Follow-up Question About School Issue

Woo-hoo! I get so excited when people decide to homeschool - great choice! I've homeschooled my three the whole way through. They're in 10th, 9th and 6th now, and doing very well. I'm a busy single M., too. If I can do it, you can!
My advise is relax. You will do fine. Homeschooling is just a continuation of regular parenting. Take your time and explore the plethora of awesome curriculum available. You could start here:
http://hslda.org/ That's where you'll find all the legal advise, plus much, much more information.
Here's a great site for deals on curriculum:
http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php#id=album-4&n...
Keep poking around online. There's a lot of help and information. Look for a homeschool support group in your area. Most of all, have fun! You won't regret it.

Hi! Please don't worry about the "socialization" issue, it isn't an issue at all. Look around and you will find lots of homeschoolers doing lots of things. Your issue will be trying to pick and choose what to do and how to make time to stay home. Homeschooling is very different than sitting in a classroom school, much simpler, more relaxed, and less time consuming with much, much better results. Every homeschool family is different and finds its own groove, do what works for daughter and have lots of fun!

Get a social schedule started asap. The more regular times she can have with friends, the better she will do. Get her involved in a sport/art class etc. Best wishes!!!

M

Hi Robyn,

I was looking into homeschool for my son (still a possibility) and found a local yahoo group. This has been a great resource and there are always listings for homeschooler activities, support for parents, and group activities. I'd try to seek out a local HS group to also get support/information for your specific area.

Hi Robyn!
I understand your frustration, and I am glad that you consider home schooling. I home school my 2 boys (12 and 6).I have been doing this for 3 years already, and we plan to continue until high school. We use a religious based curriculum.
Home schooling is an interesting journey, and a family decision. You have to be very sure, especially if you plan to finish your master. There are many different ways and curricula to home school, you will have to choose what fits your family best and your child. You organize your day, the subjects, the field trips, etc.
We start at 9 and we finish at 1:30; we have breaks in between. We designated a room for our classes, the study room with all the supplies and books and crafts we need. The kids helped to organize everything and it was very exciting for them! Both of my kids attend to sports twice a week. The older one belongs to the Boy Scouts, and both go to martial arts once a week. We have a group of home schoolers, we go to field trips (zoo, park, playground, museum, etc) and we support each other and help each other.
Socialization is not a problem at all. My oldest kid has more friends now than when he attended public school.....and the little one meets twice a week and weekends his little pals too!
About academics, the older one (6th grade) studies the basics (Math, Reading-literature-English Grammar) and Vocabulary & Spelling, Composition skills, Word Stduy, History, Soc. Studies,Science, languages (latin and spanish),etc. The little one is learning the basics and science. We do many activities together while his brother do school work on his own sometimes or is taking test/quizzes.
It would be very helpful for you to look at the hslda.org site where you will find all the info about legalities in your state. Also take a look at:
www.besthomeschooling.org
www.gomilpitas.com/homeschooling
www.homeschoolzone.com and read the book "The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child" by Linda Dobson. It is fun, interesting and realistic!
Homeschooling is a change in your lifestyle and the rest of the family; you can make it fun even if there is a lot of things to study, but this is my experience, some other moms use different curricula, styles, religious based or not, etc There are thousand of material out there in the library, internet, etc.
You will be fine. It is not easy, since you have to be M. and teacher, wife and friend..lots of things to do! I am glad that I made the decision of home schooling my kids, I am the one responsible for their complete education, and I love the challenge, and especially they love it too!
Good luck!

I think one of the first things to determine, after you've decided to homeschool, is the logistics. And it all will depend on your family, your life and your personalities.

Since you're studying for your master's, do you have a designated area to read or go online to study? Are you the kind of person who needs a study area? Would it be helpful to set up an area next to your desk for your daughter so you could work together? Or do you just relax on the couch or at the kitchen table whenever you have a free minute to study? Would that work well for your daughter also?

Does your family appreciate schedules? Are you pretty organized? Or are you more relaxed and easy-going?

I'm just trying to get you to think about your family, your habits, and the setup of your home and basic routines. That might give you some insight into how homeschooling will work best.

I found that my son got too relaxed, and was getting too undisciplined with his work after beginning to homeschool him. He was treating it like it was just going to be all reading in bed (which he loved to do), so I had to change things. I had to create a school area and have a start time, a scheduled lunch time, etc. Some families have a part of the room set up like a school room, with a desk and bookshelves. Some would find that too restrictive and they do well with more spontaneity. You need to figure out what kind of family you have, and what will work well for you.

I think most families do best with making the first couple weeks of homeschooling an "observation period". Monitor your child's responses to the homeschool situation, be aware of where you're spending your time in the house (some people cook very time-consuming meals from scratch, so they set up their kids' homeschool study areas near the kitchen, while some people prepare quicker meals or get takeout frequently and are studying or working on the computer so they set up their kids' homeschool areas in the computer room or study) and observe your time schedules. You don't want to be doing errands or joining field trips most of the day and just settling down to homework or workbooks at 7 pm.

It can be so much fun to watch your child learn, and to participate in the process, so enjoy it!