Why did you take your child out of public school?(or why did you choose to home school since Pre-K?)?

My son did not do well in school. He had a great time but did not learn. All teachers, every year, said he did fine with one on one and with small groups. In the class room he was in la la land. His mind was on what everybody else was doing, daydreaming about something, or being a clown. He did not understand his home work and since we were not in the class when it was explained, we could not explain it. We did not have the teachers book so we did not know her methods or expectations. “That’s not the way the teacher did it” is not the theme song anymore.

Instead of paying Sylvan or some other tutor service the enormous fees, we decided to home school.

It worked. We can explain in different ways until we are sure that he understands the subject matter and our expectations. He cannot bluff his way through. The immediate improvement was in his self concept, his maturity and his attitude towards education. He will probably never love learning, but he knows that it is something he must do and he is understanding that he cannot get by with good looks and great personality.

For us when we put my son in K he was way ahead because he had attended an incredible montessori school. The school waited and waited to test him until it was too late for advanced placement. We conferenced, talked, fought, and finally pulled him. He went from a child who LOVED school and learning to a kid we still have trouble motivating 3 years later, but we were still intending to put him back in. My husband and I both went to public school, both our mothers are public school teachers, but it just did not work for us. When we tried to test for advanced placement at the end of the K year for 1st grade they threw up road blocks again. It was like they really just did not want our business, and we decided that was not the envoironment for our child to spend 8 hours a day.

So my son is in 3rd grade this year, doing at least a year ahead in everything but writing (he hates handwriting) and since I let him take a year off from that and do computer based last year I have seen a developmental shift in him. When we started back to school today after taking 6 weeks off from all school and the year from handwriting, he picked up his pencil and wrote better than I have ever seen him. And another weird thing, he unconsciously switched from left to right handed. I am wondering what would have happened in a school envoirnment that would have forced the issue rather than wait for a natural skill developement.

So, at this point we will always do this. If we get into high school or even upper middle and it is not working, we will re-evaluate, but I think it has turned out to be such a blessing for my child and my family to this point, it is amazing! My younger son is 2 1/2 and started some preschool activities today at home. We plan on a mothers day out 2 days a week and have not ruled out preschool for him, as it gave such a great foundation to our 8 year old, but we will play it by ear a bit and see what works best for him.

I was an elementary school teacher, having had experience in K, 1, 3, 4, 5. My husband was, and still is, a junior high teacher. We didn’t like what we saw in terms of the social development of the kids. That was what got us started on the path of exploring homeschooling. More reading and thinking had us realize that the single-age group model is psychologically, socially and academically unsound. We knew we were capable of homeschooling our kids and were willing to do it, so we decided to do it.

Our kids are 6 and 9 and we have no regrets. Our kids love being at home. We hear the stories of stuff that goes on in school for our nephews and things they come back home saying and doing (and we’ve seen the attitude our one nephew picked up) and we are even happier about our decision. I see the homeschooled kids as they play together, varying ages, varying genders a lot of the time, and I think it’s such a shame that most of us didn’t get that kind of childhood. I think of their individual academics and am so grateful they’re not being stuck into a particular model that tries to make everybody the same. I love homeschooling.

I will try to give an abbreviated version of our reasons.

I agree a lot with parents given the primary responsibility of educating the children. No matter if your child is schooled at home or is schooled by some one else, YOU are the one who will stand before God and account for what they learned and how they used it. I am not sure if using a condom and having “safe sex” is what God would want us to be teaching our children at such young ages.

That being said, We actually started out with our children in a private school. When my oldest daughter got to 6th grade, we decided she could try to go to a public Charter School. It was a nightmare! It seemed all the kids where in control, no rules or accountability. I actually sat in on a few classes and even tried to help out through volunteering. When it became evident that nothing was changing, we decided to pull her out.

