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Starting homeschooling
By ella | April 9, 2007
This week we have hit the ground running with homeschool. My initial reservations have proved (mostly) unfounded and we have covered large amounts of learning with a fair amount of enthusiasm (on both our parts).
Fitting in a good block of homeschooling every morning and afternoon has been tricky with two younger children in the house and I am finding it difficult to do the basic chores like clearing the dishwasher and preparing supper, given that nap time is now given over to teaching Harry rather than doing these essential chores. I am more than happy to not do them in favour of poring over books with him (children’s encyclopedias are particularly interesting, even to me as I find gaps in my knowledge or remind myself of facts that have mysteriously and definitively disappeared since my first pregnancy) but unfortunately a magic fairy does not appear to do the chores instead of me and I find I reach five o’clock with no idea of what to give the children to eat and then a kitchen full of dirty dishes after the children are in bed when I would rather be sitting down with a glass of wine. Evenings, too, are now about finding out what Harry would be learning this year were he in school (I’m amazed to think that I probably would have had no idea what he was learning at school) and trying to think of innovative ways to teach him. I’m sure this will settle as we get into some sort of routine and I have to say - in a rather irritatingly smug way - that I do sometimes feel a bit like those homeschooling mothers with lots of beautiful children and a calm, assured manner that I so often envy.
So. So far so good.
Regrettably, I appear to have been slightly sidelined by the other school-gate mothers, possibly unintentionally because I no longer feature on their social radar, possibly intentionally because they see me as That Weirdo Mother Who Thinks Their School is Not Good Enough For Her Son. Either way it hurts a little but I expected it and I am making friends with the few other home educating parents in my very rural neck of the woods. And of course I have my trusty best friends who, if they could remain friends with me through my post natal depression, will most likely be friends for life. Despite our lifestyles diverging as I become a homeschooler and therefore do not share the school-gate patois or experiences of the Nativity play and sports days and, worse still, have less time for cups of coffee while our babies play contentedly on the rug together, I still - very gratefully - cannot imagine our friendships suffering.
And if I write that here as a matter of public record they will feel like complete heels if they now ever break that friendship.
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Read More:
- Giving up homeschooling: starting school
- Starting homeschooling: the first weeks
- Why homeschooling did and didn’t work for us
- Homeschooling worries
- The loss of me (not that there was much to lose exactly)
Categories: Homeschooling and School
4 Comments
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I admire you. I think it is a very honorable thing to do this. I thought about it but with three under five, it was more than I could handle.
I am so impressed by any Mom who undertakes homeschooling. This sounds awful, but I am only too happy to send mine off every day (but they do go to a very small Montessori school)! Please keep posting about it and let us know how it goes. I just “discovered” your blog and I will have to read more. You seem very interesting and I like your writing. Thanks!
So glad to hear that it is going well so far!
I’m glad to see it’s going well. I just found your blog a while ago through the hip blog mamas ring. Your post about “Homeschool Worries” actually inspired a rambling post from me. (Isn’t it nice to know you are inspiring?) If you check it out, ignore the mess. I just lost everything - yes everything! - and had to buck up and start from scratch. http://eclecticparent.com/blog/2007/04/09/thoughts-on-homeschooling/
Good luck with the homeschooling. There is a world of knowledge and info on the web. Holler if you need ideas and they should come pouring your way.