It’s that time again! Book Fair Season is upon us! As you read this, I will be at the Arlington, Texas Homeschool Book Fair. I posted the following in May of 2006, but still some great points about attending a book fair or convention. Enjoy!

Book fairs and conventions continue to be in a state of flux. Due to a lot more local stores carrying materials and to so many distributors online, sometimes one can wonder if a book fair or convention has a purpose anymore. Or if one should even attend one nearby. I don’t think they will ever become extinct. I certainly hope not! They most definitely serve a purpose!

For anyone who needs a “shot in the arm,” conventions are just the ticket. Walk into a space that holds another 1,000 people (or more… or even less—just 500+/- for those smaller venues) and you can feel the energy. It does not matter how long you’ve homeschooled; having that many “like-minded” individuals around you does give a boost. You suddenly feel you are no longer “all alone” at home plodding thru those math lessons along with your student. Then you have the other benefit—being able to touch, handle, and read materials that aren’t available to you thru your local store, and which are only 2-dimensional photographs on a website. Being able to handle and investigate the materials for yourself can really help you make a decision if it’s the right material for your home. Being able to sit and listen to authors and program creators can help you, esp. when they linger after their session so you can ask specific questions about your own situation. At the same vendor table, you can find either another customer or the vendor themselves who is dealing with the same problems as you are. You find friends you never knew before (and whom you meet year after year only at the book fair). There is an innate camaraderie found in both the workshop rooms and the exhibit hall. In passing you can hear someone wondering if this material will work for them—and you have the opportunity to say, “I have used that before and I love it!” as you pass. (Or tell them that you have tried to use it and it didn’t work for you.) It’s going that second mile and realizing you are not in this homeschooling journey alone.

I promote attendees to buy as much as possible what they need from vendors at the conventions & book fairs. There are a lot of “little guys” out there (like me) who have to pay not only to have a booth, but to even speak in a vendor workshop—so that perspective buyers can find out more information on their products and ask questions. Yes, you might find cheaper prices elsewhere, but by supporting vendors at the book fairs, you are helping them help you, as well as the new homeschoolers who are following in your footsteps. They are there to help you. Most of them give convention specials to help you. Either way, they are there to be supportive of you, and many of them see this as a ministry. By buying your materials from them, you encourage them to continue to be a tangible help to those who need it. By supporting them with your hard-earned dollars, you support the homeschooling community. I do understand tight belts and having to make hard decisions on what you can buy! There are times when I know that buying from a discount house or online can be the only way you can even think about homeschooling. If this is where you are, I understand—I’ve been there! If you can, put aside something, anything, and spend it at your next book fair. Be sure to support the vendor who spends time with you, answering questions and directing you to material that you come to rely on. Every transaction helps and you’re sowing seed into the lives of other homeschoolers. It’s a good thing!

One other thought for those who are homeschooling only one student:

Consider contacting the organizers of the book fair/convention in your area. If they provide “Fellowships” for those in special circumstances (minorities, families with twins or triplets, etc.), ask them if they would provide a fellowship for those who homeschool only one student. There really are a lot of us out there and even if you’re asked to head it, it can be so very edifying for everyone who attends. If you’re no speaker, introduce yourself and open the floor to find out where people live, their situation, their questions and current problems. You don’t have to have “all the answers,” but by allowing those attending to speak up and give their own perspectives on those questions and problems, everyone will benefit from the discussion.

It’s not just a case of having an “only” child, but there are plenty of us out there, too. I have also found that grandparents homeschooling a grandchild continues to be a growing phenomenon. They need to be able to find each other and providing a fellowship will help them, as well as the single parent and the homeschooling parents who are now faced with only one student and find that it is different and they are challenged to even continue on this road. You can also request me as a workshop speaker. Send them to my website http://donnac.com. I’m not quite a “keynote” speaker yet (in my own mind), but if I can come, I will.

The season of Book Fairs and Conventions is here! Be sure to see if you can go to one either near or far. You won’t be disappointed!

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling this year. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One five years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2008 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.

Someone started a thread on the Homeschooling Only One message board (affectionately called HOOville) concerning ages. Of the 21 ladies who chose to be totally honest about their ages, one is in her late 20s, eight are in their 30s, 10 in their 40s, and 2 in their 50s. The general realization for most of them has been that when one hits their forties, they’ve in essence found their voice. My 50th birthday happens to be tomorrow and I have found the same for myself. I have become more confident in myself in my forties. I grew up being a pretty quiet “wallflower” who didn’t really want to be noticed. For example, I found in my 30s and 40s that it was OK to ask a salesclerk for help instead of wandering through a store for over an hour hoping to find the item for which I was searching. Several ladies were quite quotable and I felt that you might be encouraged in reading their thoughts.

