My husband doesn't want me to homeschool. However, my very intellegent children are failing. I have yet to recieve a call from the school to even be notified. The kids hide their progress reports in their bags, and pockets.
Have any on you done this? If so, what is the good or bad that comes from it.
It is actually an online school. They are free in WA state.

I don't have kids yet, but when we do, we plan to home school. I have worked as a teacher, as a substitute, and as a private tutor. When it comes to education, the government just plain old fails.

However, based on what I read in your post, I'm seeing 2 problems:
1- lack of communication between you and the teachers, have you tried calling the teachers, emailing them?
2- your kids are being very naughty. You should go through their bags and pockets every day. Punish them for hiding important things like progress reports. No TV, no phone, no friends, no computer, no nothing til they pull the grades up.

Additionally, just sticking the kids on a computer school isn't going to solve the problem. You have to stay ON TOP of them. If you home school your children that icreases ten-fold.

How old are the kids?

I'd talk to their teachers and see what the problems are? If they are bored in class then maybe you can see what can be done about that. If they are just not trying (and the hiding the reports) that doesn't mean they aren't bright it just means they aren't doing what they need to in class.

You need to figure out both sides of the story on this one before you take the next step.

I won't say the school systems are perfect because they are far from it. Parents have to be very proactive in their children's educations and if that means several trips to school then that is what ya have to do.

I homeschooled my oldest daughter her freshman year in school. (she is now 20). I found that she was not getting the basics and kept getting passed along through the years. At the end of her 8th grade year, I had had enough. I went to the state and filed all the proper paperwork to have her homeschooled. I submitted a cirriculum and had it approved. We drilled the basic skills and even more. When she returned to 10th grade that following year, she was right on track and actually did well.I have 3 others that attend school, and if they don't keep on track, I will be pulling them out as well. It isn't always the student, or the school, but it may be the way they are being taught.

If I have to do it all over again, I most certainly will.

Good luck with your choice, and that is exactly what it is a choice.

Donna

I was just at a loss to understand why anyone would want to home school a child, but then my daughter pointed out that most schools are not like the schools we have in our community. Ours are well funded, blue star schools in a safe environment. She asked if I would want my grandchild to go to an inner city school where he would be confronted with violence. So, now I do understand the home schooling thing.

The good part is that all the lessons are geared to his/her own particular learning style and taught at the pace set by the child.
The child is in a safe environment.
There are wonderful resources available online, and you can check out the educational materials available for teachers, not just for home school moms.
The negative is-your child will have an inexperienced teacher every year. You will be surprised how much more you will know about teaching the curriculum after you do it, and not before.
Learning is enhanced in a social setting with shared ideas. Children learn from the teacher and from their peers. Working with a partner, learning in small and large groups is an important life skill.
Children usually blossom when they are exposed to other adults in a learning environment, and most respond with less opposition, and less bargaining with a non family member that they do with mom or dad.
Unless you have a background in child development and/or educational methods I don't know how you can teach as effectively as a experienced teacher who has not only done this but has many other teachers and professionals to turn to when any child has difficulty learning some material. When you home school, who do you turn to? Other home school moms may be struggling with the same problems, the internet is filled with both good and bad advice. How do you know what is best practice?
I have no idea how one individual can ever know enough to teach all the subjects taught in middle and high school. I have a talent for art and could do a great job teaching that, music-I'm at a loss. I love history, but my knowledge pales when I compare myself to the history teachers here in high school. Foreign language-can't do it. But then again, if you are in a community that has disruptive students, the teacher spends too much time managing the class and they can not teach the subject they way they want to.
How enthusiastic are you about doing this? Are you doing it because you are making a sacrifice for your child or is it, like it is for me, a passion?
As they said in previous posts this is a choice.
I loved my own kids, but wanted to be mom and not teacher. I love my students and want to be teacher not mom. For me I have the best of both worlds.
I wish you the best which ever choice you make.

The first step is to find what you can do to help your children in the school system since your husband doesn't want you to homeschool. Find out if you can get your children's grades online, many schools have that now for parents with attendence and scores posted frequently.

If you do homeschool you are going to have to be motivated to do it or your children will fall behind.


You might want to try some educational things at home when they aren't at school, that sometimes keeps smart kids motivated. Or if your school has activities that your kids are interested in have them join, they can't participate if their grades aren't up so that might get their butts in gear.

