Sunday, August 9, 2009

Home-schooling

It is no secret that I am constantly thinking about my future children, and my dream of being a stay-at-home-mom. Lately I've been thinking about one certain issue that goes along with those things: home-schooling.

I always said that I would never home-school my kids. I'm not sure why. I was just never a huge fan of the idea. I was so painfully shy when I was growing up, I just think I would have had lots of social issues if I hadn't gone to a big public school. But then I look at my husband, who was home-schooled from early elementary school all the way through 12th grade, and it seemed to work so well for him! He played sports, he had lots of friends, and got a one-on-one, Christian education, which beats one-on-twenty-five!

Hmm, there's a lot to think about. And I know I'm years off from actually having children, but I figure it's never too early to start thinking and praying about it! I had never even considered it before, but God really laid it on my heart this week for some reason.

First of all, I've been really into the show "18 Kids and Counting" lately. And while I don't completely agree with all that they believe (for example, I don't plan on having 18 kids!!), I do think it's really awesome that they spend so much time as a family together. That kind of lifestyle really intrigues me. I don't want to completely isolate my family from the rest of the world, but I do think it's important to NOT overdo it with too many extra-curricular activities, and to spend a lot of time together growing, learning, and creating memories.

Here are my pros and cons for homeschooling:

Pros:
I will be able to incorporate Christian teaching into every subject!! That thought just seriously excites me, and makes my heart beat faster! lol

I will be able to give my children one-on-one instruction that they won't get at public school.

I already have my teaching degree, so I think I would be a good candidate for a homeschool teacher :-)

Flexible schedule. School wouldn't have to only last from 8-3. We could start earlier, or end later. (Although I think I'd like to keep a pretty routine schedule everyday. I think kids need that, especially when they're young!)

I wouldn't have to worry about bullies, or children who would be bad influences over my kids. At least not during school time!

Cons:
My children wouldn't be able to play school sports or other school extra-curricular activities.

Not as much opportunity to interact with others. They may be stifled socially.

They may have no chances to share their faith. I think it's good to surround yourself with Christian people, but it's wrong to completely shut yourself off from everybody else. I wouldn't want to do that to my kids.

My kids might become too sheltered, and have problems once they get out into the "real world."

I went to school to teach young children, so I may have a hard time teaching my kids higher level subjects like chemistry, anatomy, trigonometry, calculus (my only C was in pre-calc in high school. I certainly couldn't teach it!), etc. Of course, there's always post-secondary for that.

So there's my list. I know that our church offers lots of fun activities for kids and even lots of sports leagues (We're not planning on moving away from here. At least not until we're retired!) So some of the cons could be solved there. And I could just homeschool them in elementary school, and have them go to public school after that. Or give them a choice, like Luke's parents did. Also, Luke was in a group of homeschoolers in the community who met once a week when he was in school. I know he made a lot of friends through that (some of his best!) and they did a lot of fun activities, took cool field trips, and learned a lot, too.

Also, if Luke hadn't been homeschooled, he probably wouldn't have become such good friends with my homeschooled cousins, and we probably would have never met or gotten to know each other! So if you ask me, it's a good thing ;-)

Well that's a lot to think about. And I probably have a good 8 years before I have a child who is school-aged. But like I said, it's never too early to start thinking and praying about it. I got my teaching degree, and am not feeling called toward teaching (in a regular classroom). Could it be that I got that training so that I could use it to teach my own children? Hmm, it's kind of fun to think about.

I think I'll just wait and see what the future has in store. I think that if this is where God is leading me, He will certainly make that clear. Especially since I still have so many years left to decide ;-)

So what are your thoughts and opinions on home-schooling? I know it can be a controversial subject, but if done correctly, I think it can really work!

7 comments:

  1. Oooh, good Pro/Con list! I share most of your opinions wth you, though my reasons for interest in homeschooling is because we might live overseas! If I lived in the States though, I would only want my kids to be homeschooled during Elementary, then would find them a suitable match (public/private) for Middle and High. I just think there is so much more to be learned that I can't offer once you pass a certain age, and I don't want my kids to be teaching themselves from a book!

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  2. Hi! I've been enjoying your blog for a little while now and thought I'd say hi. I was also a homeschool grad and am glad you're thinking about it. I don't always thing its right for everyone, and I'm not sure if I will homeschool my future kids....but I think its a great choice and am glad to hear others thinking about it. I had a lot of social opportunities and started college earlier. There are a lot more opportunities for homeschoolers today too - even a lot of online teaching methods for the advanced subjects - so don't be so scared! Anyways thanks again and I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you and your family when the time comes!

