Now or later???

[BabyCatcher]

I am a mother of three 8, 5, 3. Right now they are in a VERY good private school...and to be honest I'm fairly happy. BUT I am not happy with thinking that I will be spending $10K (+) every year for the next 10 years. I think this money could be better spent. I want to homeschool, but I know that I can't right now...I have LOTS of QUESTIONS:

1-is it better to take them out at a certain grade one by one...and homeschool from that grade on OR take them all out at one time (which sounds really overwhelming to me).

2-I will be working at night but only 2-3 nights a week. Do you think that it's possible to still homeschool with a schedule like that?

3-There has to be more to homeschooling than just academics...I miss that time in my life when I was a stay at home mom and I had a relationship with my kids. I was teaching them values and morals and life stuff...cooking cleaning responsibility. Can all that still happen while trying to educate them...if so HOW?

Where can I go for answers to general questions....BOOKS, WEBSITES???

[robinsegg]

Hi!
I always recommend Lisa Whelchel's book So, You're Thinking About Homeschooling?. It gives a great overview of styles and curricula.

Generally, hsing takes a lot less time with academics, so you'd have plenty of time to teach them "home-ec" and values.

Your schedule should not be a probelm, since hsing is adaptable to your schedule.

I have a 6yo and a 4yo. We spend maybe 45 minutes doing formal academics.

There are also curricula available that use dvd's where teachers teach your children, and then they do the work.

Bottom line, it's totally doable. As to when to pull them out, it's really up to you. Before you decide, see what you're doing with your 3yo. If this child is staying at home, you are already hsing. When you were a sahm, you homeschooled your children (taught them to eat, walk, talk, etc).

[BabyCatcher]

Thank you for the info...

Now, another question...how do I tell my husband that this is my interest? I mean I think the best approach would best/1st approach would be the money that we would save on school...but does anyone have any other awesome points that I can utilize in my "breaking the news" conversation?

[robinsegg]

You might want to start a new thread for this question, as you might get different people to look at it that way.

However, here are some points that can help:
1. Family togetherness. A friend of mine switched from private to home (she was a high school teacher and has a Ker and 2nd grader), and says they're so much more a family, it's the best choice they've made.

2. Individual teaching time. You will have 3 students instead of 12-25 and will be able to spend indivicual instruction time with them.

3. Time taken. Homeschooling doesn't have to address corporate drink, potty, or meal breaks, nor do you have the discipline issues a classroom deals with. As a result, it takes much less time (most get formal academics done in the morning, with the afternoon completely free) to take care of instruction. There is also no "homework" for after instruction time. This give children more time to be kids and more time with family.

4. Individualized curriculum. You can tailor the curriculum and teaching style to cater to each student's strenths/weaknesses/interests. That doesn't mean they never have to learn something they're not interested in or something that is difficult, but it does mean you can pick and choose what works best for your family, instead of following what someone (who doesn't know your children) else has chosen.

Does that help?

[BabyCatcher]

yes thank you very much!!