Okay, let's say you are new to an area and join a Internet group of mommies who live in the surrounding towns. There is a get-together put on by the homeschooling moderator so you sign up, take a shower, make pumpkin bread, get juice cups organized, print out directions and spend 30 minutes in the car to knock on the door. You expect to meet other homeschooling mothers and possibly find some friends for your children.
Wrong.
What you find is someone who does "school" with her preschooler and sends her oldest to public school and a mom who is considering homeschooling because she is unsatisfied with her 5 year old's preschool. I spent most of the visit keeping Timmy from eating the decorations and the other part picking up the flood of toys that seemed to wash through the house.
I know there are all kinds of homeschoolers: unschoolers, school-at-home moms, classical types, traditionalists, and likely another half dozen variants. But they school their children at HOME, not send them to public school and claim to be a homeschooling expert. I'll just say that I won't find my bosom buddy through this venue.
Luckily I have spent part of the past week finding more helpful social and supplemental activities for the kids.
Brownies - check
Cub Scouts - check
Piano lessons - check
I also have found yet another little boy Will's age in the neighborhood who homeschools. The best news is that his older sister babysits, hopefully available every afternoon so I can go running without waiting for Tim to get home at 6 before heading out the door.
Here's hoping for better luck next time.
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8 comments:
Well, that just STINKS!
I've been very lucky in my new little town. Homeschoolers (the real deal) keep coming out of the woodwork.
Good luck!
Homeschooling undermines the integrity of the Republic. Your blatant disregard for the intellectual development of your own children is sickening.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and all the other founders of our Republic were homeschooled.
I have a higher respect for the intellectual formation of my chidren than 90% of American parents. I want the best education possible for them which is why I homeschool.
Kat - excellent rebuttle to the previous anyomous comment.
Regina
I think Anonymous critics undermine the integrity of blogging.
But that is just me.
To the actual entry, that is disappointing! I could see organizing something for the purpose of getting to know homeschoolers because I was curious about starting, but I couldn't see myself organizing it as a "homeschooling event" if I weren't actually homeschooling.
That is a bummer. Hopefully as you will run into other homeschooling folks to hang with. Before our last move, we were praying that we would have neighbors that were Christian, homeschoolers and had kids the age of ours. We got all three . . . but not in the same families.
Our Navy region is putting together a Navy homeschool support group through the school liason officer. You might give your school liason a ring and ask if they can help you connect with some other homeschoolers.
I can sympathize with your frustration at not finding any families at the HSG event that you "clicked" with. However, I do think that HSG's should be open to families who currently have kids in a traditional school but are seriously considering pulling them. We've had several of them in our HSG and most of them do end up making the switch. I think it really helped them to meet real-life HS'ers to reassure them that it isn't as intimidating as it can seem at first, KWIM?
This nearly scared me away when I started homeschooling. We now meet homeschoolers on special homeschool days at roller rinks, six flags, and such and everyday activities like sports and shopping. Chances are if a full family is shopping at noon, on a school day, then they are homeschoolers.
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