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From:	OceanMama (adsl-6-38-172.tys.bellsouth.net)
Subject:	Hello and calling all novel ideas for making homeschooling work.
Date:	February 5, 2008 at 6:38 am PST

(Repost from another board)

Howdy guys---

In the days when I was a stay-at-home mom, I brought my young children
along to a Waldorf homeschool co-op where I taught Latin a couple years. (At
the time, my DD was an infant in a sling and my DS was two and three years
old) I really got hooked on homeschooling, so to speak. During a separation
and divorce, I returned to school to finish my bachelor's to better provide for
the kids--- both were in a small Reggio Emilio preschool, and I was "pretty
happy" with it (inasmuch as you can ever be happy with someone else
watching your kids.) Now DS is in a very tiny Montessori school (16 kids total
from grades k-3) and as much as it's a great school (as schools go) I know in
my heart that this kid is just destined for homeschooling.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to make this work. I've re-married, and my
husband is in the Navy. We'll be moving to Yorktown, VA in 2009; I'll be
attending William and Mary to finish my master's degree, and DH will be in
and out of the country. My vision of a lazy, crunchy unschooling upbringing
for my children pretty much vanished when I divorced their father, but I'd like
to come up with a way to make SOMETHING work.

Here's what I've come up with so far... I'm hoping someone else has a good
idea to add to the mix. I'm thinking some combination of:

*Only taking M-W-F classes, so that Tuesdays and Thursdays are free
*Finding a homeschool co-op for the days I'm in school
*Hiring a "nanny" type of person to stay at home with the children (sounds
extravagant but it's got to be better than private school fees)
*Putting DD in preschool and bringing DS with me to some of my classes (my
mother did this with me when I was homeschooled but I was 12 instead of 5)
*Finding another military family who homeschools and try to "piggyback" or
alternate days (we will probably live on-base)

I know that in a perfect world, the solution would be for me to go back to
being a stay-at-home mom and do it EXACTLY how I want it with nobody
else being in charge of my children's learning but me. Unfortunately, that's
not an option for our family and won't happen for several years. I feel like
now is a crucial time for my children, especially DS, who appears to be
showing signs of Asperger's. The last thing I want is for him to end up not
reaching his full potential as a bright, growing little guy. Any advice or
suggestions will be welcomed.

Cheers,
Amelia

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