Why we decided to homeschool 101

I decided I will do interim posts on why we decided to homeschool. These will be sporadic and out of order and random. But they will serve as a way to help myself remember, esp 10 years from now, the why of it.

This is an edited version of an e-mail I sent to friend who was contemplating homeschooling her kids. It was great for me that she asked. Homeschooling is a touchy issue. I don't want to act TOO happy, because some people (not most, and not good friends) get bent out of shape by this going against the "norm" thing. It was also great for me to have a reason to revisit my own thought process.


The E-mail
I'm glad you asked! .....I just got a new book yesterday and have to share it with someone! It's called :
The Well-Trained Mind
A Guide to Classical Education at Home
The library has it. Read Chapter 2 and you will be a homeschooler! For me, since APD was 3 I have actually wanted to homeschool. I think that is why we had a few crazy years with school changes. MV was the ideal but when they closed, I was not in love with SJS and NBE was fine for a few years but we were never totally satisfied. When APD was 3 I read Snow Falling on Cedars. I liked it so much that I did a search (before the library was even officially on the internet - I had to backdoor in) and found other books by the author, David Guterson, and one was Why Homeschooling Makes Sense. Guterson is a public high school teacher and his family homeschooled! That really struck me. His rational is that schools do the best they can, but given the variety of learning styles, kids temperments, etc., coupled with the fact that he saw first hand what was going on at the schools, he thought homeschool was the way to go. This year has been great for us. Everyone is overall much happier in all aspects. We have our own schedule and agenda. No fighting with RMD over homework, no having APD worry about the whole middle school dynamics. Less stress on the whole family. Wilderness class is great ... As I was sitting in the forest on Parent's day, I looked around at all the 30 or so kids who most people think should have been in "school" and thought how lucky they were to be in the woods - acting for themselves and not the "group" and not constrained by the regular system. It's pretty amazing. Curriculum wise - I'm still learning. APD has a sort of pieced together block of classes which works and will end up getting him 3 or 4 high school credits, but it is a little haphazard. (I can tell you more on how to get the credits later - very easy and it is from an officially recognized and accredited school - so no worries about diplomas etc.). For RMD, I mainly want her to do math and just found a pretty good program that has a computer "teacher" who she will listen to better then me. I also have her reading some classic books, and learning cursive and keyboarding. We started out doing the 5 paragraph essay thing, but since that is really a "state test" thing and has no bearing on real life writing, quit. Now she is journaling and writing fiction stories.Most people say the first year of homeschooling is sort of a deprogramming year. I will say if I had read the above book last summer we would have had a much different plan and been ahead of the game. Now, if I want to do The Well Trained Mind program we have some catch up to do this summer. I will probably most likely do some parts of the TWTM program and some of my own choosing. Looking ahead - for APD I am pretty sure we will not head to high school. I feel it will be too crowded and not conducive to advanced education. Many things I have heard from good students' parents lead me to that conclusion. Alot of people have the plan of high school for 2 years and then Running Start. As a homeschooler we could do Running Start too, and avoid the 2 year of HS thing. Some people think HS is necessary for the social experience, but I don't agree. I had a fine time in HS, but could have lived with a different path as well. We figure as long as APD keeps ties with some good kids we're fine. Plus we have met a ton of homeschooling kids and it is refreshing to see the politeness and ease with which they can talk to adults, look them in the eye, etc. We were and I guess are still looking at (an expensive Catholic school) , but we added it up yesterday. If both kids start in 2009, we will spend $?@$!!!! not including tuition increases! That could certainly pay for some great private college tuitions if we need to go that route. Some very good trips too! One woman we know has homeschooled her 3 older kids through high school and her daughter got a full ride to Stanford, so I am less worried about the whole "getting in to college" thing. Here is a website - I met this woman. Her boys both got full rides to colleges in Seattle. When you read this stuff coupled with Chapter 2 from the Well Trained Mind, it really makes alot of sense. Also, one last thing, we just found and joined a homeschool coop. APD has made some friends there and really likes it. Sooo..... my long story is YES homeschool! It has its good days and bad days and you are definitely more constrained with personal time, but overall it is worth it.