kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We live somewhere where most kids are in preschool at age 4. It's not required but expected. I don't know any other homeschooling moms, so even though we are barely starting to homeschool, it's already weird at all our normal playgroups. He's the only one there his age. My 2 year old isn't very social naturally, and the baby obviously doesn't know the difference. I need some advice on what to do now. Did your younger children not get to do playgroups as much as your oldest did since he/she had to start homeschooling? Or did they come along too and do school work/play with the babies? Should we just switch gears to after school activities for letting them all make friends? It seems unfair to the littles. Maybe not the 2 year old but my baby has shown more signs of being super social like my oldest- so am I depriving her of those fun years? I mean, she'll also grow up with two big brothers to play with which my oldest didn't have. I'm obviously confused! Someone shine some light on this for me please!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We never went/go to playgroups 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Never? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Ok tell me more about that. What did you do all day? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We did the informal after 4pm hang out at the nearby park and play when my boys were that age. Between 4pm to 7pm is when kids of all ages tend to be at the park while moms cook dinner. We didn't do any playgroups because no one was interested in having a fixed time or day. Just show up and play. The under 2 had a fixed "mommy and me" group timing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I remember when Eldest was a certain age it was tricky since the majority of kids his age where in Kindergarten and yet since he wasn't to join any homeschool groups we were in a no mans land for a bit. The various homeschool groups would only have stuff for kids older then him. We just did our own thing, and before I knew it - it was no longer an issue. But I remember feeling very down about it for when POOF all his similiar age peers where gone all day till about 4pm. The various homeschoolers would just tell me to enjoy the time and that he would be older before I knew it and we will soon enough be busy with co-ops and what not. But that year (or was it two?) was a bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I never did playgroups either. We stayed home or went on walks to the park. Playgroups weren't very useful. I didn't start going out more until my oldest two were kindergarten aged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk8ermaiden Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We did go through a weird phase when the oldest's friends all went to school. I have missed having a group for the little one. But now she's big enough that we're in homeschool park day type groups and there are many other younger siblings there for B to socialize with. Even when we did playgroups, it was only a couple hours a week, and it was far more for me than her (though she enjoyed it!) We did all our normal stuff. Gymnastics, children's museum, parks, normal life. We were always on the go in those days before her activities multiplied AND we had to actually make time for more formal school. And honestly? When we hit that in between phase, several friends and I started a preschool co-op. I think our kids were barely 3 when we started and it was kind of a lot of work for the moms but so much fun and my kid is always talking about things we did. We'd meet for a couple hours a week and then the kids would all just play after. It was really great for 3 years, but now our kids are older and integrating into the homeschooling network already in place here. We're still planning to meet once every month or two and the kids are going to pick and help plan the topics which they're excited about. If you can find any other families with a preschool-aged oldest who are planning to homeschool, it could always be an option for you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 All the kids here went to preschool at age 3. So we found a homeschool preschool playgroup. All different ages. Much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 By the way, I have zero judgement of anyone who didn't do a "playgroup." If that worked for you, that's awesome. However, there's often a sort of pooh-poohing attitude about them on this board. Just being around the house all day at that age did not work for us. If we did not get out of the house and if I did not have some social contact with people who were able to speak in complete thoughts at least a couple of times a week, I would have gone nutso. The kids also would have gone nutso. We had to keep moving to keep sane. So I felt a distinct need for them. And, honestly, my kids liked being with other kids and playing together. They got a lot out of being able to hang out with other kids starting around age 3 or 4 they really asked for specific kids, for their friends. Most of their best friends today (they're about to turn 11) were made at age 4. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk8ermaiden Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 :iagree: I am a bad mom when I do not get regular contact and conversation with other adults. It really starts to show in my parenting. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We did library story times, played at the playground with whoever was there, got together with friends. We did not do formal playgroups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Oh my goodness lol. I am a social addict. I could never ever ever have been someone who hung around all day with just my kid and even when I had two. Now that I have three, staying home sounds nice. But I can't even fathom not seeing my friends at least every other day. I get a little too chatty at checkout if I don't have social interaction! I can't imagine why anyone would discourage play groups! I love my friends and I love seeing my kids make friends. :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Thanks guys, it's nice to see everyone's experiences with this stage! And it's nice to be given permission to not take my youngest ones out to play with friends as much as my older was able too. I love the idea of the three of them being each other's best friends. I think I will just have to sit down and shift focus from morning playgroups to an afternoon activity here and there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I started my own homeschool playgroup for younger kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Then see your friends. I don't mean this in a cranky way, so please don't read it like that. But throughout history people have seen friends without it being in segregated age groups. If your oldest is older than the other kids in the playgroup it won't hurt him. It will teach him to be kind to younger children. Make new friends too because if you are relying only on playgroups I can pretty much guarantee that you will be very lonely when their younger kids hit preschool and they stop going to playgroup. Besides playgroup, look for social interaction in other places. Young kids can make friends in many different places even if they are someone they've never seen before and will never see again. Maybe "friends" is too strong a word for those situations but they are able to have fun playing tag or other games in the park even if they don't know the other kids' names. We haven't done homeschool co-ops or park days either (well, we did park days for a brief period of time but found it wasn't for us.) We are not recluses. We just found our friends at the Y, at sports and other places other than homeschool specific groups. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 I think it's partly me not enjoying the odd feeling of being the only one with a child not in school. Which is something I'm going to have to get over! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 My experience is that typically the parents cater to the oldest kids and the youngers tag along. I think that's mostly okay. It won't hurt your older ones to hang around with the 2 yos, but as he gets older, he'll want friends who are doing more than parallel play while the younger ones will care less. To a 2 or 3 yo, other kids are just other kids. To a 4 or 5 yo, most have clearer preferences for seeing specific friends. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I did playgroups, story times, beach days etc...like crazy with my 3 older kids. I felt really bad about my littlest guy not getting to do them. So I finally just started one myself. It really didn't take much effort and my other kids either just came or the older ones stayed home and I took my preschooler and my grade schooler. It was only 2 hours out of my week so, it was doable. I knew of a few ladies at church with preschoolers so I invited them. It was awkward at first, I didn't know them well at all. Slowly but surely we became good friends and they invited more people and my little playgroup got huge. :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 If you're the only one planning to homeschool, as a group, it's a short term group for you. You may continue to go, you may keep seeing your good friends from it because they're real friends that are yours, which is great, but I'd look for new mommy friends as well who are planning to homeschool - you're going to need them eventually and if you want to not feel like the odd one out and have your 4 yo have some age mates, it's what you need anyway. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I started a homeschool playgroup too, because my church had two families where the decision has been made to definitely homeschool but the eldest is still too little for homeschool groups, and two families where they have a wide gap between olders and youngers and wanted to do something for the youngers without being ostracised by the public school mums who thought they were ruining their children. And I agree, it's an awful, lonely time, those inbetween years. There was a thread about this a long while back, and the thing is, parents who pulled their children out of school later on really just do not 'get' that phase of 'peers are at school and we're still too little to be officially homeschooling'. I've seen homeschooling mums take older kids to playgroup, and either let them play, or set them up with independent schoolwork/reading (I did this when my younger brother went to a special ed playgroup). Also, once your oldest is able to go to homeschool groups, you'll find many families there have little ones for your little ones to make friends with. But, my eldests social experiences were very different from my youngests, and that's normal. My eldest went on regular bus trips with me, she went to a dedicated playgroup on her own, and you can tell she's much more independent. But she also didn't have anyone to play with a lot of the time, since I am legally blind and cannot drive so like it or not we spend most our time at home. My youngest will likely never attend a standard 'playgroup' but she has two willing playmates and rarely has to play alone. My little ones will probably be dragged along to events more often but will always have others who can play with them, but my oldest one will get to be the perfect age for many activities we do, however she will regularly have to deal with no one being old enough to play games with her, whether it's dollhouse now, or scrabble when she's older. My oldest will interact with more younger kids, my youngest will interact with more older kids. I'm slowly trying to make my OCD, organized, everything-totally-even mind accept that there are benefits and disadvantages to both the oldest and youngest siblings, and that it's ok if they experience different childhoods. It's hard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 If you're the only one planning to homeschool, as a group, it's a short term group for you. You may continue to go, you may keep seeing your good friends from it because they're real friends that are yours, which is great, but I'd look for new mommy friends as well who are planning to homeschool - you're going to need them eventually and if you want to not feel like the odd one out and have your 4 yo have some age mates, it's what you need anyway. I agree. It's time to start making some homeschooling friends. Here we have a lot going on for the under 7 set and many moms bring along younger kids or older kids. