How I did it: i had said when my son was in utero that i wanted to homeschool. due to constraints with time and money, he was enrolled in public school for kindergarten. shortly after thanksgiving, i withdrew him from the same school to teach him at home.

i did a lot of research on the internet. i had spent a few years working as an ECE teacher with toddlers, so i reached out to some of my colleagues who had worked with older children.

Lessons & tips:

• don't worry about everything going "according to plan"
• factor your child's interests into what you're working on
• try to separate school time from family time - my son and i were definitely strained at home when we'd had a rough go of school
• don't get so hung up on academics that you forget that your kid still needs to be a kid
• admitting that it isn't for you is NOT failure. i definitely feel better for even having tried it. maybe we'll give it another go in the future, but right now it's not for us.

Resources: i spent a lot of time in the library, online, and in bookstores. there are tons of resources for teachers as far as creating lesson plans.

Jan 04, 2009, 12:36PM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer