anyone who has home schooled thier child?

[Bek]

is home schooling a good idea? is it very expensive....do you suggest home schoooling for 9th grade and up. Anything you know please share. Thank you.

[Ana b]

I think that you would be making a wise decision to homeschool your child. There are so many opportunities during High School that kids miss out on because they are stuck in a classroom all day. Homeschooling can be free if you want it to. All you need is your local library and a connection to the internet. Or you can use some curriculum. What Ive found is that a lot of people use an eclectic style where they use curriculum, the library, the internet, and they find stuff from book stores or wherever they can find things that work with the topics they are studying. You have to be committed and flexible because what works today may not work tomorrow. Another thing to remember is that real homeschooling is not "School at home" unless you are using a program from the school system or even some of the online schools. There is a lot of information on the internet about homeschooling. I suggest that you do a search for "Homeschool" and the area that you are in. Take a look at the links to get an idea of what you should look for.

Hope that helps!

Edited to add - California has not banned homeschool. Look at HSLDA's website to find out more.

[BraxOwl]

I think it is a wonderful idea!

Children learn better when they receive a customized education, tailored to fit their individual learning styles. Homeschooling is, throughout history, how education takes place. School is a new, artificial environment.

Homeschooling is successful for younger students as well as high school. There are no materials available to teachers that are not available to homeschool parents, and we spend a lot of time researching various materials and methods, etc. (since we are not forced to use a cookie cutter as the public schools require).

Contrary to the first response, homeschoolers do not miss out socially either. We are out living in the real world, rather than just reading about it. It is a common stereotype, that while annoying-I guess if that is the only negative the anti-homeschoolers come up with, then we are doing pretty good because that is easily countered. My homeschooled children are in 4H, Scouts, baseball. They play with children in our family, circle of friends, and community. They attend co-op classes, visit the park, etc. They also know how to socialize with the librarian, the butcher, the mailman, the clerk at the store, etc. Socialization is NOT an issue-except making sure you leave the schedule open enough for lessons.