new member -- question
jentamar
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
[email protected]
Hi Jennifer-
With regard to balancing work/career with homeschooling, this is a deeply personal choice.
I am a physician and it would have been difficult for me to set my newly blossoming career aside to be home full-time as a mother- and actually I want to work.... a little. The solution that made the most sense for our family was for me to have my medical offices attached to my home and to work part-time (usually two days per week). When my children were babies I had the advantage of being able to work even fewers hours for awhile and I could l pop upstairs to my residence to breast feed or comfort a sick child as needed. I have also been blessed to find a wonderful, nurturing young lady who comes to our home to be with the children while I work. Having her is the next best thing to being there myself (or dh of course). I like that my children me as a person who has dreams and needs of her own, and responsibilties outside home and family. Because I am just downstairs and they can come and 'see me' if they need to, they feel secure that I am always available to them, so
very rarely DO they ever come looking for me while I am with patients. At times I am exhausted (even just working 2 days) because my job involves so much nurturing of other people that sometimes by the end of my work day I have little 'nuturing ' left in me for my family ...but my children are respectful of my exhaustion . I usually get all sorts of excited shrieks of 'HI MOMMY!!!!' when I first come in the door followed by hugs and kisses, and then they go back to whatever they were working on (or watching) . Sometimes I feel guilty-ish that I cannot be 100% my usual self after a long work day - but overall this arrangement works for our family. I like that they know that my dream was to become a doctor and how I worked to achieve that goal, and that it makes me happy to do my work.
Obviously not everyone has a job that could be done from home or that could be done part-time.
I knew going into my chosen career that I wanted to be a mommy (though I didn't know I would homeschool yet) and I specifically chose a specialty that would allow me flexible hours with few emergencies. Had I chosen a different career with less flexibility I would have looked into other options- not working at all for awhile, job-sharing, changing to a job that I could do from home or at least part-time, or working a shift opposite dh so one parent would always be be with the children. None of these options is quite like mommy being home all the time but are some possible compromises for a mom who either wants to needs to work. If you have a job that can be done from home, even hiring someone to come to your home (while you are there working in another room) is a great option- this could even be perhaps an older homeschooling child . Anyhow just some thoughts and ideas ...I hope this helps.
With regard to other people questioning your decision to homeschool- wow- that is definitely something most homeschoolers I know struggle with at some point. Not everyone feels the need to explain their choices....some do... My parents were both school teachers (public school) and I know they were somewhat taken aback intially when I announced our decision. They know see what a wonderful thing homeschooling can be . Anyhow, I did not feel the need to explain too much- though answering the questions of my parents usually involved more elaboration (because I knew they were honestly interested ) than those given to a casual acquaintance.
Ironically (getting back to working) working from home has given me LOTS of opportunities to discuss homeschooling with people I barely know. My offices are in the basement of our home and often my patients hear my children running happily through the house just over their heads. The natural questions come up about how many children I have, how old my children are, etc., As my children entered the ages where people assumed they would be in school, I would get questions from my patients about why the kids were home....this has led to many a conversation about homeschooling. I have to say that SO many people are supportive of our homeschooling status and many reply 'i wish that had been an option when my kids were young' and ' i think you are doing a wonderful thing'. etc., It never hurts to have that extra support ! I expected to have to come up with some sort of 'pat answer' regarding our decision to homeschool just to satisfy the superficial curiosity of casual aqua
intances who may or may not agree with our choices . Instead, I have loads of supporters who enjoy hearing about the kids and how much we love homeschooling. I have met many other homeschooling families through work, and have been able to offer encouragment to moms and dads who are considering homeschooling for their own families. So this is very satisfying for me .
Good luck Jennifer! Paula (Christopher 9, Jonathan 7)
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "jentamar" <jenniferlehman@...>
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
With regard to balancing work/career with homeschooling, this is a deeply personal choice.
I am a physician and it would have been difficult for me to set my newly blossoming career aside to be home full-time as a mother- and actually I want to work.... a little. The solution that made the most sense for our family was for me to have my medical offices attached to my home and to work part-time (usually two days per week). When my children were babies I had the advantage of being able to work even fewers hours for awhile and I could l pop upstairs to my residence to breast feed or comfort a sick child as needed. I have also been blessed to find a wonderful, nurturing young lady who comes to our home to be with the children while I work. Having her is the next best thing to being there myself (or dh of course). I like that my children me as a person who has dreams and needs of her own, and responsibilties outside home and family. Because I am just downstairs and they can come and 'see me' if they need to, they feel secure that I am always available to them, so
very rarely DO they ever come looking for me while I am with patients. At times I am exhausted (even just working 2 days) because my job involves so much nurturing of other people that sometimes by the end of my work day I have little 'nuturing ' left in me for my family ...but my children are respectful of my exhaustion . I usually get all sorts of excited shrieks of 'HI MOMMY!!!!' when I first come in the door followed by hugs and kisses, and then they go back to whatever they were working on (or watching) . Sometimes I feel guilty-ish that I cannot be 100% my usual self after a long work day - but overall this arrangement works for our family. I like that they know that my dream was to become a doctor and how I worked to achieve that goal, and that it makes me happy to do my work.
