What happened in that last year of public school after we made our intentions to homeschool clear

Let's just say, that once we verbalized our intent to homeschool, things got interesting.

Our journey into homeschooling

It took a while from the time I started learning about homeschooling to when we actually did it.

This video shows our awkward journey.

Why we homeschooled

I don't know if I ever told the full story about why we homeschooled our children. It was so many years, ago, but the journey to homeschooling will always stay with me. 




Some people homeschool for religious reasons. Some homeschool for academic reasons. Some feel that homeschooling protects their child. Why did you decide to homeschool?

So why did you decide to homeschool your children?

8 things I would do differently if I was to homeschool all over again

Well.. It's been 2 years and 3 months since I last had a child I could call a homeschooler. My youngest is now a college Jr.  I think a thoughtful retrospective is in order.  So, here are 8 things I would do differently if I were to homeschool all over again, and a couple things I would do the same.

1. Consistency is visiting museums, parks, playgrounds, and shows weekly.  I think I did this well when they were both in middle school, but the wigglyness of them when they were little and the busyness of them as high school students got in the way. But, It was a great bonding time and I wish I had been more consistent.

2. Food control. Kids do what you do, and I did not mind what I was eating very well, nor what they were eating. The kids and I had too much access to the fridge. I should have planned ahead better and kept fruit on the table instead of a free-for-all.

3. I should have been more strict about deadlines for assignments.  There were plenty of times when I let them pat me on the head and promise to do better next time.  Once they hit high school, I should have been more strict about deadlines.  That would have helped with the transition to college.

4.  I shouldn't have discussed homeschooling with relatives and non homeschooling friends.  Too many times it just ended up with upset feelings... mine.

5.  I should not have discussed homeschooling at parties.  I found myself being the entertainment far too often.  I should have just answered that question about where they go to school as matter-of-factly as the kids did and then changed the subject.

6.  I should have pushed harder when they wanted to quit something.  Fencing for instance, they gave up too soon.  Not because they weren't good, but because they weren't making friends.  That's not a good reason to walk away.

7.  We should have taken advantage of duel enrollment programs.  My son, now a college Sr. thinks he would have transitioned better into college had he taken some courses at the local college first, or even taken some academic classes at the local high school.  Neither of these were easily available to us the year he was a Sr. in High school, but If I was willing to drive a little ways, we could have found a school that would take him.  (our county began welcoming students the very next year).  I agree with him that his first two years in college would have been less of a struggle with home real life experiences and easing into the college environment.  The good news  is that he eventually got the hang of things and has been doing great.

8. We should have put more variety in our outside activities.  The kids did attend a great program that taught history through the arts, and optional academics (we opted to do academics independently).  The only problem is that looking back, there were times when we should have stepped outside of the program for some variety, to try a different theatre program for one show, or do experience a different choir or something because what is best for the group isn't always best for the individual child, and too much loyalty can bite you in the butt. But, in all honesty, I was being lazy and trying to keep all activities localized to avoid too much driving.

Things I would not change.  

1.  We would have still joined the homeschool arts and history program because it was awesome and my kids did make life-long friends. It is important to have a tribe.  To me this was akin to a homeschool co-op. I am even glad that I spent a lot of money for this program.

2. I am so glad that we used free online programs and resources instead of buying boxed curriculum.  My kids had access to the world on knowledge on the internet and I was able to use those extra hundreds of dollars a year for experiences and specialty classes.

Homeschooling chores I will no longer have to do

I just got an email about paying for registration for next year's homeschool program.  I stared at it for a minute, wondering when I should pay and then realized.... I'm done with that.  No more homeschool classes.  Wow.

Other things that I won't be doing anymore... with my kids anyway:

• Late night curriculum preparations, so kid can start homeschooling at a decent time the next morning. 
• Driving an hour for a 1 hour class or rehearsal, then driving back home. 
• Hanging out in coffee shops to kill time while my kids are in classes.
• Deciding between a traditional science class, or letting the child explore science from cooking or nature.  

A new semester- the final semester

I am spending this morning getting my son's laundry done  so we can take him back to college. ( I know he should do it himself, but these kids will let a wet load sit in the machine for hours).  It has been an interesting break.  He is clearly more mature (and bossy) than he was when he left home.  His opinions are strong.  His patience is also short. ... and I can't tell when he's serious or joking anymore. I look back at the period of my life when I left home and remember how necessary the distance was.  I was getting to the point when I was becoming my mother, and I was still a teenager. Every glance, every opinion, every argument I had, and someone would comment how much like my mother I was.  Now, my mother was a perfectly lovely person and I wish I had half her sense of humor, but I was not her, and in order to become uniquely me, I needed time and space- off by myself to deal with the world.  This is my son's time.  I may not like or understand all the changes, but he is still the same at his core- uber moral, and deep thinking.  My work may indeed be done.

I am also trying to get my daughter to wash her hair so I can set it in some new-fangled rollers I

Homeschooling and money

So how much does homeschooling cost anyway?
Do you need to spend a lot of money to homeschool?
What can I do to lower the cost of homeschooling?

Find these answers in this video



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Teens who want to homeschool should take charge

This is in response to questions on "how do I get my parents to let me homeschool"... it is basically advice to teens.

Transcript:

Hello, this is A. Hermitt, and today I want to address teenagers deciding they want to start homeschooling, and I am going to go ahead and read from an article that I wrote some time ago on this subject.

Excerpt:  I like to peruse questions and answer boards on homeschooling. I also get lots of emails from