Team It Up!

In this issue, I want to talk about teaming up with other homeschoolers.  One of the biggest drawbacks to homeschooling that the general public fusses about is that their child will not have any friends.
That is a lame excuse for not homeschooling your child to me but let's explore this.  There are, of course, valid reasons for not choosing this alternative such as both parents need to work. Sometimes, single parent or health issues are involved, too.
My thought on the friend issue is that as parents you have better control over what influences your child while you are trying to build your morals into them. This helps them to develop healthy relationships because now they have something to help them decide who to hang out with.  Developing friendships is important because it helps our kids be social and get along. 
Many homeschoolers get involved with others who homeschool. They create sports teams, cheerleading or dance teams, and often attend or participate in community events together. The homeschoolers are out there but you need to ask around. If your community doesn't have one, start one. Try to develop a schedule to meet regularly to share concerns, elicit help from others for those tough subjects, and more.  Try not to get too political, just have fun.
With holidays fast approaching, now would be a good time to put together a float for the Christmas parade, get the community involved to help promote your home schooled group.  You could even set up group-wide fundraisers to help financially support the group activities.  
With you getting involved in your child's activities and taking matters to heart to help your kids get involved, you set a good example for the kids and it helps others who home school to get involved.
So, Team Up and Have Fun.
Lexi