O/T: Homeschooling

[sandhills_rabbits]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

I wish I was home schooled. The reason behind that is because Iam a bit anti-social, very shy, smart and I'm mocked for it, and Isuffer from some social anxiety. As you can imagine, school is my worstnightmare and walking through the halls with 1200 other kids is nervewracking to me. I do not participate in class discussions because I'mafraid to be mocked for being smart.

and

rabbitgirl wrote:

See, that's me too. I'm an "Aspie girl" (Asperger's syndrome), andhomeschooling allowed me to turn eccentricity into achievement--plusallowing me to socialize on my own terms, where I could pull back if itall became too much. This gave me a lot more confidence!

Rose

Rose, It is wonderful that homeschooling worked out so well for yoursituation. I have a friend with a child that is being tested forAsperger's and I know it's been on her mind heavily lately. Well, fromyour wonderfully insightful and well though out posts it's obvious thatyou have done very well for your self! I am actually sending my friendthe link to this thread, because that reading your posts might ease hermind a little bit when thinking about the tests her son is goingthrough.

Mybunnyboys, I know exactly how you feel about school. I was in thesame situation when i was younger and in junior high and highschool.Junior High was like Hell for me. Luckily Highschool was a little bitbetter, but not much. All i know is that if by homeschooling mydaughter i can keep her from going through some of what i had to endureI will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Is homeschooling apossibility for you, or is it out of the question?

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

See I believe that if I was home-schooled, thenmy level of social anxiety would not be nearly as bad. Every morning Iwake up knowing I have to go face my worst fear -- a crowded school.It's gotten so much worse since I got into highschool because there ismany more people. It's now at the point that I will not even go to mylocker in the mornings because it's on the other side of the schoolfrom my first block class and it's nerve wracking for me to walk bypeople.

Most people think that if you have fears of people, the best way todeal with it is to be around more people, however, I for one can tellthis does not help. My self esteem is virtually non-existant now andbecause I'm a very strong introvert I am exhausted by the time I gethome after school (generally speaking introverts need alone time to'recharge' while extroverts need other people to gain energy again).Now because I know that I have to get up and go to school with allthose people there is an element of fear for me. I believe that if Ihad been home-schooled and allowed to socialize when I wanted, thenthings would be a lot better.

P.S.- No home-schooling is not an option as both of my parents have full time jobs.

 

[rabbitgirl]

sandhills_rabbits wrote:

Rose, It is wonderful that homeschooling worked out so wellfor your situation. I have a friend with a child that is being testedfor Asperger's and I know it's been on her mind heavily lately. Well,from your wonderfully insightful and well though out posts it's obviousthat you have done very well for your self! I am actually sending myfriend the link to this thread, because that reading your posts mightease her mind a little bit when thinking about the tests her son isgoing through.

Well, I'm glad if it helps someone! I hope it goes well for your friendand her son. Homeschooling certainly played a huge part in what I'mable to do today!

Rose

 

[Carolyn]

My Bunny Boys,

I wish I could walk by your side with you, Laura. It breaksmy heart that you have go through such emotions. I'm here foryou and I love and respect your brain. Raspberry Swirl and Iwere chatting about how evolved you are for a woman of yourage. Your intelligence impresses us both.

Rose gives excellent words of wisdom about how as you get older, the tide changes.

-Carolyn

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Carolyn wrote:

My Bunny Boys,

I wish I could walk by your side with you, Laura. It breaksmy heart that you have go through such emotions. I'm here foryou and I love and respect your brain. Raspberry Swirl and Iwere chatting about how evolved you are for a woman of yourage. Your intelligence impresses us both.

-Carolyn

Well I've done a few things to at least improve my situation. (One major drawback is that I don't make friends easily either.)

In grades 7, 8, and 9 (considered jr. high in Canada) all the studentswere split up into classes of 30 (90 kids = 3 class) and the kidschanged classrooms between courses but we always stayed with the samekids in the class. So I simply made sure I was put into a class with mygood friends. That lessened the stress because group projects didn'tscare me anymore.

But then when I got to high school we all started taking differentcourses and sometimes classes were to full for me to switch into so Iworked my schedule to get as many classes with my good friends as Icould. I was lucky this year because I ended up having classes with atleast one person I knew. As soon as this semester ends at the end ofthe month I am going to have that stress and fear again because I'll beunsure if I know anyone in my new classes until I get there. The realkicker is that I love the sciences but those are the classes thatinvolve the most group work so it's fairly daunting for me.

Another thing I managed to pull off was getting a spare as often as Icould. I managed to get a full block spare in 3rd block this semesterand I have a last block spare next semester. Although I don't get asmany credits as I could have, it really does help having time to unwindand calm down again and I don't have the added stress of an overload ofhomework.

But that's all I can do. It's at the point now that once I get homeafter school, I stay home because I've had my people fill for the day.I even avoid going outside in my own backyard if I see the neighborsare outside.

