[blparent] Homeschooling as a Blind Parent

[Star Gazer]

			Hi Misty
Here are a few things you want to think about. Why wait until next week to
start homeschooling? The beauty of homeschooling is you can start whenever.
What magical thing will happen that makes "next week" a good starting time? 
Second, the school year is only a week or so old. How terrible could it be?
If it is truly that bad, why not deal with it through the school channels?
Everybody has a boss is a good thing to teach your kid. Homeschooling may be
what you ultimately do, but why the haste? 
I'm sure you can teach your daughter. Blindness doesn't have anything to do
with it. What does concern me is your haste. You don't know methods you will
use to teach her. You don't know what tools you will need. You haven't
connected with other homeschoolers in your area. You can do all this, but
you haven't done it yet. You are a single mom, so you presumably don't have
the time as in the hours in the day to homeschool. Will you have the time
energy, opportunity and money to homeschool in the evenings? Can your
daughter learn well in the evenings? What will you do with her during the
workday? 

If you are not working, are you homeschooling for her, or for you? The house
does feel awfully quiet once school starts. Our kids make friends and begin
to have relationships where we are not present. That can hurt as a mom.
Still this is what healthy people do, and your daughter will still need you.
You can always talk with your daughter about things done or said at school.
My daughter's first grade teacher made the comment that "nobody needs a
computer". My daughter and I are still going back and forth about that
comment, not in an argumentative way, just talking about it. I did tell her
and explain that I think the teacher it's ok to disagree with me. 
Finally, think about the things you want for your daughter. Do you want her
to participate in Scouts? How will you do that? If the answer is "We'll find
a Scout troop" put a date on the calendar when that will be accomplished.
It's very easy to kick later down the road. Realize that your daughter's
relationships will change with the kids in the neighborhood. We have some
kids that are homeschooled. This wasn't a problem when everybody was
younger. Once school started, the friendships faded. They weren't around to
play "after school". They were having school when everybody else in the
neighborhood was literally out sledding after a big snowstorm. Eventually my
daughter stopped asking if they could come play because "They never can so
why bother asking". The family is a nice family. They just don't move in the
same orbits we do anymore. 
If you do homeschool, find a group of real live human beings that also
homeschool. Make sure you and your daughter enteract with them. Make sure
she knows how to conduct herself in all kinds of relationships.  
I have no doubt you can figure out the mechanics of homeschooling. I just
think you need to slow down, take this school year to learn the ropes, then
decide if homeschooling is what you really want to do. As moms I think we
want to do that.  
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Misty Dawn
Bradley via blparent
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 5:27 PM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blparent] Homeschooling as a Blind Parent

Hi everyone, 
Does anyone on this list homeschool their children? I have a 6 year old
child, and I am planning to homeschool her starting next week. I have
already withdrawn her from the school she was enrolled in and researched the
laws relating to homeschooling in Texas and am looking into what method or
sources for teaching her I will use. I would like to know if there are also
blind parents homeschooling their children? I am totally blind and will be
homeschooling her on my own as a single parent. Also, are there blind
homeschoolers groups I could join for blind parents? 
Thank you, 
Misty 
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