I recently had my 5th child (the boys are 12 and 10 and the girls are 8, 4, and 5 months) and now that we are officially a "big family" the stress and busy-ness of our school schedule is really bothering me. I feel like we don't have enough time with our kids since they get on the bus at 7am and don't get home til 4:15pm. (We live out in the boondocks and they're the 1st ones on and the last ones off.) I've always been slightly anti-homeschooling in the past, but somehow the idea just came into my head as a solution to my dissatisfaction and I can't get it out. I started researching and reading blogs and "lurking" quite a bit. I've learned enough to know by now that a homeschooling life won't be all sunshine and roses and my kids and I won't get along splendidly all the time, but it does seem to me that even if we're stressed out sometimes at least we'll all be stressed out together.

Sooooo ... my question is: Am I crazy to think about starting it at this stage of the game? My oldest is in 7th grade this year, and tackling a whole new lifestyle at this point seems a bit overwhelming. Also, I know there's a learning curve involved in the 1st few years of homeschooling. Will I be hurting his chances of college if I "mess up" his 8th and 9th (and 10th and ...) grade years? It just seems like it might have been easier if I'd tried this idea way back when they were all smaller and all in elementary school to "ease" into it before jumping right into it at almost high school level.

If any of you veterans have any advice for me I'd sure appreciate it! God bless!
Jenni

Welcome, Jenni!!! Glad you found us. Yes, you can start at any time. It will be much easier if you have buy-in from the older kids. Do they want to be homeschooled?

I know in my state, homeschooled students can dual enroll FREE at the community college once they hit 15 and 10th grade. So actually they get a head start on college. All your kids will be able to progress at their own pace.

Take a look at the articles on our testimonies page:
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/alla ... /index.php

And also on our articles page:
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/alla ... /index.php

You'll find lots of encouragement and ideas there!!

Welcome! Please ask some more questions so we can know how to help you.

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You are NOT crazy, and you will not mess up their chances for college if that is the goal.

I agree with Martha though, give the older kids a choice. Whether it is ps completely, dual enroll ps/homeschool, homeschool completely. Then, also talk with them about how they might want to approach learning at home. You could do "school at home" which is just replicating ps, but at your own table. You could do a curriculum that you purchase, that is set up by grade and you just implement that. You could do unit studies, either purchasing something already set, or create your own. You could read all kinds of books, and have that be your main curriculum to follow as all subjects can be learned from non-text books. Hands on activities are great as well. There are so many ways of doing this, and everyone has an opinion on it, so take what fits, set aside what doesn't, and preferrably don't invest a lot of money at first (or ever). You can do this.

The joy of homeschooling is that you can mix and match, follow someone else's plan or create your own. You can be very structured or very relaxed. When we started 14 years ago, we were pretty school at home for a few months and then discovered that is NOT what we wanted, so we relaxed, decided to do different things for different kids to meet their needs, and we have changed our minds over the years until we are very relaxed in our approach with our last two because we saw how much they learned when we followed their interests, their personalities... and they are doing fantastic.

Whatever you decide, know that you will have many cheerleaders, prayer warriors, opinion expressers, shoulders to lean on/cry on or whatever you need along the way.

No, you're not crazy - it will work out great! : )

Personally, I think the early academic years are much more critical than high school. I would worry about "messing them up" in the early years a lot more than I would about messing up high school. A kid who is messed up in the early years cannot read, write, do math. A kid who is "messed up" in high school might not know when the Napoleanic wars were, or might not remember a certain algebraic equation. You have lots of freedom : )

And, for the early years, you can *certainly* do a better job than the public schools! You're talking perfect-ratio, full time, dedicated, loving TUTORING!

I went to a private school that was unaccredited and used materials that were later used for homeschool (this was before the days of homeschool being commonly legal in the US). I worried that I was getting behind, and the kids in public schools would be WAY ahead of me. But, due to the type of self-motivated learning that is mastered in many (tho not all) homeschool programs, I was more than fine. After 2 years, I transferred to a public school. The principal warned us we'd have to be tested, and may be set back a grade or two. I was worried - again. But, after a month, Mom called the Principal and asked when our tests were going to be. He said, "Oh, they're both at the top of their class - we're not going to bother!" : )

I firmly believe that this was not because I was brilliant (people who know me can attest to that ; ), but because homeschool-type education is simply better.

If you check out the statistics, you'll find homeschooled kids on averaged do MUCH better academically. Not because they have higher IQ's, but because they receive a great education.

BTW - about the "all roses" stuff - I LOVE homeschooling, and wouldn't trade it for the world. We have a rough day now and then- like any relationship - but overall, totally in love : )

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I know a lot of families that started with "We'll do this for one year and then see"... and once that year was up they never looked at PS again!
So... go for it.
If you ask are you crazy?? We are ALL crazy! LOL! So you'll fit right in.

Hi Jenni,

We started hsing when we had a son in 5th and a daughter in 1st. Both went back to public school after that year because we moved out of state. Then our son asked to be homeschooled after his first quarter of 9th grade and was able to finish up high school in 3yrs instead of 4. He had a part time job while homeschooling and with his earnings bought a used truck with cash. So when the classmates he left behind in public school still had a year to go, he had graduated, had a paid for truck and moved out on his own and started the college of his choice, a culinary school. With motivation, the sky is the limit. Do check out those dual credit classes, they are free in TX, too.

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"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Thanks to all of you for your kind words of encouragement. At various times through the years my kids have all asked to be homeschooled - some friends of ours do it and my kids hear about them being done with school by lunchtime and are very jealous! So I don't think getting them to buy in to it would be very difficult ... except maybe for my 10 year old whose latest best friend is someone outside of our normal social circle that he usually only sees at school.

Right now my husband and I are still in the thinking and praying about it stage. The idea is becoming more and more attractive to me, but I want to make sure it's really where the Spirit is leading me to go.

One other question I have: If we do decide to go forward with it, would it be too disruptive to start in the middle of the school year or should they go ahead and finish out this school year and start homeschooling next fall? Do any of you have any experience with that? Thanks!

The first time I pulled them out it was halfway through the school year. January is a favorite starting time for homeschoolers. With my oldest daughter, who went back to public school for 2nd and 3rd grade only, I made the mistake of waiting until the end of the year. That last year of ps was traumatizing and a waste of her time.

Any time is a good time to start, the sooner the better, imho

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"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

We thought we would wait till the end of the school year to pull our son. Then we said the end of the semester, then the mid-term. Then we wondered why we were waiting for an artificial timeframe set up by a system that was not helping him! So we pulled him out in the middle of February. My advice is pull the kids the minute you decide that homeschooling is the way to go. They need some decompression time -- reading books, playing outside, playing board games with their siblings, etc. -- before you start formal academics, and during that time, you can do your research on how you want to homeschool. Meanwhile, they are learning to be curious kids again. :0)

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Figure a month of "deschooling" per every year they have attended school as a loose guide. You can do it for less time, or for ever. That gives them the time to relax and rediscover a love of learning, the decompression time that Martha spoke of. They really will continue to learn during that time, it may just look different that the expected way of learning in a school setting. Watch them, listen to them, be there for them, provide fun things to do with them and you will see, hear, enjoy the creativity, joy, and bonding that comes along with this journey.