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I've read a lot of interesting comments about what are the effects on the kids, but very little on the parents.
Isn't it stressing for the homeschooling parent?
My wife spends a lot of time and effort helping our two kids with homework, taking them to activities, playdates and therapies (one has special needs). The hours they spend at school are used for housekeeping, cooking, going to gym and socialize.
I don't see how she could find time to homeschool without going crazy.
You create a new schedule. She can still do dishes or cook while the children are doing their studies. Do you think the parents sit there the entire time a child is reading or working on a problem? Most parents don't.
How many hours a day does your house need to be cleaned? She could still go to the gym. Join a Y and get the kids into a program while she's on a treadmill or buy your own equipment. Socialize? You think people who homeschool don't socialize? LOL Oh that is hilarious!
She's already spending how many hours a day doing homework? If it's a few hours, then she could absolutely homeschool and life wouldn't be much different.
How is it stressful for the parents? No worrying about your child being bullied by same asshat. No dealing with teachers or principals who really aren't doing a thing to help a situation. The child isn't bored so they're not flicking rubber bands or spit balls across the room = no phone calls from the school. You can actually challenge the child! Bizarre concept!
No need to worry about snow days or what to do with your kids when there's a teacher conference day or vacations. Many children are not functioning at 6 am.....heck most adults aren't either. Yet we stick 6 years old on buses and expect them to full functioning at 7 am and ready to learn. If you homeschool, you set your hours. If your child works best 11am-4pm then you do that. If your child works best 9am-2pm, then go for it. If you want to do school 6pm-11pm, good for you. I know many people who work full time and still find the time to homeschool.
No disgusting school food for lunch! That right there is a huge bonus. Plenty of time for recess or outdoor learning. Field trips! Many schools don't even have field trips anymore.
Nah. Secular homeschooling is an outlier. It's just that when you're atheist/agnostic or secular and homeschool you tend to associate with the often small group of others who fall in this category. I think the "not all homeschoolers do it Duggar style" is a defense mechanism to avoid being seen in this light, but numbers don't lie, most homeschoolers, if I were to survey homeschoolers in my larger social circle, do so for religious reasons. I have several friends who choose the secular approach, and these are people I closely associate with, but they're not the majority.
Totally depends on where you live and your social circle. Our city public school has 2 homeschool counselors. This is NOT a large school district...about 2200 students in 14 grades. Yes, there's a religious population who homeschools and a non-religious population.
I also have a friend who did homeschooling for a few years who is deeply religious. However, she did not homeschool because of religion. She homeschooled because there were so many problems in the school. One of her children was horribly bullied to the point it got physical. One child struggle academically. She homeschooled a few years. Once they hit high school she got a job to pay for private school. Being homeschooled they became completely different children. Going to private school was a struggle for awhile because it was so different than what they were used to. One of them ended up coming back to being homeschooled. And he went back to being a happy child.
What child has time for additional work outside of school and homework? They're in school/on the bus for around 8 hours a day - some more and some less. They get hours of homework even in elementary school. When do they get to be kids? Kids need time to be kids. There's study after study that shows too much schooling has absolutely no benefit. Kids need down time such as recess. Just like adults do.
My kids don't get that much homework in elementary school (2nd and 4th grade), maybe an hours worth per week. It's the perfect way to find out what they are learning and how well they understand it so you can go over any difficulties. Most of their homework is just reading, which they love to do anyway (and it's not fun telling a seven-year-old that just because they can read Harry Potter that it doesn't mean that all of the books are appropriate).
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And what parent has the time to teach their children? Most households have both parents working. And in single parent households, that parent has to work.
I guess I'm the weird outlier here then. All you really have to do is take an interest in what your kids are doing at school and help them understand it. It doesn't take much time at all, you're not giving lectures or anything. Yes, single working parents have it tough, but this is just another parental responsibility (quite a bit more practical for them than homeschooling too).
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Children are sent to school to learn. That's the whole purpose of schools!
Yeah, doesn't stop them from learning elsewhere though. Doesn't stop you helping them with schoolwork.
My kids don't get that much homework in elementary school (2nd and 4th grade), maybe an hours worth per week. It's the perfect way to find out what they are learning and how well they understand it so you can go over any difficulties. Most of their homework is just reading, which they love to do anyway (and it's not fun telling a seven-year-old that just because they can read Harry Potter that it doesn't mean that all of the books are appropriate).
You're lucky that your children get so little homework. It's not like that for many. last year I watched my 7 year old nephew spend over an hour doing his homework. Most of his homework is worksheets not reading.
I won't even go into the hours my cousin spent doing and re-doing his math homework in elementary school. Common Core hit him hard. He's an honors student - always has been. He could do the math without any trouble and always had the correct answer, but when Common Core came along he had to show the work. He would come home with page after page covered in red in and 0's. After a week, my cousin - his mom - had enough and went nuts. She found out what he had to do, but she couldn't help him at all because she didn't learn this way of doing math. It made no sense to her and she was also an honors student.
