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Single Parents Joe:
Unlike children who go to school all day, one of the things about homeschooling is that
your children are always home. Over the years, Sue and I have developed techniques to
carve out time for ourselves as a couple.
Have you developed any ideas or techniques for a couple to maintain their sanity and
mutual relationship when they are homeschoolers?
 Shari:
This question drew a wide array of answers as I prepared to write the book. Many
homeschooling couples feel that the whole concept of "carving out time" for
themselves is a modern-day notion that they have conscientiously decided not to embrace.
They say they're happily immersed in family life and do nearly everything as a whole unit.
Other couples told me they believed finding time together as a couple absolutely
necessary in order to nurture their marriage, and therefore crucial to maintaining a
strong family life.
  Regardless, during the middle years, time alone with one's spouse
will begin to come more often whether or not its being deliberately sought. 8 to 13
year-old children participate in a wide array of activities outside the home, social
events such as birthday parties or sleepovers included.
In our house, we never miss a child's game or performance, but as they get older, we
attend entire practices less often than when they were younger. The first time all three
children were out for an evening, my husband and I were dumbfounded. To be honest, it was
a very bittersweet feeling.
A 50 minute choir rehearsal can provide enough time for a quiet talk over a cup of
coffee, and a night of parties and sleepovers can be arranged by trading with friends.
Also, 12 and 13 year-old children are perfectly capable of babysitting, and most
homeschooled siblings get along well, so leaving old-enough children home together for
periods of time becomes an option.
Joe:
Developing a curriculum can be a daunting task especially for the novice. Do you have
any tips in the area of science that someone can use?
See the answer from Shari
  Science
Meet the Author
Homeschooling: The
Early Years
Your Complete Guide
to Successfully Homeschooling the 3- to 8- Year-Old Child
by Linda Dobson, Jamie Miller
Interview & FREE Excerpt
  
The formative years are the most critical to a child's education. They lay the foundation
for developing learning skills that last a lifetime. For that reason, homeschooling during
those early years takes on considerable importance to parents dissatisfied with
traditional schools.
Meet the Author
"The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling"
by Marsha Ransom
hosted by Joe Spataro
interview & FREE excerpt
  Marsha
Ransom, author of The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling, is the mother of four children,
two of whom have always been homeschooled. She serves as a homeschool resource for her
local library and writes articles for Home Education Magazine, The Link: A Homeschool
Newspaper, Women's International Net, and Homeschool Dad Magazine. In this interview on
the Zone, Marsha discusses how she came to write this book,
developing your program, homeschooling
on a budget, what is happening with her homeschooled
children, her future plans and a FREE
excerpt which tells you how to set up a homeschool cooperative. |
 more grade
school education
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Folding Chair with Footrest
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Secret World Basset Hounds
See my Basset friends
see my favorite biscotti
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