Elise is having trouble hearing. It seems like it is just a problem with wax buildup (our Doctor couldn’t even see her inner ear) and hopefully when we get the wax looked after her hearing will be fine. Don’t get me wrong, I feel for her but it is SO FRUSTRATING constantly hearing “What?” all day long.

What a terrible mother I am. Elise should be the one who is frustrated but between her hearing impairment and the normal four and two year old selective hearing tendency and Daniella has picked up on the “What?” habit as well I feel like I spend my whole day repeating myself - sometimes two or three times before they “hear” me. By the time I get through, I’ve had to apologize for shouting because I’m really trying to project my voice so they’ll hear which admittedly sounds angry. Sometimes they say “what?” so quickly I think maybe they’re not waiting for what I’m saying to register in their little brains before responding.

grrrrr.

I think we have come to a decision on the homeschooling thing.

I do believe that we will homeschool at some point but I am going to wait until Elise is in grade three or so. I am very drawn to the idea of homeschooling and want to do that for them for at least part of their grade school years.

I think Elise would enjoy school at the age she is now and the social and academic “concerns” I have for public school won’t kick in until the middle grades. Also, the first couple of grades, especially Kindergarten, are primarily playing. Less socializing happens after the first couple of grades (except recess and lunch) and I would easily be able to meet or exceed those opportunities in a homeschool setting.

The decision I made to put Elise in the morning preschool class has limited her selection of friends as they are mostly a year younger and, while that is not a problem for their getting along, at three most kids are not wanting to play WITH others. They are still in parallel play mode. She has made one lovely friend and certainly plays with the other children but apart from her friend Elise and Lydia (who is a friend by default because I am friends with her mother), she hasn’t really bonded with any other children. Kindergarten will give her a large selection of kids her own age to choose from without any additional effort on my part. She will have lots of time to observe the kids and choose her own friends. She will also be able to experience other teachers.

I plan to practice homeschooling with French and art in the afternoons after Kindergarten and during the summer. Since Elise is well on her way with her letters, numbers, colours, shapes, printing and other Kindergarten academics, I can keep her moving forward with learning these in French.

Thanks to you all for your comments and discussions and especially for your votes of confidence that I could do it well if I choose to.

I’ve been talking a lot with people about homeschooling. Big surprise there. Everyone has the same concern: how will my kids socialize? The homeschool parents I’ve spoken to say socialization is the least of their worries. In fact, when you homeschool, you go through the curriculum in a couple of hours a day so there is actually more time to socialize.

My sister had the concern that socializing while I’m there would be different than being at school and being able to do things without me looking over their shoulder. Maybe so,

Most people can see that school is not the end all be all of socialization settings. Erin and I have the means to put the girls in a variety of activities that would provide the side by side interaction with peers needed. As long as I’m not a Sparks leader or soccer coach, they will be able to socialize without me there.

I’m also reading a book called Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Matter which is talking about the phenomenon called Peer Orientation whereby the child’s primary attachment is not their parents, but there peers resulting in a blind leading the blind situation. It’s an interesting read.

My preschool teacher was finally able to point our some things about socialization that rang true with me.
1. Kids get their social foundation of what is appropriate behaviour until age 6 or 7. 2. In order to make a friendship connection at this age, they need the consistency of seeing that person frequently. This is especially true for someone of Elise’s nature in observing new kids for a while before she engages. Not to say that I couldn’t do that if I homeschooled but it would be yet another thing I carry on my shoulders on top of the academic education.

Mum was concerned that it would be too much for me with my anxiety. Fair comment and one that I had considered myself.

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If you are interested, let me know.

The research I’ve been reading on homeschooling has helped my define an answer to the question my Dad asked me: “why do I want to do it?”

Here are the reasons that are starting to stack up in the case FOR it:

1. I want my daughters to have choice and control in their learning
2. I want them to learn at their own pace, not have information forced upon them before they are ready or to be held back if they are ahead - subject by subject
3. If I could design a school program for my girls from K, it would include learning French (but I didn’t want French immersion from K), lots of arts (but I didn’t want to drive them to the fine arts school everyday and that’s if I had dialled at just the right moment) and lots of learning through play and imagination…oh wait! I CAN design this program.
4. I want to spend as much time with them while they are small as I possibly can. They are growing so fast! I want to watch the whole thing!
5. I want them to learn how they learn best: however that is - exploring, reading, hands-on, playing, listening, watching. We’ll see!