Why Homeschool?

A few months ago, I began discussing the option of homeschooling with my husband. We were a little more then frustrated with our oldest son's school and their lack of follow-through. We had contacted our 8th grade son's school counselor in the fall. We asked for a meeting and we asked if he had any suggestions of things we could do to help our son's grades improve. I wanted a meeting with his team(core) teachers. I wanted to "pick their brains" and come up with a plan to help our son learn to be more organized. I wanted to work as a team to help our child succeed. A few months passed by and I heard NOTHING from the school. Meanwhile, we were doing the best we could to help our son improve his grades. At one point, we required he have every teacher sign his assignment log. We thought things were improving until our son told us that some teachers were refusing to sign his book. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Here we are, a few months later, getting ready to embark on a new journey... the homeschool journey. This school year, I will be homeschooling my oldest son(almost 15) and my daughter(12). Our youngest son(9), will remain in public school for this school year. If things go well, we will be homeschooling all 3kids by next fall.

Ever since we made the decision to homeschool, we have recieved a lot of questions. Most people want to know why I think homeschooling will be different from traditional school. They also want to know how I plan to do this. My answers:

Why? We are all individuals. Because we are individuals, we all learn differently. The public school system expects children to fit inside a box...a box they must create in order to teach so many children. I don't blame the teachers... most teachers I know have gone into teaching for the right reasons... they love to teach kids! My children have had some wonderful teachers during their public school years. In fact, most of their elementary teachers have been great. I am not pulling my children out because of the teachers, I am pulling them out because I don't feel the system works for them. Some children have no problem fitting inside "the box". Other kids need more... I feel my children are in that catagory. My oldest son used to love school. He was like a sponge waiting to soak up new information. Then, sometime after about 4th grade, things began to change. My goal this school year is to inspire him and get him excited about learning! He will be learning subjects that interest him in addition to core subjcts he needs to get a well rounded education.

How: I think part of the beauty of homeschooling is being able to cater to your child and his or her specific interests or learning style. We are choosing topics my children find interesting and we are using resources available to us. We've found an online charter school and we have joined a local homeschool group. My children will take some online classes and some classes through the local homeschool group. I have so much to learn and as a family, we will learn how to navigate the homeschool world together.