Why Do We Homeschool???

Homeschooling is a hot topic. There are haters and there are lovers of it. There is also deep misunderstanding and mistrust of people who are homeschooling. There are people who believe that homeschooling means your child was a failure at public school, that you are a religious fanatic and want to isolate your child or even that your child doesn't like to socialize.

There is a million bazillion trillion reasons why we are now homeschooling independently. We had ventured into the world of homeschooling before through public school charter programs which were not bad at all, but were a public school at home feel. We started this year with a virtual school which was not a good fit for us at all.

But why are we homeschooling you ask? The hubs was not for it at all. He was a firm believer that you cannot succeed in life as a human being unless you go to public school, sit in a desk with 35 other kids just your age and learn what they think you should learn. At one time I thought this also.  Just as my thinking changed so has the hubs. And we can thank the changing school system (thank you Obama Administration) for that and watching MC#3 and the progress he has made.

While I am not going to get into the common core debate in this post, it is one of the reasons we are out of the virtual school and do our own thing. Still haven't received a solid answer to why are you homeschooling? I can say I feel called to it, or give a million other reasons but it comes down to this. It is what is best for MC#3. (Please don't think this will be the only post of homeschooling and the why, what, how of it and our beliefs. I have a lot to say.)

The progress he has made has been tremendous in math and reading. At first I tried  to mimic the public school at home. Guess what, yep, it didn't work. I found what works for him and we do it. Math - he went from thinking he was a math idiot to now loving math.

When I am teaching him a new concept half the time (more like 5/6 of the time) he doesn't want to listen to me explain it, he wants to work on figuring it out by himself using the tools available to him. That is a huge difference from being a child who is fed information to a child who is a free thinker and solver.

For being a reader, yes I was able to maybe get him to read 3-4 books a year. Now he reads anywhere from 4-6 books a month at the minimum. He loves James Patterson books, loves going to the library, getting a stack of books and reading them. He even has me read the books also so we can discuss them.

Do I think homeschooling is for everyone? No, I do not. It takes a lot of time and effort and it has it days where I just want to give up. But then something clicks and it makes everything worth it.

Thanks for reading - Julie

P.S - A quick note on socialization (biggest questions from people, how can they be socialized if they are not learning it by being in public school?) ..... MC#3 has no problem with that. He has a problem with over socializing. The kid won't be quiet. He is a talker. Will talk to anyone and everyone and yes he is active in church and 4-h. He gets plenty of socialization.

DISCLAIMER!!!!! IMPORTANT!!!!!! DISCLAIMER!!!!!!

The views, opinions and beliefs expressed in this blog are mine. I do not expect yours to match mine, and I will respect that yours don't. I also expect respect for my opinions, views and beliefs. Remember we are not all the same and if you are offended by something I say or something I believe in then I am sorry. But again this is my blog and my views, opinions, beliefs and what is happening in my life.
Also, what I write is in my head and heart. I am not copying anyone else willingly or knowingly. If you feel I am copying your work without acknowledging you, please feel free to message me. Two people in this world may actually have the same idea, feeling and knowledge. Weird I know, but it is plausible.
Thank You!!!
End Of Disclaimer!

First Blog...... An Introduction of Sorts

As I have been sitting and daydreaming about the perfect first blog, I realize that chances are no one will read the very first blog until it has been sitting here for months.

So then I asked a dear friend "What do I write about the first time?" To which I got the reply, "YOU." Yes it was all in caps and I could put a duh after it since I am sure she was thinking that.

So about me...... I am a Wife/Mother/Grandmother/Homemaker/Like things my way/Almost 40 (have 8 days) year old. I am a mother of 3 boys/men. Oopps forgot to include my hubby in that so make that 4 boys/men. We will call the husband, Hubs from now on. We have been together since February 1990. And yes, that really is as long as it sounds.
The kids will be ManChild (or MC for short) #1 for the 22 year old, MC#2 for the 21 year old and MC#3 for the 11 year old. MC#1 is married and my Daughter in Law (now known as DL) is 21 and they gave me a beautiful GC who is 1 and a half.
After having 3 boys, I was ecstatic to have a girl child in our family. Oh and I should state.......They all live with me. Need I say more??

We used to live in a big city in California  and now we live in the country in Oregon. 20 miles from any sort of real town. We have 20 chickens, 2 roosters, 2 ducks, 4 bunnies, 3 dogs and 2 cats. We will soon have some other random animals for 4-H market project.

I pulled my youngest out of school at the beginning of the year and we now home school. I love every minute of it. Okay maybe not every minute, but I do love the progress he has made. We are now involved in 4-H, which was a very foreign thing for city dwellers. I am slowly changing our diet to - from scratch items. I am even going to try my black thumb at gardening this year. It should go well since I kill all my house plants.

And that is my life in a nutshell. It is very hectic at times, relaxing at times, stressful at times and by no means are we a perfect family. I accept that. But oh do I have a lot to write about it.

And now, while I have been sitting here typing, I have been listening to the 14 year old male cat who is blind in one eye and missing most teeth puking. Most likely on something I would rather not have it on. So off I go to my mission in life at this moment. Don't you just envy me?