Homeschooling

[Hillbilly Rockstar]

The wife and I are starting to look into homeschooling our son. I was just curious as to how many on here do it and what have you seen as the Pro's and Con's of it so far. Our son is 6 and will be in 2nd grade next year.

[Hillbilly Rockstar]

Bonus points if anyone is homeschooling in Oklahoma.

[MadHatter]

Pro's - He'll be able to read, know about, no & know, there won't be a time, he doesn't know, about their, there, and they're .
He most likely, will not be thugging by 5th grade.

Con's - none......

[glen]

Pro- move at kids pace and he can advance quicker- you know exactly where kid is at
Cons- socialization can be difficult and don’t get put in negative situations that they have to solve. No school events - prom, clubs, sports. They do have leagues for activities but not the same

Weigh it- try it- you can always go back. I would say it is probably better for young kids but think pre teen years on it may have some drawbacks. I had two girls that were home schooled move in next to me in college. It was great- they had years of catching up to do and I lived next door

[doppelganger]

Been HS'ing for about 10 years with the oldest and the youngest knows nothing different.

Pros:

• Everything can be a educational outing (vacations, day trips, etc...) as a HS'er you tend to look at all trips as a way to do some history or educational outing. e.g. we did the colonial triangle (virgiana) for Christmas (williamsburg, yorktown, richmond) as well as a week in D.C. So the kids got to see the places they were studying or will study for American history
• You set the curriculum (cater to the kids pace and likes, but you still have to do things they don't like at times)
• There is an ENDLESS amount of resources on the internet
• Texas is very pro-homeschool, unlike some other states
• You don't have to do it alone. There are co-op organizations, which we are part of one. So this is a hybrid system where your kids go to a "school" one or two days a week and the rest of the week they are doing their work at home, etc...
• You don't have to be an expert in everything. There are resources for your kids to get classes in topics you are not good at or don't have experience in
• If you do things right, you'll see your kid become way more proficient at self-study and being able to think on their own.

Cons:

• it's a lot of work. there are parents that do homeschool and I feel sorry for their kids, as they aren't learning anything.
• You have to be diligent
• You have to be a hard*** with them at times
• There will be crying, both you and the kids
• There will be times you want to quit, but you have to stick it out
• Your kid will begin to think on their own and question everything..HAHA...get ready for debates, that's all I have to say

[flywise]

My kids go to private school 2 days a week and home school 3 days a week.
Pro. They are learning more real info. With this curriculum than they would be in public school.
Con. Wife only works part time 2 days a week so fracturing in lost income, school cost, fuel...it cost us about 30k a year

[Antlers86]

Following... I recently started a thread about homework and it basically ended with info on homeschooling as we have basically decided to start this next year doing so. I received a few good PMs with info as well. Currently attend a Private Christian Academy and it feels as if we are homeschooling anyways.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=681586

Will be checking back on this thread to see what others have to say.

Good luck to you!

[glen]

I think a lot depends on the kids personality as well. I know my youngest would have hated it. He lives to goto school events.

[Hillbilly Rockstar]

Are any of you concerned with not having enough credits / correct credits, etc. when it comes time to enroll in college?

Also...when it comes time for graduation...do they walk with the kids from the closest school, or???

[4R Daddy]

I employ several HS kids, along with many public school kids. About 25% are HS and I have 40 at a time. If I can, I’ll give you my observations.

The HS kids are very polite. They are all very quiet and reserved. They say yes sir and no sir and are slightly more compliant than the public kids.
The public kids are all more outgoing than the HS kids. They also get into more trouble.

The HS kids have a MUCH more difficult time adapting to the different personality types and socialization. They spend a lot of their time staring at the people around them with confused looks and they are extremely judgmental which seems to further alienate them from their peers.

I’ve had several quit because they can’t adjust or it’s too overwhelming. I even had a young man, who was going to start college in the fall, give notice because “being around so many girls was causing him to commit the son of lust”. We have a disproportionate amount of HS kids come home after their first semester of college and they didn’t do well.

I understand the desire to keep your kids home and sheild them. But, you’ve got to send them out into the real world at some point and most are ill prepared. I think there is no replacement for exposure and guidance.

Let me be clear, some of these kids do great and achieve wonderful things. And lots of public kids are idiots until they are 30. But statistically speaking from what I’ve seen, HS kids have a lot of struggles in the real world.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[clay4626]

I think i would do private school over home school if you can afford it
for a while them go to regular school I know home school works for some but not for all kids. AT some point they need to be exposed to out side world while still under your wing

[glen]

Hillbilly- They will have events for HS kids in Texas. Not sure about your area. They will have 6 man football teams- don’t play with public programs. The way our public school system is set up they have to attend. They do have events but would not plan on a packed stadium on Friday nights- Also I don’t think they offer near as many clubs

[Antlers86]

Are any of you concerned with not having enough credits / correct credits, etc. when it comes time to enroll in college?

Also...when it comes time for graduation...do they walk with the kids from the closest school, or???

Everything I have researched says homeschooled kids almost always come out advanced when compared to Public Schools. Many colleges love seeing homeschool kids.

I personally have my opinion on college. I think it's a joke. My sister went to Dallas Baptist University on a full ride track scholarship. She graduated still student loan debt and paid on it for 4-5 yrs. Many friends I graduated with went off to college coming out in debt and some are still paying on it today 15 yrs later. They can't afford a mortgage and barely get by. I had a full ride to Texas Tech and didn't go. Parents were upset with me and I didn't care. I have a great full time job making more than some with college, own my own business, own my home and acreage and honestly blessed. Married with 3 kids and couldn't be more thankful. Sad when you hear people say they can't afford to have kids because of student loan debt and having to feed another mouth isn't possible. With that mindset not much will happen.

Believe and have Faith in God and leave it to him for he has a path for you! Try to do it yourself and you won't go anywhere.

With that said I won't force college on my kids. Get a job and find what you like. Many times you think you will like something and end up hating it. Once you find something you enjoy pursue it.

[Jason]

I love how people always try and act like homeschooled kids are a bunch of geeks that can’t operate in the real world. We homeschooled 3 of our 4 children. The most socialist awkward one is the one who went to daycare, then public school and has never been homeschooled.

Some kids are just socially awkward. Those children are going to be socially awkward as homeschool, public school, private school kids. It’s just the way God made em.

Homeschooling was the best choice for our family.atthe time we choose to do it. My oldest is in college now and doing great. My son is in public Highschool and doing great. He was gonna end up in public school no matter what as he has always wanted to play sports. Figure out why you want to homeschool. Count the costs and if it works for your family, I bet it’ll be the best thing you ever do.

[stinkbelly]

I volunteer with a bunch of kids and about 1/2 of them are home schooled. I have seen home schooled kids that are extremely grown up and smart and I have seen some 15 year olds that don't even know how to spell their last name. From the outside it looks like you can do a great job or an awful job with your kids.