heartofdakota.com

Hello,

My name is Nicole Taylor. I have a three year old daughter named Maddie. My mother recently ran into a woman that homeschools her children through Heart of Dakota. I've always had concerns regarding the public school system. Quite frankly, I'm afraid. I'd very much like to homeschool my Maddie, but at the same time, I feel like I'd be taking away her chance to socialize and meet friends. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this from other moms/dads.

I was wondering, as a mother and her teacher, would I need to meet any qualifications to homeschool her? Who do I contact, if anyone at all?

Also, the woman that my mom ran into that homeschools her children with this program says that she meets with other moms and children in the program weekly for activities. Where do I get information regarding this?

Thank you in advance for your help,

Nicole

Hi Nicole!

Welcome to the HOD boards! It is great to hear that you are looking into homeschooling while your daughter is young:)

I just wanted to address the social aspect of your question. I have always looked at it this way: I would rather teach my children social skills than their 4 or 5 yr old peers Being around other children does will not teach your child social skills. But weather it is one on one or in a group with other children I teach my children how to act and play no matter what their age. Other children do not have the skills yet to teach my children. And of course I would like to teach my children the biblical skills they need to be salt in the world! So you don't have to worry about your daughter missing any social skills. You have that covered!!

Homeschool groups can be lots of fun. I wish I could help you out more with this, but I'm not much help in this area. Hopefully some others will chime in

I hope to encourage you. Homeschooling is so much fun!! I am so thankful I get the opportunity. I hope you enjoy your journey.

Kristen
6 ages 12 to 1
To God Be The Glory

Nicole,
Welcome to HOD. You have come to a great place to get started in homeschooling. I'm from PA and will help any way I can.

What part of PA are you in? As far as getting started, you don't have to report to anyone until your daughter is 8 years old. Beyond that, if you are homeschooling her at 8, you will have to sign and get notorized a homeschooling affidavit which you would get from your school district. I believe the only prerequisite is that you need a high school diploma. You have a good bit of time before you have to deal with the paperwork and school district, so don't worry about that right now. If you are interested in HOD, you could start your daughter in LHTH at any time and see for yourself what a great program it is. My dd started out in Little Hearts, so I can't give you detail about LHTH, but there are many who can.

As far as socialization, your daughter can get that in many different ways....playing with kids in the neighborhood, attending Sunday School, family functions, etc. There are homeschool groups all over, but not particularly an HOD group. The homeschool groups have meetings to plan for special classes, field trips and other activities, to give opportunity for socialization, fitness, and other fun stuff beyond your work in the home. If you tell me what area you are in, I may be able to help find a group near you. I know there are others on this board from PA that may be able to help in this area as well.

If you have other questions, don't be afraid to ask. And, don't be afraid to homeschool. If that is something you believe you should do, the Lord will help you find connections to help meet your daughter's needs.

I live in Glenville, Pennsylvania. It's located in York County between Hanover and York. Any help is very much appreciated!! I would love to find a group where others get together for field trips and activities.

Thank you, to both of you, for answering my questions! I feel like a weight has been lifted, and I know that homeschooling will be the right decision for my Maddie.

Nicole

Hi Nicole,

Welcome to the HOD boards and hopefully to homeschooling!

It's great that there are already replies from other homeschooling families in PA here on the boards. Another great place to check out when you first start homeschooling is called HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association). You can Google their website to get the information about homeschool requirements in each state and lots of resources to answer your questions as you consider beginning.

As for socialization, please don't EVER let that concern stop you from homeschooling your child(ren). It is such a myth! We have only one child (a 14yog) that we have homeschooled since preschool, and we are SO busy with violin lessons, orchestra, mission trips, homeschool group activities, field trips, church activities, and now karate! We are actually so busy now that I was joking the other day that I WISH I was a "stay-at-home" mom!!
(I am, but it just doesn't feel like we are ever home!)

Around here, I found out information about our local homeschool groups through our public library. You could ask there and see if they have any information. Also, search online for local groups in your area.

Heart of Dakota is such an amazing, thorough, gentle, Christ-centered curriculum, and you could actually start with one of the preschool levels right now and see how great it is for yourself! It's all explained out for you to know exactly what to do each day, so it's great for beginners OR long-time homeschoolers.

Hope this helps!!

Welcome to HOD! It is a great place to begin your homeschooling journey. I just want to chime in with the others. My sons are about as "unsocialized" as you can get. Not a day in daycare, preschool, regular school, no regular extra curricular activities -nothing but weekly 2 hour playdates in the summer (only summer because of schedule) with a close friend and church. Yet my boys will happily play with any child on the playground when we go to the park, can share their toys with the best of them when the neighbor boy comes over, can carry on a conversation with an adult of any age or a child of any age, do not know how to swear, do not fully understand teasing, and I could go on and on. I would suggest you just start with HOD first and then see what, if anything, you want to work in. You may find you are satisfied as is and do not want to interrupt the great schedule you will have with HOD. If you feel you need something extra, start small so you don't get overwhelmed or burned out. Once the kiddos hit the 4th guide (Preparing), the lessons are planned on a 4 day week, so it does give you opportunity to add something if you wish. Truthfully, the youngers probably do better just following the regular schedule while having all that time with mom and dad for character development, etc. Let us know if you have other questions.