As for being intelligent, I reverted to books in grade 5 because Ididn't make friends well and since them I have been a quick learner.

 

[sunnysideup]

sandhills_rabbits wrote:

I know this post has nothing to do with bunnies, but the Homeschoolingis a huge part of my day, and today especially I've got a lot on mymind with it because I've got to tabulate all of her assignment'sscores, her self test scores, her final exam scores, and her overallgrades. Then I type of a in-depth progress report, so we have recordsof what she's learned and how she's been doing. The whole process lasttime took over 2 hours. (at least i do it for 2 units at a time so it'snot a monthly thing). Grrrrrrrrr....... It's so worth all the timeinvolved, but on days like this it is sooooooooooo tough. Sorry for thelong venting ramble. I promise not to do it again!

Haha, I understand! I have a 9th grader and an 8th grader and we'vebeen homeschooling since they were in kindergarten and 1st grade. It'sa hard but rewarding and fabulous job, isn't it? Most people who don'thomeschool have a different view of homeschooling than an actualhomeschooler does, but I understand because I once didn't homeschooland didn't understand it either.
When we started 9 years ago I got a lot more negative responses to ourlifestyle. We would be in the grocery store and people would ask in anaccusing tone, "Why aren't you in school?" (always to the kids, neverto mom who was standing right there) and my kids would always answerpolitely that they were homeschooled. Then, almost without fail, theperson would stick their faces in my childrens faces ask, yet again ina negative tone, "Well, how do you like being homeschooled?" as if mychildren were going to fall down and grab the person around the kneesand beg to be taken away from the mean homeschooling mommy who torturedthem. :?
Now, I get a lot of "Oh, I wish I could have homeschooled my children!"or "I'd love to do that, but..." which is obviously much easier on us.:dude:
Homeschooling is a personal choice, and thank God we are allowed tomake that choice if we so choose. I do hope that the perception ofhomeschoolers increases in the positive. Every state is different, butin mine the state educators are pretty anti-homeschooling, though ourstate homeschooling laws are actually pretty pro homeschooling. I haveheard that in some states the education system works with thehomeschoolers, and that sounds like heaven. We are, after all, afterthe same thing. I think homeschoolers and state education could benefiteach other, but I don't know if that will ever happen. Here, if you areinto sports, it's very hard because the sports are wrapped around thehigh schools, and they make no allowances for homeschoolers to join in.
Anyway, hi to all of the other homeschool-ers and homeschool-ees on the board! *smiling and waving*

 

[Delphinum]

I wish I'd been homeschooled but with my parentsmarriage on the rocks and the divorce, etc, no-one had the time ormoney. I hated school and the pupils were absolutehorrors! It was a total waste of my time as I spent the lastfew years skippingmonths at a timebecause I hatedit so much. I'd have been better to sit at home and read mybooks. The classes were very disruptive and most of the timewas spent settling the unruly kids and ignoring those of us who wantedto work... and I was in the higher gradedclass!:? From when I can remember, all I wanted was to not go toschool.

Thank goodness I'm too old to go now! 'School days are thebest days of your life'.... pah, then I'm going to have a prettymiserable life! :X *grumble grumble*

Not that I'm bitter at all... LOL

Ang xx

 

[pamnock]

sandhills_rabbits wrote:

How do you find the time tojuggle all the childrens' schedules with your own? How do you know ifyou or your children are biting off more than you can chew? We are nowrunning into this situation with our daughter.

In general they will express when they stressed andoverwhelmed. Changes in normal behavior may other be signsthatthey are suffering from burn out.

When we notice this happening, we may back off on some activities, getan earlier start in the day, or do some rescheduling. It maybe helpful to schedule in a small break and go on some field trips orgo up to the gym for some basketball to let off some pressure.

I've found that a lot of physical activity is necessary to offset the burnout caused by excessive scholastic studies.

I do, however, require that my kids follow through with acommitment. If they wish to quit after theprearrangedminimum participation time, they may.This teaches them to carefully think their choices through and beaccountable for the choices they make. If they say they aregoing to do something -- they must follow through with it.

Pam

 

[Bo B Bunny]

OHhhhh, let me tell you about burnout! LOL!

My son is SUPER intelligent. The visual tests they performfor children when testing for things like ADHD..... he got 100% on andthey ran out of tests (through High School level) before time wasup.... this was when he was 8 years old. They couldn't get anaccurate measure on his visual capabilities because of this.....

ANYHOW, Luke has been attending private school since preschool. He hasdone well but was always disorganized. He never has to studyor anything, because his visual "gift" allows him to remember EXACTLYwhat he saw, or learned.

This year he will graduate 8th grade from his school. It'sbeen challenging academically, and he has stayed on task with verylittle help from me or the school regarding his ADHD. Mainly,we have just kept in contact and we make sure he gets his homework ifhe misses a day. He sorta freaks if he can't be perfect or isrunning behind..... anything like that. He just shutsdown.... won't do it.

