Friday, February 11, 2011

Homeschool park (fun) days

With all the kids back at school, our fortnightly home school park days have commenced again.
It was a humid hot typical February day in Sydney today in the very high 30's (approximately 104 degrees Farenheit) and so I was expecting it to be a small turnout.
I was wrong! I think most people must have missed these fun get togethers (like me) and like me must have been wanting to get back into them. It was like a great big family reunion!
Rebekah was hot,red, sweaty and thirsty but it was still hard to drag her away from her friends at the end!

For those of you who don't home school, they are get togethers at a park with other home schooling families - kind of like a massive play date with several families, oh what fun (for the kids and the mums/dads )! :) The kids always have such a ball, just running and playing and being kids outdoors (which is so good for them) for many hours at a stretch!

















(this was taken at another time)

As a home schooler you're in a minority group and this makes it all the more necessary to meet up with other like minded mums. I always come away feeling so encouraged! We get to share our experiences, learn from more experienced mums, encourage the younger mums just starting out etc.

Also, I have been finding that Rebekah is increasingly wanting to be around other kids more. I'm not sure if it was being on holidays that caused her to miss her friends or if she is needing to be around kids more overall. I suspect it is the former as we've had a long break at home (usually we go away on holidays during the Christmas break) Anyway, whatever the reason, I've decided to spend more time out and about with her, and to get her a bit more involved with things going on in the home school community that we were not involved with last year. I know this is going to be a stretch for "li'l ol" introverted me but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and do it for my daughter's sake.
I know that this is unique to us as she doesn't have other siblings but that is part of the challenge of home schooling an only child. I'm sure I'll know in a few months time if we need to scale back or not but until then I'll be out and about more!






6 comments:

Sarah said...

Good old free play...such a wonderful past time for our children! Have a wonderful weekend my friend! xxx

Ganeida said...

lol Star may be the youngest of 5 but she was the only one at home when it came to school. Then Liddy came home to school & I had WWIII sibling war! Star was not used to sharing. Then she was alone again & missed her sister. Play dates & outside activities have been important for a well rounded education but I have always struggled. Like you I am introverted. My child is majorly extroverted. Yeah...

Enjoy these times. You are blessed to have so many families to share with! ♥

Tea said...

I can identify with you. I know for my son's sake, I'm going to have to get involved in things, but it is going to be a big stretch. (I'm an introvert too. He seems to be an extrovert.) I do pray it goes well for you. Thanks for sharing about having an only child. It is so helpful for me to read and know we are not the only ones. :)

Butterfly said...

Both of my children are a mixture of introvert and extrovert, can't be neatly declared as either one ... but one likes to be out a lot more than the other, so it's a balancing act to keep them both happy. We enjoy the home ed. social days too ... nice to feel 'normal' for a change!

Amy said...

Very sweet. You know she was loving it to want to be out in that heat! Sounds like a nice group of families. :)

Joyfulmum said...

Tea, I agree, I also love exchanging tips and stories from other mums of only kids!
Ganeida, thanks for the tip on your comments though you didn't mean it as advice, it really spoke to me: "play dates and activities have been important for a well rounded education", thanks:)