Homeschooling and

Making the Homeschool Decision

by Jan Jennrich

It was not in my original plan to become a homeschooling mom. In fact, a dear friend laughs that some years ago, when the subject came up, I said "no way, no how" was I ever going to homeschool my kids. And yet here I am today, the still occasionally amazed teacher to my children, Kelsey (13) and Ian (8).

As a bit of background, we are currently in our seventh year of homeschooling. While Ian has always homeschooled, Kelsey attended a highly rated public school for Kindergarten and first grade. We have many wonderful as well as not-so-great memories of those years. In the second half of first grade, Kelsey began saying that she "hated school." It became increasingly difficult to get this (normally) eager learner to do simple homework assignments. Upon talking with her, I began to see that she was bored. Her teacher was wonderful, but with 30 children to a class (and no teacher�s aid), only a limited amount of special attention could be given. While the other children were learning to read simple words like "here" and "there" Kelsey was reading at a (mainly self-taught) third grade level. The work was just too easy and repetitive to hold her interest and the class was simply too large.

At the same time, I was growing disheartened by several things. I was saddened by the small percentage of involved parents in the school. Out of that class of thirty children, I regularly saw only four mothers. I wanted to meet other families who did not send their children to day care each day. I wanted to know mothers who chose (with joy, as I did) to devote a large part of their lives to the raising of their children. I wished for my children to have more kind, bright, well-raised children with which to play. And I hoped to have time to create wonderful memories with them. There were many reasons beyond these for our decision to leave public school. These were just some of the "biggies" under consideration.

During this time I was already a stay-at-home mom and had Ian, then a toddler, to care for during the hours Kelsey was at school. But the idea of having her with me all day, every day and actually having to be responsible for her education was frightening.

I began considering homeschooling as an alternative in May of 1996. I did not firmly decide to homeschool until August, four months (and loads of researching, talking, crying, and laughing) later. You might be asking where my husband was in all this. He was right there, supporting whatever decision I made. You see, as a vocational teacher in the public school system for ten years, he had seen a lot of the worst of what the system can turn out. When I first asked him what he thought about me homeschooling the kids, his instant answer was, "Great! Do it!"

I had a lot of questions about homeschooling in those days. Following are some of the questions which were highest on my list, along with very condensed versions of some of the answers I have now. I don�t expect these answers to quiet every beginner�s doubts and/or fears, but perhaps they will help as you sift through the rest of the information you find. And please feel free to email me if you would like me to cover one or more of these subjects (or another subject) in greater detail.

Please remember, these are only my opinions. Just as you will form your own opinions, not every homeschooler would agree with me or do things the way we do them in our home.

What about socialization?
There are over one million homeschoolers in the United States and the number is growing by leaps and bounds. Most communities have homeschooling groups and classes, as well as scouting and 4-H. Homeschooled kids have plenty of time for volunteer work, apprenticeships, etc. If you don�t want to be alone, there is no reason to be! And people comment all the time on how happy and polite our children are. That�s the true test of good socialization!

What will I teach?
Once you start looking, you�ll be amazed at the variety of curriculum available and lists of what "should" be taught in what order (but be sure you develop your own opinions too!). Catalogs full of workbooks, science supplies, and every computer learning item you could imagine abound. Or you�ll take your kids to the zoo. Or the barn. They�ll learn! They learned to walk and talk hanging around you, right? You�ll learn what to teach. If you can find a larger homeschooling conference in your area and aren�t too easily overwhelmed, it can be fun to go to the exhibit hall to see all the resources offered.

How much time will homeschooling take?
I am often asked how long our homeschooling takes each day. This one stumps me because we have an informal style and our educational life is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But you won�t see us sitting at the kitchen table doing paperwork much of that time. We do a lot of real life learning, community classes, discussing, field trips, computer, library visits, etc. I am constantly on the look out for educational experiences that will inspire my children. So how long does it take? In some ways, it takes far less time out of my life than it would take me to drive them to and from school each day, especially since I would still want to be involved and volunteering. I am also sure I would still be spending time helping them with homework, projects and other class related things. So for me, what we do now takes less intrusive time. Homeschooling fits our lifestyle better. There are many styles of homeschooling. If I were to copy the public school way of doing things, I could "do school" in far less time. In fact, Kelsey does work on a math curriculum daily and whizzes through about 5 days work in about 20 minutes a day. Learning generally goes faster at home because there are minimal distractions and not 29 other kids with which to deal.

What will it cost to homeschool?
You can homeschool as frugally as you like or spend thousands of dollars. Your child can get a great education either way. I�ll write an article on tightwad homeschooling in the future. In the meantime, your library and the Internet are terrific places to find free educational resources such as lesson plans and worksheets.

Is homeschooling legal?
Yes. Some states are more homeschool "friendly" than others. Check the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) web site for the homeschooling laws in your state as they do vary.
http://www.hslda.org/

I need local info. Should I talk to my school?
Quite often school folks are not thrilled about the idea of homeschooling. Let�s face it...we are their competition. On top of that, they may not have correct information on homeschooling laws, groups, and resources. Try to find a homeschooling group to talk to in your area instead. Ask at libraries, search the web, run an ad in newspaper if necessary.

Can I really do this?
We have all asked ourselves this from time to time. Even after homeschooling for seven years there are days when this question still crosses my mind! But like everything else involving parenting, home education is a slow moving, learn as you go process. You do not need to know everything overnight. You will have time to grow and change with your child.

I cannot tell you if homeschooling is the right decision for you. I don�t think homeschooling is necessarily right for everyone. But I do think it is great for a lot of families and I have seen a lot of home educated children flourish.

Are we glad we decided to homeschool? We all agree it�s one of the best decisions we�ve ever made.

All my Best,
Jan

Please check in next week for a list of my favorite homeschool web sites, catalogs, and other great home education resources!