homeschool worries

[Itlbokay]

I am starting to get nervous as the new school year approaches. This will be my first year homeschooling and I still haven't told any of my friends I will be doing so. We live in a very small community and everyone knows everyone. One of my friends is married to a man who is a supervisor of sorts for the public schools here and several other friends are preschool teachers. I am so worried that my choice will somehow affect my sons self esteem, especially if other children treat him differently. I have lots of other worries too but my basic question to my Mothering friends is what were some of your worries and did they end up being okay and something you needn't have worried about in the first place? Thanks in advance, Steph

[Mamax3]

Steph, I couldn't believe how much your post sounds like EXACTLY what I am going through.......I will be anxious to see what others say. Don't have any advice just wanted to let you know that there is someone who is experiencing the same thing.

[jdross]

Javamom- We are in the same situation as we jump from a wonderful, private waldorf school into homeschooling. In my heart I know this is the right decision, but we are just starting-we have yet to tell family, friends, etc.
For myself, listening and seeing what my child truely needs and following my heart on this path can only boost my ds's self esteem. Yes, I am worried, although I can't name specifics, but I know this is right. I think if you can find that place in yourself, you'll feel confident in your decision, in spite of the worries. Good luck-Sue

[khrisday]

I had lots of fears when we started (especially since my son has special needs). SOme of them have come true (like my 3 year old being a pain while I am working with my son ) but most of them just vanished. We are not unschoolers, but we take a relaxed approach (definatelt not school-at-home), and he has learned SO much. We get a lot of comments from parents of friends, etc about how knowledgeable he is. We have freed ourselves of so much stress, are spending more quality time together, and I actually that we have gained respect from the community, including the school people.

[lilyka]

I was worried that we wouldn't be able to keep up, wouldn't be organized enough, and that she would be socially awkward (sp?). I also really worried about what our family would think.

She is currently at a middle first grade level and we are super slackers when it comes to "doing school". She is scheduled to start Kindergaden this year. I think we are just fine in this area. Also without someone holding her hand every step of the way she would never get anything done and would be behind. At PS she would probably be labled ADD and deemed unreachable so really homschool is keeping her from being behind.

Organization smorganization. No we never did get really organized but we haven't really needed to. Like I said we are total slackers and it works out just fine. We need more than unschooling so we have it but only when it suits us. Hey we have done math, handwriting and reading 3 days in a row now. Thats our record

Is she wierd socially? Yeah but so id her friend J. and she has had 3 years of private preschool and will start PS next year. They are a match made in heaven. Some things scholl just doesn't make a difference for. At least home she is free to be a wierd as she wants to be.

Family. MIL is very against it. FIL seems supportive or at least not against it. As of last Christmas there were 2 cousins with children dds age. One is a teacher. All six of the cousins are being homeschooled. it is nice to have someone to sit across from at Christmas dinner and discuss learning philosophies and what to do with all the other youngins. I can do no right in my families eyes so we will just leave them out of it

In the end your childs normalacy/superiority will be enough to onvince them this whole homeschool thing is working. You can also sorta dodge the issue if you must by saying. We are taking thins one week at a time and if it stops working we will be glad PS is there for us.

Good luck. Give it a try. They aren't going to miss much by missing a semester/year of school so long as you are trying they will pick up most of it.

[Linda in Arizona]

I think that going to school can be very hard on kids' self esteem. Many kids take an emotional beating all day from the other kids, or even the teacher. The pressure to conform and perform and intense.

I do worry that the negative reactions from other will affect my kids, but I still think they are better off spending most of their time mucking around and having a good time rather than being at school.

[jdross]

Right on!!!!!!

[Itlbokay]

Thanks for the word of support. I'm going to take it slowly and give it a chance, see how it goes. I am really starting to get excited thinking about how much time I will have with my boys this year. We live in a resort town and my DH works a lot of hours in the summer. Then fall comes and he has a lot of free time and the boys are in school. I can't wait for the wonderful fall weather and to be able to enjoy the beach with all of them school free! Steph