Homeschooling an only child

Recently a mom contacted me after I made a post on a homeschool forum about small social groups for children. She expressed her concern that she was homeschooling an only child and that she (mom) was an introvert and was therefore concerned for her child's social needs.

I felt a bit out of my depth giving advice on an issue I have not lived through, but I do think there are some common thoughts no matter how big or small your family is. So what follows is my answer.

I have two friends who have only sons. Their task is more complicated because they do need to teach their sons about sharing and other small social issues as they do not have siblings. They have also battle with the play date issue and the one was even driving a distance of 100km weekly for a play date with another only child. She eventually gave up realising that there has to be another way.

With her son getting older it seems that it is less of an issue for him as he is starting to be happy with time with his Dad and Mom and the odd date that comes his way. I guess the question is how would I feel about my decision to keep our social circle small if I had only one child...I think that I would find opportunities for family style interactions with other families - like a BBQ or pizza and games evenings, joining a sports group, finding activities for my child that would engender a team like Keepers or Contenders of the Faith We also house church so we do not have a youth group as a choice for us, but I would probably steer clear of that too if we did!

If your child is still young are there not some mom's you can get together with once a week for a "playgroup" type set up? When I just had one child we had a small group (4) of moms and each week we hosted a tea and a craft morning for the children. It was wonderful. You need not be an extrovert to start something like this.

And then, I agree, your daughter cannot rely on you as her sole source of entertainment. She does need to learn to play on her own for a time...personal reading/looking at books, story tapes, the odd video, tea parties for dolls, splash pool (you would need to supervise by sitting near and reading perhaps)...all of these can give you some time out. And for the rest you have a little helper for cooking, cleaning, shopping etc.

I am not sure how much I have helped as I am not living your reality...but perhaps something will have struck a chord. I have a friend that has a principle about her life and that was learning to "Dwell in my reality, and REJOICE." Perhaps that will help too with all the moves you have to make. See each move as an adventure of discovery with her - find new parks, play places and areas of natural beauty even if it is a short season.

And TRUST Him as He knows your needs and has promised to supply them all.

That is the end of my reply. I did go and search on the web to see what resources there are for parents of only one. Happily I discovered Donna Conner's site where she has message boards, resources and encouragement for homeschooling only children. Be sure to visit www.donnac.com

	Web www.homeschool-curriculum-for-life.com