Comments on: School Issue Update

By: Natural Learning - What Is It? | Natural Family Living Blog

Natural Learning - What Is It? | Natural Family Living Blog — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:02:55 +0000

[...] many of you know I will likely be homeschooling my 7 year old son after the conclusion of this school year. I have been giving a lot of thought to what type of [...]

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:07:13 +0000

I’m wondering if you can talk to the teacher about bringing home alternate assignments that you can work on with him at home to help him catch up. Maybe he should advance to the second grade and during the summer, you can design some programs and activities to help him practice his skills and build his confidence. Ask the school what skills he should have for entering second grade and use the summer to prepare him on your own. I think homeschool is great but since he is so young, he might really benefit more from the social experience of a school setting. Homeschool might be better as a last resort because he hasn’t flunked out yet! There is absolutely hope! He is a little piece of clay that is hoping you’ll help mold him! I love your blog and know you make great decisions! Good luck with everything!

By: Jody

Jody — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:16:41 +0000

So glad the meeting went well. And if you do decide to homeschool I wish you lots of luck. This is our third year of homeschooling our boy’s and I haven’t regretted it. Glad you got the books suggested!

By: Tara

Tara — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:01:29 +0000

Hats off to you for handling the meeting so well. You and your son are lucky to have each other! BTW, it's likely my daughter went to the Waldorf School you are referencing. It's a great place but you can easily duplicate much of what they do there on your own. You can email me for more if you would like. All the best on your homeschool journey. Tara's last blog post..Going to School in India

By: Marisa

Marisa — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:43:09 +0000

I just wanted to briefly say that your story sounds like a carbon copy of our situation out here in California. My son is no 8 and we went through the same thing when he first started kindergarten. The pressue to meet state regulations was ridiculous. However, I knew I had started him out in school to soon with his birthday at the end of the year. He actually started kindergarten at the age of 4. After careful research I had decided to retain him after 1st grade and honestly I do not regret that decision. I too thought that it would make him feel “left behind” in comparison to his friends but at this young tender age all they want to do is play and meet friends and he sure did. He had a whole new set of friends and the pay off is that he’s totally ahead of his game now and the confidence he feels now is much greater and he doesn’t even remember that his best-friend “Andy” moved to the next grade and he didn’t. It’s not even a problem because he’s got so many new friends.

Anyway, just wanted you to know that what we decided to do was best for my son and will never regret the decision and we have actually been told that it was the best thing.

Good luck! Your a great Mom to look up to.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:52:34 +0000

Tiffany
Your meeting also points out the fact that teachers and admiistrators are not the enemy. They mostly have their hearts in the right place and are doing the best they can in a very broken educational system driven by politics and not in the child’s best interest. Don’t feel you have to sign on to any program in these early years even self-paced computer based lessons. The whole world can be your classroom and reading is better and easier when the knowledge base is bigger from real world experience and, of course, the reading material is so rich and high quality when they read at a later age.
Best wishes,
Wendy

By: Rose

Rose — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:28:53 +0000

I’m glad the meeting was productive. Good luck with it! I keep pushing my husband that we should homeschool but we have a few years yet for that discussion.

I just saw this video and it made me think of your post:
http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/wp-content/themes/179/aschool012008.html

By: Jai

Jai — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:11:38 +0000

Dah, been a while since I last posted! I am so glad it was a very productive meeting! You inspire me! I was thinking about homeschooling (in the future) and was about to start investigating this option. I think you’ll be a wonderful teacher and your darling son is lucky to have you! (as you are of him, naturally!)

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:05:41 +0000

Aww….thanks Dawn. Your gonna make me cry. :)

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:50:43 +0000

Best of luck to you! You are a fantastic mom and your son is lucky to have you be his teacher. Dawn's last blog post..San Francisco and Monterey, CA

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:52:27 +0000

Good for you! Homeschooling is an excellent opportunity to explore the world (or 600 mile yard sale!) if you can do it. My husband was homeschooled in Houston TX, and they even had sports teams with the local homeschool kids. Good luck! Maria's last blog post..Holy Teeth!

By: Brooke

Brooke — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:58:03 +0000

Awesome. We have the same thing here in PA, an online free homeschooling program and one of the women I met at an LLL group couldn’t say enough good things about it. Good luck.

By: karin

karin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:33:51 +0000

GOOD FOR YOU!

By: trina

trina — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:34:30 +0000

I'm so glad your meeting was so productive! trina's last blog post..Eating at 15 Months