I'm not sure how to say this w/out sounding rude b/c I don't mean it that way. How about having your DH consider the family closeness that will result rather than your DD being close to outsiders? I think a lot of the problems w/ kids these days are that they are so peer-oriented. I read an article along these lines. Never before have kids been so peer-focused....on the cell phone, texting, on facebook or myspace constantly. She's young. If she were high school age, then I agree that it would be nice for her to have classes with others, learn from different teachers with differing teaching styles etc. How about doing family game night? how a bout all of you learning to play chess together?
My son says they only had 20min for lunch...barely enough time to swallow. And exactly what are the benefits of being in classroom 6+ hours/day being taught below your level?
The benefits for us is that we can get all of our work done and still have 2hrs to spend hiking in the spring when the weather is nice. My boys are very connected to nature, exploring, animals, plants - they would not have that opportunity being in a classroom 6+hrs/day. Yes we'd have the afternoons but DS hated homework that was below his level anyway so it would take him 2hrs to do it - and that was 1st grade. Then there would be afterschool activities. Now we can go to the pond and watch the frogs mate, lay eggs, what the eggs develop in the wild, and sit next to pond while THOUSANDS of baby toads emerge from the pond like popcorn popping..and watch the dragon flies lay eggs, then come back and catch the dragonfly larvae in nets (putting them back safely of course) etc. Also, they get to take an archaeology course from a professor of archaeology who is passionate about his work and developing critical thinking in kids.
Anyhow, off my soapbox...as you can tell, I'm not in a good mood today. Just read my post in Resources and you'll know why.
Dazey
We don't have a lot of HSers near us so our opportunities are more limited. But we have a couple of families where the kids all adore each other and they get together several days per week. WHen my son was in school, he had tons of friends...but oddly none that he asked to see during the summer and when the school year started, he'd get a new batch of friends. This way, he has really fostered meaningful friendships...friends that he miss when we or they are away....friends that he's learned to accept their differences and have learned to work on conflict. So for us, it's quality over quantity. But, here's a huge caveat.....I have boys and I know they are different animals socially from girls.
