Help for my reluctant middle schooler (new to HS)

[lauriem33]

We only have a week and a half before PS starts here and though my kids have known through the summer we were going to start homeschooling this year, my soon to be 6th grader has been difficult to convince, and is still now having "issues" with it. It really is because of her experience with the first year of middle school last year as a 5th grader that brought me to the idea of homeschooling and I really would feel horrible sending her back to that place.

I understand that she's scared to try something new, doesn't have any friends who homeschool (yet), etc... but I'm afraid her reluctance is going to make me give in at the 11th hour and send her to school even though I'm 100% convinced on homeschooling. Being a newbie I'm also scared and unsure of myself, though I don't let on to the kids.

I think she just doesn't understand how awesome homeschooling can be. She hasn't read the mountain of books I have on how it can "look" and the freedom we'll have. I've tried talking about it but I think, just like when I would talk with her about school difficulties, she maybe just tunes me out or feels like I'm lecturing her. I'm sure she still needs more de-schooling time, but in the meantime any advice would be so appreciated. I guess I'm afraid of having a kid who doesn't want to homeschool and never gives it a chance.

[LilyGrace]

How much of this process is under her control?

When The Kid started out, I asked him, "what do you want to learn?" We repeat that question every year, before we get to the "where" of learning. I find the more he's involved, from deciding courses to having the final say on curriculum to creating his own schedule or deciding what work needs to be done, the more he's into it. The more I take charge, the less he is. And really, it has to be that way - education is something taken, not given.

You could try youtube as a resource, too, to help her "see" in bite-size pieces what her year could be like or things she could experience. I have a folder labeled "homeschooling" that is full of other kids doing school, or "you might be a homeschooler if.." type things. It was because of these we ended up making our own last year - so many showing hs'ing at the table, not many showing the absolute freedom we have.

Spend time just listening, though. Give her worries a real voice without pooh-poohing or saying how it's going to be, just listen. Then when she's got it all out you can come up with solutions together - "yes, it might be like that. What can we do to keep it from being that way?"