Is my Dec 04 kid the only one that's not in some type of formal school/daycare?

[jnezmama02]

It seems like she is the only one out of all of our kids.  We've decided not to put Emily into any preschool next year either.  We'll wait until the 2009-10 school year to put her in preschool, if at all.

[marniehau]

My younger DD didn't go to preschool either, though my older one did. 
I am very happy with our decision not to send DD#2. She didn't want to go and I am glad I didn't insist.
And now I am happily home educating both of them.
Best wishes
Marnie

[ShannonandDel]

Delaney's not

[jnezmama02]

Marnie, hi! Yea, I'm not worried about it...just curious who all is left in the "at home" club. My oldest ended up not going to pre-school and it's actually worked out really well. She starts K and I think will be academically and socially ready.

Hey, cool, Shannon.  Do you ever feel like people look at you like you're doing a disservice for not getting them into school?  Even though Jessie never went to preschool...we had planned on it but her social anxiety issues got in the way.  Emily doesn't have these issues, so now I'm starting to get comments from family about her not going to school next year. It's usually stuff like "She won't like it when Jessie goes to school year and she doesn't...maybe you should just put her in preschool" and things like that.   I've just made a point to let everyone know that I think she needs at least another year at home. She's been really clingy to me lately and has started sleeping in my bed again for much of the night. This year has been so tough....I've been so focused on getting Jessie ready for school and taking care of Zachary, that I feel like Emily hasn't gotten as much attention as I would like.  We do a lot of activities every week (to get Jessie acclimated to teachers and other people) and most of them Emily enjoys too, but there's also been many days where Emily has said things like "I don't want to go, I just want to stay here w/ you" and "I'm tired of always going places".  I think she just needs another year to be w/ me...and maybe for her to choose which activities she wants to do (especially now that Zachary isn't nursing and does a good job playing independently).  I do think that she might want to go to preschool the year before K (she doesn't go to K until Aug 2010), but I'm not going to push it either.  After my experience w/ Jessie, I just realize that I can prep them for K w/o formal preschool.

[kokonutmama]

Hope, Kody is in "school" two 3h mornings a week.  it's really daycare, but we like to call it school.  I took flak from family for a long time about "putting" him somewhere when he was obviously (to me) not ready.  Now they're like "Wow, he really likes to go to school, that's great." and I have to think it has something to do with the fact that I waited until he was ready.  I probably would not have sent him if he hadn't come out and told me "I'm bored, I don't have anyone to play with" and been taking other steps toward independence by himself. 

So, we're not in your club ( ) and I think you can happily ignore your "family members" on this matter. 

[moogie]

Charlie goes 3 full days, and i hate that my mum thinks thats a good thing.   My mum also thinks Asha in Creche at the gym is good for her.  I don't think its bad since its just an hour and a half 3 times a week, but no way do i think it is 'good' for her.  its kind of an inbetween with positives and negatives. 

For Charlie, we certainly wouldn't have put her in if we hadn't found such a good early learning centre.  I am so impressed with the place and the gentle parenting approach they take.

[ShannonandDel]

Hope, usually when people say something about it we tell them we are planning on homeschooling and then we just get a blank stare while they fumble for something to say., lol.
We do need to get D inolved in something soon because she is bored but this winter we couldn't get out for days at a time so we weren't going to waste money on something and then not be able to get there. Plus, I have no idea what there is in this area 

[jnezmama02]

Yea, I usually say something like "we'll probably just homeschool her for preschool and then she'll got to school starting w/ K".  Luckily, around town, there's a HUGE homeschool presence...and among those people (who I see at all our activities), I feel sort-of guilty to send Jessie to public school next year. OTOH, among family (who live out of town), I feel like I'm constantly defending my choices to homeschool for preschool so far. OK, I'll be honest...it's mostly w/ my mom and my sister (who is a public school teacher and who went back to work when her son 5 wks old). Anyway, I'm constantly defending our choices w/ them. I have 3 kids, my sister has 1 (who is only 10mos older than my youngest). For some reason, my mom seems to think anything my sister does/says is the end-all-be-all and my sister thinks that I do nothing w/ the kids all day long, since I stay-at-home.

Ok, I seem to be airing a lot of my family grievances this week. Sorry guys.

[ShannonandDel]

Hope, that is crazy that you have to defend yourself to a teacher. We have found that some of the most supportive people when it comes to homeschooling are teachers because they know how bad the schools can be.

[moogie]

We have found that some of the most supportive people when it comes to homeschooling are teachers because they know how bad the schools can be.

yep FIL is a teacher( a substitute at many schools) and he says don't send them to public.  Obviously we're in Australia so a whole other country but I'm sure its probably the same kind of thing.  And of course both private education and homeschooling can be expensive.

[jnezmama02]

Yea, my sister will send her son to private school most likely, b/c the public school they're districted to go to (not the one she teaches in) is not very good. OTOH, our public schools here are pretty good.  The funny thing is that both my mom and my sister seem to forget that I was trained to be a teacher long before my sister was, lol (I'm a certified to teach middle school and high school English).  So, I'm not sure why they think I can't teach my own kids.  Strange, I know.

[kokonutmama]

Hope,  , what is UP with your family!

I find that the two teachers in my life, my mom and my SIL, both seem offended when I mention that I want to homeschool K. 

[skeettafic]

I wish we could be in a position to have a choice in this matter.

I would love to be able to homeschool Jocelyn and my parents have mentioned it several times - they are surprised that we aren't considering it at this time - but for right now it isn't feasable for us.  The nice thing is that since moving we are in an area with excellent public schools so I'm a lot less leary about sending her.  That and she loves to go to dc and talks constantly about when she can go to 'real school'. 

[jnezmama02]

I know, A, they're all annoying. Normally I keep that to myself, but I'm PMSing this week, so it's all getting on my nerves and you guys get to hear about it, lol. 

[kiskar]

The district we just moved to has a lottery for preschool. After the failed Montessori experiment, I signed up Ben for the lottery and his name was selected. He'll be doing Tues/Thurs mornings starting in August.

OT: Last night he was talking to Matt about how he misses his "old new house", misses his friends, and wants to pack up our stuff and move because he doesn't like it here. Matt felt so badly for Ben and himself. He feels like it's his fault. Ben has mentioned a few times not having friends to play with. Even though I make sure we do a playgroup-type activity at least once a week, I think he was so used to being in daycare full-time with the same kids for 2 years that it's hard on him to spend so much time at home with just Lucas and mom.

It's supposed be almost 50 outside today, so after naps, I'll get him outside. I am glad spring is here and hopefully warmer weather isn't far behind!

Kerry