I noted back in April that my wife and I were considering home
schooling our kids, ages 9 and 12. We did end up doing this, and it
has been generally a positive experience during the first
month. We're learning the best ways to do things as we go along,
using whatever free or low-cost resources we can find. For example,
we make regular trips to the town library for textbooks or fiction,
use the Khan Academy website, and various online sources of
documentaries and educational shows (Netflix, Discovery, Youtube).
We're fairly lucky in that Connecticut does not have strict laws
pertaining to home schooling - as long as we notify our public
school district (turns out they have pre-made forms), and teach a
short list of topics (math, reading, civics, etc.), the rest is up
to us. We've actually expanded on that list and have been teaching
such subjects as computer science, geology and foreign languages.
Our daughter (the younger child) was a bit skeptical at first,
during the first week she kept asking if she could go back to
school. I think she felt she would miss out on seeing her
friends,but we've been good about letting both kids visit friends
after school hours, as we normally would if they were attending
public school. She has changed her mind now, and doesn't mention
public school anymore. Both kids are now starting to see that
learning can actually be fun.
One positive aspect of this is that we don't worry about homework -
the home school day is generally from 9am to 3pm, with breaks for
lunch and physical activity. After that, the kids are free to, well,
be kids, which is something we always felt strongly that the
ever-growing homework burden was preventing, while not providing any
real benefit.
