I homeschooled my son from 6th grade through graduation. We associated with a school in Michigan called Clonlara, so he does have an "official" diploma. We started out with textbooks... but ended up unschooling. I took him out of school because he was being bullied and not doing well academically. After I took him out I realized the situation at school was MUCH WORSE than I had even thought... and was sorry he had been subjected to it for so long. I was a very active proponent of public schooling before that time... on the PTA board year after year... and a volunteer at the various schools my children attended. I tried to resolve the problems through official channels before I decided to homeschool him. I was originally a mom who was horrified at the thought of homeschooling and having the kids around all day! Now I think back and wonder how I blindly sent them all off, starting at the age of 5 - to a place so institutionalized. My two daughters went all the way through public school, and did wonderfully. One is a National Merit commended scholar, and the other is a National Merit scholar. Both my girls wish now that they had been homeschooled and feel, that although there were some good points associated with regular school, that the benefits don't necessarily outweigh the bad points. The discussion of homeschooling versus government schooling versus private schooling, etc., is huge... and endless. You can see it just in the discussion here. http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/ has some very interesting, and VERY controversial views on the subject. You can read his book online. If you homeschool - you will have to be a lot thicker skinned than if you continue to use regular schools. People are rarely hesitant to let you know exactly what they think about your choice... and while a lot of feedback is positive... some is vitriolic. If you homeschool... the responsibility for any successes or failures lie with you. You mentioned that you would not be homeschooling for religious reasons. In my area (and from talking to people online for many years... it seems this is mostly true countrywide) a lot of homeschooling is from a Christian perspective. Many groups require a "statement of faith" before you can join in their activities. The laws vary widely state by state. Some states laws make it simple... some are very restricting. In many areas there are lots of opportunities for activities outside of school. My son was active in Civil Air Patrol, a church youth group, and a blacksmithing group (where he was by far the youngest member for a while!) He took music lessons and hung out with his peers in the neighborhood. As a young adult (now 19) he is glad he homeschooled but feels he did miss out on a bit by doing so. No solution is perfect! I tend to overdo everything I do... so I went crazy investigating homeschooling. I bought too many books in my quest for what would interest my son. Our family tends to buy too many books, anyway (my oldest is now a librarian) so it wasn't just a homeschooling thing. I agonized over all the different methods of homeschooling... what if I did it wrong? I no longer agonize over methods. Kids learn. Period. They learn. Did anyone teach you to walk or speak? No... because "kids learn" Do what feels right to you and don't worry about what other people say (easier to say than implement!) Diane in FL

I am an adult who was homeschooled almost fifty (egad!) years ago and I think that it would be best to have a separated area for the home school activities. I like the idea of French doors (maybe even Dutch style French doors - does that make them Flemish doors?? - so they could contain the dogs on the lower part but still be opened on top) to set the space apart visually and functionally, even if you leave them open a lot of the time. Although you presently use the room for FR-type activities you may find your kids take a more workman-like approach if the room function is dedicated more to schooling. I think I see a VCR/cable box so I was wondering if you also use the space for after-hours TV viewing. That would be a huge temptation, I think. One of the things that is important for homeschooling is to have some demarcation between your time spent supervising home school and your time spent strictly as a parent. Otherwise it can get very intense. So using spatial cues to reinforce the distinction may help. I know when we had a separate school room for home school it was better and when we homeschooled in the sitting room and dining room it was hard to not have one activity spill into the other. It was much better to have a designated school room where we settled down to work and could also leave things set up on desks and tables for the next session. I'd also vote for putting your desk in there, no matter how functional it looks. That will give you something to do when you kids are working and at the same time they can watch and model your approach to paperwork. Your kids' artwork and maps and posters and natural history specimens will make handsome and stimulating wall decorations. Plus, I'd add a big white board so you could use that space collaboratively to work on problems. Molly

I don't know what your high school is like, but in our public high schools AP or IB classes are available for sophmores through seniors. We have had a few kids earn their community college AA degree the same month they graduated from high school. Actually, an AA degree is not necessary since I am sure your student will want a bachelor's degree minimally. Your child could just work on general college courses to get them out of the way or even take that German he wants. We have many students taking American sign language at our community college for high school credit and college credit. Students must be 16 or special arrangements made to take courses at the community college here. Be sure that you know which courses are transferable to your university as credit for the courses you want and are not just elective credits. Also, our really bright students accellerate in math, and by the time they are in high school, often are taking their math in the community colleges or universities in our area. My youngest cousin was one of those bright stars. Luckily his local high school was New Trier, where he could take really advanced classes of all sorts. He proficiencied into this junior year at Northwestern with all his great high school work. Look for a special interest for your student too. Instrumental music and the school orchestra, for example. The cousin worked in the technology end of their high school radio station. Good luck. I agree with your concerns about social maturity and promotion.

We had the same issue with my oldest daughter. She skipped 1st grade, but 2nd grade was still too easy for her academically. She struggled with "executive function skills," though, like remembering which folder to use, where to turn in her papers, etc. At that age, her reading tests showed she was at the 8th grade level, but I don't know how much stock I put into tests. Mid year, I pulled her out to homeschool her. We homeschooled for a few years. I was very happy we did even though the social aspect was a HUGE struggle. We are surrounded by groups who HS for religious reasons. The co-op classes were either very far (and I had other young children) or based on religion (which affected everything, but esp. science). Same with the social groups-- they'd have you sign a statement of faith to join. My daughter isn't esp. social, though, and she loved being able to learn what she wanted on her terms. When I was pregnant with my 5th child, my daughter and I decided it would be better for her to go to school. She didn't skip when she went back, though she really regrets it now as a HS sophomore. (Her choice.) I knew that with so many young children, I wouldn't be able to give her what she needed, esp. since the social part was such a problem. She returned to school with zero issues and was still way ahead academically. Anyway, my point is that if 1st grade doesn't work out, you can always HS for a few years, even a year. For her, the benefits were tremendous. No one says it has to be forever!