Homeschooling

It is funny, really.  Ever since I have mentioned homeschooling my little one (which unofficially has been going on since Day 1) people look at me like I have two heads.  Really, they do.

The first thing I always hear is: "Why would you do that to her? If  you homeschool her she will be anti-social, a loner with no friends."

Homeschooling in my area doesn't seem prevalent, but trust me, I will find a support group and homeschooling friends.  My daughter won't be a loner.  She will experience life.  What is a better teaching tool then heading out into the real world and learning.  She will get much more experience then sitting in a classroom with 30 out students and reading out of a text.  Learning will be a fun experience. We will learn new things together, and I look forward to being able to experience things with her.

There is also 4-H, swimming, gymnastics, field trips, group play dates, group functions/picnics and many other projects that homeschooling kids participate in.

I also hear "are you qualified, you aren't a teacher."  Well in my state you have to be competent to homeschool.  The state also will receive reports on where she is.  At this point, she is already ahead of kids that are a couple of years older then she is.  She can count to 25, knows her ABC's, colors, shapes, and can even count to ten in Spanish.  But as for being qualified, yes, I am qualified.  If it went on education, yes, I have college degrees, and I also have a degree in Early Education, and I am willing to teach my child and show her love and patience in her learning process.  For this, I believe I am well qualified.

Husband is almost on board.  He wants to wait and see how the Pre-K goes I believe, but family members aren't so much.  They are questioning me on it and believe that I'm going to ruin her for life.  They have managed to put doubts in my head on occasion, and doubt my ability to do this, but after reading:

The First Year Of Homeschooling Your Child by Linda Dobson

I am more then certain that I want to do this.

I will be there when she gets that experiment, when her science project does what it is suppose to do.  When she gets a new math concept or learns new words.  Her joy will be my joy.

Also, I have found many online support groups for homeschooling.  Do you know that there are hundreds of blogs out there where families talk about their homeschooling? There are facebook pages.  Forums.  Groups.  Plus, I have a good friend that lives a few hours from here that has been my sounding board. She and her husband have been homeschooling for a few years now and she has been wonderful in answering my questions and putting up with my "what ifs?"  Thank you for that Kari. 

So, yes world! I'm going to homeschool my child.