I live in the UK and maybe like the USA there is a mixed view on homeschooling and a lot of misinformation or plain ignorance.

My daughter is now into her first year at a local college doing a National Diploma in Art and Design, the youngest student they have ever taken on and she’s doing great. She was homeschooled through choice when we moved home several years ago. Previously she’d attended a local private school with exceptional academic track record and she’d been very happy there. The school certainly instilled a “hard work” ethos in their kids and they were all a pretty disciplined lot. So maybe this stood us in good stead when we came to homeschool? Whatever the reason we had a great time and she thrived. I also ran a home based business so this worked really well with being a home schooling mum.

People were worried about her “socialisation skills” and whether she’d get “lonely and cut off”. What total nonsense. At home she could choose who she wanted to spend time with unlike school. We got out and about when the stately homes, museums, art galleries and so forth were less busy. She mixed with people of ALL AGES – so now she’s great with older people unlike many school taught kids.

She loves her own space, is very independent and very disciplined. So much so that she sat exams a year ago after studying for only 6 months that would take school kids two years to do!

Alexis – just go for it. You’ll so much enjoy that precious, special time with your kids. It never comes round again. Do what your heart tells you is right for your kids. Maybe you will find it doesn’t suit them so well – nothing is cast in stone – you can get them back into mainstream schooling. However, I think that you will see them thrive like never before. You will also reinforce a great bond with them. My daughter and I are good friends as well as mum and daughter. She knows she can always talk to me honestly and openly. I find it so sad when I see/hear of friends of hers at college etc who have no relationship at all with their parents.

I’m not going to wish you good luck because you won’t need it!
Happy Home Schooling.

I homeschool with 4 kiddos (8, 6, 4, 2), twins on the way, and running several websites. It definitely can be done… some suggestions include:

1) slowly ease into a routine so that you have set time to work and set time to be with the kids
2) remember that as their mom, you know better than anyone what your kids need to learn best – don’t get sucked into a one-size fits all homeschool approach – it will just stress you out and contribute to unnecessary battles b/w you and the kiddos
3) Don’t forget how much your kids will learn by being included in some of your work day… Can you do math by having them help with some accounting, english with marketing or customer relations, etc. The real life ed they’ll get by just being in that enviro will far supersede anything a formal school could offer.

Good Luck and e-mail me if you need more help/suggestions. I no longer live in LA but still have an extensive network there:)

Seriously.. you know how to do this.. find the folks who do it well…figure out what they do and model their actions! Simple

I’ve spend some time at my kids’ school. Great teachers and kids but they waste so much time (just because there are so many kids–this is not a criticism)… you can get done in 2 hours what they take 6 to do!!..

go for it..

Ben

You will never regret it…how could you regret spending time watching your children discover their world? I started after I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am fine now, but at the time I thought “What if I only had 5 years? I’d want my children to have every childhood memory with me…not Mrs. So and so. I want them to love what I love, to value what I value, and I don’t want to miss a minute of their lives!” Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me or my family. I realized that being a mom wasn’t about having a perfectly clean home and getting to go to lunc h with my girlfriends. I had been given a brain and I was expected to do a lot more with it.

Homeschooling came naturally. I have my secondary education degree, and now I get to use it with the kids I love most in the world. I have recently put my children in a private school, all five of them, as I have gone to work with my husband in the business we started 4 years ago. But here is my advice:

Get over people who feel threatened with you moving out of the mainstream. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and what you have decided to do as a mother.

Do not recreate school in your home. It’s impossible. If you want school, leave them in the public school. What you want to do is learn from life happening!

Realize that you can spend a whole week, or month, on a topic. You don’t need to hit everything ever day.

I found that I was happiest and most successful when I realized that my job was to teach the basics, reading, writing, and math, and with that knowledge, my children could delve into the music, science, history, or whatever. Like I heard once, Mom prepares the banquet and invites the children to the table. You just make it available.

Don’t ever wory about the “socialization” thing. My kids focused on academics during school hours, and then had all afternoon to socialize in karate, scouts, dance, piano, etc. If that parent is social, the child will be social. If the parent is reclusive, the child may be reclusive. School is not the only opportunity to learn to interact, by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, think about what you remember from your school days. It was the storytimes, it was the friendships, it was the caring teacher, it was the holiday traditions. You can provide all of that for your family…school is not the only place to get that.

You will do fine. Life ebbs and flows, try it now, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t failed, you succeeded by following the promptings you had to look into it!

To our children!
Roxanne Thayne

You will never regret it…how could you regret spending time watching your children discover their world? I started after I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am fine now, but at the time I thought “What if I only had 5 years? I’d want my children to have every childhood memory with me…not Mrs. So and so. I want them to love what I love, to value what I value, and I don’t want to miss a minute of their lives!” Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me or my family. I realized that being a mom wasn’t about having a perfectly clean home and getting to go to lunc h with my girlfriends. I had been given a brain and I was expected to do a lot more with it.

Homeschooling came naturally. I have my secondary education degree, and now I get to use it with the kids I love most in the world. I have recently put my children in a private school, all five of them, as I have gone to work with my husband in the business we started 4 years ago. But here is my advice:

Get over people who feel threatened with you moving out of the mainstream. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and what you have decided to do as a mother.

Do not recreate school in your home. It’s impossible. If you want school, leave them in the public school. What you want to do is learn from life happening!

