Hi, I'm new to the group. We've just decided to homeschool our 3.5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. I know that homeschooling is the best option for our son. He is really advanced for his age (lol-doesn't every mom say that!) and I don't want him getting bored in school. However, I really worry about his social needs. I plan on getting him involved in 4H, Awana, and a local homeschool co-op in my area when he is a bit older. But he is such a social kid and always wants to be "doing something". His first questions of the day are "where are we going?", "who's coming over?", and "who am I playing with today?" Does anyone else have a child like this? If so, how do you work in activities to help them get their social needs met? Thanks in advance for your insight! Sheri
Yes, my son is very social too. It's great to encourage that but he has to understand how it fits into the whole homeschool plan. The best way to head this off is to have a schedule for the week that you can discuss with him in advance. You can keep it flexible, but it works for my son to know what's coming up. We mark a calendar and have it in his room.
We always tried to make sure we also signed our ds up for those little kids sports classes as well. If it makes you feel better, I did a whole blog about this on my blog site. When ds was turning 5 or 6, we had a party. We invited about 10 families (we are friends with most the parents as well, so we invite everyone to stay and hang out). The only people to rsvp were a god parent, my in-laws and the family down the street (for a grand total of about 7 guests). I figured one or two other families might show, so I made extra food. But evidently not enough. EVERYONE we invited attended - we could barely fit everyone in the house! It was a kiddie bowling party with a fun at home bowling game, so there was NO ROOM to walk in the house AT ALL. There were so many people WE RAN OUT OF FOOD. I think the total number of kids in my house at max capacity was over 20. You should have see that stack of presents! That party lasted about 5 hours (I was beat!) and we still talk about it to this day - the only other party we had that year was the Halloween party, and we had even MORE kids at that! I like to tell that story when people ask me about my kids and "friends." The coolest part was that while 4-5 of the kids were specifically 5-6 yr old boys, he was friends with all of them - from the 2 yr old girl he helped to play the bowling game, to the 12 yr old girl who helped coordinate the present opening with me (no - on one else was homeschooled - just some neat kids!). He had so many friends there because they were all ages, and I think that was the best part of the whole party!
I have a child like that. She'd actually been in prschool since 3 and went to public school K till we pulled her last year. We drive A LOT lol. My best advice is to not pack in too much. We have park day, art, gymnastics coming up soon, the option of PE, and a co-op but chose not to do the last two just becaue dd is in 1st grade this year and since she's used to being home now, I wanted to not drive so much- even though I feel like I am! I would try to space it out if you can. Have something 2 or 3 times a week but not consecutive days.
Thanks for the ideas. I've been thinking about it more. My son is happy as long as we get out of the house. So I guess I can count running errands as getting out of the house for him. Then of course there is the park. I really need to make a schedule for him. That was a good idea. I think that would help me too! Sheri
Hi! I think if he was made a part of errands, involved in making lists, helping pick out vegetables at the grocery store, that kind of thing, than errands can be fun!
Plus, as your daughter gets a little older, they will be very close and play together, etc. It's rough when they are real young but about age 4 & 6 and beyond, they should have a lot of common interests.
