Wow, Sarah! Thank you for sharing your story! I'm glad it's working out so well for your family!

I work full time and am currently homeschooling 2 kids. I have 1 in traditional public high school and 1 in private Christian junior high also in addition to a 2 year old. My home schoolers are in 3rd and kinder. We do evening school for new lessons and during the day, my kids are at my moms home daycare or at work with me and do independent work. It works. It's hectic and crazy and not always as organized as I like. But it works. My homeschooling adventure began with my now third grader. During kinder in a private Christian school, he developed Tourette's. The anxiety was just too much. We decided to take him out altogether and he has flourished since. That same year, we also homeschooled my now junior higher for fifth grade. It was NOT easy. But truly, we worked together and it was amazing!

I have a friend who is a single mom, works full time, and homeschools her two kids. I don't know how she does it. She really is SuperMom!

Ya if you don't work. I am too tired to put any effort into homeschooling when I'm busy catching up on cleaning the house and meal prepping. I am grateful I can afford preschool and that they have Bible study as well incorporated into their teaching.

Homeschooling is awesome for kids if it is done right. I wish I was a person who could do it but honestly I can barely teach my children their letters and numbers with out getting frustrated lol. It's not my personality. I know though that if something was to happen and it need to happen when they got older than I would totally try. My husbands cousin does it with her 6 year old and she loves it and has her daughter in dance classes, on a soccer team, park dates and she also travels and does so much!

I have a ton of respect for homeschool moms! I know I just don't have it in me

There's a great homeschooling/unschooling forum on Mothering. They skew pretty "hippie" but there's lots of interesting perspectives on education and what's really important in learning.

I'm very curious about homeschooling. The educational system isn't perfect, and I fear my oldest (4 yrs.) not getting the right help. Teachers are in high demand around me, and especially special education teachers.

He is on the spectrum, and needs occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy. It scares me - the unknown. Things could go very well, but it might not either. He does so much better at home with his sessions. I just don't know if I could do a good enough job, and fail him that way. It's such a tough and stressful situation...You have given me hope though, Yaya. I never thought about trying public, and having the option to homeschool if it doesn't work out. Parents know their children best!

I love homeschooling because education isn't a one size fits all thing! Every child learns differently. I was homeschooled from 6th-12th grade and I loved it. I'm haven't decided if I'll homeschool my kids yet but I'm pretty sure that I will.

Thank you, hides! ❤

Battty, the short answer is yes. The longer answer is that they can attend any function they are invited to. My boys have lots of public school friends so they could attend homecoming or prom with them. Our state also allows homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular activities offered at the middle and high schools. So my boys could be in band, theater arts, cheerleading, football, etc.

I actually get state funding for my homeschool through a business that pairs homeschoolers with local e-schools. It's a great program and we love being a part of it.

Utah has a very large homeschool community, so there is graduation ceremony put together by the UHEA every year, and I believe a prom as well.

Homeschooling is really coming into the mainstream in a lot of states. It's an exciting time to be a home educator!

I was homeschooled all the way till college and I plan to do the same with my kiddos. ? Unless of course they desperately want to go to public school, I wouldn't say no!

Staci, my oldest son did 2 years of public school. One year was at a charter school and the next one was at a highly rated public school in our district. Neither one was a good fit for him. He was easily distracted (and distracting). I knew he had dyslexia. But they kept wanting to test him for behavioral issues, instead of for the learning disability that was causing those behavioral issues. The school wanted 100% compliance, and the more they put controls on him, the more angry he became. By the end of 1st grade my son was depressed, defiant, and telling me that he hated himself. I felt like a complete failure as a mother.

We've been homeschooling for 2 years. My oldest son is happy again. Not only that, but he's reading a chapter book on his own for the first time ever! I'm thrilled! We still have a long way to go to repair the damage done, but we learned some good lessons along the way. The most important of which is how to bravely find a new path when the old one isn't working anymore.

@battty I don't know about everywhere but my homeschooled cousin and a couple other homeschooled kids I knew from the state over did those things. They were able to do extra curricular activities at the school in their district and go to their events.