Realize that you can spend a whole week, or month, on a topic. You don’t need to hit everything ever day.

I found that I was happiest and most successful when I realized that my job was to teach the basics, reading, writing, and math, and with that knowledge, my children could delve into the music, science, history, or whatever. Like I heard once, Mom prepares the banquet and invites the children to the table. You just make it available.

Don’t ever wory about the “socialization” thing. My kids focused on academics during school hours, and then had all afternoon to socialize in karate, scouts, dance, piano, etc. If that parent is social, the child will be social. If the parent is reclusive, the child may be reclusive. School is not the only opportunity to learn to interact, by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, think about what you remember from your school days. It was the storytimes, it was the friendships, it was the caring teacher, it was the holiday traditions. You can provide all of that for your family…school is not the only place to get that.

You will do fine. Life ebbs and flows, try it now, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t failed, you succeeded by following the promptings you had to look into it!

To our children!
Roxanne Thayne

You will never regret it…how could you regret spending time watching your children discover their world? I started after I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am fine now, but at the time I thought “What if I only had 5 years? I’d want my children to have every childhood memory with me…not Mrs. So and so. I want them to love what I love, to value what I value, and I don’t want to miss a minute of their lives!” Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me or my family. I realized that being a mom wasn’t about having a perfectly clean home and getting to go to lunc h with my girlfriends. I had been given a brain and I was expected to do a lot more with it.

Homeschooling came naturally. I have my secondary education degree, and now I get to use it with the kids I love most in the world. I have recently put my children in a private school, all five of them, as I have gone to work with my husband in the business we started 4 years ago. But here is my advice:

Get over people who feel threatened with you moving out of the mainstream. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and what you have decided to do as a mother.

Do not recreate school in your home. It’s impossible. If you want school, leave them in the public school. What you want to do is learn from life happening!

Realize that you can spend a whole week, or month, on a topic. You don’t need to hit everything ever day.

I found that I was happiest and most successful when I realized that my job was to teach the basics, reading, writing, and math, and with that knowledge, my children could delve into the music, science, history, or whatever. Like I heard once, Mom prepares the banquet and invites the children to the table. You just make it available.

Don’t ever wory about the “socialization” thing. My kids focused on academics during school hours, and then had all afternoon to socialize in karate, scouts, dance, piano, etc. If that parent is social, the child will be social. If the parent is reclusive, the child may be reclusive. School is not the only opportunity to learn to interact, by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, think about what you remember from your school days. It was the storytimes, it was the friendships, it was the caring teacher, it was the holiday traditions. You can provide all of that for your family…school is not the only place to get that.

You will do fine. Life ebbs and flows, try it now, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t failed, you succeeded by following the promptings you had to look into it!

To our children!
Roxanne Thayne

You will never regret it…how could you regret spending time watching your children discover their world? I started after I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am fine now, but at the time I thought “What if I only had 5 years? I’d want my children to have every childhood memory with me…not Mrs. So and so. I want them to love what I love, to value what I value, and I don’t want to miss a minute of their lives!” Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me or my family. I realized that being a mom wasn’t about having a perfectly clean home and getting to go to lunc h with my girlfriends. I had been given a brain and I was expected to do a lot more with it.

Homeschooling came naturally. I have my secondary education degree, and now I get to use it with the kids I love most in the world. I have recently put my children in a private school, all five of them, as I have gone to work with my husband in the business we started 4 years ago. But here is my advice:

Get over people who feel threatened with you moving out of the mainstream. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and what you have decided to do as a mother.

Do not recreate school in your home. It’s impossible. If you want school, leave them in the public school. What you want to do is learn from life happening!

Realize that you can spend a whole week, or month, on a topic. You don’t need to hit everything ever day.

I found that I was happiest and most successful when I realized that my job was to teach the basics, reading, writing, and math, and with that knowledge, my children could delve into the music, science, history, or whatever. Like I heard once, Mom prepares the banquet and invites the children to the table. You just make it available.

Don’t ever wory about the “socialization” thing. My kids focused on academics during school hours, and then had all afternoon to socialize in karate, scouts, dance, piano, etc. If that parent is social, the child will be social. If the parent is reclusive, the child may be reclusive. School is not the only opportunity to learn to interact, by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, think about what you remember from your school days. It was the storytimes, it was the friendships, it was the caring teacher, it was the holiday traditions. You can provide all of that for your family…school is not the only place to get that.

You will do fine. Life ebbs and flows, try it now, and if it doesn’t work, you haven’t failed, you succeeded by following the promptings you had to look into it!

To our children!
Roxanne Thayne

No need to worry about kids interacting with other kids or not. Children home schooled get to interact more with adults closely associated with your family. This situation will fall into place successfully and on its own.

I went to Grade 8 in a 1 room school that is now a farmer’s granary. The teacher had 8 grades to teach. The older kids would help teach the younger ones. Wealth of experience on this.

Obviously, the teacher could not teach us much in the way of content to each grade. What I recall mostly was that we learned how to learn on our own.

“We learned how to learn”. This is more important than your children learning a whole bunch of facts and things. Your adventure of learning to grow your business can be your guide to teach your children how to learn.

I think you will grow in this concept as well. Sorry, no good luck comments from me. I just know that you are going to do well. Patience is golden. Even if it seems you make a mistake on something you really have not made a mistake. It will be a necessary learning experience for you and your children to work through.

Sincerely, Glen Osborne