Back to School or Homeschool?

Where did this painter get educated?

As we near the end of summer, the thoughts of sending our girls back to public school is on the forefront of our minds. We've discussed homeschooling for a few years now.  To be completely honest, we just aren't sure we're confident enough in ourselves to do it.  We've read numerous blog post replies of encouragement from folks who are homeschooling their own children. Kudos to you folks. I am truly amazed at the responsibility you have undertaken.  Educating our children is such an important task, I just don't want to screw it up.

Possible results of my inadequate teaching?

I don't know of a much more noble cause than to take on the responsibility of making sure your children are educated in literature, mathematics, science...well, you know...knowledge.  Wifey and I have talked about several things that get under our skin, so to speak, regarding our local public school system.  For starters, we're peeved at how much time is wasted in the public school system.  Just the time lost to changing classrooms between subjects is staggering. Ten minutes between classes multiplied by eight class subjects is an hour and twenty minutes LOST every day just walking around. Don't forget the 30-40 minutes for lunch.  Oh, and the commute time is a big loss. I insist on taking my girls to school. Not that I have anything against riding a bus but this is good communication time I get to spend with my girls. An hour before school every day is priceless, whether we're talking, listening to music, or studying up on some last minute test questions. Wifey usually picks them up. But it is this nonproductive waste of time that makes us wonder just how much time is actually spent teaching and learning?

Which leads me to one of my gray areas in regards to homeschooling: I can't tell how much time would need to be allotted for teaching. The easy answer is "how ever long it takes" but I am the type of person who needs a schedule. Is it possible to teach a junior high or high school student all the proper subjects in say...five hours? Could we have an 8:00a-1:00p schedule with the remainder of the day available for free study? Now that I have a more manageable work schedule (working three 12 hour shifts per week gives me four days off) I could actually teach my girls two to three days during the week. 

Math is my strong point...

Having the ability to teach half the week means Wifey would have the other days.  This presents problem number two: what does she do with the little ones while she teaches the older ones? How do you keep toddlers occupied for several hours a day in order to focus on teaching your older kids?  I'm sure I'm not the only parent who has a toddler which possesses the potential to destroy planet Earth if left unsupervised. My three year old Chloe is such a toddler. She gets into so much trouble, I've considered writing a weekly post called Chloe's Calamities whereby I document all the things she's done the past week. Unbelievable this kid. But that's for another day.  How to juggle the little kids during home school hours is the question.
My last concern about home schooling is the end result. My research has shown me that there are numerous ways to home school. From full-on lecturing to 100% self study from manuals and guides. I would prefer to have a mixture of the two. I don't want to spoon feed or ramble Bueller Bueller Bueller all day. Just provide the meat of the subject, make sure the topic is understood, then allow for individual self study to expand on the topic and further investigate. So back to my question on the end result.  How is the quality of what I have taught going to be evaluated and who is going to do the evaluation?

Upon successfully completing whatever final exam comes with the study package I choose to teach from, does my child then go take a public GED exam from the state? Once the GED is successfully completed are we then free to apply to college? Do I have to show evidence to anyone that my child completed a home schooling course? I'm just wondering if all you home schoolers out there keep homework like bank records. You know, in case some authority figure from the state comes along and demands a paper trail that your child actually was being educated and not just goofing off?

One thing I am NOT concerned about is extracurricular activities. My girls have plenty going on outside of school that there is no need to worry about socialization skills nor staying busy. I've read the lame perspectives that home schooled children are maladjusted socially and I don't put an ounce of credence into such claims.  Heck, the last set of statistics I read showed home schoolers were more likely to score higher on college entrance exams than traditionally schooled kids.

Any thoughts? Were you homeschooled or are you homeschooling your children? What was/is your schedule like? What curriculum worked best for you? Did an organization help you along that you can recommend?

Disclaimer: I was raised an only child. I now have six daughters. I can use any help I can get :-)

~OJD