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonduck Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Even just showing up at homeschool park day might be fun. There's usually lots of kids with a wide range of ages. At the park day we attend, no one would care that your oldest isn't old enough to "officially" homeschool yet - you plan to, and it's a great way to meet people. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I found mixed age groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Ok tell me more about that. What did you do all day? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Stay home and do housework, color, puzzles, play outside, build forts, read books, explore our creek. Go to the store, library, playground, park, visit friends and family. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Oh my goodness lol. I am a social addict. I could never ever ever have been someone who hung around all day with just my kid and even when I had two. Now that I have three, staying home sounds nice. But I can't even fathom not seeing my friends at least every other day. I get a little too chatty at checkout if I don't have social interaction! I can't imagine why anyone would discourage play groups! I love my friends and I love seeing my kids make friends. :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I'm not really very social, but I still enjoyed getting out with my preschooler. We had a fantastic playgroup where even the kids who were in half-day kindergarten in the afternoons would still come to playgroup so we had newborns to age five. We all enjoyed it. Then I moved to England where kids start "play school" when they're two and a half. All of a sudden my five year old was the biggest one in the room. My 10 month old wasn't that social and I was in a strange country where I didn't know anyone. We kept going for a while. Dd would either read a book or play with the babies. It was fine. Before we moved to England, we enjoyed a lot of community activities. We went to story time at the library once a week. Dd did a couple of very low-key activities at the recreation centre, she started ballet as well. She liked being out and about and enjoyed having different adults and kids in her life. I think preschool would have been stifling for her - same kids and same teachers day in, day out. Staying home all day with her baby brother would have been stifling, too. I think your best bet would be to find some other homeschoolers and maybe do a once a week co-op for a couple of hours. Or go on field trips together. My younger guys didn't go to playgroup because we eventually had a great homeschool community and they just hung out with the rest of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I actually found homeschooling because the playgroups all evaporated when DD was 3 and the kids all went to preschool. We found this lovely group of moms and kids at the local park one day, and just started hanging out with them. Having been a PS teacher for years and seeing homeschooling mostly used as a cover for truancy, or as a way to get around a disciplinary action (like a transfer to an alternative school), my view had been pretty negative, but seeing the older kids and talking to them got me thinking that maybe this could work. There actually were quite a few kids the age of my DD-they were just younger siblings. When PS K ended up being a miserable experience, I had this nice group of moms ready to welcome me with open arms, who, for the most part, refrained from saying "I told you so". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 So long as you aren't "that mom" who is always trying to bring your little kids to classes and field trips that have a much higher minimum age, you will likely find that homeschooling support and resources really start to become available at ages 4-5. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I never did play dates at those ages either. Still don't. I didn't start seeking social activities for my oldest kids until they were around 1st grade. They seem to have turned out fine. *shrug* ETA: Is the play date for mom or the kids? I did everything dh and I always did. And when the kids were older and having play dates, I made the mistake of getting too tied up in it. Making friends with the other parents. Joining groups related to their education for MY sake instead of theirs. Don't get me wrong, I made some great friends and many nice people, but I don't think it was the best thing for my kids. They didn't really make their long term genuine friends with my friends kids. They get along, but it's not a strong bond, iykwim. And it prevented me from pursuing my own interests for a very long time. If you are looking for a social outlet for you, I suggest you think about what interests you and pursue it. You will meet people via that channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I was in a Mom's Club until something similar happened when my son was around 4. We could still go to the playgroups for my dd but I didn't want him to always be the oldest kid at everything. We continued with special events for a while since those were usually scheduled when the preschool kids could still come but we gradually transitioned into attending homeschool activities. I was lucky because there were a few preschool/park groups and lots of homeschool activities that were open to younger kids - gymnastics, field trips, park days, bowling, etc. No formal co-ops would allow that young but we weren't interested in doing them anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We did some after-school activities that were geared to 4/5's when dd was in pre-k / k. She did