This year... omg.... I feel I am in HELL. He's having a hardtime just doing his work. He doesn't want to do anything butrelax, sleep, play. I think I am constantly yelling for himto get out of his room and come do his work.

I truly believe he's burntout. This school is really rough inthe jr. high level. I seriously doubt I'll leave my daughterin after 4th grade (she's in 3rd now). That's a good time tomove her over to the public school since it's when they change to amiddle school.

Today, the Catholic High School near us has phoned...... They havedriven me nuts for about 6 mos now. They want him in theirschool..... he got 100% on his ISTEP, it's good for their overalltesting to have someone like him. I have avoided them andabout 4 other private schools...... He needs to be in the "real world"for a while before college.

OK, done rambling

 

[BunnyLover]

I'm in 9th grade and I have been homeschooledsince 5th. I absolutely love it, but I have to agree, homeschoolingisn't for everyone.Some people have misconceptions ofhomeschoolers, they tend to think that we get off easy and don't haveto work as long, hard, ect. In most cases that is not trueandwe work just as hard as the kids that go to publicschools. I do know what it is like to go to school and I don't feellike I am missing out on anything.

For my high school program I have professors that grade my work. I willalsoreceive a diploma which will make getting into a collegemuch easier for me. More and more colleges (andpeople!!)arebeginning to accept homeschoolers,which is great for us.


Lissa

 

[kpc]

Bo Bunny,
I understand you completly myoldest son is the same way he started to read at 2 years old so hang inthere my son and I had major battles over school work now he's in 10grade and love school he has even thanked me for being so hard on himover doing his work when I homeschooled him I just wish I was able tohomeschool now but I have had to return to work and not able to now andI realy miss it

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Thanks, kpc! It's very frustrating. I guess part of it is his age/hormones LOL!

He's a good kid and I think he will find his way alright, and I will be right there next to him as he goes along.

I so understand the reading at 2 yrs old thing.... at 17 mos old, Lukeknew his alphabet randomly by sight, and his numbers to 20.

At 3 years old he went into preschool, looked up at the blackboard andtold them what it said..... the teacher was quite shocked LOL!

 

[sammi]

MyBunnyBoys,

In the ongoing search to figure out the best way to educate myown daughter (who is now four years old) I have done loads of researchabout homeschooling, But the part that stands out in my memory was thededication of the highschool age students. Often, they followedcurriculum and basically did it all on their own. They were at an agewhere they didn't necessarily need to be instructed by someoneelse...There are lots of sites where you can read more about this, andthere are online tutoring opportunities as well. I realize that yourparents are unable to teach you, but you sound to me very clever andmature, perhaps you could do it yourself? Just a suggestion!

sammi

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

They have a program called Outreach here. It's acorrespondence type way of learning. There is a building in town thatyou go drop off complete coursemodules and pick up the nextones and you also go their to write scheduled tests. I consideredtaking Biology 20 through Outreach this year, however, I changed mymind because I know full well that I learn better in a classroomsetting plus my course load was probably too heavy for me (Math 20Pure, Physics 20, German 20, and Biology 20) so I just dropped Biology.For me to learn something, I need a teacher toexplain whythat is because if it's just a formula I need to know why it is what itis because that's how I learn.

I am a very fast learner when it comes to math and the sciences (namelyChemistry and Physics) because I have the natural ability to take ininformation after the teacher explained something and retain it but Icannot read something off a text book page and retain it for the lifeof me. I could probably do Social Studies and English through Outreachbecause it's all straight forward information but I'm currently in thelast week of my English and Social Studies courses so that doesn't helpme now, lol.

 

[sammi]

You have that sort of brain that always baffledme when I was in school! I was very much an "art and english" type, andI had nightmares about the math and science regularly. Still do, cometo think of it...I have this nasty recurring one where I discover Ididn't complete the last math semester and I have to go back! Igraduated from high school 10 years ago!! Anyways, I wish you the best.Thankgoodness for our bunnies! It's funny how something sosmall and quiet can make everything ok...

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

See I'm a math and science person, social is okbut english is the epitome of my high school courses! I'm a verylogical thinker but not very creative.

I love my bunnies, they really do help me so much when I've had an especially stressful day or even after a normal day.

 

[stanleysmommy]

I'm homeschooled too! YAY!

 

[ayglnu13]

I am homeschooled as well

~Amy

 

[m.e.]

I was homeschooled, and now have siblings that are being homeschooled, and I plan to homeschool my kids! :highfive:

 

[TinysMom]

I miss homeschooling. I homeschooled my twins from K-12 and then they went on to college.

I think my bunnies help me feel better about missing thehomeschooling...but I am NOT going to try to teach them to read andwrite. I will however, "homeschool" my buns to get them touse the litterbox!

Peg