The next year, after lots of research on the state of public schools, curriculum’s that where dumbed down and striped of any mention of our countries rich religious history and by personal observation and discussion with public school students and teachers, we pulled out my youngest daughter from her PRIVATE school and never have looked back. It saved us a lot of money for the youngests tuition, and I found I could get a whole days worth of work and more done with her at home in about 2 or maybe 3 hours.

Hope this answers your questions!

My daughter was taken out of public school in the middle of 3rd grade because she had just transferred (to a school that was boasted as the district’s best, no less) and was doing the same exact curriculum as the year before (which she aced in the gifted class), because she started having bully problems, and because I just didn’t feel I was getting anywhere trying to get help with the teacher and office.

Homeschooling was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and was supposed to be temporary.

We loved it so much, and it was working so well for her, we kept homeschooling her. And we never bothered sending our two younger children.

She’s 17 now and things have been great.

My son attended two years of public school pre-k; then he attended a private kindergarten with an excellent program. However, upon re-entering public school again for first grade, I realized there was little opportunity for a bright child to learn on an advanced level. Our public school does have gifted programs, but those programs are for children who are nearly at the “genius” level. There is nothing for children who are “above average” in intelligence–only for those who are “well above average.”

After my son complained about being “bored” at school, we tried “public school at home” via a virtual charter school. However, the curriculum was too restrictive, too boring, and too regimented. Finally, I decided to try homeschooling with a curriculum that worked for my son, and he has been thriving spiritually, academically, and intellectually ever since.

I hope this clearly explains the “whys” behind my choice.

We pulled our boys from public schools to home school for many reasons. Some students chose to bully because our oldest son is quiet and the principal refused to acknowledge it as a problem. Unless our son is badly injured it is not a problem to him.

Our youngest son was getting his lunches stolen and again the staff ignored it. We solved the problem by filling double stuff oreo’s with Habanero sauce.

Teachers put more effort into favorite students than any other. One teacher for every 30 children and very little help to go around. The teachers were more like glorified babysitters and admired the title of teacher but refused to actually work.

What they could not teach our oldest one in 5 years, we did in 1 year. It’s all about who applies themselves and these teachers sadly lack the ability to.

My child has been to two different PRIVATE schools. In the first, there was severe bullying. In the second, they made her the class scapegoat and were downright horrid to her. Since I’ve chosen the homeschool solution her confidence and self esteem have shot waaaaay up.

I would NEVER put my child in a public school. I did three internships at public schools. Never again.

We have several reasons for homeschooling our teenagers. They went to school through 6th and 9th grades. Neither were truly challenged to think and apply what they were learning to the real world despite being in primarily honors level classes. Too much time at the p.s. was spent waiting for the teachers to deal with discipline and administrative stuff, or waiting for other students to “get it” so the class could move on. Too much time prepping for state standardized testing. In 6th grade, one of my children took both the ITBS tests, and CoGats. Why 2 in one year? Additionally, we were concerned that our children were learning negative ways of dealing with the world rather than the more appropriate skills you need to get through college, life, and the workplace. Both teens now have much improved social skills now that they have been out of the p.s. for almost 3 years. It was difficult to combat the negative skills learned in school during the short periods of time they were at home (they were gone 8 1/2 hrs a day including the bus trip). There is more time when homeschooling to pursue hobbies and other interests, or to participate in extracurricular activities.

I like Juniper’s answer, and it pertains to why I’m home schooling.

I homeschool because most public schools have low standards and methods that suck the joy from learning.

I home school because public school takes first graders who are excited about learning and in short order turns them against learning. They pick up anti-intellectual attitudes from their peers (“smart kids are nerds”).

I home school so my kids can learn Latin and Irish.

I home school so travel can be a part of education.

I home school to have the flexability to spend the entire day dismantling a machine or working on writing a story.

I home school so my kids can move ahead when they “get it”, and take longer for those things which they find more difficult. In public schools some kids are always waiting for others to catch up, while others are swept along with the group before they’ve mastered the material at hand.

these are just a few of a long list of reasons.