One shared, “When you know who you are, you can make goals that are going somewhere instead of a dead end. I felt like when I was younger I wasn't totally certain about what I wanted in life and there were so many questions about it.” Another shared, “Love the 40's!! I'll take them over the 20's & 30's any day!!! 40 must be when you start to actually like yourself, flaws and all.” And yet another wrote, “I agree that the 40's seem to be better. My attitude has completely changed. I realize that the things that I obsessed about in my younger years just seem trivial now. I find I'm less materialistic and more grateful for just having the basic necessities that God provides. Food, clothing, shelter. Anything above that is a gift, but not needed (even though the world will try to convince you that it is ).”

One of our 30-somethings shared, “Interesting what everyone has said about 40s, since that is how I've felt the last couple of years since turning 30... I wonder how much of that has to do with how long we've been married and settled into our life as opposed to age...” Another agreed, “30's have been good to us so far…. So maybe it is part age, part life stage...” My opinion has always been “Age is a state of mind!” Birthdays are meant to be celebrated and the numbers are only that, numbers: the number of years one has been on this earth. Another lady shared another aspect to the aging process, “I agree that the 40s are better. It is because our brains are still developing even in our 30s. Our ability to grasp the big picture grows through the 30s (or at least early 30s). After that it takes more and more effort to improve the brain. It is always possible, just more and more difficult--so go find something new to learn today!!”

This spurred on another thread which asked the important question of how we “stay young.” There were several who answered this thread. I think one of the most telling was this one:

“All the more reason to homeschool—I learn new stuff all the time!!”

Others gave lots of differing (and yet similar) answers. Learning alongside of their child helped them to stay young and keep their brain sharp. Others are relearning a language, studying etymology (word/phrase origins), cultural literacy, and actually writing. Others have taken outside classes and learned new skills such as gardening, quilting, and baking bread. A vast majority mentioned reading—and reading a LOT. Playing games such as Sudoku, crosswords, Scrabble, WordJong, Mahjong, and word searches, as well as playing FreeCell and Spider Solitaire on the computer. Even having an outside job or volunteering, or participating in community theater were mentioned in keeping one young.

So… how do YOU stay young, keep your brain sharp and in gear? Try to never find yourself stagnating. It’s hard to even think in those terms as a homeschool mom, I think. We’re so very busy staying on top of what our children need to learn and how to best serve them, but if we aren’t willing to learn new things, challenge ourselves, how can we stay “on top of our own game”? What happens when our children graduate? Do we rest on our laurels and slowly turn to dust to be blown away? I think not. I think we need to continue challenging ourselves, stretching ourselves to learn new things. Recapture an interest from our earlier days, or delve more deeply into a passion we have always had. Stay sharp, moms! The future is coming and you can be just as vibrant as you are in your role as a homeschool mom. 

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling this year. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One five years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2008 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.

It’s almost that time again! Book Fair Season is about to be upon us!

Book fairs and conventions continue to be in a state of flux. Perhaps the face of homeschooling is changing due to homeschoolers deciding that it's more economical to just stay home and order online. And when you add into the mix that more local stores carry homeschooling materials, sometimes one can wonder if a book fair or convention has a purpose anymore. Or if one should even attend one nearby. I don’t think they will ever become completely extinct. I certainly hope not! They most definitely serve a purpose!

For anyone who needs a “shot in the arm,” conventions are just the ticket. Walk into a space that holds another 1,000 people (or more… or even less—just 500+/- for those smaller venues) and you can feel the energy. It does not matter how long you’ve homeschooled; having that many “like-minded” individuals around you does give a boost. You suddenly feel you are no longer “all alone” at home plodding thru those math lessons along with your student. Then you have the other benefit—being able to touch, handle, and read materials that aren’t available to you thru your local store, and which are only 2-dimensional photographs on a website. Being able to handle and investigate the materials for yourself can really help you make a decision if it’s the right material for your home. Being able to sit and listen to authors and program creators can help you, esp. when they linger after their session so you can ask specific questions about your own situation. At the same vendor table, you can find either another customer or the vendor themselves who is dealing with the same problems as you are. You find friends you never knew before (and whom you can meet year after year at the book fair). There is an innate camaraderie found in both the workshop rooms and the exhibit hall. In passing you can hear someone wondering if this material will work for them—and you have the opportunity to say, “I have used that before and I love it!” as you pass. (Or tell them that you have tried to use it and it didn’t work for you.) It’s going that second mile and realizing you are not in this homeschooling journey alone.

