Homeschooling vs Public Education

Are you still having the homeschooling vs public education debate in your head? You've learned alot about how to homeschool, but are you still worried about the school to home transition?

I am a former public school teacher and my children attended public school, so having them come home (mid-year, no less) was a VERY BIG and scary step.

You may share some of the concerns I had:

The kids were not being challenged academically at school. They were frustrated that other kids misbehavior caused consequences for them.

I was unhappy about some of the age inappropriate things they were learning from their peers.

Free time in the afternoons was slim at best because of the amount of homework that was piled on due to a lack of time at school.

Every morning was a battle to get ready because they were so tired.

If you are like me, homeschooling looks very promising, but how do you manage the traditional school to homeschool transition? Beyond the general homeschool questions about curriculum, family reactions, scheduling and legal issues, I had some other questions about the transition that needed to be addressed.

What would the kids think? How will they react? Am I “ripping” them from their friends and routine?

How would my life change?

Would the school give me a hard time about removing my kids? How would the teachers react?

How would we “get along” being around each other 24/7?

If your children have been in traditional school for any length of time, you can understand where I was coming from. For me, learning how to homeschool meant learning what would happen once I brought my girls home.

In general, here are a few suggestions to help you through the transition should you decide to make the switch from traditional to homeschool.

RESEARCH

BREAK

ASSESS YOUR CHILD

Check out the Start Homeschooling page for more information on learning styles and curriculum to find a good match of teaching materials for your child and make your homeschool transition easier.

BE FLEXIBLE

As you make the homeschool transition from transitional school, don’t be surprised if your child finishes all his assigned work in half the time you are expecting. Remember in a traditional school setting there are many events that don’t happen (or take far less time) in a homeschool….roll call, fire drills, morning announcements, lining up, group bathroom stops, passing out work/supplies, waiting for others to “be quiet”…the list can go on and on. Find other constructive learning activities to fill the extra time you “find”. Read, go to the library, join a club, take a hike, play a game.

As children get “hooked on learning” as many homeschoolers do, you will notice that a lot of the extra time they have is invested in other academic pursuits. When I started homeschooling, I thought this would happen right away….it doesn’t. It takes time, sometimes years, so don’t get discouraged.

FIND SUPPORT

Once you make the decision, COMMIT to it for one year. Changing your decision too quickly is confusing to your child and a strain on all parties involved.

What would the kids think? How will they react? Am I “ripping” them from their friends and routine? My kids say they were surprised. Surprised, but one actually started jumping up and down on the bed she was so excited. Once the initial shock wore off, they too wondered what life would be like without having to go to school. They wondered if they would miss their friends at school. We left public school mid-year (November 1) so that presented a somewhat unique circumstance. We talked about being able to sleep in and getting our work finished quickly so that we could go do fun things. I assured them that they could continue to play with their public school friends for as long as they wanted. I made a point to talk to their close friends’ parents and they were all understanding of our decision (some were even jealous) and the girls continued to play with their school friends on occasion until they quit asking about them. We still see school friends on occasion and a good time is had by all, but now they have made new friends whose schedules “fit” better with ours since they homeschool too.

How would my life change? This may sound selfish to some, but it was a reality I had to face. I was a SAHM (stay at home mom) and was used to 7 hours a day of “free time” during the week. I did spend several hours a week volunteering at the school but I mostly did what I wanted.

I’ll admit the first few weeks of our homeschool transition were the hardest. I had to get used to having them with me all the time…taking them to the grocery store, hair salon, dentist. I learned to pack a bag of activities. Not just school work, but anything to keep them busy.

My house needs cleaning more often than it used to because we are home more than we were when they were in school. At the same time, I feel like they are learning some of the things they never had time to learn when they had a pile of homework. For example, how to make a bed PROPERLY, how to load the dishwasher, how to do a load of laundry from beginning to end, how to iron, and how to make pancakes, just to name a few.

My husband is very understanding to try and “give” me some free time by taking the girls for a walk, bike ride or breakfast out on Saturday morning. I have found that sometimes a short break each day is all I need. It’s good for the kids to have special time with dad too.

Would the school give me a hard time about removing my kids? How would the teachers react? I couldn’t sleep the night before I informed the school. I was worried that I would be questioned, interrogated, and asked for proper paperwork showing that I had registered with the state. That morning, we went in with cookies for the classmates. I went into my younger daughter’s class and told the teacher we brought cookies to share since today would be Rebecca’s last day at school. Surprisingly, the teacher didn’t even ask why. She just said “OK.” Hmmm….

My older daughter’s teacher asked if we were moving, and I said that we had decided to homeschool. She thought that was great (funny, because she had complained about having a former homeschool child enrolled in her class at the beginning of the year.) She invited us to attend the upcoming field trip with the class (I declined.) and told me that I should be able to come in and use the school library after hours. (Also declined.) On my way out, I stopped by the office to inform them that I was withdrawing my children to homeschool, and they just said, “Thanks for letting us know.” No paperwork, no questions. I had worried about nothing!

How would we “get along” being around each other 24/7? I knew that our family time lately had been marked by bickering and strife. Would bringing them home only create more time for them to fight? They actually got along well during the summers, but during the school year agitated each other from the time they got in the car until the time they went to bed at night.

This didn’t change at first. There was definitely an “adjustment” time. I was used to having the house to myself all day and the kids were used to being in a school setting with 20 other kids all day. They were used to being told what to do all the time and weren’t used to someone paying attention to nearly everything they did.

Our homeschool deschooling time lasted about a month. I basically didn’t do any “schoolwork” with them during this time. We played games, took walks, went to some museums, and read A LOT of books. Once we had gotten used to each other again, I started adding in “schoolwork” one subject at a time. A lot of it was very different from the typical “workbook” so they didn’t mind doing it at all.

Of course, every families experience will be different. It was sometimes a challenge, but overall, it was worth it.

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