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Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 4:40:45 PM
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tearjerker
Posts: 6
Joined: 9/3/2005
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Hi everyone. I have a four year old, soon to be three and a 16-month old. My husband and I have been looking into all the options for our children.
I actually do have my teaching certification, but have never been able to get a job past substitute (I am certified to teach 7-12 social studies). My dream has been to get into a Christian school, but so far that hasn't come to fruition either.
With my experience in the public school system, both as a student and as a teacher, I really don't have peace about sending my girls there. My honest preference would probably be to send them to a private Christian school, but I'm not sure we could afford all three to go. (Could probably afford one to go but that's about it.)
Previously we've always been a two income household, and even at that barely scraping by. I just lost my job (not subbing) and now I've decided to go back to subbing in the fall as things are just really difficult to get by with just the one income (currently one full time and one part time income.)
So now, I'm kind of torn between the teacher in me, and the parent in me (yeah, that's a hard one...especially the teacher in me.) I know the teacher in me would thrill at homeschooling, not sure how much patience the parent in me has with that though.
Now, a long background leading up to this question- does anybody homeschool their children in the evening? Luckily the oldest has one more year prior to entering Kindergarten, and I'd like to keep them in the Christian preschool they are in now if we can keep up with it financially. Obviously if I go back to substituting I would be working days. My husband works primarily evenings so he is home with them during the day. Homeschooling would be my responsibility though.
I'm thinking about testdriving it this fall, keeping them in preschool if possible and then continuing the homeschooling in the evening on the days they are not there. Any other thoughts I haven't considered? Any imput would be terrific!
Thanks-
Tammie
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 4:55:56 PM
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Jenny-Fair
Posts: 6648
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From: WA
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I am a single mom who often has to work full-time, so yeah, we school on evenings and weekends, with some independent work during the days.
I would say, though, that as a certified teacher, you will have some hurdles to overcome if you choose to homeschool. Chiefly, attempting to replicate a school environment in your home. I would strongly recommend NOT doing so. I would also recommend against beginning formal education at such a young age and using that experience as a benchmark for making your decision. To take a child that young and attempt to force learning upon them is going to cause you both misery.
I would recommend some reading, such as Real-Life Homeschooling, Ruth Beechick's books, and plenty of homeschool mom chatter, such as on this site.
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Matthew 18:1-6...anyone causes one of these little ones...to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 5:38:53 PM
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cindybode
Posts: 1584
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Northwest PA
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School hours are any hours that you and your child are both awake and in the same place at the same time. One of the huge benefits of homeschooling is NOT replicating public school in your home, and that includes the schedule.
I agree with Jen. Teachers often have the hardest time homeschooling because they try to make it look just like a ps classroom. That seldom works. IMHO, your kids are too young for formal education.
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If you lock in any creature, from rats to chickens to pigs to people, 10 to 30 or more in a box and force feed them you'll create little monsters. Confinement Education School Operations (CESOs) just don't compare to naturally pastured free-ranged kids.
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 7:09:04 PM
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sen10tious
Posts: 369
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tearjerker
- does anybody homeschool their children in the evening?
We homeschooled in the evening… and on weekends, and in the morning, and at meals, and we had some great physics lessons during bath time when they were toddlers; basically I taught things to my kids when we sat in our house and when we walked along the road and when we were lying down and when we rose up and during all the bases covered in Deuteronomy 11:19.
You child is only four years old. Anyone doing "formal homeschooling" at that age is not really home educating at all; they are mimicking a rubric.
See this sentence that you wrote? I know the teacher in me would thrill at homeschooling, not sure how much patience the parent in me has with that though.
That tells me you need to dump some of the baggage of you formal training. It ought to be the parent in you that thrills in seeing your children learn. It is our heavenly Father who delights in us. It ought to be the teacher part who is patient.
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 7:55:50 PM
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shadowspring
Posts: 1553
Joined: 5/27/2006
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With all that said, I know a lot of former public school teachers who home school, and love it. 
If your husband enjoys your children's company in the daytime, likes reading to them and playing Legos with them and hanging out in the backyard with them, go for it! That's the stuff that life is made of! 
All the while they can learn about colors and numbers and how the world works. Then at night, IF it's fun for both of you, you can have "playschool" with your oldest. Learn to write the alphabet, or spell their first and last name, and make the ten numerals.
Not only could it be done, it could be FUN!
_____________________________
 "All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost..." -J. R. R. Tolkien
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 8:19:35 PM
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tearjerker
Posts: 6
Joined: 9/3/2005
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Oh I never meant anything more than learning to write her letters (some she can already do) and she can already spell her first name. Just going off some basic stuff like that.
Okay, thanks for the advice. I know my statement regarding teacher/parent was kind of weird...I love watching my kids learn...but sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist and impatient. It's a major fault of mine that I'm trying to overcome. I'm much less so as a teacher in a classroom, although as a sub it's very difficult to be a perfectionist.
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 9:22:27 PM
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cynthia
Posts: 7786
Joined: 3/31/2005
From: Beautiful Puget Sound Region
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If they are in preschool, what kind of homeschooling would you be doing in addition to what they are already doing in preschool? Why would you want to homeschool them when they are already in preschool? It seems redundant.
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The devil isn't winning, but he wants you to think he is so you will give up and let him win. Often the battle is hardest before the victory. You may get bloody, but that doesn't mean you are losing, it only means you are fighting.
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RE: Seriously considering... - 7/13/2008 9:31:06 PM
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creationtalk
Posts: 589
Joined: 6/9/2005
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quote:
does anybody homeschool their children in the evening?
I'm a single mom, work very long hours at my job (soon to add a second job). I homeschool weekends, evenings, and my child's care give also does some with my son.
A lot of the time, our school looks a bit like a game...for example, when my son was learning addition, we would often play a game similar to monopoly (dino-opoly, bugopoly, animalopoly...yes we have three versions) my son was expected to add the numbers on the dice and when we landed on something we would read about the "animal" on the spot and some of the cards would have trivia questions about the subject of the game, so we were also studying science. Now we play scrabble...my son has his dictionary out to help with words, he has to read every word we put down and if he doesn't know what it means, we look it up in the dictionary. My son also adds up all his own points. He also earns the right to play computer games, video games, and video's by reading (since he struggles with reading).
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