I'm New! I need some advice.

[Paula]

My name is Paula Carver. I'm 36 years old. I'm a stay at home mom. I have 4 children; all are currently enrolled in the Public School System. After alot of thought and consideration, I would like to Home-School my children.
I have 3 boys and 1 girl. My eldest child is from my previous marriage, he is 12 years old in the 7th grade. He will be 13 in July. My three younger children are from my boyfriends 1st marriage. His wife died 8 years ago. I love his children as my own.
My second son is 12 (just turned 12 on Feb. 7); he is in the 6th grade in Special Ed. My third son is 9 years old in the 4th grade. And lastly, my baby girl is 8 years old in the 3rd grade.
I just recently purchased Mary Pride's book "Complete Guide to Getting Started in Home Schooling". I love her book. It's very informative. In her book she talks a little about her children and them talking about "What about my Friends?"
My question to anyone out there that can help me is...What if they have already been in Public School for some time and they yell about "My Friends!"
I am so tired of the Public School System. I was in the system myself and it's alot worse (horrifying)now than it was then. I just don't want to subject my children to it anymore.
Could anyone please help me? I really could use some advice. Because I am really firm in my beliefs and my boyfriend is so supportive. He has and expresses the same concerns and beliefs. He is very willing to help out also. So, with that kind of support, how can I not do this for our children?

Waiting to hear from someone~

Paula L. Carver

[Theodore]

There's no reason why they can't still see visit their friends from school, or even participate in school sports and extracurriculars if you think this is ok and the school allows it. There might be a bit of unhappiness during the transition, sure, but it won't even be as bad as if you moved from one place to another and had to change school districts. At least they'll still be in the same geographical area as their friends.

Bottom line, their safety and education is more important. They might feel for a while like they're having less fun, but they'll certainly have less fun at college or applying for a job if they don't have a proper education. And there's no reason why their social life can't be just as rich now as it used to be.

[MNKristy]

I am pulling my son, who is currently in 4th grade, from public school next year. That is the biggest complaint that I get.....that he will miss his friends. I tell him that he will have more time for his friends. Right now, he has to do hours of homework after getting home from school. Then we have dinner and it's time to get ready for bed. So he doesn't get to play with friends on school days. I tell him that when we homeschool, he will be done in the early afternoon and have plenty of time to play. He also will continue in his activities.....scouts and hockey. Plus he will make new homeschool friends through the coop classes. So I tell him that he will have plenty of friends and more time to spend with them. He's not convinced now and constantly complains about being pulled, but I have to make the best decision for him and it's really not up to him.

[momo3boys]

My 8year old son is a social bug, he loves people, especially girls. We have a great time playing with his friends when they get out of school, or during school vacations. They have a lot of fun together. The other time he sees them is in GYM, our school district allows them to go to any extracurricular activity, gym art or music. For the older students you have have them pick an afterschool activity depending on how the school feels about it. It doesn't hurt to ask.