LAF-From our Members

From Our Members....

	OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF Why do you home school? Can I do this? Am I qualified to teach my children? What about the areas that are not my strengths? What are the biggest challenges I will face? What about socialization? Can I do this?
	Some Personal Thoughts from our Membership From time to time our members take a moment to share their experiences, ideas and sometimes concerns with the entire LAF family. Here are excerpts from just a few of our members that reflect their feelings about some of the questions you may be asking yourself. Ours is an inclusive group so these answers will be as different one from the other as we are…and like our membership each one can be just right. Check back now and then to see additions to this section.

	From Bobbi….on being qualified…

	Before we ever had children my husband would say, "We are never sending our children to public school." This horrified me. My husband always had a very easy time in school; never took home homework and always got high grades. I on the other hand struggled academically. I always took home homework and just brought home average grades. When Joshua (now 15) hit that three year mark I thought I better start doing some research on home schooling. The more I read the more I realized I could do it, at least through the early years. I decided to just take one year at a time. I realized that if I expect a 5, 6, or 7 year old to learn something, then if I didn't already know it I could learn right along with them. I have learned so much! When we started moving up to the Middle school age I started questioning myself again. Once again the Research began, the more I read the more confidence I had. Now we are about to move into the High School stage of life and once again the research has begun. While the anxiety isn't as strangling as past it is still there. I don't think questioning yourself is all bad, I think it makes us plan and prepare for the best education possible. Our early years were very laid back; we just learned the very basics. My theory was If they can learn to read well and love to read they can learn anything they want to. So we really just focused on reading. I read to them all the time and we work on reading, writing and basic math skills. When a child is mature enough to learn something they will. If they are not ready for the next concept it doesn't matter how often or how hard you try to pound it into their little skulls it won't go. With my oldest I put the phonics away for 6 months. We would both end up in tears every day because he just wasn't getting it. When we pulled it back out 6 months later and he took off. He was ready. I would say take one year at a time. Each year step back and evaluate what worked and what didn't. Be flexible; if something is not working don't be afraid to change it.

	From Suetta on being qualified…
	I had been researching home schooling and talking to different people, but suddenly I felt like my child’s future rested in my hands for the first time ever. Funny isn’t it? It seems I should have felt that way when he was born. What a testimony to the faith and trust we put in our public schools to raise our children for us! I am certain I did not sleep for three nights while making this decision. Then once it was made, I was terrified. I did not know where to begin. I guess we fall into the category of home schoolers known as “unschoolers”. That is because we do not follow any prescribed curriculum. We take lessons from video, internet, books, field trips, life and other people. Some days, we take no lessons at all! This method works for us because of the very limited attention span my son has and difficulty with routine. Do I still panic about his future? Almost every day. But I have learned many things about my son that I did not appreciate before home schooling. The most important thing I’ve learned is that he is extremely bright. This is not something that shows up in public school because of the nature of repetitive work and the sheer volume of work they pile on. His interests are very defined and non-moving. Yet, within those interests, he has become somewhat of a local amateur-expert, even speaking to various clubs and organizations. We never before had the time for him to spend on his hobbies and interests developing them to where they are today. It is his dream to make his career out of one of those interests. He hopes to one day become a meteorologist. While it is my job and my husband’s job to guide the way, it is our son’s job to get there. I remind myself daily that I cannot do his learning for him. So much of what we do in home schooling is showing the way and stepping back. Just like parenting! Now that’s a coincidence.

	From Patty….on socialization…
	I was asked this question just recently and here was my reply… "Yes, I know this can be a problem...dramatic pause...but sometimes we just have to say 'enough' to all of the group events, get-togethers, and fun with friends otherwise, we'd never get any school work done!"

	From Tanya …on socialization…
	… I don't like the "social skills" kids seem to learn in public school. Basically I don't believe 6 or 7 year olds should be learning the bulk of their social skills from other 6 or 7 year olds. To me that is like learning to drive from someone who does not know how…

	From Bobbi on Higher Education…
	You don't need to worry about home schooling limiting your child's chances of getting into a good college. Colleges and Universities are more accepting of home schooled children today. They are finding that most are better students. Home schooled young people on the average out test public school children. Also, home schoolers have the opportunity to get a head start on college; they can take dual credit class at the local community college when they as young as 15 or 16.

	From Laura on why….
	So, there are my reasons: I want my kids to learn how to learn, not how to memorize. I want my kids to have a strong sense of themselves before being influenced by what's supposedly 'cool'. I don't want some school board telling me what is proper or improper for my kids.

	From Tanya on why….
	Ok, I'll … just sum up my favorite reasons: I don't have to plan our lives around the school schedule. If we want to go play in the winter and stay inside and do schoolwork during the severe summer heat, we can. If we want to take a month long trip, we can, anytime we want, and it doesn't have a negative impact on school work. I have a say who she socializes with… I can choose how she learns. I'm not limited to only the state curriculum. If I feel there is a better way to learn something I can do it that way.

	From Suetta on why….
	When we first moved to Sugar Land from Dallas, our son was in the 6th grade. One of my friends who lived here had been home schooling her three children for many years and was actively involved in a local group. We talked occasionally about what home schooling was like, but I really couldn’t conceive of taking my son out of public school. I had loved everything about school and wanted him to have the opportunity to experience the same fondness for it that I had. But as the year wore on, the pressures of middle school began to mount and his learning difficulties became more prominent. We had struggled some in Dallas and took advantage of special education classes and tutoring, but moving to Sugar Land put him in a Blue Ribbon school for the first time. The pressure for him to perform was overwhelming. The demands of a Blue Ribbon school seemed never ending, and so did the workload. Along with his learning challenges and some already existent emotional challenges, he began developing a chronic list of daily ailments that had him spending more time in the nurse’s office than in the classroom. While all of that was going on, it seemed I was always in one Special Ed (ARD) meeting after another. The ARD team always seemed sincere about implementing the plans we discussed, but later it seemed nothing ever got put into place. My son was being “left behind”. When he started his 7th grade year, we made it all the way to the third week before I made the agonizing decision to pull him out.

	From Meg on why…
	I like to homeschool my son ‘cause I enjoy his company. I homeschool him so he can grow up with out being in a clique in Jr. High / High School. No drugs or drinking or thinking about sex...kids in his age range are already having sexual relations...my son is 13. He can learn what he wants to learn…when he wants to learn it. Homeschooling Rocks ‘cause I get to be with my child at anytime and not just when he gets home from school.

	From Bobbi on why….
	There are so many great things about home schooling that I could go on forever. I am the one that gets to see the 'light bulb' come on when they finally get something; I am the one that listened to my kids read their very first word.