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  3. Hey Jess, if you would like the opinion of a girl who was home schooled..here it is. I really liked the way my mom did it, she gave us a choice when we hit middle school so that if we wanted to play sports we could. By doing both I know I got a taste of both atmospheres which is really helpful. And its a good way to not have to teach high school level stuff..because I know my mom had trouble with that! Although I understand your dilemma about children not having enough friends or social experience, but as long as they are with kids their own age somewhere, it doesn't matter if it is at school=) So those are my thoughts=)

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  4. I was home-schooled as well, 4th-8th grade. My brothers were homeschooled K-8th. We all went to high school, which I think was nice. We were secure enough in ourselves to handle being in school, and we missed the horrible middle school years.

    Also, about sports...check your county rules. In many cases, homeschooled kids can play on the sports teams of the schools they are zoned for. The rule reads that if their "school" (homeschooled and private schooled kids) doesn't provide an opportunity (like a baseball team or a debate club) they have a right to play on the team if their zoned public school does. Also, have you thought of working with a Christian umbrella school or co-op? They often allow social interactions and provide classes by other moms who have different expertise than you. So you could teach little ones, while moms with math degrees or music degrees can teach older ones.

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  5. I was homeschooled all the way through and loved it! I never so much as set foot in a public school... something I'm so thankful for today! :) I'm always excited when I see other people thinking about homeschooling. My husband and I intend to homeschool our future children and I can't wait.

    I think we're a lot alike - I'm terribly shy and didn't have a ton of friends growing up, but I had a few good friends who I'm still best friends with to this day. I played basketball, volleyball and softball for as long as I could. There are so many homeschool groups starting up sports leagues, co-op classes, and once you really want to look into it you can purchase computer software, DVD's, etc for teaching chemistry, algebra, etc that will teach whatever subject you feel unable to fully teach. My brothers use this for math (boy I wish I had had that when I was in school!) and science. There are so many resources in the homeschool arena now that it isn't even funny!

    {smile} I know that was a long comment. ;) just wanted to throw that out there...if you want more info you can always email me! ;)

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  6. You're right, it can really work! I was homeschooled from fourth grade through high school, so I have personal experience with this.
    I'd like to address a few of your cons:

    1. Your child can be involved with sports and other extra-curricular activities in the local school system. My brother played basketball in middle school and wrestled in high school with our local public school, even though he was home-schooled. I was given the option to join our local public high-school's debate team, but I decided not to. You are allowed to enroll your child in the extra-curricular activities of the public school in your district, without having them actually go to school there. At least that's the way it is in my state. There also plenty of home-school sport groups out there as well.

    2. They aren't interacting with other kids EVERY DAY, but that doesn't mean they don't get social interaction. My brother and sister and I had alot of social interaction weekly through our church, a weekly Community Bible Study, a home-school youth group and other youth groups when I got older, my brother had social interaction through the sports he played, and we had plenty of friends that we'd get together with regularly as well. The parents have to put a little more effort into taking their kids to these kinds of things, but if they do, like my parents did, the children will be far from socially stifled. In addition I think home-schooled children are often better able to interact with adults, younger children and the elderly, because they aren't limited to only social experiences within their own age group.

    3. The extra-curricular activities that you can get your kids involved with won't always include Christians - they can have oppurtunities to share their faith, they just won't be around non-believers all day, every day.

    4. It's nearly impossible for children to remain entirely sheltered, especially if you get them involved in some of the activities mentioned previously. They also won't be entirely ignorant of the way the world works if you tell them about the kind of awful things that happen out there yourself - I don't know about you, but I'd rather they hear about it from me than the kid up the street, or even worse, from first-hand experience. If you can let them know the wrong things that happen in the "real world" and prepare them for it by addressing it from a godly perspective, I think they will be better equipped to handle all that goes on then if they learn about it from their public-school teachers (who could believe ANYTHING, and tell your kid what THEY think is right) or from other children who are not coming from a Christian perspective.

    5. My mom didn't know that much about teaching some of those higher-level subjects either, but she learned them right along with me. There is also some amazing home-schooling curriculum out there that is pretty self-explanatory - if you don't know it, you can learn it right along with them - it's a good refresher course on everything you learned in high school for yourself, and you CAN teach your child high school subjects even if you don't have training in that area. There are families all over the United States that do this successfully.

    So there are my thoughts! If you couldn't already tell, I am planning on homeschooling my children! It's the best option, I think, for alot of Christian families these days.

    Sorry that was really long!

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  7. Oh gosh. If you do end up home schooling, you are a good woman. I just don't think I can do it.

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