I have been homeschooling for the past 6 years. My oldest went to public school through 6th grade, my middle son went through 4th grade, and my youngest has never been to public school. My kids did not struggle academically but struggled socially as one has Autism and the other a combination of ADD and recently bipolar disorder. Homeschooling at the time was an answer to our prayers. It has its ups and downs, of course, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My oldest is a Senior this year and will be our first to graduate high school as a homeschooler. He is also the one who has high functioning autism.
We are not anti public school. We believe do what works for you. Public school did not work for my family. Having a child who is special needs and is also very bright, it is hard to find the right place for them academically. The school failed him in this area. They wanted to put him in a room on a computer to do school so that he could do the advanced classes without having to deal with changing class rooms and dealing with all the people in the hallways. He had a hard time with this. When this was their solution, I said no because I can do that at home. He would lose the social aspect by being in a room all day on a computer. Bringing him home meant I could get him the education he needed and wanted, but also got him involved with other kids through different groups and organized activities. His stress level went way down once we made this decision. We have never looked back!
After acclimating to having one kid homeschool, it was easier to bring the middle one home and keep the youngest at home. My 10 year old loves to homeschool! I ask him every year if he wants to go to public school and he says he wants to continue homeschool. I wouldn’t mind if he went to public school starting in middle school. He is my typical child who would probably do just fine in school. He just enjoys being home with his family and I can respect that. I love the moments that I get to share with them. They are learning all the time and I am a huge part of that!
So if you homeschool or have thought about homeschooling, check back from time to time for tips on this journey! I will share in my next post how we homeschool!