Starting homeschooling… after they've already had a taste of school?

My eldest son was halfway through 2nd grade, and my second son halfway through 1st grade when we decided to homeschool.  (I have two younger children as well)  Neither of my school aged children were having particularly wonderful experiences in school at the time, so it was not really a difficult thing bringing them home.

Having said this, I was mindful that the amount of social time/recess was going to be a big change for them.  So, for the first year, I took advantage of EVERY homeschool group activity I could find in order to make homeschooling FUN for them.  We went to outdoor education / sports centers once a month, hikes through various provincial forests once a month, craft days hosted at the homes of other homeschoolers every second Friday, park days with other homeschoolers once a week, lots of leisurely time at the library, swim lessons and open swim during the day when the pool is more quiet and all my kids could have fun together – and LOTS of freedom for them just to do whatever they found interesting outdoors. We also sought out and became friends with some amazing homeschool families that were truly wonderful role models for homeschool life (the kids in these families just radiated happiness, curiousity, fun, enjoyment of learning and reading, and acceptance of others…it made my kids see the beautiful people that are part of the homeschooling world…they wanted our family to be like this).  I really made the effort, when I met families like this, to stay in touch, reach out to the mother by email/phone, had them over to my home, etc. and to encourage contact between the kids as much as possible.

During this first year – I made yummy hot lunches every day, and made sure I included lots of cozy reading time, side-by-side internet research, and cool educational videos as part of our day/week.  I included these in particular because I knew them to be among the things kids in public school wish they had MORE of….so I determined to give my kids PLENTY and therefore clearly see this as an advantage of being homeschooled.  I also scheduled a lot of field trips and “holiday” trips to visit Grandparents in the middle of the week so they could experience, again, the beautiful flexibility that comes with homeschooling.  It got to the point where, whenever we would drive by a school yard and see the fenced-in kids, my kids would truly feel sorry for them – and would remark on how much they love their “freedom”.  LOL

I could go on and on.  Ask away if you want any more details, happy to share what I can.  I made that first year ALL about getting my kids on board.  They had both been in school since age 4 (pre-kindergarten) …at a Montessori, I might add) so I made it a serious priority to just get the mindset changed and to get them feeling amazing about being at home.  Your child, at age 6, is still very young, and you certainly have the time/flexibility to also spend this first year concentrating on fun.  Homeschooling at age 6 (especially when it’s one child/no distractions) doesn’t usually take more than 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day.  That leaves a LOT of hours in your day for activities, nature walks, swimming, scrapbooking, taking photographes, going to a pottery class, enjoying hot lunches (even doing cooking lessons with her), and…well, anything else that seems FUN to you guys!

Blesssings on your journey.  Be assured that those five teachers in her current school don’t hold a candle to you in terms of love, investment, and willingness to help your child above all else.  You can do this!

Angie