Year-Round Schooling

[Trish]

I have homeschooled for 1.5 yrs now year round out of necessity. We take off when we need a break are sick or traveling. We are not traditional homeschoolers. I choose to do only 3 subjects during the traditional school year Reading, English, Math. Then do History, Science and bookreports during the summer months. Much less stress for me. K-4 -1st were fine, but 3rd and 4th about did me in trying to finish everything in 1day and do housework and take care of the younger ones. Personally, traditional homeschooling only works if your husband has time to help, mine dosen't.

[Annie]

I have homeschooled for 1.5 yrs now year round out of necessity. We take off when we need a break are sick or traveling. We are not traditional homeschoolers. I choose to do only 3 subjects during the traditional school year Reading' date=' English, Math. Then do History, Science and bookreports during the summer months. Much less stress for me. K-4 -1st were fine, but 3rd and 4th about did me in trying to finish everything in 1day and do housework and take care of the younger ones. Personally, traditional homeschooling only works if your husband has time to help, mine dosen't.[/quote']That's a really interesting approach, Trish. I'm glad it works for you. I know what you mean about husbands helping out. Mine doesn't help at all; he typically works 60-70 hours a week. It has been a challenge for me to get everything done, too. (I have three in school; two of them are studying nine subjects. Fortunately, it has worked for me to combine them in Bible, history, and science.) My kids really do help out with housework a lot, but the laundry is what always gets me down. :yawn:

[Guest Guest]

Want a simply solution to your school calender problems: BOARDING SCHOOL!

All it takes is some planning and saving in advance and you can have those little pest shipped off to a highly disciplined christian school that can all but insure them admission to the college of their choice. Some schools are even starting to allow boarders for grades 6-8, so you can start them young.

[Trish]

Want a simply solution to your school calender problems: BOARDING SCHOOL!

All it takes is some planning and saving in advance and you can have those little pest shipped off to a highly disciplined christian school that can all but insure them admission to the college of their choice. Some schools are even starting to allow boarders for grades 6-8, so you can start them young.

HA! Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind.... Seriously, If God wanted someone other than my hubby and I to train our kids, He would have given them to someone else. (Note: if one can afford a decent christian day school, I have no problem with that)

[Guest Guest]

Trish: I agree that parents should be "training" their kids. But there are just somethings that most parents aren't qualified to do. For example, my mother nor father had the back ground in math, physics, or chemistry to teach me the things I needed to know in order to achieve the scores I needed to get into an appropriate college. And, for the most part, my parents pretty much had their values instilled in me by the time I left for school (I was 14 when I actually left home for good). I'm sure I was able to transition from prep school to college so well in part because I had been in a college like atmosphere for four years of high school. There was no "finally I'm free" feelings that led me to do things I felt like I had been kept from doing by my parents. Plus, in my own experience, children that boarded do better in college and get into better grad schools.

[Guest Guest]

College isn't even important for our family as we will be teaching our daughter to stay at home until marriage and teach our son that he should only go to college if he is sure it is God's will because college is NOT the be all and end all people make it out to be.

[Guest Guest]

I agree that college isn't for everyone. Plus, if your kids don't feel like that's were God wants them, then it's nothing more than an expensive mistake. However, I do believe that some form of skill is needed if one is going to raise a family over the poverty line, especially considering the direction our economy is currently headed. I mean, you (everyone in general or at least the head of the house hold) has to work and employers tend to want to hire educated and/or skilled employees. If jobs keep getting sent over seas and businesses keep closing due to the lagging economy, then the only jobs available will be filled with the most qualified. There just won't be any jobs available for the unskilled or uneducated.

You also have to consider that God wants godly men and women serving as lawyers, doctors, teachers . . . And you have to go to college to qualify for those professions. Considering your child probably won't be able to discern God's will for them until they are mature enough, it's probably best to prepare them for college just in case that is God's will for them.

[Guest Guest]

I don't believe in "preparing them for college" I believe in preparing them for real life. There are plenty of ways to make good wages and none of the ones I'm thinking of require college. We will raise our children in this mindset from the start, and show them how they can make it. College won't be a "norm" for this family.

[Guest Guest]

MrsW: That sounds like a good plan. I would just make sure they are prepared with some skill (whether it's being a barber or a janitor). Your right, you don't need a college degree to earn a living, but it sure helps. For instance, I want a large family, so that means I'll need a fairly large income to provide for them sufficiently, while also investing for me and my spouse in retirement (nothing worse than accepting government handouts, IMO). The best way I can see for me to make sure I am going to be able to afford a large family, was for me to get a good education. Plus, my parents were 100% against supporting (financially) me post prep school if I didn't go to college.

