Disagreeing on Homeschooling

Playground politics. Children need to learn how to deal with them at a very young age because these politics continue on in life. Anyone in the workplace can tell you that. Maybe people don't physically push you down anymore, but they might try verbally or emotionally. Sometimes kids need to learn that people try to push you around. How are you going to deal with it? If she pulls him out the first time something like this happens, what is she teaching him? To run away. School is where children are often introduced to these social dynamics. Sometimes they are not pretty, but we learn from them.

Maybe you can tell her that she should talk to a homeschooling group or another parent that homeschools about her ideas. I think the real issue here my be how to deal with bully's or interacting with other kids on the playground. Either way, she needs to help her son resolve the issue the other day by talking to his teacher and/or the principal about it. If she does end up homeschooling him, it needs to be not as a reaction to this incident but for the right reasons and her son needs to know this too.

Tell her you don't have an opinion because you are not fully educated on the benefits of homeschooling vs public vs private. When you are fully educated then you will give an opinion. This saves you from having to deal with a very touchy subject. There's nothing wrong with not having an opinion or advice when someone asks.

now I am a 17 year homeschooler, why is your cousin talking to you, other than she needs your support and some validation of her fears for her child. Do you homeschool, it doe not sound like it. You can not help her on homeschooling. Her asking you, whom I assume does not homeschool is like asking a non nursing mother about her nursing experiences. She is not just thiking this for the first time about homeschooling due to her son being pushed once. Well, you can tell her I said, from my seventeen years of experience, homeschooling is a great family life. But her son will be challenge by bullies any where, bu if he is home, he can have her near by support until he learns o handle bulling better. He does not have to feel all alone on the play ground. Other kids my handle bullying well, but if he does not the protection of a parent will due until he learns on his own time how to hande these uncomfrtable times. Life is intended for parents to choose how to support their own children. If you choose to send yours to battle fine. But if she chooses to protect hers until they feel they can protect themselves find also. I grew up were my father said I had to protect myself. He sent me into battle often. I never chose to fight back. I am fine. My children, I have 5 children.. Some will fight to the death, some will try to befriend you. None of them are like me, I just would never hit someone. I support them where they are. Those that fight back, I do not understand but I say if you felt you needed to /protect yourself/fight, I support you. Those that say lets try befriending the bully, I really do not understand. I support them the best way I can. Lets support her where she is. She just wants to protect her child it is her right. He is only six and he has plenty of time how to learn how and to execut his own safety now it is her job nd her choice.

you need to be careful, she may be needing your approval so that if she does decide to go for it and fails, she may turn it around and say it was your fault. If you have no expertise, I would just say it's her call and you really can't give your opinion.

I disagree completely with homeschooling unless there is overwelming circumstances with the school. Kids need to deal with difficult situations in order to build character. I remember a few from my childhood and they made me have empathy for other kids and my own kids now. I believe they make kids learn how to deal with things in the real world. Life is not always easy. If she pulls her child from school, he will take the the easy way out and not deal with it. Is he going to quit a job or school when he is older because it gets hard? Life doesn't work that way. Every experience, good or bad, is a learning experience.

Home schooling when done properly can work. However the family need consider that for the educator it is often a all consuming situation. The question becomes- can you duplicate in resources, expertise, stability, discipline, and socialization:the situation that you are leaving to choose to homeschool? At what level will the child re enter the public system? Can you keep in line with skills tested? Many homeschoolers drop out high school/aren't accepted to their choice colleges due to lacking strong math/science skills (also lacking 2ND laguage) Suggest that your relative put together a comprehensive research report for her family to consider the issues & ramifications of this decision.It is a life changing decision. If she can't spend a few weeks putting together a detailed thesis to make the switch then there is no reason to consider homeschooling she doesn't have the fortitude to be the educator.

Pulling him out only gives him the message that mom will solve all his problems, even minor ones like these, which a child can learn to handle himself. Your cousin could give him, instead, the tools to cope with a problem so that he can solve them himself. Pulling him out over something as commonplace, esp. among younger children, will in essence stunt him emotionally and socially.

I am for homeschooling, if for the right reasons. It's a personal choice. However, from what I gather from your post, she's not doing it for the right reason.

I will start by saying that I am not an advocate of homeschooling for one reason... it is VERY difficult to do it correctly and people do not understand that. I have seen it done well and have seen it blow up b/c parents do not understand that teaching is not something "anyone" can do- many parents have a hard time stepping back and asking themselves whether or not they have the patience, time and interest in homeschooling.

When she calls, I would ask her what about the situation bothered her- was it the fact that her child was pushed or the way that the school handled the incident. If she's upset with the way the school handled it, call and schedule an appt with the principal, teacher and the other parent to discuss what happened and her concerns.

Pulling him out of school will not teach him how to react to situations that he WILL encounter in his lifetime. It won't teach him to stand-up for himself, nor will it prepare him to be a community member.

Point out that he's little, but he's not too little to learn how to be assertive and use his voice. If she wants to pull him out, I would suggest having her contact a local parent who is homeschooling and spend a few days observing and meeting with her local school district representative before making a very rash decision.

I am a huge supporter of homeschooling but my husband isn't. I attempted to homeschool my two older children when my two younger ones were babies and that didn't help me win my husband over.
Anyway, my 4th grader asked to be homeschooled for 3 years because he didn't like dealing with the mean kids and his teachers. I wouldn't even consider homeschooingl him than, because I thought that was the wrong reason to be homeschool. I believe that he needed to learn to deal with the kids and not run away from the situation. This year, he hasn't asked to be homeschooled.
I would suggest that your cousin evaluate why she really is homeschooling her son. If she really just wants to do it, don't use the bullying as an excuse, because she won't have others support. There is a lot of information out there about homeschooling, a lot of support groups and activities available. Suggest that she talk to moms who have been homeschooling for years instead of "harrassing" you about it day in and day out. Goood luck!

I have a friend at work that home schol his daughter. She is now in the 9th grade and she does not know how to interact with people her age. When she is not around her parents she's afraid.
Although your cousin is trying to protect her son she might be doing him harm for the future. Children always have altercations and she might need to talk to the other childs parent and discuss how she does not appreciate her son being pushed by.