One Downfall of Homeschooling

One downfall of homeschooling is that you are around your children 24/7.  Sometimes when you are around your children that much it's hard to notice when something is wrong.

I suppose this doesn't just apply to homeschool moms- I never realized my son had motor skills issues until he started kindergarten and the teacher pointed it out to me.  I was just so used to seeing the issues that I quit 'seeing' the issues...does this make any sense?

I came across this blog post from Simple Homeschool about her son's speech therapy:


http://simplehomeschool.net/speech-therapy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SimpleHomeschool+%28Simple+Homeschool%29

The author writes:

"Like many homeschooling parents, I’m not very good at seeking outside help. We tend to be an independent, self-sufficient lot, right? As fellow homeschooler and speech-language pathologist (SLP) Lisa Scott says, “None of us wants to believe there is anything wrong with our child. But when you are homeschooling, there is the added pressure of fearing that there is something wrong with your child because YOU have failed as a homeschooling mom. We often don’t want to face our fears, so we try to ignore the problem.”


But if another well meaning mom tells you something about your child..well, now...sometimes it's hard for the mom to take in a positive light.  No one wants to admit something is 'wrong' with our kids.  However, it's important to keep in mind that NO child is perfect.  All kids have their quirks.  Some they grow out of...some they need outside help with.

What I am trying to say is this- if an outside person mentions a behavior or quirk they have observed in your child...don't freak out.  Listen to them.  Maybe it's nothing new to you...but maybe it is.  And if it is something they won't grow out of, please don't feel like a failure if you can't 'fix' it on your own and have to contact a professional!  Most of the time, the earlier the intervention, the better.

And the wonderful thing about homeschooling is this...if your child does have issues that need intervention with a professional, there isn't the 'stigma' attached.  The child can deal with those issues in a comfortable environment without having to worry if their friends or classmates think they're weird.