I've read a lot of interesting comments about what are the effects on the kids, but very little on the parents.
Isn't it stressing for the homeschooling parent?
My wife spends a lot of time and effort helping our two kids with homework, taking them to activities, playdates and therapies (one has special needs). The hours they spend at school are used for housekeeping, cooking, going to gym and socialize.
I don't see how she could find time to homeschool without going crazy.
The first year is pretty stressful. It's not unusual to get a lot of negative feedback from relatives and friends which can make you really doubt that you're doing the best for your child. Once you learn to ignore the negative comments, it gets easier.
My usual day during the school year looks like this:
Wake up about 9 am. The kids eat their breakfast, and we ride bikes for 30 minutes and go to the park for another 30 minutes. We come home and start school work. My older daughter does most of her work on her own and keeps herself on track. My younger daughter needs me to do math and spelling practice with her. We work together for a while, and then she works on her own. While she does that, I'll usually start a load of laundry and feed the pets. Then I check her work, and we move on to the next lesson. I continue doing tasks around the house in between helping her and checking her work. If my older daughter needs me to proofread something or has questions, I help her. Sometimes we'll read something interesting and that will lead to looking up more info about it and we'll get off track for a while. Sometimes when we're working on science, we'll go out into the yard or walk down to the creek to apply what we've learned to things we see in real life. By noon on most days, I've got my housework done. I spend a few hours reading, talking to friends online, etc. in between helping the kids with lessons and keeping my younger daughter on track. She finishes her work sooner than her sister, and spends some time reading books of her choice. When everyone is done with their school work, we go to the garage and lift weights for about 30 minutes. Then I make dinner.
My usual day during the school year looks like this:
Wake up about 9 am. The kids eat their breakfast, and we ride bikes for 30 minutes and go to the park for another 30 minutes. We come home and start school work. My older daughter does most of her work on her own and keeps herself on track. My younger daughter needs me to do math and spelling practice with her. We work together for a while, and then she works on her own. While she does that, I'll usually start a load of laundry and feed the pets. Then I check her work, and we move on to the next lesson. I continue doing tasks around the house in between helping her and checking her work. If my older daughter needs me to proofread something or has questions, I help her. Sometimes we'll read something interesting and that will lead to looking up more info about it and we'll get off track for a while. Sometimes when we're working on science, we'll go out into the yard or walk down to the creek to apply what we've learned to things we see in real life. By noon on most days, I've got my housework done. I spend a few hours reading, talking to friends online, etc. in between helping the kids with lessons and keeping my younger daughter on track. She finishes her work sooner than her sister, and spends some time reading books of her choice. When everyone is done with their school work, we go to the garage and lift weights for about 30 minutes. Then I make dinner.
Of kids in my peer group who were home schooled (I'm 28,) or who home school their children, they are all either very religious or their parents were. They mostly are all awkward as well. Then again, that was rather the point, when you get to the root of it; to raise children that weren't exposed to as much of the nastiness in the world, and would find and migrate to like minded folks in their adulthood.
I didn't homeschool, but among my friends who have done so, the non-religious ones have chosen it because their children were being physically bullied at school. The kids I'm thinking of are on the autism spectrum and started homeschooling in middle school.
School can be brutal for quirky kids who don't fit the mold. If that had been the case for us I would definitely have considered homeschooling.
Why is public school even the necessary default position that requires extreme problems to justify home schooling? Do what is right for your family. There was absolutely nothing wrong with our school. But we chose to home school anyway. It was wonderful. Did you know that kids learn both great math and life skills at the grocery store? Holy fractions, batman! PE consisted of things that were way more vigorous than the school had the freedom to do. A three mile hike straight up! (There was also an ER visit. That was educational too maybe?) Ahead of your peer group in reading and math? Sure, we can ramp it up. Behind your peer group in writing? Sure, we can slow it down.
I would credit the time the kids and I spent forming our bond with how well they are doing today. Want to send your kid to school? Great! Want to home school? Great!
I've read a lot of interesting comments about what are the effects on the kids, but very little on the parents.
Isn't it stressing for the homeschooling parent?
My wife spends a lot of time and effort helping our two kids with homework, taking them to activities, playdates and therapies (one has special needs). The hours they spend at school are used for housekeeping, cooking, going to gym and socialize.
I don't see how she could find time to homeschool without going crazy.
I did it for 4 months and found it very hard. I hired a sitter 3 mornings a week to take the kids out for outings and let me have space and run errands without them. I am just a person that needs some "me time". Now that my kids are older, I don't think it would be too hard because they can be more independent. But trying to homeschool 1st and 3rd was super tough.
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She could still go to the gym. Join a Y and get the kids into a program while she's on a treadmill or buy your own equipment. Socialize? You think people who homeschool don't socialize? LOL Oh that is hilarious!
