Diary of a single mom and her home-schooled daughter (Part 3)
Over the last two weeks I have had the honour of showing you a peek into the life of my daughter and I. You have responded with love and thanks and for that I am humbled.
Due to the number of emails received, we thought it best to have your questions guide the next part of the series. Each week we will pick an email and share my response as well as the question with you.
Hi Marsha,
I applaud you for what you've done, I myself have been considering the same for my 5 year old, and she attends a private primary school, fees to the roof.
My daughter spends all day in school, then I have to re teach everything to her in 30 minutes so she can understand, sigh.
I guess my question is related to fear on my part as well as her being able to interact socially with others.
I know I can teach the curriculum comfortably up to std 5, but, how do I begin, I have a store, therefore she will have to be with me while I work, hmmm, thinking and typing, lol. Then perhaps put her in day care for a couple hrs so that she can interact with peers, hmmm.
Do you have a guided system that you can share?
Regards….
Hi there,
Fear is very understandable. It is uncharted territory, but I know you can do it.
The law allows us to educate our children in the way we see fit so there is no need to do much more than stop paying fees and sending her to school. lol
Choose a curriculum that is right for you. We use My Father's World, which is available online and absolutely love it. It costs us (including shipping and clearing) $2000TT for the ENTIRE YEAR and includes EVERYTHING.
Having your daughter in the store will allow her to not only socialize with children her own age but adults as well, which is key. Play parks, play dates with old school friends, family and just random conversation with people in a bank line are all forms of socialising. Home schoolers tend to be more outgoing BECAUSE they do not have a circle of friends to hide behind. They are forced to get out of their comfort zone and interact with everyone. So be sure to keep that in mind and make it intentional that she learns how to strike up appropriate, safe conversations with anyone. My daughter loves to chat with the garbage collector, she checks our local fruit vendor every day and just chills with them and she goes on the farm where we buy lettuce and helps them pick it. Interaction is everywhere.
MY TAKE ON SOCIALISING: The success of home-schooling varies just as it does with traditional school. There are parents who go above and beyond with extra lessons, extra-curricular activities etc. and as a result they tend to see greater results. Home-schooling is no different. My day may look different and may appear to be more relaxed, but make no mistake, we are very intentional about what we do and I am super committed to this. Proper socialisation should not be solely dependent on school and therefore should not be an issue if you choose to home-school. BE INTENTIONAL!!! Start off your home-schooling journey with a list of targets – what do you want out of this? I am not ashamed to say that we wanted more time to just lay in bed and hug up. I believe that time spent holding their parents is the most valuable gift they can receive. I think the ability to socialise with anyone from any walk of life is also crucial, so we are INTENTIONAL about play dates with the rich and famous and play dates with kids in at risk communities as well, and as mentioned in my email response, we ensure she interacts with adults also.
My time with you this week is up. Next week we will tackle the cost of home-schooling. How can you afford it? Until then, have a blessed week filled with love and productivity.
