re: Talk to me about homeschooling

Scotty's experience is very close to ours.

My wife taught our first two sons through 8th grade, mostly to eliminate the educational stresses associated with military transfers (we know some kids who learned to write in cursive in 1st grade, were transferred, and the new school prohibited them from writing in cursive in 2nd grade--that's messed up). We found that our boys really thrived in it, and when they started at the local Catholic HS when we settled down, they were at the top of the class (3rd & 1st in class, respectively) and some of the best liked kids in school. Our two younger sons started traditional school a little earlier when my wife took a job after my retirement, but they still had advantages over their peers and they get along great with everyone.

When the Catholic Church states that "Parents are the primary educators of their children", it isn't spouting doctrine as much as stating what should be an obvious truth. Kids who come from families that emphasize education the right way will develop great learning habits. Kids who come from families who properly understand sports will be leaders on their teams. Kids who come from families with emotional problems will have more emotional problems. Kids who come from families that have behavior problems will have more behavior problems. While those generalizations may not hold for specific kids, they happen more often than not, and they happen whether a kid is in traditional school or homeschool.

Here's hoping that you will have success in your adventure.