I half home schooled my daughter the last three years of high school.
She went to school in the morning for Choir and something else (I forget what), and home schooled everything else.
We met with my 'supervisor' once a week for 2 hours where he looked over the work she did during the week, checked the paperwork, and made suggestions. He also gave her tests from time to time.

She went from Ds and Fs to A+ in almost everything.

I'm all for homeschooling if it's done correctly. I'll be homeschooling my 4 1/2 yr old daughter next Sept. for kindergarten, but she's already reading at 1st grade level and speaks German...loves to learn!

I was turned off by how limited kids are at our local public schools. I wasn't impressed with their program at all. Besides the fact they had hired a teacher (with a previous record) who later turned out to be a major pedophile... not good.

Anyway~ I'm starting to network with other homeschooling families and she has plenty of friends. My neighbors husband (very extroverted) was homeschooled right through HS, then went to college and now is in charge of all the surgical equipment at a major hospital. He's certainly not been limited. His hospital has just passed cleanest in the state!

It's a personal decision that no one should coerce or guilt you into... go with your gut.

my kids go to a Christian school that operates with the ACE curriculum using PACE's which is a home-school program.....only they do it at school. However, they have a lot of kids who come in and take the state test exams and such at the school once a year who are home-schooled with the exact same program and honestly there seems to be no difference in how the kids act.

These are materials that are Christ centered though, so all of the children are learning Bible verses with each book, etc. as the learn the academics, however we have been REALLY happy with how our children have responded to the materials.

When they take a test on a PACE (booklet w/ about 2 weeks of material) if they score below 80% they have to repeat the entire PACE (which means they fall 2 weeks behind, or else they have to do a LOT of work to catch up quicker= all the more reason to NOT fail a test)..........however, the up side is that your child will NEVER have an F or a 0 on their final record. In fact the lowest grade they'll ever have is a B, because the school won't accept any less! I LOVE this.......the kids know what is expected of them and they are more than capable.

Every kid works at his/her own pace so nobody is left behind........some kids in 4th grade maybe be in 4th grade Science, 5th grade English and 3rd grade Math.....all depends.
Although there is a strong push for them to stay "on balance", meaning they are on level with ALL subjects right where they should be........but for some kids it's just not possible! It's also a great program for when your kids gets sick.....there is no missed school work.....they take them home and they work on them. The teacher's don't "TEACH" the kids, it's the kids' responsiblity to learn.....the teachers are just there to "help" when the kids struggle or don't unerstand something.

Thanks for all of your inputs.
I know it sounds as if I am blaming the school. I'm not really, there are three of us in this situation who have failed. School, kids, myself.
My husband went to Iraq and I moved closer to my mom. My kids did a 180 and totally rebelled. They are 13 and 14. So, adjustment for us was hard.
The school does lack alot. We came from a great school district. Great teacher parent involvement. I am guilty of comparisons.
I have enrolled them in Kaplan Academy. We will see how that works.

julzs71, Kaplan is a great program. Your children may also benefit from some counselling sessins (talk-therapy) to help them deal with their dad being gone and the move (moving is harder on adolescents than any other age group).

KHalstead, I did homeschool my children with the ACE material. I loved it. NOw with the julzs71.... I had 4 children at home for years! I loved the ACE program but just remember that it IS a fultime job. You can't be just baking a cake and tell the kids "hold on I'll be right there" (not that you would). I loved it. in fact I homeschooled the boys through high school. My daughter, who is now in 9th grade, went to public school in Junior High. She would have been the only child at home for 4 years and it was just time for me to bake and her to not be alone all day. Let me say the transistion was easy and she does get straight A's but not ALL kids are so lucky. some rebelll some fail. YOU NEED to talk to your husband more, you NEED to agree on whatever it is you do. My husband didn't want me to stop homeschooling for a while. the School Of Tomorrow sells the material we used. www.schooloftomorrow.com they also have an at home accredited program.... what ever you do , pray and be in agreement with your husband. And if you keep them in school then be more involved. like weekly email to teachers or something. NO falling through the cracks what ever you choose to do. That was how I felt. even in public school it's still MY JOB to be sure they do well..

I homeschool but my oldest is 2nd grade so Idk how much help I will be. I do belong to a couple homeschool forums I can share if you are interested in. Just send me a message. Good luck! Do what you feel is right. My dh wasn't wanting to at first either but he came to the decision on his own after a bit and thats when we started. GL!