Thread: Weekly Poll: Are you an "Accidental Homeschooler"?

Having two kids with special needs, I've never been overly fond of labels...but one that I have never shied away from is a term that was coined by Time4Learning™ called "Accidental Homeschoolers." I think that label is a hoot, and actually quite descriptive of our family's situation and that of many others I have come across.

I would love to know how many of you might consider yourselves "Accidental Homeschoolers!"

When my daughter was first born I just thought she'd go to public school. I was planning on being the super involved PTA mom but I didn't think of homeschooling until about 2 years ago.

I'd been looking forward to my son starting school and my life getting "back to normal" where I'd be working again and have a lot more free time. He had a dairy allergy, but that seemed under control. Then he had an anaphylactic reaction to nuts. I had been somewhat considering homeschooling for a month or so before the nut reaction but that made it pretty clear. It's been good overall, but boy has my life been different than I envisioned it!

Yup, accidental....that's us. "The Plan" was I'd stay home until my youngest was in first grade, then I'd return to the classroom. They did go to PS for a couple of years, I was one of those "super-involved" PS moms, and that's when I realized that traditional school wasn't going to work for us.

I wish now we had homeschooled from the beginning.

I have always thrown the idea around but kind of thought it was unrealistic and figured I would end up sending them to school. It wasn't until recently when I got faith in myself that I can do it! I am glad that I figured it out before we sent her to public school!

If you'd told me I was going to be a homeschooling Mom when I was in law school, i would have laughed at you. But, I'm pretty sure I knew I'd homeschool from the first cry in the delivery room.

Luckily the accident happened when Kiddo was only about 2. I thought homeschooling was for weirdos, but I also realized that DS was probably not going to be a good fit in PS, especially in my state. So I was looking for alternatives, Montessori, Enki, Sudbury, and found nothing available in my area (Christian private schools only). I kinda was left with homeschooling.

So I looked it up somewhat grudgingly, and I saw that my state was wide open. No tests, no reviews, no evaluations. That freedom to try different things as needed, make changes etc. really, really appealed to me. Then I was on board.

Convincing hubby took about 2.5 more years.

We were sort of forced into it by a potential school closure in our little village, so I voted "Definitely". Although in the end our school didn't completely close, once we had studied homeschooling we decided to keep going with our plans and haven't looked back. It's too much fun!

We are the very definition of an accidental homeschooling family. Our school system was always considered one of the best and we made sure and bought a house in the best part of the city depite what it did to our budget just so our children could go to what was considered the best elementary school in town (we only have 4). Then my daughter developed school phobia and severe separation anxiety disorder after my mother suddenly passed away and the school handled it in the worst way possible. So here we are... last September I had no knowledge of homeschooling and sat there in shock for quite a while when it became apparant to my husband and I that this was the only option available. I was very angry at the school in the beginning for forcing me into this as it was something I had never envisioned in my entire life. We managed our first year rather well and now I look forward to it. It's almost freeing in a way to not be held down by such rigid schedules and demanding teachers and idiotic school rules. What started off as sheer terror at the very thought has turned into the best thing I think has happened for our family.

Originally Posted by Annie

If you'd told me I was going to be a homeschooling Mom when I was in law school, i would have laughed at you. But, I'm pretty sure I knew I'd homeschool from the first cry in the delivery room.

I have to say this response was great! Made me want to cry! What lucky kids you have!