Obviously not everyone has a job that could be done from home or that could be done part-time.
I knew going into my chosen career that I wanted to be a mommy (though I didn't know I would homeschool yet) and I specifically chose a specialty that would allow me flexible hours with few emergencies. Had I chosen a different career with less flexibility I would have looked into other options- not working at all for awhile, job-sharing, changing to a job that I could do from home or at least part-time, or working a shift opposite dh so one parent would always be be with the children. None of these options is quite like mommy being home all the time but are some possible compromises for a mom who either wants to needs to work. If you have a job that can be done from home, even hiring someone to come to your home (while you are there working in another room) is a great option- this could even be perhaps an older homeschooling child . Anyhow just some thoughts and ideas ...I hope this helps.
With regard to other people questioning your decision to homeschool- wow- that is definitely something most homeschoolers I know struggle with at some point. Not everyone feels the need to explain their choices....some do... My parents were both school teachers (public school) and I know they were somewhat taken aback intially when I announced our decision. They know see what a wonderful thing homeschooling can be . Anyhow, I did not feel the need to explain too much- though answering the questions of my parents usually involved more elaboration (because I knew they were honestly interested ) than those given to a casual acquaintance.
Ironically (getting back to working) working from home has given me LOTS of opportunities to discuss homeschooling with people I barely know. My offices are in the basement of our home and often my patients hear my children running happily through the house just over their heads. The natural questions come up about how many children I have, how old my children are, etc., As my children entered the ages where people assumed they would be in school, I would get questions from my patients about why the kids were home....this has led to many a conversation about homeschooling. I have to say that SO many people are supportive of our homeschooling status and many reply 'i wish that had been an option when my kids were young' and ' i think you are doing a wonderful thing'. etc., It never hurts to have that extra support ! I expected to have to come up with some sort of 'pat answer' regarding our decision to homeschool just to satisfy the superficial curiosity of casual aqua
intances who may or may not agree with our choices . Instead, I have loads of supporters who enjoy hearing about the kids and how much we love homeschooling. I have met many other homeschooling families through work, and have been able to offer encouragment to moms and dads who are considering homeschooling for their own families. So this is very satisfying for me .
Good luck Jennifer! Paula (Christopher 9, Jonathan 7)
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "jentamar" <jenniferlehman@...>
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
jentamar
Hi Paula,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. This helped me
better pinpoint what the issue was that bothered me so much. I
realized (remembered!) that I will definitely be doing some sort of
work while I homeschool my son, and I have goals that I'll be
working towards at the same time that I'm with my son. As you said,
it's a personal choice and I can see how there's a huge variety of
situations with regards to homeschooling and working. I've always
believed that the best parent is a happy one. So working or not,
full-time or part-time, whatever makes someone happy is good.
I think I was just a little hurt by my father's suggestion that it's
better for a child to have his own life and he was concerned that by
homeschooling, he won't have enough separation from me to really
feel independent or self-sufficient (although my son is 3 right now,
so I'm not sure how much of this he thinks he should have!) And the
more I think about it, one of the main reasons I love the idea of
unschooling is because I believe it gives my son the freedom to
choose what to do with his life -- when he's 3 or 10 or 20.
I guess I just have to accept that there will be criticisms and
concerns because I'm choosing a path that's different from most of
the people around me.
Thanks again for your response,
Jennifer
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. This helped me
better pinpoint what the issue was that bothered me so much. I
realized (remembered!) that I will definitely be doing some sort of
work while I homeschool my son, and I have goals that I'll be
working towards at the same time that I'm with my son. As you said,
it's a personal choice and I can see how there's a huge variety of
situations with regards to homeschooling and working. I've always
believed that the best parent is a happy one. So working or not,
full-time or part-time, whatever makes someone happy is good.
I think I was just a little hurt by my father's suggestion that it's
better for a child to have his own life and he was concerned that by
homeschooling, he won't have enough separation from me to really
feel independent or self-sufficient (although my son is 3 right now,
so I'm not sure how much of this he thinks he should have!) And the
more I think about it, one of the main reasons I love the idea of
unschooling is because I believe it gives my son the freedom to
choose what to do with his life -- when he's 3 or 10 or 20.
