I am a full time working mom. Will homeschooling work for us?
The school year is just almost over. Last year, hubby and I got to a decision that we will homeschool our 8-year-old boy (will be Grade 3 coming SY). Our decision was mainly driven by the fact that our son has behavioral issues at school. There were no days during the first quarter that I did not expect not to have a note from the teacher narrating how uncontrollable his behavior had been.
Funny thing is, my husband and I cannot relate with the teachers very much because our son is very cooperative at home.
Well anyway, at one point I got fed up with all the notes going back and forth. I even felt that the school (or the teachers, for that matter) are not supportive nor patient with kids.
But now, I am having cold feet. Being a full time working mom, can I do it?
We are an expatriate family without a full-time house help. Just my husband and I.
We have 3 kids - 8, 3 and 1.5 years... imagine our daily commotion just to get things done!
I have started joining online communities on homeschooling to get ideas... it seems pretty tough, but right now, I really feel that this will be the best for my son. He is a very bright kid and I think that regular school setting is not bringing out the best in him.
We have contacted homeschooling accreditation partner, Homeschool Global Middle East (http://homeschoolglobal-me.com/) , and plan to enroll our son there. We will have an expert homeschool advisor to assist us in our homeschooling journey, not to mention the coops that are already here. But still...
I could understand your intention to home school your kid who suffer from behavioral issue but is this really a good solution to you and your kid?
You mentioned that your kid is quite cooperative at home but had issues at school, so is it really your kid has a behavioral problem or is there something wrong with the school / teacher? This is my first question.
Apart from that, let's assume your kid really has some issue (I hope not), does it really good to keep him home, away from other peer groups? I am afraid that may prevent him from learning how to interact with other children, which may (or may not, I am not sure) make his situation worse?
I am no expert in children behavior and education, just sharing as a father of 2 daughters at 8 and 6.
Thanks for that @guyverckw! Really appreciated. Actually, apart from behavioral, we had to also consider the economic side as there are limited Filipino schools in our city for which the admissions are already closed, and now likewise to other international schools (apart of course to the fact that their fees are extra higher).
Right now our options are (1) stay in the same school - we still have our slot, and (2) try homeschool.
Ps- if in case we homeschool, there are homeschool coops in the community with whom we can meet and of course kids at the church. I think interactions-wise, if a child really has behavioral issues it is much better to have "controlled" peers- other kids we can choose our child can mingle with, than kids in school we (parents) don't really meet and know.
I have been homeschooling our 2 daughters and they are much happier and actually learn something useful.
in Canada our schools are terrible, they spend 99% of their time trying to sort out behaviour issues.
The kids that want to learn are just sitting there doing nothing while the brats get all the attention.
It's been shown that sitting down you cut off a significant amount of blood flow to the brain, and what's the first thing they make you do in school? Sit there all damn day.
Check out ixl.com for some learning resources.
Peace
Thanks @hatchi! That's what also prompted me to decide on homeschooling. I see a lot of potential in my kid that goes to waste just because he has extra energy to shake off and teachers don't have enough patience about it (or it may really just be the classroom setting ).
There are times when we recap at home and he'd start confused, but with just a little explanation and he's be like, "ohhh... now I know!"
Thanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out.
Right on @arrliinn you can do it!
This is also a concern for me because I am working full time and want to homeschool. The homeschool coordinator at International British Academy was very helpful and assured us that 4 hours per day of study will do just fine.
So my husband and I will split 2 hours per day with our 3 and 6 yr old. Good luck to us in our homeschooling journey!
I found a few bloggers in wordpress that post their activities and progress also, it's very reassuring to know that it is a larger movement and you do not feel alone while homeschooling, other parents rock at it, we will too. ;)
It is really comforting/reassuring that there are plenty of support system for parents like us who want to homeschool. I think that bottom line is, both parents need to invest time and exert effort if we were to make it work. 😉
Best of luck to both of us, i will follow you and hopefully see more of your homeschooling journey.
