Friday, September 26, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to Tales of an Ex-Home School Mom! Hopefully my tale will unfold over time, as I unpack the guilt involved in schooling my children, my unhealthy ties to some other home school moms, as well as my identity crisis in the midst of it all. Join me! Tell me your story! No gaurauntees I'll begin at the beginning, or even post regularly, but I do look forward to your input.

In Freedom ...

Flea

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

ooooh! I believe you and I both have nine years homeschooling under our belts... 18 years between us! I would LOVE to contribute to this blog! I am intrigued by the statement about unhealthy ties to other homeschool moms! Have some stories of my own!

Dragonstar said...

I've looked at your other blogs, but decided to make my note here.

I homeschooled for years, from December 1982 onwards (officially ending in the middle of 2001) Sometimes I wonder just how I did it!

From your comment on mine, and your other blogs, I think you're probably totally mad. Many thanks for the support.

Dee said...

I hope you'll make more posts here.

elmers brother said...

sorry if homeschooling was a bad experience for you

it was and has been good for us

6 Happy Hearts said...

Girl, I LOVE your description of this blog! I found you through Straightshooter. A few of my girlfriends & I would match this description to a tee ; )

KaraBeagle said...

hi, can't say that I relate, except that I was "ex" at one point but am not anymore... I homeschooled my daughter (now 24) from 1st through 8th, then let her go to a private school for 9th, part of 10th, 11th and 12th. She took the GED test because she was too young to get into college without it and scored so well on it, that they gave her a special silver certificate.

Her brother was born when she was in 11th grade, and now we are homeschooling him and loving it. He is harder, being ADD, but i'm sure he is doing much better academically at home that he would be in a school setting. Of course, we had to redefine parenting and schooling when he came along because he is so different from his sister....oh well.

I stand in awe of those who homeschool more than one at a time. I really enjoy having mine one at a time. As hard as the wait was, I'm thankful God gave them to me that way.

Egghead said...

Flea I never home schooled my children but my youngest sister home schools her three. She does an amazing job and those kiddo's are so smart. She writes about their adventures on our sisters blog (http://fuzisisters4.blogspot.com). I will send her this way when you start to write.

Anonymous said...

Just checkin'. ;o)

Cheryl Pitt said...

I'm sorry you had a negative experience but I can see how it can happen. You have to guard yourself carefully when your choose this path. Homeschooling definitely isn't for everyone, I know well adjusted public schoolers but homeschooling is what works for us.

I'm curious to read about your unhealthy ties to other hs moms, was it competition?

I'll be back to read more as you continue.

Unknown said...

You know, I think homeschooling is a wonderful option. I taught my son for 8 years and met some incredible people, many homeschooling sometimes six children at a time. As my son reached his teens, however, our times together became more often bickering and argument rather than true learning. I was so afraid of having to send my son to public school that I feel I made the mistake of going beyond my limit. My son learned how to get by with things and began to resent me more than enjoy our relationship. Finally, in crisis I felt compelled to send my son to public school for his last two years of high school. I guess I just want to say to any moms out there who are literally going crazy and doing this out of fear of public school, don't let your home become a war zone. Better for a child to go to public school and then come back to a loving home, than suffer through the constant arguments about assignments and getting things done. I wish I had let go sooner. My son is now very distant from his father and me. I don't blame homeschool, but when two personalities clash drastically they shouldn't be forced to be together because of fear. Please pray for healing in our family.

Jenni said...

I've seen your comments often over on MUD's blog. I homeschooled for 14 years total. Two of my kids are grown (one a Marine and one in college) and two are still at home but going to public school. Some homeschoolers seem to think homeschooling is the be all end all and there is no other option if you truly love your kids. Bullshit. I'll go a step further and say that just as there are some parents who should not homeschool, there are also children for whom homeschooling is not a good fit. I know because I had such a child. He is brilliant and wonderful, but he needed to be accountable to someone else and to have them tell him the same things I was telling him. For the last few years I taught Caleb at home our relationship suffered and our family suffered. Things got better when he started public school and I could be just mom instead of mom, teacher, and taskmaster.