I guess I just have to accept that there will be criticisms and
concerns because I'm choosing a path that's different from most of
the people around me.
Thanks again for your response,
Jennifer
Cameron Parham
First in regards to your saying that what you love best is being with your son: If we don't model doing what we love best, how can we hope that our kids will do what they love best? Many parents seem to be trying to live life despite having a child, rather than sharing life fully with that child. However, the world has plenty of people, and so now what do we have kids for anymore if we don't want to place them at the center of our lives? If we don't want to enjoy their company? I think that it is very good for all of us to see ourselves as extremely important to someone else. And really, how long does childhood last compared to a normal lifespan? How many parents regret how little time they spent with their own kids? LOTS! I personally have never heard anyone say that they regret spending time with their kids...wish they'd worked more! I think your parents are fearful of the unknown. This is normal, and doesn't mean any lack of love or trust in you necessarily. But
whatever your parents think you are the one who must be at peace with your parenting. I am very close to my parents, and they just spent 6 weeks with us. Yet I know they don't understand what we are doing, and live in fear that it won't work out. Some of it is the safety of the familiar. They just want me to do what they understand....but I must live my own life.
----- Original Message ----
From: jentamar <jenniferlehman@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 10:57:57 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] new member -- question
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
whatever your parents think you are the one who must be at peace with your parenting. I am very close to my parents, and they just spent 6 weeks with us. Yet I know they don't understand what we are doing, and live in fear that it won't work out. Some of it is the safety of the familiar. They just want me to do what they understand....but I must live my own life.
----- Original Message ----
From: jentamar <jenniferlehman@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 10:57:57 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] new member -- question
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
so loving and respectful to the child.
My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
lots of interests outside of the family.
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: acsp2205@...
First in regards to your saying that what you love best is being
with your son:
If we don't model doing what we love best, how can we hope that our
kids will do
what they love best? Many parents seem to be trying to live life
despite having
a child, rather than sharing life fully with that child. However, the
world has
plenty of people, and so now what do we have kids for anymore if we
don't want
to place them at the center of our lives? If we don't want to enjoy
their
company? I think that it is very good for all of us to see ourselves as
extremely important to someone else. And really, how long does
childhood last
compared to a normal lifespan? How many parents regret how little time
they
spent with their own kids? LOTS! I personally have never heard anyone
say that
they regret spending time with their kids...wish they'd worked more! I
think
your parents are fearful of the unknown. This is normal, and doesn't
mean any
lack of love or trust in you necessarily. But whatever your parents
think you are the one who must be at peace with your
parenting. I am very close to my parents, and they just spent 6 weeks
with us.
Yet I know they don't understand what we are doing, and live in fear
that it
won't work out. Some of it is the safety of the familiar. They just
want me to
do what they understand....but I must live my own life.
-=-=-=-=-
Wonderful reply! I just figured I'd post it again for those that didn't
pay close enough attention the first time!
I also wanted to add that if kids are in school, they have NO WAY to
see what we're doing. They're too busy in school and doing homework and
being told what to do to pay attention to what we do. My boys get to
see me working and meeting clients. They get to go out into the world
rather than sit in a classroom half the year.
Too often schooled kids have no idea how the world works because
they're stuck in a building simulating the working world. SO bizarre!
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free
from AOL at AOL.com.
From: acsp2205@...
First in regards to your saying that what you love best is being
with your son:
If we don't model doing what we love best, how can we hope that our
kids will do
what they love best? Many parents seem to be trying to live life
despite having
a child, rather than sharing life fully with that child. However, the
world has
plenty of people, and so now what do we have kids for anymore if we
don't want
to place them at the center of our lives? If we don't want to enjoy
their
company? I think that it is very good for all of us to see ourselves as
extremely important to someone else. And really, how long does
childhood last
compared to a normal lifespan? How many parents regret how little time
they
spent with their own kids? LOTS! I personally have never heard anyone
say that
they regret spending time with their kids...wish they'd worked more! I
think
your parents are fearful of the unknown. This is normal, and doesn't
mean any
lack of love or trust in you necessarily. But whatever your parents
think you are the one who must be at peace with your
parenting. I am very close to my parents, and they just spent 6 weeks
with us.
Yet I know they don't understand what we are doing, and live in fear
that it
won't work out. Some of it is the safety of the familiar. They just
want me to
do what they understand....but I must live my own life.
-=-=-=-=-
Wonderful reply! I just figured I'd post it again for those that didn't
pay close enough attention the first time!
