Homeschooling one child: Purpose and Plans

Being a blogger, even if you're not homeschooling, you're on the peripheral edge of the incredible homeschooling community. You go to blogging conferences, and people just assume you're a teach your own kids at home. But you look at 15-passenger vans, which seems to be a prerequisite to homeschool, and you think, I only have one child, can I do this? 

Fifteen passenger vans are to homeschool today what denim jumpers are to homeschool today: not necessary, and just a little extra. Unless you do, in fact, have thirteen children. And God bless you for it! I have four children: the first three are adults now, out of high school, so all I have left is nine-year-old Laura. 

Laura is homeschooled. 

There are definite advantages to homeschooling multiple kids: there's a certain degree of friendly competition that, if harnessed correctly, can be used for good. Older ones can read to the younger ones, and socialization (don't you just hate that word!) isn't a question. 

In homeschooling one child, though, socialization becomes a valid concern. The remedy for that concern is to plan and involve your child in activities that will facilitate group interaction and friendships. This doesn't mean puppet-master friends or get-togethers; kids are capable, much more so than adults, of making friends easily and without politics. A simple, playground invite of "wanna play tag?" works for kids (not so much or adults, though, but wouldn't that just be a hoot?). 

When I first homeschooled Laura last year in second grade, I did some online research for groups or resources for homeschooling just one child. My research turned up very little. At the time, I had been blogging at my other site for about ten years, and quite frankly, had hit a wall. I took a blogging hiatus and prayed for guidance. 

Let's pause here: I am a no-apologies Christian, and because I know that Jesus is my strength and my shield, all my websites are rooted in the Christian faith. The resources and encouragement I share on this site may not be overtly Christian, but the overall sentiment of the site acknowledges Jesus and praises Him. Unpause. 

After I prayed for guidance, it dawned on me that the fact that there weren't much in the way of online resources was a huge opportunity. Viola! And "Homeschooling 1 Child" was born. During this same time, a young friend of mine, who I had taught in Sunday School when she was little, was in the process of finishing her junior year at Liberty University's graphic design program. I enlisted her help for the logo, and BOOM! Morgan Poole delivered, big-time. I am so happy with her work and the process of working with her on the logo. Check out her website (and if you need a talented graphic designer, contact her!)! 

Homeschooling1Child.com features a number of vehicles: this website, which has a blog plus resources; a YouTube channel, social media, and an email newsletter. Social media's algorithms are getting more difficult every day to share information, so the best way to make sure you don't miss a single drop of encouragement to help you homeschooling your child, is to receive my email newsletter. Full of resources, the latest blog post, helpful hints, sales, and encouraging tidbits, the Homeschooling1Child email newsletter exists to encourage you​! Sign up here! 

My husband Greg and I made the decision to homeschool Laura because we felt very strongly that the public school system was headed down a path that we did not want for our daughter. Plus, Laura has chronic migraines, and the unbelievable amount of stress that she faced as a second grader (!!!) caused her to miss 20 days of school last year due to migraines. She has dyslexia, and we were told that she was reading on a kindergarten level, and had to work really hard to get up to where her peers were (hello! she had an Individualized Education Plan!). 

So, we started her homeschooling in the third grade. By Christmas, I tested her: she was reading on grade level. When she took an end-of-grade assessment test in May, she was reading on the sixth grade level. She not only caught up, she thrives in homeschool! 

Let's go! Let's work on homeschooling together! Won't you join us? 

Smiles, 
Terrie 

​(C) 2019 Terrie Bentley McKee All Rights Reserved

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