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domchurch3
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| Posted: July 21 2008 at 5:07pm | IP Logged
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I have a daughter who is going to be in the first grade. Lately she's been asking when she's going to go to "real school." She loved her first year of kindergarten homeschooling and it was one of her favorite parts of the day. Maybe she's feeling this way because it's summer and we have not done much of what we normally do like a lot of read-alouds, poetry and coloring. It's been a weird summer with me being pregnant and on bed rest. When I ask her why she wants to go to real school she says she wants to go so she can have recess and go to a "playschool" like Caillou does. Doesn't she realize that after homeschool and chores, that's pretty much what she does all day, anyways? When adults ask her where she goes to school, she always says, I don't go to school, I'm home schooled. Basically, I think she thinks school is all fun and games. There's no way she can comprehend just how boring it can be. We were not active in the our homeschool group this year, so maybe I need to take advantage of some of their activities so she does not think she's the only child being homeschooled. Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 21 2008 at 5:17pm | IP Logged
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I think you are right about exposing her to more children "just like her" who are homeschooling as well. It might make all the difference when she realizes there are others who do things like you guys do.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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PDyer
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| Posted: July 21 2008 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
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My daughter has been asking when she's going to go to school like her brother. I think she wants to wear a uniform. 
I too need to find little homeschooled girls for my daughter. It's difficult where we live, as there just arent' that many people here.
Praying for you.
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Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
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Booksnbabes
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| Posted: July 21 2008 at 6:09pm | IP Logged
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 Our neighbor's daughters are the same way (they are fellow homeschoolers). She points out things she knows they would not like about school (i.e. not always being able to jump up and go to the bathroom at will, not being able to leave once their work is done, etc.). I don't think they are entirely convinced, but it's enough to give them pause. I think kids idealize school as so many images portray it as fun social time. They truly cannot comprehend what school is if they've never experienced it.
If she's just looking to be more like other kids, you can always schedule "recess" in your day. Explain not all schools are alike, that yours really is a school; give it a name (if you haven't already). Let her have a backpack and shop together for school supplies. Maybe a desk and bookshelf set-up isn't your style, but it might be hers. (I'm beanbags and sitting on the floor, dd is definitely a table-and-chairs or desk kind of kid!)
I've even heard of a situation in which the child would get ready for "school," walk out to the corner, wait a minute, then walk back and enter "school." 
I think becoming more involved with other homeschoolers will help. I know my dd enjoys time with other homeschooled children. We're blessed to have so many around.
Sorry for a disjointed, meandering response, but I've been interrupted several times and now I'm just going to send or it will never get posted! LOL!
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: July 21 2008 at 8:35pm | IP Logged
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My dd went through this also.
One thing I did this summer, was to offer a "class" to local hs girls around her age. We used nature as our theme and did lapbooking, nature journalling, art study etc. I charged each family $20 to cover my costs.
We have had a good time, and she has gotten to know these girls better. Ironically, they all started in the public school and are now homeschooled. So they all sold her on how "awful" school is.
LeeAnn
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LeeAnn
Wife of David, mom to Ben, Dennis, Alex, Laura, Philip and our little souls in heaven we have yet to meet
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JeniferS
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| Posted: July 23 2008 at 11:28pm | IP Logged
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LeeAnn,
Your class sounds wonderful!
Can you share more about it with us?
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Jenifer, mom to Harrison, 7 and Olivia, 5
The Way We Learn
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jenk
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
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No advice just understanding. I went through the same thing, for the same reason (recess) last year with my ds- he was in first grade. Maybe it's an age thing??? We ended up joining a homeschool co-op one day a week where he could get out and run around with other kids. I also told him all the things he wouldn't like about school- getting up and ready in the morning was a huge negative for him. That would ruin his schedule... of hanging out in pj's LOL!
I think that part of the appeal was because he had NO IDEA what school's really like. My oldest (13) who attended school through first grade remembers it and has NO desire to return to "real" school- he KNOWS how good he's got it!
Hang in there!
Jen
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 6:05pm | IP Logged
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I've had some children who wanted to get to ride the bus or go to school to be with their friends..
I did point out how a school day actually works.. but I also made sure we were quite clear on the point that it is NOT an option. That no matter what they think or how fun something might be.. it's not what our family was going to do.. and basically "get over it"
I think that helped a good bit here.. that we were very clear that the answer was "no". So that we didn't get overwhelmed with the begging, whining, negotiating to try and get it to happen etc.
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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amyable
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 7:04pm | IP Logged
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My girls went through a similar thing around that age. They see it on TV, they want to ride the bus and have recess and new stuff. From what they see of the outside world (through TV, comments from strangers, etc) it's just what you "do" and they want to do it and have fun. I really try to play up the fun parts of homeschooling and the bad parts of school. 
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Lara Sauer
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| Posted: July 25 2008 at 10:47am | IP Logged
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I simply tell my children that what we are doing is real school, and leave it at that.
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You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl!
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domchurch3
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| Posted: July 25 2008 at 11:25am | IP Logged
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Thanks for all the great responses! I'm going to do all the tips y'all gave me. Lately what I've been telling her is that we do have "real school". I don't want to write her off so I've been open in having her communicate to me why she wants to go to outside school. And, it usually comes from the books she reads and wants recess and crafts. So, I know I need to make that a part of our day or week because it is important to her. I'm also with those mothers that say that this is just what we do and were not going to change our minds about it. I'm not going to put her in an outside school just because she wants recess. At the same time, I don't want her to resent our decision to homeschool and end up rebelling the way I saw some of my college aquaintances do. Of course, they did not rebel too much because they were active in our school's Catholic Campus Center, they would just dye their hair green and pierce their ears and say they did it because they resented being homeschooled.
I know or have heard of many kids who hated outside school and love being homeschooled. All I wanted to do growing up was stay home with my mother. I had no idea there was even such thing as homeschooling until my senior year of college. Had I known, I would've begged and pleaded with my parents to let me stay with them. I hated public school because of the socialization aspect.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: My DD wants to go to "real school."
