Ron Paul Launches Homeschool Curriculum

[cookderosa]

I read a book when I was 19 (!) called How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence by Glenn Doman. That was when I decided to homeschool, I didn't even have a husband or kids or a prospect of either. My plan, as always, was to do it perfectly. The problem, of course, was that I really really believed there was a perfect way, thus I would do "that." I even went to PA and trained in the specific program to teach babies, which we started, when our son was 2 weeks old. That was 4 kids and 19 years ago. Fast forward.... I have a different opinion today.

There is no perfect way, if there was, then everyone would be doing it- including the schools!
You don't live in a bubble. Believe me, I've tried. Sheltering/anti-social is the opposite of exposed/social. Pick one or be ready for both.
Your children are real people with real opinions and despite your best molding, they are not programmable. Influenced, yes, but they are not parrots.
Homeschooling is damn hard, especially if you're doing it right.
There will be aspects of your homeschooling that you are good at, and things you suck at. Too bad you won't know until you're knee deep which is which.
You're probably NOT going to have trouble teaching academics, it will be the other stuff...
The world is your oyster, but it's an expensive oyster. Sometimes, you just have to give them clam juice and call it good enough.
Homeschooling 1 is different from homeschooling 2 which is different from homeschooling 5 which is different from public school. Apples and oranges.
Being around all of your children all of the time means you are spending 6000 MORE contact hours per year with your child than if they were in public school. Fact.
You won't have the time, resources, energy, or resourcefulness to carefully plan and manage all 6000 hours for each child. There is no "on" that is different. You're always "on." Warts and all.
Your kids will learn from your neighbor, their sports teams, church groups, etc. and believe me when I tell you no one cares as much about what fills up their heads than you. Some of it will be crap.
Whatever you think about homeschooling before you star will be different than when you start, which will be different by the end of your first year, and second, and third, and eighteenth.
Why you start homeschooling probably won't be the same reasons you continue.
Thinking for themselves means being free to think differently than you- hang on.

P.S. Homeschooling has exploded over the past 2 decades, and we now have a good pool on the internet of "graduates" who are sharing their ups and downs. It wasn't all rainbows and lollipops. Some kids resent their parent's choice for their education. Some are verbal about it DURING. These are things to think about before you start and revisit as you go.