<p>I thought I'd open a new thread for experienced (or brand new) homeschooling parents or students to describe what they like best about homeschooling. This may help visitors to this forum gain some perspective on the variety of approaches to homeschooling.</p>
<p>i can move my children "forward" as soon as they are prepared.
i can insure my children do not move forward unless they are prepared.
ap courses - standard curricula.
fairly new as hschool parent - so far so good.</p>
<p>12th year of homeschooling here. I like the flexibility of not being tied to the school's daily or yearly schedule, and the freedom the kids have to devote more time to their special interests. Less time is wasted.<br>
I'm also glad that my kids were not influenced by the anti-social behavior that is often found in traditional schools. (Not slamming schools here-- just making an observation--I have 7 kids and some of them attend public schools, I grew up in public schools. . .)</p>
<p>Personally, I loved teaching my kids to read. That was like magic.</p>
<p>12th year of homeschooling here, too! </p>
<p>I would say that I love the fact that my kids can learn at their own pace (for some, that's advanced...for some, that's at a slower pace, depending on the child). </p>
<p>My oldest is a 16 year old Junior this year, already taking classes at the local community college. </p>
<p>My second is a 13 year old 8th grader, who has high functioning autism. He loves being homeschooled and couldn't handle the hectic pace of a public school setting. He's working at grade level in all subjects (after we were told when he was first diagnosed, at age 5, that'd he'd never learn to read or do basic math!)</p>
<p>My third is a 7 year old 4th grader (he's another one that I can see finishing up 'high school' by the time he's 15 and headed for the community college, too)</p>
<p>My youngest is a 5 year old Kindergartener. I have no idea what's in store for her, as she's new to the 'education journey'. (She's already reading, however, so she may be yet another 'bookworm in the making'!)</p>
<p>My kids are also into sports and volunteer work, and the flexibility of homeschooling allows them to devote as much time to each of those avenues as they'd like to have.</p>
<p>12 years for me. My son has one more year before he goes to college. My daughter is two years younger, but will be finished homeschooling high school after this year. As it turns out they'll both enter college as full-time freshmen in the fall of '08. My son has been taking classes, however, at the local public univ. for about a year and a half.</p>
<p>Homeschooling was a fantastic journey. My favorite part was being outside the system. Doing it our own way. My kids have really become young people true to themselves, not shaped by an artificial and insulated peer-intensive environment.</p>
<p>I loved learning cool subjects, like US history all over again-- with a huge range of books, movies, lectures, etc.
I loved taking vacations when everyone else wasn't.</p>
<p>I would do it again in a heartbeat.</p>
<ul>
<li>Loved learning with my Ss.</li>
<li>Enjoyed the flexibility in depth, pace, subjects and approaches to them.</li>
<li>Catered to their strengths and learning style for maximum benefits.</li>
<li>My Ss became truly independent learners with great enthusiasm to learn and explore. That habit of mind is invaluable.</li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, it can be a challenge sometimes when they are interested in unconventional approaches or subjects. However, they also learn to ferret out resources.</p>
<p>Also, my shortcomings in teaching and learning may have led to weaknesses in their programs but nothing they cannot fix as they get older themselves. My DS2 offered an objective assessment of his high school education before he headed off to college in August and said he would homeschool his kids. I pointed out to him that it will depend on his spouse. He simply said, "You can do it!" No hurry, son.</p>
<p>I homeschooled my boys for a total of 17 years. They did high school part-time at the local PS, also took some community college classes, and did the rest at home. Totally homeschooled the first few years of their schooling. One is a college grad now, the other a college junior.</p>
<p>Things I liked best:
Our September camping vacations when everyone else was in school and campgrounds were uncrowded.
Being able to individualize education, so they could go at their own pace, whether that was ahead of or behind the "normal" pace.
Really getting to know them and actually enjoying the teen years, as they grew into wonderful young people who remained close to us.
Being able to teach them our values and have the freedom to discuss religion and philosophy in whatever way we chose.
The flexibility of being able to change the curriculum if needed or to drop everything when some opportunity (such as a sunny day in mid-winter) came up.
Learning so much myself as I taught them!</p>
<p>My favorite thing by far is that learning, for me, is natural now - it's like breathing. I enjoy it, it's a hobby, it's a... way of life. I don't think I could've felt like that in any other environment. There are numerous things I know quite a bit about, but have never formally studied - and yet I can ace tests on them. It's because I think of the entire world as my classroom, and I now think of classrooms as mini-worlds. I don't stop making connections just because the learning environment isn't formal. What's formal learning, anyway? An illusion. Learning is learning is learning.</p>
<p>dis-grace, I can't help but wonder: Did that come from one of your essays? Because it sure sounds like it. :)</p>
<p>Anyway, the thing that I liked best about being homeschooled was the non-issues with time. If we had to go shopping in Big City, we could go, and I could do my schoolwork later. We could declare Tuesday to be a holiday and make it up on Saturday (or a weekday night). It was so flexible, and it really worked for me.</p>
<p>Shoot, that sounds like an essay excerpt too, doesn't it? ;)</p>
<p>What I wrote isn't part of any essay, but I do say things a lot like it in one of my essays. Maybe our educations were just so awesome that we can't help sounding like lovely essays when we describe them. ;)</p>
<p>I like being able to study whatever I want. For example, I'm taking "Feminist and Anti-Feminist Literature" as well as "The Bible: a Fundamentalist and Feminist Perspective." You'd NEVER be able to take anything remotely close to that in the public school system!!</p>
<p>I love the fact that I can explore academic interests outside of a normal school curriculum. I've almost done enough reading on Tudor England to teach a college course in it! :) And I can spend time debating with my mother (in a good instructional way, not a bratty teenager way). I can talk about current events and international politics. There is the flexibility, but mostly I like how I like to learn. I completely agree with dis-grace. I am extremely happy to be homeschooled!</p>
<p>Agreed, Tiger. Another nice thing: I've been able to spend 3 hours a day phonebanking for Barack Obama's campaign for president! There's no way in heck I could do that if I was in the public school system. Heck, I wouldn't even have 3 hours a day to myself....</p>
<p>Oh, I also have been able to do some volunteer work for Obama because I homeschool.</p>
<p>Like Mark Twain said, I never let my schooling interfere with my education. I just think I like the idea of homeschool is better. I think that public school has its priorities wrong. Emphasis is placed on other things than learning. Discussion and individual thinking is discouraged rather than being encouraged. </p>
<p>I am much more thoughtful, not just another test taker. It has made me so much more content.</p>
<p>Precisely!</p>