So, we are rounding up August! Can you believe it? I STILL have no idea where May went, let alone August!
Most of you have already started school for the year! Home Grown Families, however, has not. I am holding stead fast to 'we never started school before September when I was a kid' and Melissa is waiting until the orientation for her new job is over. That is a valid reason- the 'when I was a kid' thing may just be me giving myself extra time. Either way, the deadline is almost here!
The question of the year with homeschooling is: "What about socialization? How are you going to socialize your kids?" This seems to be the most important issue to the parents I talk to that are not familiar with homeschooling.
Thankfully, I was able to get out of my hometown and travel for 15 years and see 'different.' I was blessed enough to live in places that were culturally diverse. (It was NOT culturally diverse when I grew up here.) I was able to meet people from all over the world, form relationships and get to know THEM. Sounds stupid but when everyone you have ever been around looks just like you look, there is a feeling of anything else being 'different.' It took me many years to really embrace that skin color or facial features are just the outside. Jesus died for all.
I knew that I did not want my kids to grow up with the same ideas that I had. I want them to know and love every hue, shape, accent and color. I have been blessed with 2 little girls that have never met a stranger. They are friendly to everyone and love blindly. This has caused me to come out of my shell and seek out places where they will meet 'different.' We are quite 'different' ourselves so that makes it easy for them to accept others.
To make sure that my kids are socialized appropriately, I am doing the following:
they will dance once a week with different kids- mostly older. (Our studio is really good about introducing different cultures traditional dances)
the girls will be cheering twice a week and games will be once a week. They will also be competing against teams from all over the area
Even though this is church related, and they see their church friends often, there are some kids who come to Awana that are not from our church.
Again, kids from our church, but they will also get to work and perform with the adult choir. They do not get to interact with these adults on a regular basis.
We are talking about trying soccer again in the Spring but they may decide to do something different. Either way, it will be a sport with different kids then the winter sports
Whatever I decide to do with the homeschooling co-ops, it will be a group of kids with which they do not have regular dealings
I have been mulling over volunteer projects in my head for a while now. I was waiting until they were an appropriate age and I think they are finally there. I was thinking about the SPCA or something but...
We were in a parade last night and we marched with the local Center for Independent Living- which is where we took the Sign Language class. It was so neat to see the girls interact with people with different levels of mental and physical capabilities. I was so heart-warmed to see The Princess dancing in the street with a mentally disabled lady. She had no idea in
her head that the lady was "weird" or "different" (which, of course, she isn't.) For a brief second I patted myself on the back for a job well done- so far. As kids get older, and the differences become more apparent, things can get murky. I was thinking that I would really like to volunteer there for an hour a week so I keep them exposed to people we wouldn't normally have the opportunity to be exposed to. I am thinking about contacting the director and seeing if they would have a need for us. If not, we will find something else.
Overall, I think I have the socialization of my homeschoolers covered. There are always the random and unplanned things that we get ourselves into as well.
Melissa's plan for Socialization
I couldn't agree with Tiffany more. To me I was worried that in the homeschooling community my children wouldn't get that cultural diversity, and it is very important to me that they do. I want them out, meeting new people, and learning how to react to situations on their own. I often hear that homeschool mothers like to shelter their children from the world...well HELLO!!!!! Who wouldn't want to shelter their children from being hurt and seeing unGodly things. But I know that we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and if Jesus was friends with EVERYBODY than my children should be too. I want my kids to know how to respond to bully's and intimidation, to ridicule and the feeling of being excluded. I want them to know what to do without me holding their hand, and mainly I want them to know how to turn to prayer in these situations. Socialization goes way further that just having friends. My son has LOTS of friends!
Here is our plan for the year:
- Fast Eddy will play Soccer in the Fall and flag football in the Spring. Both are 3 days a week including games. I plan on signing Carrot Top up for a tumbling class. Our group is also doing a once a week PE class.
- Awanas- Both boys are doing Awanas for the entire school year. Carrot Top loves his new Puggles t shirt! I drop them off for this and they are not in my class- so they are on their own.
- Music class- I bring the kids to a weekly music class. Fast Eddy tags along, but the class is geared for children 6mths- 3 years. He is always the helper, and I think its great that he learns how to play with children of all ages.
- Fast Eddy will be taking a hip hop class later in the fall, and Carrot Top will do a mini karate class through the county adult education department.
- We will be starting the 4H club this year and I am wayyyy more excited than they are!!
- We will also be doing volunteer work throughout the year including chess days at the local retirement home, food drives. walk a thons, and other work through our church. You can read this amazing blog for some inspiration: The Giving Stream. Stay tuned for more information on volunteering with your children.
- Co-ops and park playdates. We have an amazing homeschool group that stays busy! So we plan on using them for social things.
So, what are YOU doing to make sure your homeschooler is socialized? Leave us a comment or link-up your homeschooling post! It doesn't have to be about socialization! We want to hear about ALL that you are doing this year. We will leave the Linky open until 9/5 so check back often! And, don't forget to check out our other BACK TO SCHOOL CHECK-UP posts:
CURRICULUMORGANIZATION
SHOW US YOUR SCHOOL ROOM
LOW ENTRIES!! ROCK N' LEARN PHONICS 1 & 2 DVD'S 9/18
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