If you are anything like me you are noticing some big problems in Public Education. Last year we had 4 of our 5 children in public school. The year was full of tears, frustration and fighting, that was just us parents. I became frustrated with fighting the school for the education that I felt my children deserved. We started looking into alternatives. We looked at charter schools-BIG waiting list to get in. We looked at Private School-Too expensive. Our final choice was Homeschool them.
   WHAT?!! HOMESCHOOL?! Are you insane? Have you gone completely off your rocker? We don't live in a bombshelter. This is the 21st century for crying out loud!
My husband and I did some soul searching, some reading and a lot of research and decided homeschooling was our choice.
      I hear from a lot of mom's "I could never homeschool, I don't have that kind of patience" "Wow, you must be one organized person to do that", "I don't have the education background to homeschool my kids"
But shhh....I'm about to tell you a secret. It doesn't take a degree in rocket science to homeschool, you don't have to have the patience of Mother Theresa to Homeschool and you don't have to be as organized as Martha Stewart to homeschool. What it does take is a lot of love(which Mom's naturally have). A basic knowledge of how to learn. I only have some college background, but never graduated college. I learn right along with my kids. When we learned about Christopher Columbus, I downloaded some things off of the internet and read to them. I found worksheets on the internet for them. Guess what? They learned! I learned!
Oh and my organization skills consist of labeled binders and a basket for everything else.
     What about a curriculum you ask? I have a curriculum. I call it the Melting pot curriculum. A little of this and a little of that. I buy books for my children to read off of Ebay and Amazon. We utilize the local public library for it's resources. I talk to other homeschoolers. My biggest resource-the internet. There are literally thousands of websites out there. Go ahead and google "homeschooling" see what you come up with. Need math worksheets? Google Free math worksheets. You'd be amazed at what you'll find. Spelling, Social studies, language arts? Same thing.
     I admit we do have our days where I feel like I'm about to tear all of my hair out and put the kids back in school. Usually within a day or 2 of that happening one of the kids has a light click on and I see that they have finally gotten a concept that has puzzled and confused them for days. This is one of my biggest rewards so far as a homeschooling mom. My children are enjoying being homeschooled. We learn many things hands on.
What better way to learn about horticulture than to plant seeds? Try learning about plant life by identifying the plants around you. We learned about constellations by reading books, making a constellation viewer and downloading maps then going outside at night to find the constellations in the night sky. It's a ll so worth it to see my children with a desire to learn.
    One of the biggest questions about homeschooling is "what about socialization?" What about it? Who ever said that the definition of socialization is one child interacting with 30 other children their same age on a daily basis? Here's my answer to the socialization issue. Look into local public programs. For instance my son played city league football this year. One of my girls is in a youth soccer league.
Look into youth church organizations. Find homeschooling co-ops. Teach your children to do volunteer work. See if your are offers a 4-H program. Through these resources children learn to socialize with other children, but they are also learning to socialize with adults. When your child becomes an adult and enters the workplace they will not only be working with people their own age but also with people 2 and 3 times their age.
     One final question I hear is "What about college?" "Don't you need a highschool diploma to enter college?" Well do a search engine search on SAT and ACT scores for homeschooled kids. You'll find that many are scoring above 27 and the ACT. I've talked to several who have done just that. I've also talked to some homeschooled teens that decided to just go test and get their GED.
 It is just as important for a homeschooled kid to have an academic mindset as it is for public schooled kids who are entering college.
In addition there are colleges beginning to pop up that are designed with homeschoolers in mind. Colleges are also beginning to see an influx of students applying to their colleges that were homeschooled.
Also check with your state to see if they offer an online highschool. My state offers what is called the Electronic High School. It free to citizens of my state. Teens can take all of their required highschool classes online. Same principle as taking college courses online.
     If you are feeling some frustration with public education system look around. Start asking around and talk to other homeschoolers. Just realize that you do have options.