Sometime in the past year we have been transformed from a relatively calm homeschooling household to one that is barely staying afloat. The older children are mean, the younger ones whiny and I'm about to jump off the deck. While we have done lots of field trips, signed up for lots of lessons, and prayed the Rosary, things are out of control. Last week we decided to set up an appointment with the principal at the nearest Catholic school, so when my friend Delores asked after Mass, "How are you doing?" I replied, "Not so well."
"I'm about ready to give up, school is a constant struggle, the kids have few friends, and I'm lonely!" But Delores didn't bat an eye and pulled out her address book and a pen while saying, "You give this lady a call. She runs a Catholic co-op not very far away with all Seton students. It's once or twice a week and they do all their lessons for the week and have real homework. It also gives the moms the opportunity to get to know each other. It is a real blessing."
In less than one hour I had talked on the phone with the co-op leader, arranged with a local homeschooled teen to babysit the little ones two other days each week, and have a lot more confidence that we can right our listing and leaky homeschooling ship. I love teaching the children and don't want to give that up. But I need some help and it looks like I may have found it.
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7 comments:
By now you've heard of the supposed risks of social isolation brought about by homeschooling. Some of this is fueled by a fortress mentality which is not uncommon among families wanting to bypass the popular culture.
But warnings about the so-called "danger" are not so much wrong as they are misleading. There is a point around pre- and early-adolescence, when children are at their most insular. They are more prone to moodiness, and less prone to joining in activities that do not involve their narrow age group. I don't know your family, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that at least one of your children is at this delicate stage.
Homeschool cooperatives are always a sound idea, but they are particularly handy at a time like this. A child is more likely to find fellowship with others going through the same thing, and opportunities for social intercourse are more varied.
One co-op in a small rural town in Virginia attempts to emulate a conventional school environment, with some measure of success. The local parish allows them to use the parish hall once a week. They have school plays, an annual social for the older kids, even a yearbook. That's just one example.
Awesome! I hope this works for you. I'm in a similar boat, but what can I do with an upcoming move and all the mess of re-integrating our lives with a returned from the war soldier? We'll see what happens next year.
THAT is what I hope to manage for my baby(ies)!
All the useful aspects of school, but with the good of home schooling too!
Katherine, I read your blog every day. We have so much in common. I thought about writing my own blog, but then I found yours and now I don't need to- you say all the things I want to say, and then some! Our children are similar ages, and we have not had a good time homeschooling this year. My oldest is almost nine, a boy, and he has ADHD and is somewhere on the Autistic Spectrum. We think he has a mild case of Aspergers due to his inability to relate to other people. It is hard because the kids younger than him imitate his behaviors. Group activities do not work out! So I'm sorta stuck, and we don't have friends we see regularly and it can be lonely at home all the time. I do have a very sweet, together, homeschool teenager who comes over to help- and it is a blessing. I hope you have found just such a helper! The co-op sounds marvelous. Let us know how it goes!
God bless, Alicia W.
I organize a small co-op in South Eastern Massachusetts. We tend to loose our member families in Highschool when the efficiency of kitchen table school, a cottage school or community college just out weighs loosing a Friday morning (our co-op goes down in age all the way to nursery, the younger families are still working around afternoon naps).
It's cool to hear how a co-op somewhere is meeting older student's family's needs.
Thanks,
Christine
It's great that you are so flexible and willing to try new methods. Good for you for finding a way to keep homeschooling!
Peace and Laughter,
Cristina
I admire your courage. God bless. Let us know how it goes.
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