepted by others but I did what I felt I had to do to insure that she got the best education I could give her.  I wish she could have gotten the best from a public school education like my other two kids have but I have no regrets.

Hi Kelly.  I home educate my children and have even home educated several foster children over the years.  My situation is a little different though in that all three of my children that are still at home were adopted with various special needs.  The great thing about home educating though is that I can tailor each child's goals and work to fit their individual needs.  We utilize private speech therapy and occupational therapy as needed, although in our state, we can use school district services for these things as well as any classes we want.  I just find the quality of the school district services to be MUCH lower than that of the private.  The therapists work with me as well as the children so that I can provide consistent, quality training every day instead of the school districts offering of 20 minutes a week!  I highly recommend the book The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, originally published in 1991 by Grace Llewellyn for just an idea of how empowering home education can be. 

Yep, currently homeschooling two kiddo's (kinder's) and a third was homeschooled for two years (5th and 6th grade). I truthfully LOVE it. We have great resources through local homeschool groups, field trips (aquarium, zoo, forestry center, etc), have  no problem with "socialization" as they are constantly with other people (adults as well as children). They are doing wonderfully and I highly recommend homeschooling FOR SOME PEOPLE. Not everyone should homeschool, but those I have been fortunate enough to meet have been great. The amount of flexability is great, they can learn at their own pace, explore things they can't do in school and aren't subjected to bullies, stress, etc. My kids are 4 and 5 so younger than your nephew, however they are starting to read, learning 3 languages, doing small addition/subtraction math problems and always want "more" school. If they disappear for a little while into their room I'll check up on them and odd's are they are doing more "school" work.

Of course the teacher and principal recommend against homeschooling. They get money from the government based on their enrollment. Never mind that homeschoolers test higher than public school kids, are often two or three grades above their age level peers in many subjects, have TONS of resources not used by public schools and some that are. Um, yeah, okay I'll get off my high horse. LOL.

There is probably tons of local homeschoolers, they often have yahoo groups, set up field trips, and "classes" through other sources For example our state university has a huge aquarium on the coast and holds classes a couple of times a year for homeschoolers to come in and learn things related to marine biology for kids in K-12. Many local museum's and even the local pool have "homeschool days". Many of the homeschool groups also have play groups weekly, have parent night outs, schedule fun activities etc. Homeschoolers are by no means without things to do with their own age level kids.

google homeschooling in (your state) and see what comes up. check out Yahoo groups for homeschooling in your local area. There are some wonderful curriculum sites for homeschoolers as well.

I think homeschoolers and home-schooled children get such a bad rap. It really aggravates me. I have many friends that home school and their kids are very well adjusted socially and are doing really well academically.. Yes, some parents use it as a way to isolate children but MOST don't. There is field trips with other home-schooled children and lots of social interaction. I want to home school my children but dh says no.

A curriculum I was looking into that I was wanting to use for my 4 y/o is Timberdoodle.com

Hi Kelly,
I homeschool my two children with great success. They are well-rounded, intelligent, beautiful children. I taught public middle-school before my oldest was born in 1999 and was an outstanding classroom teacher. My students loved me and learned from me.

That being said, the anxiety your nephew is experiencing could be related to the expectations of his classroom teacher or to where he is developmentally. Off the cuff, I would say, "Please homeschool!" That is because of my belief that (boys especially) children are so vulnerable at this young age and need to be home with their families.

The educational system in general is geared more towards the way females process information and this makes it difficult for boys to be successful in the "sit down and be quiet" atmosphere of a classroom. They are wired to explore, dismantle and create. With classroom crowding, teaching to the test and continued lack of funding, it is harder and harder for classroom teachers to meet the individual needs of their students.

I remember reading an article once that likened the socialization children receive at school to that of college hazing and with my own school experience I would tend to agree. My husband and I have made significant sacrifices in order to homeschool and I feel so honored to be with my kids and enjoy their company as I do---they easily converse with adults and peers.

If your sister can plug into an active homeschool support network, it will be very beneficial. And I will close by saying that it sounds as if homeschooling your nephew may be a wonderful idea and it doesn't have to be forever-----he may just need more time at home and he may not be ready to learn to read either---please google and read up on the ideas of John Holt and David C. Albert----they have some very valuable insight into how children learn and how we can help them!

All my best to you, and Kelly, just send me a message if your sister wants to chat further. I would be happy to answer any questions she has regarding her decision.

Shelly

Every time I hear someone make the socialization argument, I think why would you want your kids to be socialized the way they are socialized in schools?  All the peer pressure, the bullying, especially for kids that are different in some way. 

 my sister was like that every day too. i remember having to go down to her classroom to calm her down multiple times. and everyday me and my brother would get on the bus, and she would refuse and my mom would have to drive her while she screamed the whole time, and teachers would have to pry her off of my mom's leg. 

it got better over time. probably around third grade she stopped acting that way. she was shy, but still had friends, she just never wanted to be away from my mom. 

As a teacher and as a prior tutor for a well-known chain, I've seen both the good and the bad of homeschooling.  I've seen kids with lots of background knowledge on subjects and whose basic skills are strong.  On the other hand, I've seen and encountered lots of situations where the parents did not have the knowledge or were unable to teach certain subjects (usually math) to their kids, and the kids ended up severely deficient/behind in those areas.  I've also encountered way too many situations where "homeschool" means the kid is home all day alone and is expected to follow an online curriculum on their own, but never does, and is in fact wandering the streets or watching TV/playing video games all day. 

I think most adults are quite capable of teaching material required in the elementary schools.  I wish, though, that some would recognize when they are incapable and find a solution before it becomes a problem.  

I imagine she would have a hard time teaching high school level math or science.  Although I think most parents could learn that material in order to teach it if they wanted to.  I mean, if you expect a 15 year old to be able to grasp basic algebra, why wouldn't a parent be able to grasp it as well?  I was an assistant teacher in a GED class for a while and when I started, I did not remember much geometry at all.  I had to relearn it so I could assist students in that area.  It was not that hard for me to relearn the material.  Plus I see all kinds of different ways a parent could deal with that - use an online curriculum, find a tutor for those subjects, enroll the high schooler in a college-level course, etc.

Anyway, she would have no trouble teaching first grade subjects. 

While I agree with you in theory, Kelly, there is more to teaching than just memorizing the facts or steps involved.  Good teachers can bring in outside material to make content relevant, have multiple ways of explaining the content, ask criticial thinking questions, and can make connections across disciplines/themes, etc.  I teach history and just knowing the facts about a decade does not make for good understanding.  There is a reason why teachers are specialized in high school; the content becomes too deep for anyone to be an expert in all fields.  

My point was not to dismiss homeschooling, but a reminder that there is some benefit to public education, as much as the politicians and talking heads like to dismiss us.