babs:

And the older they get if they have learned to study, they are self motivatied to do it theirself.

I can only wish it worked that way with my oldest. The younger two are more motivated to learn on their own.

I finally just set my sights lower on our youngest, Brandy.  She simply doesn't have the motivation, the want-to or, really, the intellect that the older two have.  She loves her job and making money and I've satisfied myself with the fact that she'll never go hungry.   Educationally, she's doing the bare minimum to graduate and since I'm older and lazier, I let her get by with it...Liz

babs:

 That is so true. And the older they get if they have learned to study, they are self motivatied to do it theirself. Then there is the aspect of learning being hands on. Math is learned in the kitchen or sewing. science is learned in the garden. It may not look like school but it is learning. I started homeschooling in 1981 and will finally finish with my kids this year. DD wants me to help with her kids next year. lol Babs

Babs,

I expressed the same feelings to my dh. a trip to the grocery store is a lesson in economics. and a trip outside to see grasshoppers is a nature lesson. We have learning all around us. I think it has to do with being creative.

btw thanks for all the wonderful posts. they're very encouraging.

I chuckled when I saw your post.  My Mom (a teacher) had the same concern when my SIL (also a teacher) decided to Home School ten years ago.  Now, I laugh because my Mom wouldn't have it any other way and is a very vocal advocate of Home Schooling.  My SIL was firm and polite and let time prove her case.

We had long time friends last year verbally attack us and Home Schooling as "living in our livingroom" and implying our child would be socially backwards if we Home Schooled.  I was even confronted one day in the Grocery store checkout line by a retired teacher in the next line over!  Basically, most people say those things out of ignorance...they've been fed a stereotype by perpetrated by the NEA and their local schoolboards and some teachers.  In my community, the School system is paid per child/per day enrolled, so they're not going to applaud Home Schooling.  I've found the best response is to smile sweetly and proceed to tick off the activities we choose to participate in.  My child is very comfortable starting and carrying on conversations with children and adults.  Many people are surprised, especially in the grocery store to hear her reading ingredients searching for hydrogenated oil.

Your post reminded me of a recent End of Co-Op picnic we had.  We participate in a weekly Co-Operative group.  We have four classes for each age /grade range (plus Latin for older children), taught by the moms.  We finished the year with a play by my child's class and a gropu musical.  Then we had our annual picnic.  I had to laugh as I watched 85 children, playing on the playground/playing freeze tag and ball/swinging and sliding/visiting picnic blanket to picnic blanket.  "What about socialization?"  There was plenty of it... the differences being that in Home School: it's cool for the 15-year-old to talk to/help/play with the 6-year-old; your parent immediately knows on any given day whether or not the child is doing their work (no surprises); and peer pressure is pretty nonexistent.  Four of the major plussses:  we know WHO is teaching our child; WHAT our child is being taught; WHO our child's friends are; and the SAFETY of our child (our school system has some gang problems-the Superintendent flatly denied this 3 months ago, only to have the newspaper report a gang beat-in at a Middle School, gang graffiti at the High School and another Elementary school near our home).

We love that our daughter is being taught morals and values (not Humanism, Post-Modernism, or Relativism), she loves to learn and incorporates that learning into playing, we can take Home Schooling on the road with my DH's job, and we can pursue her interests.

Hang in there!  You may want to check and see if there's a Home Schooling group in your area where you can get more information.

Sincerely,

K 

HeyK:

"What about socialization?"

That question always strikes me as a funny one. I have always wondered if people thought we each hid in our own rooms all day never leaving the house or speaking to each other. I have only asked when really irritated though.