echonwind

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I knew what kind of mother I wanted to be. I have now
found that unschooling speaks the language in my heart and am very excited to learn with
my daughter through our lifetime together. I am 26, single mother of a 3 year old daughter. I
am currently going through some custody issues with her father that I would love to have
some advice for. He does not agree with my parenting style and the fact that I want to
homeschool (although, I plan to unschool). We are about to have a mediation with our
lawyers. I would love to know if anyone else has had to deal with these issues, and what steps
you took? Ways to represent my ideas' of parenting and education? Or just kind words of
support!

[email protected]

>>I would love to know if anyone else has had to deal with these issues, and what steps you took? Ways to represent my ideas' of parenting and education? Or just kind words of support! >>

Well I've never had to deal with this particular issue, but you've definitely got support here. I would hate to have to justify my instictive parenting choices to anyone, let alone someone who wants custody rights over my kids.

You might want to go into that meeting armed with lots of paper. Lawyers like paper. <g> Maybe you could print out pages from different websites outlining the benefits of your parenting and educational choices. There have been studies and such showing the benefits of attachment parenting and home education. (I'd probably leave out the part about unschooling right now if you think it will just cause more trouble.) I'd show big, important sounding people talking about the importance of a child being with her mother and the learning that happens from birth. There's tons out there on the web.

Do you want your child's dad to be a part of her life? If so, I would make sure he knows that. If you are trying to keep him out of her life, I would come to the meeting with the reasons for that decision clearly outlined.

I'm not sure if this helps at all. Maybe if you ask some specific questions, I'd have a better idea of what kind of help you're needing.

--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/

"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "echonwind" <eco_humanity@...>

Pamela Sorooshian

On May 15, 2006, at 12:25 PM, echonwind wrote:

> . I would love to know if anyone else has had to deal with these
> issues, and what steps
> you took? Ways to represent my ideas' of parenting and education?
> Or just kind words of
> support!

I know some people who have dealt with this, yes.

One BIG huge helpful thing was to bring a lot of photos of
homeschooled kids in groups, doing things together, to help alleviate
his fears of her being badly socialized.


Here is an article written by a homeschooling mom/attorney:
<http://hsc.org/chaos/legal/articles/custody.php>

It is about how to handle custody issues regarding homeschooling.

-pam

Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>





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