Homeschooling an only child

Welcome to Simply Charlotte Mason › Discussion Forum › CM Educating › Homeschooling an only child

Tagged: 

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • January 5, 2011 at 1:08 am
    S V
    Participant

    I am considering homeschooling my 6 year old. She has been in pre-school (ages: 4 and 5) and kindergarten (age: 6) this year at a local Christian school. I love the Charlotte Mason way of education. My husband and I are thinking about homeschooling for this coming year– 1st grade. I know very little about homeschooling except what I’ve read on SCM blog and from one of the books on Charlotte Mason from my library. My husband and I have this one daughter. We have been concerned in the past about the strain that homeschooling one child and a daughter at that might put on my daughter and my relationship. My daughter and I sometimes clash. With homeschooling her of course I would be mom, teacher and principal. Do you have any insight or wisdom for me? And or or do you have any further information for me to read or ponder.

    Thanks for your help and consideration, VS

    January 5, 2011 at 2:39 am
    missingtheshire
    Member

    My daughters are now in senior high, and were public schooled initially – I had similar concerns to you when I took them out of school and started to homeschool.  They did not start homeschool until mid 5th grade – I have to say it is the best thing I have ever done – our relationship over the years has become stronger and stronger and we are now as close as can be, and they still love doing things with me and their father and it is so gratifying to see.  I highly recommend it – is it always easy – no of course not – in those early days it was often a case of butting heads, but the more we relaxed into the CM approach and spent time together, the better it became.  I highly recommend that if God and your hearts are leading you to homeschool then try it.  I am sure that like me you will find your fears unfounded and that you and your daughter thrive in the home environment.  As she is an only child, you will just need to be sure she has some like minded families and children to interact with, so that she and you don’t become isolated.  There is no better person to guide your child through life than you and your husband.  I would utilize this site and glean help from those here with younger children and some of Sonya’s amazing resources – but I can tell you two things:

    1.  It won’t always be sunshine and roses, there will be challenges along the way, the trick is to ride through those knowing the fruit that will come at the end of your journey homeschooling.  Don’t ever give up, be patient, go slow and read about CM in her own books or in Sonya’s excellent books.

    2.  Your relationship with your daughter will flourish in the home with a CM education, and your daughter will thrive on the one on one education you can give her.  Snuggle up with twaddle free age appropriate books and enjoy.

    Blessings, Linda

    January 5, 2011 at 1:41 pm
    knechtslodge
    Participant

    I have a daughter that is homeschooled alone. She was in public school until the beginning of 2nd grade and now we are in the middle of her 6th grade year. Homeschooling an only child has it’s benefits. For one your attention only has to go to her and her school work. You will not feel spread thread amongst teaching other children in the family. Of course sometimes it does get lonely. We find that we are able to finish all her work each day in about 2 1/2 hours as long as she is motivated to get it done. Our relationship is strong because of her being at home and we do many things together. Hopefully this will continue as she grows and matures. I make it a point to get her out of the house often and involved in other activities. She is very involved in a drama group and performs often as well as takes art lessons. Is it always great and wonderful? No, of course not. We butt heads on many issues from time to time. But I feel strongly that God called our family to have this adventure in homeschooling and it will definitely keep us in a close relationship over the coming years. Hope this helps some. If you have any specific question, please ask them, and I will be happy to answer.

    Blessings

    Diane

    January 5, 2011 at 2:28 pm
    RobinP
    Participant

    My oldest son is now 20 and was an only child until he was 13.  We homeschooled him all the way through.  When he was a senior, his little brother was in  K.  We loved it.  We could really focus on his strengths, attack his weaknesses without my attention being diverted by other needs.  There were days when we had attitute problems (and they weren’t always his) but on those days, we often simply closed the books and went outside.  Smile

    The hard part is that YOU are IT.  As you said, YOU are the teacher,  YOU are the mom and often YOU are the playmate.  I encourage you to look for like-minded homeschooling friends or a support group.  My son was very much a loner and very quiet but we did do a few activities with other families.

    It was precious on his graduation day.  After the ceremony, he hugged me and said, “We made it!!!”  You will, too, and the journey will be precious for you as well.

    January 5, 2011 at 11:05 pm
    botanicalbecky
    Member

    I have a challenging relationship with my oldest ds, who is also 6 btw :), and one of the reasons I wanted to homeschool is so that we have time to work on our relationship. I feel that once they are in public school, they are gone for most of the day leaving little time for us to be together. Plus I have discovered how amazing it is to watch my child learn. I get to see first-hand what he struggles with, what is challenging for him. I’ve learned I have a fairly bright and fairly lazy child! 🙂 But that’s ok – I know we are going to work on that.

    Also, I think ALL parents sometimes clash with their kids regardless of public school or home school. That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be a fantastic teacher for your daughter. 🙂

    January 6, 2011 at 1:54 am
    S V
    Participant

    Thanks for all your insights.  I am most grateful for them and will continue to prayerfully consider what God has for our family.

    Blessings to you all too!

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • The topic ‘Homeschooling an only child’ is closed to new replies.