[bzmomo7]

I agree that college isn't for everyone. Plus, if your kids don't feel like that's were God wants them, then it's nothing more than an expensive mistake. However, I do believe that some form of skill is needed if one is going to raise a family over the poverty line, especially considering the direction our economy is currently headed. I mean, you (everyone in general or at least the head of the house hold) has to work and employers tend to want to hire educated and/or skilled employees. If jobs keep getting sent over seas and businesses keep closing due to the lagging economy, then the only jobs available will be filled with the most qualified. There just won't be any jobs available for the unskilled or uneducated.

You also have to consider that God wants godly men and women serving as lawyers, doctors, teachers . . . And you have to go to college to qualify for those professions. Considering your child probably won't be able to discern God's will for them until they are mature enough, it's probably best to prepare them for college just in case that is God's will for them.

I agree with this! I don't want my sons struggling to put food on the table for my grandbabies because there was no foresight on his part. We don't believe mothers should work outside the home except in drastic situations.....therefore, we are encouraging every single one of our sons (4 of them) to go to college, and get at least a BS or higher. I'm hoping that the Lord will call at least one of them into the ministry, but that is His decision, not mine. We will not discourage our daughters, either, but would prefer them to go to Christian College instead. We'll see.

[Bakershalfdozen]

Going to college and then working there after graduation were some of the best 6 years of my life! Wouldn't trade it for anything, learned many, many valuable lessons and received skill training I wouldn't otherwise receive. I'm using those skills right now in managing this household - and I don't mean just cooking and cleaning.

If I could, I would be a career student. :frog Right now, I would love to take some classes for transcriptioning.

[Guest Guest]

I understand that my parents' generation didn't really see the need for college. But as a young man in a highly competitive job market, I just don't see how an uneducated person makes it. Especially one with a family. I only have one friend that didn't go to college and he has to work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, on third shift. He never sees his wife or new born, but it's the only job he can find right now that pays enough for them to live (in a rental home, can't get a mortgage nowdays without a high paying job) and eat.

[HappyChristian]

I understand that my parents' generation didn't really see the need for college. But as a young man in a highly competitive job market' date=' I just don't see how an uneducated person makes it. Especially one with a family. I only have one friend that didn't go to college and he has to work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, on third shift. He never sees his wife or new born, but it's the only job he can find right now that pays enough for them to live (in a rental home, can't get a mortgage nowdays without a high paying job) and eat.[/quote']


I have to agree with and applaud your prior post, jon. True stuff, and kudos to your parents! And you're right on the money here.

I just wanted to say that I am in your parent's generation, or very nearly so, and I don't think it was pervasive in not seeing the need to go to college. My parents didn't attend, but there were different reasons rather than not seeing the need. My parents strongly urged me to go (the others, too). I went, got a degree in teaching and really enjoyed the time I spent. It also prepared me to homeschool my son.

My older brother didn't attend, but he went into the Marines and the job training he got there is what he has done ever since he got out many years ago. And he makes gooooood money. Although he didn't attend college, he couldn't have the position he has now if he hadn't been trained for it.

My younger brother and sister never went beyond high school (well, my bro went for one semester to college). They are hard workers but will never make the kind of money they could if they went to college.

That said, I don't think money should be the only goal. As has been said, God's will needs to be ascertained and followed, and it's not the same for every individual. But I don't think just blanket "no college" is a good thing.

We actually raised our son with the idea that he needed to continue his education. He is in the National Guard and will be getting a lot of training there. The job he will be doing will transfer to just about any sector. But he is also going to finish his college degree, because he needs it to become an officer.

[Guest Guest]

Happy: Good for your son. The military is an excellent alternative to collge (as far as skill training) and also an excellent way to pay for college. I just couldn't imagine not emphasizing the need for an education. In twenty years from now, I could see a job market where only the educated are employed or the uneducated are only left with fast food positions and other nominally paying jobs. Forget a family, and forget security.

[Guest Guest]

Most of the men in my church make a LOT of money...never went to college for it either...they have a home business that they started when they were young. They provide ample plus extra for their families. This is what we will be teaching our children. There is no need to be stuck in fast food positions because you didn't go to college, you just get out and do something.

In our opinion (my husband being from a military family) as much as we dislike the idea of college, we would do ALL we could to dissuade our children from joining the military. We do not think it is a place a Christian young person ought to be...most Christian military families I know tell me the same thing. If our child joins the military it will be against our advice and blessing...whereas college might have our blessing if it is the right thing for that particular child. Either way, his education will be as good as we can give him so that he can get in if he feels God leading him to.