AWANA, American Heritage Girls, and a homeschool horse riding lesson at 5. At 4, we did 2 classes at Little Gym, a sports one and a dance / gymnastic combo. She also did AWANA and I attended MOPS were she came along to the Moppets. We also did a stroller stride class. In my community most kids did do preschool but many only went 3-4 days a week so we still saw kids her age hanging out at the park and had morning class options available. Library story time for preschoolers was always packed for example. In k she'd often play with kids in pre-k that didn't go 5 days a week but I don't think she really noticed she was a grade older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 We joined a homeschool group when she was 6. This was the age she noticed the preschool crow D was younger than her. Have you looked into joining a homeschool group? We have an active secular group we found on Facebook and a popular Christian one through a local church. Both groups have a lot of moms with preschool / kindergarten kids and they are welcomed to join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 By the way, I have zero judgement of anyone who didn't do a "playgroup." If that worked for you, that's awesome. However, there's often a sort of pooh-poohing attitude about them on this board. Just being around the house all day at that age did not work for us. If we did not get out of the house and if I did not have some social contact with people who were able to speak in complete thoughts at least a couple of times a week, I would have gone nutso. The kids also would have gone nutso. We had to keep moving to keep sane. So I felt a distinct need for them. And, honestly, my kids liked being with other kids and playing together. They got a lot out of being able to hang out with other kids starting around age 3 or 4 they really asked for specific kids, for their friends. Most of their best friends today (they're about to turn 11) were made at age 4. I agree. When someone who clearly values playgroups asks about it, the chorus of "we never did that, no need, meh, shrug" is just needless. If she was asking of it was needed, those responses make sense. Because she is asking more about logistics/finding her tribe, those responses come off as kinda cluelessly rude. My older son's oldest friend is a girl we met at baby playgroup. We have shared more than a decade of holidays, vacations, emergencies and countless BBQs together. There was absolutely something gained by taking those little babies to a "pointless" playgroup. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Well I guess I'm cluelessly rude then.. Oh well. She asked what we did and I told her. If it isn't helpful, then it isn't and my feelings are not hurt by that. And I did edit shortly after posting bc it occurred to me maybe she wasn't really interested in the play dates for the kid, but for herself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 At that age with my oldest, we did a combination of MOPS, neighborhood park days, and classes/tot sports teams at the rec center. It seems like everyone has kids in preschool, but there are more hold outs than you think. McDonald play lands at midweek lunchtime worked pretty well for some social fun. When we needed more, I started a group :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Here the story hours are definitely geared to the under 3 set. There's a few for 4-5 year olds and obviously it doesn't really matter if my son goes to the toddler story time or not but with the rooms usually packed to the rafters, I follow the age guidelines so as to not take a spot from someone in that age group. One thing I would say is that school has either started or is about to start. When you are out and about, a good way to connect to other homeschooling families is to look for those kids who are old enough to be in school but are not. We see such families at the park, pool and library and it's an easy way to connect. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I don't see what is wrong with explaining the other outlets open to moms with kids of that age. The problem of having an older sibling who doesn't fit the playgroup demographic is not a new one and there are solutions that people have come up with. I wish that people would allow us to answer the OP without trying to micromanage our answers. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 let me be pessimistic here for a moment I hate housework. LOL To the OP, you will find stuff that works. It takes some creativity and trying stuff. You could also try to start your own group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocassie Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I didn't stop going until my oldest was Kindergarten age. She got very bored. I started to host quite a bit because then she had things/books to read, but that only worked so long as my household was slowly not being baby proofed. Then we met some other homeschoolers through co-op and started to do playgroups with them. Initially I had to do the hosting because it was important to me, but as we got to know the others better, they started hosting too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I think the bigger picture is that, yes, the younger kids will have different experiences than the older ones. Just the other day I was thinking about all the many things I did with my oldest (library storytimes, hours and hours at the park just hanging out, special programs at the nature center, etc) that the middle one did less and that my daughter hasn't done at all. In some ways it's unfair to the younger ones. But the older one also only had me to hang out with. Daughter doesn't get to go to storytime but she does have two extra people to read to her when I'm busy in the kitchen. She doesn't go to the park to play but her brothers did teach her to ride a bike years before they were able. Etc. I've had to just realize that they will all three have different experiences, and that's ok. (And I did playgroups a bit with my oldest and found the exact same thing as you, that they got uncomfortable and kind of weird when he was years older than the other kids and the conversation of all the other Moms was centered around preschool. So then we did lots of other things including having a "preschool" in our house once a week with another friend and lots of other of the kinds of things mentioned here.) