Homeschool Fridays: Q&A Post!

This is an old Q&A post that was published in October 2012 back over on my old blog, Living Homeschooled.


I asked around on Google+ and in some past posts for questions about being a teenage homeschooler, and here's what I got. I was surprise by the turn out! If I keep getting questions at this rate, I might have to make these a regular thing!

Lewis Miranda asked-

Here. Is it hard on you, being outside the influence of school groups?

The school as a place that brings people of similar ages to a single location, where they both learn and interact. in that environment, there is good and bad. there may also be some things you would be curious about or (want) / (would like) to explore/experience.

So, what is your think on this one? What is your feel? your handling? why?

Wow, interesting question!  I think this one is a lot like many socialization questions that every homeschooler has heard many times. As far as that aspect of it goes, no, it is not hard on me. Our homeschool group has many (probably close to 50) families, with kids of all ages (17-15 months). There are lots of activities that are all ages that I participate in, and also ones for just the high school group. So as far as that goes, no, it is not really hard on me.

As far as things that I might want to experience, I have not had much trouble with that either. With such a large group, we have done a lot of classes (one mom used to make stained glass as a career and now teaches it to the older kids who are interested, another used to be a high school art teacher, and teaches that). I can also take individual classes or sports at the local high school if I want to. The only things that some of us older girls wish we had were dances and other similar formal activities. We could go to the ones at the school, but we don't know any of the people there.

Emily L. wanted to know-

 Have you ever gone to public school? What are some of the major pros/cons between the two types of schooling?

 I went to kindergarten and first grade at the local elementary school. I actually liked it, though I was really advanced in reading and writing, and so was bored a lot of the time. As far as pros/cons go, I think they are different for every family. For me, the main pro of homeschooling is that I can go at my own pace. That means that I was able to do a 8th grade level English program in 5th grade, because I was ready for it. I also spent two years doing Algebra 1 because I was not ready to move on yet. The main con for me is that it can be a bit too easy to get pretty far behind in something by just procrastinating, even if it is not really a difficult subject.

Another pro of homeschooling is that the people are a lot nicer. :) I do things with school kids sometime, and they are a lot less accepting of people they don't know. With homeschooling, at least in our group, there is a lot less pressure to 'fit in.'

These are just my personal pros and cons. They vary from family to family.

 Robin, age 11 asks

What do you do if you get overwhelmed?

The best answer  I have to that question is take a break. :) I am assuming you are meaning when I am doing my school work.

That certainly happens to me.  Usually with things like Latin, or Algebra. If I am getting frustrated, or overwhelmed with a particular subject, I will either take a 20 minute break, and read a book, or eat a snack, or sometimes do some writing. Then I come back to it. Sometimes, I am overwhelmed because I am not sure how to to do the assignment. In those cases, I put it aside until I have a chance to talk to my mom about it.


Ginger, age 8 asks

How tricky is your schooling?

Well, that varies. :) Personally, my strongest subjects are English, History, and Logic, and I think those are all pretty easy. Biology and Latin are the ones I struggle with the most. I am in my 7th year of Latin, and I found it really does not get much easier. :)

I spend about 5-6 hours a day doing my school. Those 'trickier' subjects easily take up half of that time.


Nepeta asked-

 I would like to know more about the homeschool group and how that works.

Eight years ago, when we started homeschooling, my dad was reading a local homeschool Yahoo group, and saw a few families mention that they met every week at a park. At that time, we did not know any other homeschoolers, so my dad emailed the woman in charge of them, and told her we would be coming that week. Including us, there were maybe 6 families at that time.

For about three years, that was all our homeschool group was. It grew considerably, to about 10-15 families.  Then, one of the families expressed an interest in doing a soccer class. Enough families were also interested that we rented a local indoor soccer field and hired a college student to teach us soccer one morning a week. Four years later, Friday Soccer is now a much bigger deal, with three age groups, each including about 20 kids.

About that time, one mom, who used to be a high school art teacher, decided to offer a art class to me, my sister, and the kids of a few other families. She has done them regularly ever sense. Another mom sets up a few field trips to local businesses each month. For example, last week, we toured a local apple orchard.

Basically, our group is made up of 15-20 "core families" who set up most of these activities, most of whom have been around a long time. There are other families who come to some of the activities, but are not as active in the group. 

Thanks for all of your great questions! If you have more, ask them in the comments, and when I get enough, I will do another Q&A post!