allowinglife

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself to the group. My name is Marianne, I
am writing from St. Augustine, Florida. My husband John and I have
been unschooling my son Jack for 5 years now, he's 5. :)

I think it was right around the time that Jack turned two that people
started asking me if he was in school. I just respond with a strange
expression on my face, "He's only 2!@#*!?" Next I would share the
fact that it didn't matter anyway because we were homeschooling. Now
I always get questions like, "So, when are you going to start?"
or "Are you still doing that homeschooling thing?" or "What about
algebra?" Ugh! So now I just casually tell people, "Oh, yes, we have
been homeschooling for 5 years now and it is going wonderfully."

At times it can be a challenge because we have relatives spending
$10,000 a year, per child, on early education....$10,000 for
kindergarten!!!!???? I say, just go out and play in the mud, it's
free! It does not help that my husband's family is from the Mainline
Philadelphia and have all had a prep school education...I think my
son will be the first who will not be attending the same school as
all the other males in the family...not just not attending that
particular school, but not attending school at all. That seems to be
difficult for many people to accept. I guess it is not surprising
that people, both family and some old friends of ours, find
it "helpful" to quiz Jack on things when we visit. It's as if they
are taking an inventory of his knowledge.

I suppose the fact that we live a few states away does make it
easier. As does the fact that our families are made up of some very
wonderful people. I believe that as Jack gets older and his
personality shines through, they will all begin to trust the
discussion we've made.

OK, well then, I guess that was a lengthy introduction... hmmm ...
perhaps I needed more of a sounding board as well.

Looking forward to meeting everyone and reading all your views as
well as sharing my own.

~ Marianne

Danielle Conger

allowinglife wrote:

> Just wanted to introduce myself to the group. My name is Marianne, I
> am writing from St. Augustine, Florida. My husband John and I have
> been unschooling my son Jack for 5 years now, he's 5. :)

Welcome, Marianne! I'm Danielle, unschooling mom of Emily (8), Julia (7
in five days) and Sam (5). We live and learn in Northern Maryland, but I
grew up just off the Mainline--pretty much where it dead ends. ;)

My in-laws come from humble beginnings, but they live outside of NYC,
leading a solidly middle-class life in a solidly upper-middle class
area, which translates into some major achievement pressure. My sil
works in NYC, and my nephew has been doing pre/school, and evals, and
organized activities for years now, and he's only 6. *eek!!*

It helps *loads* being in another state and keeping the visits brief and
to a minimum. My mil has been talking about taking the kids for a beach
week for a while now, and I just keep politely putting that off. Argh, I
can't imagine her having them for a whole week in another state! No
thank you!

At any rate, glad to have you here!

~~Danielle
Emily (8), Julia (6), Sam (5)
http://www.danielleconger.com/Homeschool/Welcomehome.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"With our thoughts, we make the world." ~~Buddha

Marianne Pfister

Danielle,

Thanks for sharing...sounds like you know exactly what I've been going through. Though both my MIL and FIL have passed away, my husband is one of eight and I am one of six. Fortunately, most of his siblings' children are grown and are having families of their own. So those siblings are somewhat removed from that parenting stage of their lives, though many of them are still involved in different school alumni activities.

When we first moved so far away from our families, I was slightly hesitant. On my husband's side, Jack is the 18th grandchild, plus there are an additional 7 great grandchildren. On my side he is one of 8 grandchildren. And here he is living in Florida as an only child. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about him being alone, but in the end, I think it all balances out. When we go up we have a lot of people to see, and many cousins, and Aunts & Uncles to connect with. We usually just have time to play, not compare notes or get caught up in differences in our belief systems.

As for your children and your mil, that sounds like a difficult situation. Maybe you could start out with just a weekend. I'm that would be hard considering the distance; however at least it isn't long enough for her to enroll them in school! :)

~ Marianne






---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Danielle Conger

Marianne Pfister wrote:

> Danielle,
>
> Thanks for sharing...sounds like you know exactly what I've been
> going through. Though both my MIL and FIL have passed away, my husband
> is one of eight and I am one of six. Fortunately, most of his
> siblings' children are grown and are having families of their own. So
> those siblings are somewhat removed from that parenting stage of their
> lives, though many of them are still involved in different school
> alumni activities.


LOL

I just rejoined AlwaysLearning and didn't have my filter set up yet, so
Marianne's message went into my inbox where my AlwaysUnschooled stuff
goes. (Co-list owner at AlwaysUnschooled, list for kids under age 8 or
so.) Duh! I just rattled off that intro welcome as if I'd been here
forever.

Sorry about that folks, though I'm glad you found it helpful, Marianne!

At any rate, by way of my own re-intro...

I'm Danielle, unschooling mom to Emily (8), Julia (7 this week) and Sam
(5)--I guess I kinda gave that info out in my post.

~~Danielle, sheepishly off to be more aware of where she's posting
Emily (8), Julia (6), Sam (5)
http://www.danielleconger.com/Homeschool/Welcomehome.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"With our thoughts, we make the world." ~~Buddha