would you homeschool in this situation?

[ezcc]

My dc (5 and 8) attend a lovely Sudbury school which they adore.  They have tons of friends and are very happy there.  I sometimes struggle with the typical unschooling-what are they learning fears, but basically it's a good fit.  We just found out that we are expecting a 3rd in October.  This will probably push us to move this summer, our dc already share a room and there isn't really room for one more.  We've been thinking about it for a while, but we probably will do it now.  If we move, I think we will likely move closer to my dh's work and farther from school- right now I drive 20 min. to get to school, it will probably be closer to 30 if not more when we move.  That just seems like a ton of driving with an infant- it would be 2 hours in the car each day.  BUT, having my 2 dc home all day plus an infant sounds potentially difficult too- they are easy, get along great but I know will miss their friends terribly.  We can plug into homeschool activities etc but I don't want to be too crazy driving all over the place every day, that just gets us back to where we would have been had they been in school.  I'm not crazy about public school for a bunch of reasons.  So, wwyd?

[Treece]

Me, I would probably HS. Taking it easy during the first year or so b/c as we all know an infant is a handful. Also, I would look in the area and see if there are any other HS families that I trust that could possibly do the swapping babysitting thing while each family takes kids on field trips e/o week or so. That way the kids get the field trips they need while the baby's time in the car is minimized.

[pigpokey]

I don't have much information but wouldn't it be easier for your husband to drive himself further than for you to have to make two round-trips further?  Is there any option to move closer to the school?  I can't believe I'm pushing for school here LOL.  That is so not me.  But two kids who are happy and used to it and it's Sudbury so it's not like their creativity is being squashed out of them by prep for annual testing, I don't know if I'd want to take on something new until baby is sleeping through the night. 

Although for what you spend on Sudbury, perhaps you could get a good situation going with an enrichment program three hours a day closer to your house or a college kid to come over and help out for several hours a day.

[AAK]

First, I would look for a carpool.  The school might be able to help you with that.  

My third born was in a car a lot too.  But, it was frequent (vs long) trips.  I think the long trip 2x day is better.  Baby could probably nap while driving esp if the pick up routine for your children is such that you don't need to get out of the car.  And, since baby is due in October, he/she will only be about 8 months at the end of the school year.  So, it would be the following year that would be harder.  When they nap at more 'specific' times vs lots of frequent naps.  Well, mine did anyways.  

But, homeschooling would be on the table too. . . Especially if I couldn't find a carpool.  

Amy

[enjoythesilence]

Personally, I would homeschool, and make sure the older children got to see their friends regularly, and take them on homeshhool outings as time and new baby permit.

  Having personal experience with having a small baby in the car for long-ish drives due to my work at the time, it was very difficult, and if I had the choice, I would not have done it that way. Depends on the infant, too. Some babies do very well in the car, and just sleep.

[Ravin]

Are there any middle ground options? The sudbury school in this area has a homeschool membership option, which allows you to pay a smaller fee than school enrollment for access to the school's resources. The parent has to accompany the children under this option, but can also choose how often they go. You could take them once or twice a week, rather than being full-time enrolled and having to commute 5 days.

[ezcc]

Thanks everyone!  No homeschooling option at the school unfortunately- they had a part time program the first year but eliminated it.  We have considered moving closer to school, but that puts my dh in a really bad commute traffic wise, and he goes to work many more days than there are school.  Plus, our school isn't necessarily in its forever home, so may not even be in the same location in a couple of years.  No carpooling option either- After buying gas today-yikes! I am leaning towards homeschooling more- hopefully we will buy in a neighborhood that has lots of kids around, which we don't currently have.  And I think we will be able to continue scouts with the same troops they are currently in for some stability.  It's a hard decision though- we'll see what happens.