Anywhere in Florida! Oh my, you are in a fantastic area to connect with others. FPEA is having their annual Convention in May (near you).
I highly recommend attending because there you will able to attend workshops (I am giving one on helping children read), network with other Parent educators, check out some excellent curriculum, and it is lots of fun too.
Thanks! That sounds great. I was supposed to attend last year but I never made it. I will check our their website.
Thanks Twinergy!
I just finished an amazing book that addresses this exact issue. Hold On to Your Kids, by Dr Gordon Neufeld, discusses the socialization of children. Although it doesn’t necessarily advocate homeschooling, it does use the success of homeschooled children to support its position. One theory presented in this book is that our society places an unnatural emphasis on horizontal (peer) socialization and not enough on vertical (intergenerational) socialization. By doing so children are losing the culture and values normally passed down from their elders and are instead making it up on their own. The book covers so much more than this, addressing the instincts (attachment aka love) that guide the development of a child.
On a personal note, I gained so much, as a parent, from reading this book. It really helped me focus on what is important to me, rather than getting caught up in the more difficult moments of parenting.
Sounds like a good book, I will have to get it.
My 13 and 14 year olds are having a friend from their christian school sleep over. She brings magazines with her I refuse to buy for my kids, and prefer they dont read. Last time is was girlfriend mag, this time it’s Dolly. There’s a sealed section. “The Sexually transmitted diseases file”. Kids in primary school read these mags. They grow up too quick and think more promiscuously in the school system, because they arent sheltered. And they (school kids in general) want to wear more revealing and tight clothing than homeschooled kids tend to wear, because they’re competing for boy’s attention and other girls’ envy etc.
I work as a professional Tutor for the public and home school venues, and see parents agonize over their child’s needs. I am very impressed with most of what I see happening in home schools, but it is not for everyone. I m also impressed with the dedication of teachers in-spite of insurmountable odds.
Each parent has to decide what is best for their child…it is a personal choice. But even if parents have decided to public school. They almost always find themselves doing some home school work.