[Kachinarain]

When I read through the posts it seems that most Homeschoolers have multiple children, is there anyone who has an "only" child (mine is 11yrs old) who can offer some insight into homeschooling them.
My husband and I want to homeschool our son but he is becoming very close with his class mates.... It is a very difficult decision so any advice "wart's and all" would be much appreciated.

Warmly
Kate

 

[onlyzombiecat]

Hi Kate,
We are homeschooling our only dd (6).
There have been other posts in this forum about homeschooling an only child so I know we aren't alone.
Your ds can see his friends outside of school. Getting involved in a homeschool group, clubs or activities is usually recommended.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ght=only+child

 

[konamama]

only dd here, but only 3, no help but interested in what others say )

 

[rebeccalizzie]

We just started this year, so I don't know if I'll be much help. DD is 10, we have another child on the way but he's obviously not going to be hs'd anytime soon!

We've got a few friends with kids DD's age who also hs, so we hang out with them, and I'm going to join a homeschoolers group. DD also takes some extracurricular activities at various times--she just finished a day camp where she learned to quilt, and she plays a couple of very low-pressure sports through her old school.

Honestly, I don't know how I could do this as well with more than one child, so I'm glad I'm only doing it with the one! We are doing a relaxed WTM/ SOTW based curriculum, so lots of reading and some fun projects. I guess because I'm just starting out, I still feel like I have a lot to learn about DD's learning style and what works best for her...I'm glad I can devote all my planning and school time to just her.

 

[Kachinarain]

Did you recently start HS your 10 yr old?

 

[rebeccalizzie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kachinarain Did you recently start HS your 10 yr old?

Yup, just a couple of weeks ago. That's why I said I'm not too much help, I'm still in the "trying to figure all this out" segment!

 

[Kachinarain]

Thanks everyone for your advice and the links were a great help!
To the mum who just started hs her 10yr old could I ask what prompted you to do this...

Kate

 

[[email protected]]

no advice, but we're in a similar situation

my duaghter LOVES the socialstuff of school (she attended ps for first grade) being an only child and not a lot of connections it really filled a void for her

it's the one thing that causes me concern about whether we really shoudl hs or not -- trying to provide time to be with others and not always having it a pre-determined activity (ie soccer or yoga class etc.) free play time

which always brings me back to we could invite others HERE if we could get our home decluttered so its somewhat acceptable for company *sigh*

and seemingly we're in a black hole of HS support grousp - all of them are 45 mins. away which is ok for once a month stuff but they never have their kids with them and all the places they talk about / suggest are further from me than is feasible

 

[KaraBoo]

What are your concerns about homeschooling an only?

I assume you are worried about socialization, as other hsers are, even ones with more than one child. onlyzombiecat listed some threads that address that, I believe.

 

[rebeccalizzie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kachinarain Thanks everyone for your advice and the links were a great help! To the mum who just started hs her 10yr old could I ask what prompted you to do this... Kate

Hi Kate. There were a couple of main reasons. First, she was getting really bored. She's way ahead in reading and language arts, so sitting through reading class was torture. She was also sick of boring science and social studies topics (and they were seriously boring...she was right). At the same time, she's way behind in math. She's smart enough to fake it, so no one realized until the end of 4th grade that she couldn't divide at all, doesn't even understand the concept of division, and just barely "gets" multiplication. This meant that she also didn't "get" simplifying fractions and a bunch of other stuff. She was completely losing her joy of learning new things, and I didn't want that to happen.

There were also some bullying issues (the constant ever changing cliques, and some girls who were seriously mean to her) but the main reason was educational. At this point we are doing a literature and history based curriculum by DD's choice, she's started doing a bunch of creative writing on her own, which she's never done before, and she's starting to catch up in math. She's also starting to learn italics and calligraphy because she hates cursive writing and her writing is horrendous. Since we've started (started choosing curriculum at the beginning of the summer, started homeschooling officially a week ago) she has really gotten involved in discussing how she wants to learn, what kinds of things she wants to do--it's given her a big sense of empowerment, and so far she's really enjoying what we are learning.

I'm not an unschooler, because I do require all subjects to be covered, but I can see how it would work because DD has really taken an active role in her education. She also still sees her friends, participates in a bunch of extracurriculars, and is quite social, so that hasn't changed. All she's missing is her brief lunch and recess, and she doesn't miss that much.

Hope this helps...
Rebecca

 

[[email protected]]

so i've had some thoughts come to me today as to why i'm hesitant on HSing my kiddo

first off - i'm worried about keeping pace with her interests and meeting her stimulation level. trying to keep things interesting / diverse is going to be a whole lot of work for me. i don't mean that in the lazy "i should have had a chia pet" sort of way which you can't know because you can't hear my tone : ) ps certainly didn't challenge her but it did offer diversity of activities and people and a level of go - go - go

beyond that is the fact that before she was school-aged, she and i were together all day and i never found the time for me to recharge. i'm figuring out that i'm a lot like a cordless phone, great to go lots of places but then i have to sit on base for a while to recharge. i suspect that once dd goes to bed i'll be busy reading and finding stuff for our days or related to whatever the latest topic is etc. we'll "school" during the day and i'll be prepping for school at night

granted i don't actually KNOW that, its just a guess. i do know i don't have any support around us except for dh so things like trying to go to the dentist during the day or take a yoga class means i have dd, i HOPE dh can arrange to take care of her for me, or i don't have the appt.

i don't really want to go back to the school she was in last yr but i don't know that i can really go back to being so over-saturated as a mom either [which honestly is more of a factor of dh & i than it is about homeschooling. ps gave me the break i couldn't seem to find any other way]

granted being 8 is a whole lot different than being 5 - she can read now and in some ways it shoudl be different than it was a few years back

maybe it's that thing of dancing with the devil you know instead of venturing into the unknown : )

 

[OhTheThinks.....]

New book out........2003
Homeschooling Only One, by Donna Connor

I just check it out the library, getting ready to check it out.
I met her at a seminar, she is homeschooling her only child through high school. Her book is a short easy read about 60 pages.