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 When my kids were young, there was a great early childhood center around the corner from my house, with all kinds of neat programming. We just carried on attending their playgroup when she was school aged, and she played with the younger kids. Once we moved, I managed to find a similar place, but it was a lot larger which I didn't like, and it was no longer in easy walking distance, and i just didn't end up going. For a while I used to get together with a group of people in our church hall - friends and friends of friends kind of thing. Mostly in winter when outdoor play wasn't always possible. My eldest sometimes complained of being bored, but I figured she had lots of activities and the little ones needed an outing too. A bigger issue TBH has been having little ones to take to homeschooling events for the older kids - there have been a few I have just stopped going to because it was too much. My kids are all really good now at playing with kids of all ages, and especially at helping out little ones and organizing them into games and things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hey y'all, I really appreciate all your comments. I think it's important we read one another's comments with a grain of salt. Perhaps the *shrugs* are because they don't want to be judged for not going to playgroups. It really depends on how you read it :). All my friends obviously are mumsgroup/playgroup people, but most of the other women in my family are stay home people. It's a personality thing and all options are beneficial and good :). I have shied away from asking the women in my family because I don't want them to think I'm judging them, when really I just wonder how it's done (staying home a lot). So many of you have answered that question for me! Thank you! I do think we are going to switch camps a bit and have less day time commitments. Maybe keep to the one playgroup a week with my best friends. I also looked into after school activities for the big guy yesterday. We live in a very small country town in Australia. I can't seem to find any other homeschool moms. But we will only be here for 8 more months and then we are moving to Houston where it'll be peachy :) Thank you all for sharing your experiences! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylin.booker Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 In other news, my 9 month old projectile pooped across the room last night while I was changing her diaper. That was a new experience for me! Can't say I'm sorry I missed out on that until the 3rd... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicMom Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 My oldest cannot handle any kind of a group setting, so that eliminates Awana, co-op classes, playgroups, etc. He manages Sunday school only through the support of very kind hearted teachers. Unfortunately his younger sister is very social, but I don't have anyone to watch him while she interacts, and at 3, all her cohorts are starting preschool this year. She is terribly lonely. So she is going to part time pre-k simply because I don't know what else to do. It's maybe not the best solution, but hopefully it will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooksandBoys Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I took my second child to playgroup for a while beginning when he was 18 months because we had just moved across the country and I was trying desperately to connect with people. The older child tagged along. It went...well, we're all pretty sure that our oldest is autistic (testing pending), so now I understand why it was so challenging to take the older along (he was 4.5). While this did provide a social outlet for me, it dried up quite suddenly when everyone put their 2 and 2.5 year olds in preschool. At that point, I started looking very hard for a group of homeschoolers that would accept people homeschooling preschool and kindergarten and eventually found people like myself: parents of preschoolers who intended to homeschool elementary as well. They all had younger children too, so it's been a great fit for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 We joined a homeschool group when my oldest was only 3. The other moms knew we were serious, and wanted us to get into the group before our friends dried up -about 6 months later when he was 4 and kindy started. We started going to library game days and park days with the homeschool group. We did story time at the library for ever. Actually, we start again next week for #3 and #4. My older kids enjoyed it till about age 8. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I would really caution against the tendancy to base in all on the oldest child's needs, where the younger kids are always tagging along with whatever is most age appropriate for the oldest. We did that for a long time and it really backfired in a few key ways. Now we keep it pretty even. Obviously with closely spaced kids there's less of a separation between age levels and interests. As they get older there may be things you can sign them up for together (for instance my 6 year old is on a nature class for 4-8 year olds this fall, stuff like that.) The other thing is that if you are extroverted yourself you may rapidly realize that you want things that are geared to the family and not just to the kids. There's not the same outlet for mom waiting for swimming class or t-ball to be over as there is with a more relaxed mom and kid thing. You will find more moms who are at home or homeschooling with searching out homeschooling stuff. Let's not fool ourselves- many of the "playgroups" are mommy dates with kids in tow. And that's ok. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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