I hope that homeschooling work out for you. Personally I think it is a good idea. I was bored to death in school so by third grad my mom took me out to homeschool me full time. I have nothing against traditional school so if that works for you then great. Personally I feel like being homeschooled made it easier for me to have a more open mind. I ended up more motivated to be well read, learn a variety of topics, especially in IT and was able to learn about politics so I wasn't subjected to the usual false facts many people are these days. it's also easier to do now since there are so many online courses along with local groups you can connect with to help you.
Wow, thanks @exavier! Coming from a homeschooled person himself, now that is something else. I hope my son would be able to say the same in the future.
Welcome, just being honest. Glad to see you're getting so much positive feedback from people. :-) Homeschooling is really what you make of it and being adaptive.
The thing is that everyone learns differently which is the biggest weakness with regular school they try to standardize how you should teach someone. With time you will find what works best to teach your child. regardless structured curriculum is better, hands on, self taught or whatever else you find is best. If you ever need any advice on good resources feel free to ask I know I'd be happy to offer some ideas and I'm sure others will too. And there are lots of support groups both online and most likely locally who can help as well.
Homeschoolers are very organized now. The group I was part of as a kid now even organizes their own homeschool prom and homecoming, hah.
I'm sure your son will be able to say the same. Sounds like you're really dedicated to giving him a bright future. I personally feel like homeschooling was the best thing that could have happened to me education wise.
I know exactly what you are saying. I know the commotion you're speaking of. It's hard as an expat without having family nearby to help.
Is it not possible moving him to another school perhaps? Although I am a huge fan of homeschooling, I am not sure that it will be an easy task for a working mother. But you will know what's best for your child 😉
I guess it's a little too late to think about a new school since most admissions are already closed...
Actually, I think what I am trying to say is that I do not want to wake up early in the morning and rush to catch the school bus! lol
I always wanted to home school but I'm to late. Wish I had communities like that when my kids were growing up.
I get frowned upon by my friends when I tell them that we want to homeschool our son. They are concerned about the "socialization" factor. But given the school setting these days, where bullying is everywhere, I feel that is not the socialization my child needs. ..
This is exactly the feedback I am getting.
Here's a little bit of discussion over it
https://cjanellebell.com/2017/06/06/homeschooldebate/comment-page-1/#comment-41
Thanks for this. Will surely make time to read 😊
Wow it's a great responsibility. I can see the love you have for your son. I think you made a good decision about the homeschool
thank you @tj4real. i know it will not be easy, but i would like to give it a shot and later on wouldn't wonder what if...
Congratulations @arrliinn! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honnor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPBy upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!
Hi! I homeschooled my children for a decade. I worked part-time or not at all during those years. Honestly, I always felt like homeschooling was a full time job in and of itself. I don't think I could have done it and also worked full time. That said, I also consider it one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It gave us a wonderful amount of freedom with our time, we learned so much together and made incredible memories. I am new to this community and will probably be posting more about our homeschooling experience in the future.
Thank you for the feedback @denisechips! I really hope to make this work. I also plan to share our homeschooling journey here on steemit (if i would still have the time to write!).
I'm really interested know of your homeschooling journey too - followed you.
Followed you too! All the best! (And if you don't find a lot of time to write about it, don't beat yourself up. It took me ten years while raising small kids to get together enough of my writing to put together my book Rescuing Supermom
http://joechiappetta.blogspot.com/2011/12/rescuing-supermom-collection-of-essays.html
Wow! That's something! You are a supermom! 😉
Haha! Some days...perhaps. Some days perhaps not so much! If you read my book you'll have a few laughs at my expense ;)
Upvoted . We begin to cherish our parents as soon as we become parents. Love an respect to all moms.
Thank you. I can't even start to imagine what our parents have gone through raising my sister and I. Parenting is one tough job.