Another thing about socialization (after reading the pp) is that it doesn't have to be with just kids of the same age. My dd does not have other young children in the home to play with and there is only one in the neighborhood (when she visits her grandmother). When we visit my parents, she can sometimes spend time with a cousin her age. She sees kids at church and enjoys that, but before the worship service begins, she will walk around the sanctuary greeting and talking to adults. She loves to visit the nursing home and interact with the residents. I believe that is better socialization than being in a classroom full of their peers anyway. It's okay to be with people other than their own age. If your dd gets to spend time with Grandma, that is socialization. And like the pp said, you can go to the park where there are other kids to interact with occasionally.

I will PM you with the name of a homeschool group in Hanover.

Welcome to HOD & homeschooling!

countrymom wrote:Welcome to HOD! It is a great place to begin your homeschooling journey. I just want to chime in with the others. My sons are about as "unsocialized" as you can get. Not a day in daycare, preschool, regular school, no regular extra curricular activities -nothing but weekly 2 hour playdates in the summer (only summer because of schedule) with a close friend and church. Yet my boys will happily play with any child on the playground when we go to the park, can share their toys with the best of them when the neighbor boy comes over, can carry on a conversation with an adult of any age or a child of any age, do not know how to swear, do not fully understand teasing, and I could go on and on. I would suggest you just start with HOD first and then see what, if anything, you want to work in. You may find you are satisfied as is and do not want to interrupt the great schedule you will have with HOD. If you feel you need something extra, start small so you don't get overwhelmed or burned out. Once the kiddos hit the 4th guide (Preparing), the lessons are planned on a 4 day week, so it does give you opportunity to add something if you wish. Truthfully, the youngers probably do better just following the regular schedule while having all that time with mom and dad for character development, etc. Let us know if you have other questions.

I totally agree with this! My children have very few outside activities but are the most "socially" adapted children you will find! They can play with any child, anywhere. Never tease, bully, etc. Are very comfortable around people of any age. My oldest was in public school for a few years and it took us TEN years to undo the damage that had been done (his behavior was socially unacceptable: teasing, cursing, greedy).

I wish HOD had been around when I started homeshooling my oldest but I am so glad I found it for my youngest two. MY oldest is beyond the age range but really loves joining us for our CTC lessons (not that he would admit that to anyone lol).

Welcome to the HOD Board, Nicole! I am excited for you to begin this journey of homeschooling, and HOD is such a great way to go about it! We have done LHTH 3 times now, and it is just a neat way to begin homeschooling. Our children have loved learning in this way. Our kids play with their cousins once a week, but that is the only socialization with peers they have. They love their life, and we have comments from waitresses, people at church, other family not homeschooling, etc. about how comfortable the boys are in their skin - how social they are, and how easily the get along with others of all ages. I think it is because we have taken it upon ourselves to socialize them. It is a blessing to get to choose who are dc will be around. You can go about that in so many ways, with family, with activities, with homeschooling groups, with church groups, with one neighbor down the street that you feel is a good friend, etc. There is no one right way, but there are countless opportunities to socialize our dc. Be sure to check out the first week of "Little Hands to Heaven" by clicking on the guide on HOD's main page. I think once you read through the week of plans, you'll begin to see yourself as your dd's teacher, and I think you are going to love what you see!

In Christ,
Julie

I have never heard of a mom of a ps (public school) child saying, "oh dear, summer vacation. Now my child will not get to socialize".



Because we all know children "socialize" best outside of ps.

My boy (5yrs) has never gone to daycare or ps. And he, like others have said in this thread, is very well "socialized". He easily talks to babies on up to adults. Never heard him cuss.

We did join a homeschool co-op. It meets once a week. All the moms stay and participate. He enjoyed that and made lots of friends with other children his age. Plus we see them on the field trips, 4h, hs parties, tball, and other activities.

The Lord guided me in the right direction. Here I am, at Heart of Dakota, getting ready to purchase my daughter's first program, Little Hands to Heaven. Thank you all so much for your help, stories, and encouragement!

Nicole wrote:The Lord guided me in the right direction. Here I am, at Heart of Dakota, getting ready to purchase my daughter's first program, Little Hands to Heaven. Thank you all so much for your help, stories, and encouragement!

That is great! I am going to start my daughter soon, too, with "little hands", I will be looking forward to hearing how your daughter likes it.