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Homeschool Regrets

Someone asked me today if I've had any regrets with our choice to homeschool.  I can say without a doubt that this is the best choice we've ever made.  And we've never doubted this choice. Although there are regrets within my choice to homeschool, meaning there are things I'd do differently, I have no regrets of homeschooling our children.  I think most homeschoolers, at one time or another, wonder if we've made the right choice with curriculum or if we've spent enough time learning certain subjects or learning enough material.

One of my regrets with my older children is changing math curriculum too often. My oldest daughter Amber has always struggled with math.  I kept trying to find a math curricula that she would like, so I kept changing. I think this did more harm than good. If I had to do it over again, I would've stuck with one math curriculum once we reached higher elementary and from that point on.  You see, each math curricula teaches skills and concepts in a particular order and with different formats.  I think the frequent changes caused confusion for her and just aggravated her math anxiety. If I had to do it over again, I would do what I finally did last year. Together with three other families we hired a math tutor.  We took the four girls to her house for an hour twice a week. The tutor charged us by the hour for the four girls, so we just split the cost. We picked a tutor who loves math and is tutoring more for the love of teaching than for the money. Amber and another girl in the group were both behind in math and disliked it very much. By the end of the year, the tutor had transferred her love of math on to the girls and they were caught up!

My other regret would be that I started to panic once my kids became teenagers and I started homeschooling middle school.  Well, I didn't panic.  I'm being a bit dramatic. I did start to worry that I would not be able to teach them well. In part that was because of my struggles and my own weaknesses in math.  I worried I would mess them up somehow.  It's funny how people's first concerns seem to always be related to socialization.  That has always been the least of my concerns. They've always had plenty of activities and friends from 4-H clubs, boyscouts, drama club, music classes, ballet classes, field trips, yearbook club.  Too many over the years to name.  I think my biggest concerns have always been about record-keeping and making sure we covered the requirements for their high school transcripts.  I started to notice that a lot of parents would start talking about high school and college requirements as early as middle school.  But I'm so thankful for the large homeschool community that we are a part of and for the internet.  I've had a lot of homeschool high school help. My kids seem to be doing fine. So there was really no need for me to panic or worry.

What about your family? Any regrets with homeschooling?  Anything you'd do differently?

2 comments:

  1. No regrets, ever! I love that my kids enjoy learning, but I love the relationship I have with my boys even more. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit, or myself, but I really don't think we would have what we have, if they went to public school. :)

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    1. True, Katie. There is nothing like the quantity and quality time we spend together. We are the greatest influence in each others' lives and we enjoy our time together. I love the relationships I have with each of my kids. Best choice we've ever made!

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