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Hi Ladies!!!
Well, I did it. I sent my letter of intent to homeschool my daughter to the schools yesterday..... Now, I'm nervous. More so than ever. I'm feeling a smidgen guilty about not at least trying school, but after that, I feel sick because I cant imagine sending her! lol Weird huh? I'm feeling a mix of learning styles would be good for Courtney, who's 7. I feel an unschooling/eclectic approach would work. Does that make sense? Sometimes, I lean towards unit studies but I figure if we do that, it would kinda limit her in terms of what SHE wants to learn about.
I love it when she comes up to me and says something like " Mommy, can we learn about mummies?" or whatever she wants to learn about. I always say sure lets go to the library and see what we can find. I LOVE that. I worry however (and my hubby worries about her socialization and also about basics like math, spelling, reading, etc..) I try to reassure him that she'll be fine and to trust me. He said that he made friends in school-where else can you make them? I came back with a good remark "Well, honey lets see. A couple of your friends are dead because of drug abuse, a few of them are sitting in jail, at least 4-5 of them dont pay their child support, and one of them only calls you if HE needs something. Are those the kind of friends you want for our daughter to hang out with?" usually, it shuts him up.
My other issue is with family members whom I've told. My mom is supportive but skeptical, I know my dad will think I'm nuts and completely underqualified, and my brothers think I'm crazy too. I havent told my in laws which is my husbands problem .
My best friend is incredibly supportive and tells me that she admires me for what I'm doing for my kids.
Does anyone have any words of wisdow, who have BTDT with their kids and can offer me some tips on how to start off our school year? I'm thinking about just kinda being mellow with things for a few months-enjoying the holiday season, making crafts, volunteering, picking apples, baking, etc... Just kinda like a deschooling process for me.
So glad you read my post if you made it to the end!!
Jen Long
Cranston, RI
Answer:
First off, Welcome!! You'll do great; tell those skeptics to back off! You can alway have the statistics ready for them! Tell your husband all the activities your dd can join to socialize! There are so many opportunities out there for HSers nowdays! I'm doing preschool and K so we are relaxed too. I do use a combination of a couple curriculums and mix in unit studies. I mostly unschooled it this summer so come next month we are back to much more routine.