Homeschool Mom Confessions | Part 5

[@happyhippiehomeschool]

Perfect video to start my day and sip my coffee with! 👍🏻

[@noncorporealentity5641]

You should ask a librarian if there are any teen or tween book clubs your daughter can join, if not they might start one if they know there's interest.

[@michellegf]

I appreciate the suggestion. The library has tried several times to aim programming at the middle school age but they always have too low of turnout to continue the program ☹️

[@Hot_Springs_Homeschool]

Sending warm thoughts and hopes as you consider options for your oldest. As others have mentioned, maybe 4-H, Girl Scouts, or Boy Scouts (which is co-ed now). Church groups might be a good option. Maybe it might even be worth it to drive to another town? Summer camp? If all else fails, an “auntie” or two can do wonders for a young girl and can give her an outlet outside the family dynamic. Sometimes women without kids have a special magic…or maybe it’s just that they have more energy than moms do! 🤣 My kiddo is blessed with four amazing “aunties” and a chosen “grandma” (none are our actual relatives). Plus, she has wonderful grandparents, but they don’t live nearby. Just a thought! You will find a solution that is meant to be!

[@michellegf]

I appreciate all the suggestions!

[@kayegenin123]

Also in my town we can do one off classes in the public school (like science with lab), and join all extracurriculars. Forensics, mock trial, drama, choir, band, Skills USA, political science club, key club, etc. I was not a sports person but I did so many extracurriculars as a teen!

[@michellegf]

It’s a great suggestion and will be an option once she hits high school, bird it’s not an option in my area for middle school.

[@Lmalatz]

I, too, am struggling with decisions about high school. My 8th grader wants to return to public school next year for high school because she doesn't want to miss out on all the high school milestones with friends. We've tried co-op, but there weren't many kids her age, and she didn't connect with any of them. I worry about her maturity level and if she'll be able to make good choices in the face of peer pressures. I worry about school shootings- just 2 weeks ago, a kid at the high school left the building and was walking the grounds of the school. When confronted, he was found to have bullets in his backpack😩. I know she'll be safer, with more academic rigor at home, but I don't want to ignore her needs for peer socialization. Such a difficult decision.

[@michellegf]

It really is a hard decision! Academically homeschool would provide a better education for my daughter, but socially it wouldn’t be meeting her needs

[@JaimeSmith317]

I love these videos. I am not one who enjoys read aloud bit my son really loves it. So I do make it happen. I feel totally seen about your perspective on not wanting your kids associating with kids who lean way differently than your kids beliefs. Where I live it is also very hard to find families who are not extremely opposite of our beliefs. We are Christian but that means something very different to us than most.

[@TheMommaLibrarian]

I sometimes hate the time that read alouds take during our school time.

[@stephgreis705]

Hey Michelle, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate hearing your perspective! We're not really a homeschool family - we live in Germany where it's illegal to do that - but I take a lot of inspiration for our supplementary education, esp the idea of making "social justice" a core topic! (My kids are currently still very little: almost 4 and 10 months, so it'll still be a while until we can get more deeply into it, but I already try to focus on kindness and making sure we have inclusive children's books). Do you have any book recommendations for this age group? :)

[@michellegf]

I’m so glad you’ve been finding my videos helpful! I would check out little justice leaders blog as they have multiple book lists. littlejusticeleaders.com/search?q=book+list&options%5Bprefix%5D=last

[@kristyauringer2116]

Not sure how you’re state works, but in Minnesota we can enroll partially in public school for elective classes like art, home ec, phy ed, etc. might be a good option for your oldest?

[@michellegf]

I appreciate the suggestion! It is an option for high school, but not middle school or lower in my school district.

[@teresanorris4769]

Sports doesn’t have to be competitive. Gymnastics, martial Arts, Rock climbing bike riding club. Scouts is I great social opportunity depending on her interests either Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts has girl troops. Start a teen book club at the library. We also have a homeschool group for teens like student council at a school. They plan dances and social events for the teens to get together. It takes more effort for us as parents to get them involved as homeschoolers. I struggle with this too because I’m an introvert who would rather just stay home so each time we leave the house I have to force myself to do it for my daughter.

[@michellegf]

I appreciate the suggestions, unfortunately we’ve tried quite a few and they didn’t work. She has no interest in joining any sport. The library has attempted multiple times to start programming aimed at the middle school age, but turnout was too low to continue the program. ☹️

[@teresanorris4769]

@@michellegf maybe a one on one friend would work better. My daughter swims with a friend at the community center once a week. It works because it’s an ongoing thing.

[@kayegenin123]

I’m always very attentive to how being a pastor’s kid can affect my child’s arrogance at church. Maybe consider for your little guy if that’s a factor for not listening to the volunteers.

[@MistyLC]

My teen recently joined an interest based club (Gay Straight Alliance) that has been great for them. Your daughter sounds like she has a few issues she's passionate about, maybe she could start a group that meets at the library. Scheduling for after school will help get more kids her age involved and expand her peer group.

[@michellegf]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@victoriasbooktalks8882]

Have you considered online classes, for a specific subject or extracurricular? Maybe, a pen pal?

[@michellegf]

I appreciate the suggestion, but as mentioned in the video she is uncomfortable with online classes.

[@victoriasbooktalks8882]

@@michellegf Sorry! I must have missed that.

[@3times_mom]

Sport is awesome for socializing. Sport inclination depends on parents’ willingness to invest time and unfortunately money. If parents decide they are not taxi-drivers or are not willing to spend money on that how can their child benefit from a stable cohort aka team? It takes time to build relationships so one sport multiple times a week does the trick

[@michellegf]

Both my older kids are involved in a sport. My oldest does horse back riding and my younger daughter does gymnastics. Neither is interested in competing so there is no option for a team, they just have scheduled classes and the participants change

[@dianachen4986]

Have you thought of trying well trained mind academy for literature? They only meet once a week love to discuss. The peer relationship is one I am struggling with also for my 11 yo. She has one good friend she made from swim team but we switched teams and now she hasn’t made another friend.

[@michellegf]

It’s definitely a struggle! As I mentioned in the video she isn’t comfortable with online classes so I don’t think well trained mind would work.