I also wanted to add that if kids are in school, they have NO WAY to
see what we're doing. They're too busy in school and doing homework and
being told what to do to pay attention to what we do. My boys get to
see me working and meeting clients. They get to go out into the world
rather than sit in a classroom half the year.
Too often schooled kids have no idea how the world works because
they're stuck in a building simulating the working world. SO bizarre!
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free
from AOL at AOL.com.
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: jenniferlehman@...
They think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career
and
lots of interests outside of the family.
-=-=-=-=-
He'll see more of that while you're both out doing and sharing lots of
interests.
Being in school, he's isolated from the world.
-=-=-=-=-
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
-=-=-
Well, we all unschool, so...we're a little biased. <bwg>
Most of us have a LOT of interests. Some our children share with us.
Others are ours all alone. Some we got from our kids. <g>
-=-=-==-
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
-=-=-=-
Well, most of your attention *should* be on him when he's really
little. As he ages, less and less time will be spent wih him as he
matures and eventually moves out. My older son is now 19. We hardly see
him anymore---with working and house/pet-sitting, the girlfriend---he's
so busy. I honestly don't regret one minute I've spent with him (well,
except when I was being creepy!). I *do* regret the time he spent in
school away from me all day!
Your parents had their chance to do their best with you, now it's your
time to do *your* best with *your* child! If you didn't ask for their
advice, it's impolte for them to give it.
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free
from AOL at AOL.com.
From: jenniferlehman@...
They think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career
and
lots of interests outside of the family.
-=-=-=-=-
He'll see more of that while you're both out doing and sharing lots of
interests.
Being in school, he's isolated from the world.
-=-=-=-=-
I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
-=-=-
Well, we all unschool, so...we're a little biased. <bwg>
Most of us have a LOT of interests. Some our children share with us.
Others are ours all alone. Some we got from our kids. <g>
-=-=-==-
Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
-=-=-=-
Well, most of your attention *should* be on him when he's really
little. As he ages, less and less time will be spent wih him as he
matures and eventually moves out. My older son is now 19. We hardly see
him anymore---with working and house/pet-sitting, the girlfriend---he's
so busy. I honestly don't regret one minute I've spent with him (well,
except when I was being creepy!). I *do* regret the time he spent in
school away from me all day!
Your parents had their chance to do their best with you, now it's your
time to do *your* best with *your* child! If you didn't ask for their
advice, it's impolte for them to give it.
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free
from AOL at AOL.com.
caradove
--- In [email protected], "jentamar"
<jenniferlehman@...> wrote:
There is a great magazine published in Canada, Life Learning magazine,
it will help you stay enthusiastic about not sending your son to
school. A good start for concerned family though might be The
Unschooling Handbook, its easy reading and may answer some of their
questions.I am an unschooling mom of five and took a year out from a
Bsc degree in Physics and Theoretical Physics to travel abroad and
then stayed out of study/work when my kids came along. I think a lot
of society are not even comfortable with stay at home mothers
nevermind home/unschooling! And you can have other interests right
along side your son, that is part of the freedom and fun!!!
CARA
<jenniferlehman@...> wrote:
>Hi Jennifer,
> Hi everyone,
>
> My name is Jennifer and I'm the mom of a 3 1/2 year old boy. We live
> in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I've been reading the posts for the
> last couple weeks and appreciating them soooo much. This approach
> of unschooling and the parenting style that goes with it just seems
> so loving and respectful to the child.
>
> My question/request for support is this: I've recently started
> telling family members that my son won't be going to school in the
> fall; instead we'll be homeschooling, and it hasn't gone over well.
> My dad just called to tell me that they're concerned that it's not
> good for my son to get the message that my whole world revolves
> around him, and by homeschooling, I'm sending this message. They
> think it's best for my son to see me as someone with a career and
> lots of interests outside of the family.
>
> I was caught off guard by this conversation and didn't really know
> how to respond. I did say that what I love most of all is being
> with my son and didn't see any point in going off to work all day if
> that's not what I want. I also think that as he gets older, I may
> have more time to pick up other interests. But what do you think?
> Is it unhealthy for a child to see his mother focused so much on him
> each day? How would you answer someone who has this concern?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts,
>
> Jennifer
>
There is a great magazine published in Canada, Life Learning magazine,
it will help you stay enthusiastic about not sending your son to
school. A good start for concerned family though might be The
Unschooling Handbook, its easy reading and may answer some of their
questions.I am an unschooling mom of five and took a year out from a
Bsc degree in Physics and Theoretical Physics to travel abroad and
then stayed out of study/work when my kids came along. I think a lot
of society are not even comfortable with stay at home mothers
nevermind home/unschooling! And you can have other interests right
along side your son, that is part of the freedom and fun!!!
CARA