I love the way you teach your kids yaya. I'm a teacher but agree when done properly (ie meeting your child's needs) homeschooling is a fantastic way to educate. My husband wants me to home school our son but it isn't possible time wise yet. Maybe in a few years. Just wanted to add my voice to the positives for it.

Heading out to pick up our math curriculum for this year! I got a great deal on it. Woo-hoo! I will answer your questions as soon as I get back. ?

Touching on the social thing, what about high school activities like prom, homecoming, etc? Is there a way for them to participate in stuff like that if they want to?

My questions come from genuine curiosity, not any judgmental point so I hope it doesn't come off that way.

What is it about homeschooling that feels like it is a good "fit" for your family? Did your boys attend public school prior? If yes, was there something in the public school system that made you look into other options?

My kids are in 3rd and 6th grade. My son was accepted into an accelerated program for gifted students at the middle school. He came home from his first day of 6th grade with a look on his face I had never seen. He hated it. He was miserable, overwhelmed, and it broke my heart. It is only Day 3.. I'm not saying I'm already ready to pull him out. But I would being doing him a disservice if I didn't open my view to other options, should I need it.

I didn't cover social interaction! Sorry!

My boys are super socialized. ? I often have to limit the amount of time we spend with friends so that we can get our work done.

They go to Cubscouts once a week.

They volunteer in a nursing home.

We have a weekly park playdate with our MOMS Club.

Another homeschool family comes over for dinner once a week for movie/game night.

And we usually have various other activities with friends on the weekends. It can be exhausting, but it's certainly not limited. ?

I welcome all questions and concerns! I had very similar ones when I started. I'm in Utah so the homeschool community, as a whole, is very conservative (and religious). However, even in Utah we have been able to find homeschool friends with varying beliefs and approaches to education. I find my children have a much more open-minded world view since we are not limited by our school zone/socioeconomic status. I make it a priority to teach my children critical thinking. We debate and discuss topics openly and nothing is off limits. I offer both/all sides of a topic and we discuss the merits and pitfalls of each.

My boys are not particularly influenced by peer pressure or conformity. That's probably why homeschool children are pegged as "weird" or "different". They are free to be who they want to be instead of constantly worrying what others might think. (Some children are able to do that in a public school setting, but not all.)

As far as homeschooling through highschool, I know we can do it. I don't have to know Physics personally. I just have to be able to find the proper resources to teach it, whether that be a curriculum, a tutor, or a co-op.

I think all parents worry about their children's education. I am no different. I know where their weaknesses are and where I'd like them to be. As long as I see steady progress, I don't worry too much about grade levels since they are arbitrary anyway.

I hope this helps. I'm not sure if these were the answers you were looking for. But I'm happy to clarify anything or answer more questions!

Following. I am interested in homeschooling and leaning more about it!

I hope you don't mind @yaya but I have some questions and I'm genuinely curious about homeschooling, so I hope my questions are not taken offensively. I'm just interested in learning more and seeing if it would be right for us when my son starts school. My aunt homeschools, but they are extremely conservative Christians and hers is more done as a means to limit her children's world view.

Do you ever worry that you are unable to teach or educate them to a collegiate level?

Do you worry that homeschooling is limiting a childs world view in differing ideas on a topic?(Not morally or spiritually, but educationally.)

Do you worry about social interaction?

Is it hard not to constantly second guess your knowledge or resources?

These are really my own personal fears when it comes to homeschooling, but there is a deep part of me that would love to do so for my children!

I homeschool my 11 year old and have been homeschooling for several years. We both really enjoy it and I plan to homeschool my younger ones as they get older.

I've learned some communities and states provide more help than others. And I'm very blessed to know so many families who homeschool and pass ideas and resources around...and my state is super lenient which provides me the ability to teach how I want which I love. The internet and Pinterest are also amaaaazing resources.

I definitely agree. It's a blessing. ?

My sil is homeschooling her kids.. My daughter asked me but I don't think it's for me..