I promote attendees to buy as much as possible what they need from vendors at the conventions & book fairs. There are a lot of “little guys” out there (like me) who have to pay not only to have a booth, but to even speak in a vendor workshop—so that perspective buyers can find out more information on their products and ask questions. Yes, you might find cheaper prices elsewhere, but by supporting vendors at the book fairs, you are helping them help you, as well as the new homeschoolers who are following in your footsteps. They are there to help you. Most of them give convention specials to help you. Either way, they are there to be supportive of you, and many of them see this as a ministry. By buying your materials from them, you encourage them to continue to be a tangible help to those who need it. By supporting them with your hard-earned dollars, you support the homeschooling community. I do understand tight belts and having to make hard decisions on what you can buy! There are times when I know that buying from a discount house, or online can be the only way you can even think about homeschooling. If this is where you are, I understand—I’ve been there! If you can, put aside something, anything, and spend it at your next book fair. Be sure to support the vendor who spends time with you, answering questions and directing you to material that you come to rely on. Every transaction helps and you’re sowing seed into the lives of other homeschoolers. It’s a good thing!

One other thought for those who are homeschooling only one student:

Consider contacting the organizers of the book fair/convention in your area. If they provide “Fellowships” for those in special circumstances (minorities, families with twins or triplets, etc.), ask them if they would provide a fellowship for those who homeschool only one student. There really are a lot of us out there and even if you’re asked to head it, it can be so very edifying for everyone who attends. If you’re no speaker, introduce yourself and open the floor to find out where people live, their situation, their questions and current problems. You don’t have to have “all the answers,” but by allowing those attending to speak up and give their own perspectives on those questions and problems, everyone will benefit from the discussion.

It’s not just a case of having an “only” child, but there are plenty of us out there, too. I have also found that grandparents homeschooling a grandchild continues to be a growing phenomenon. They need to be able to find each other and providing a fellowship will help them, as well as the single parent and the homeschooling parents who are now faced with only one student and find that it is different and they are challenged to even continue on this road. You can also request me as a workshop speaker. Send them to my website. I’m not quite a “keynote” speaker yet (in my own mind), but if I can come, I will.

The season of Book Fairs and Conventions is around the corner! Be sure to see if you can go to one either near or far. You won’t be disappointed! 

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling this year. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One five years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2008 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.

So often I hear of moms & their children hitting heads over schoolwork. The child seemed to understand the subject the day before, but today, seems to have never seen it before in their entire life. (Often math is the subject, but it can happen with any topic or class.)

Personal experience has proven to me that when my son and I have both been reduced to tears over a subject (and yes, it was math), taking a complete break from that subject of two to three weeks helped immeasurably. I’ve done an extensive web search for substantiation in favor of taking a break of several weeks from a particular subject, with just a little success.

From Psychological Science.org, the following quote pertained to taking breaks ranging from five minutes to two weeks in a institutional educational setting.

University of South Florida psychologist Doug Rohrer and Harold Pashler of the University of California, San Diego, wanted to see if the scheduling of study breaks might make a difference in learning. It did. When the students took breaks ranging from five minutes to two weeks, those who had taken a one-day break performed best when they were tested ten days later. But if they were tested six months later (the laboratory equivalent of long-term learning), the optimal break time was a full month. In other words, as reported in the August 2006 issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, “massing” all the study on a single topic together diminishes learning. It’s better to leave it alone for a while and then return to it, and indeed the longer you want new learning to endure, the longer the optimal break between study sessions.

The following is primarily interested in giving children small breaks in their daily academics, for example not withholding recess from children as a punishment (in the institutional educational environment).

Children’s brains are presented with immense amounts of information to process and commit to memory. To deal with this information, the brain must engage in cognitive remapping. Jensen (2000) found that when presented with new information, the brain must alter existing and form new pathways and connections in the brain. This remapping requires time; a break from learning or processing information must occur to give the brain time to adequately reform connections. Brain researchers Toppino, Kasserman, and Mracek found that if no break is provided, some information may not make it to the brain’s memory storage (Jarrett, 2002). Recess provides just such a break. During recess, students’ brains have the chance to perform the cognitive remapping that is necessary to commit new information learned that day to memory. Once recess has ended, students brains have had the time needed to complete remapping and are prepared to take on more information.

At least the little I was able to find does indeed indicate that giving children time for their brains to process new information and to get that information into long term memory storage is a good thing. So if you are finding you & your student hitting a wall when it comes to any subject, remember that it may mean that it's time for a break. The Irish poet, William Butler Yeats wrote, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." If we are determined to cram that information into the pail of our child's minds, the result is not always what we expect. If we can remember that we are trying to light a fire, ignite a spark that will burst into the flame of the love of learning, giving our child the time to rest and play, the time we give is like the oxygen that the flame needs to catch.

There are definitely times to forge ahead even when the road is hard, but there are benefits in taking a break before going forward. It's a useful thing to remember.

Blessings on your homeschooling journey!

*Jensen, E. (2000). Moving with the brain in mind. Educational Leadership, 58(3), 34-37.

**Jarrett, O.S. (2002). Recess in elementary school: What does the research say? Champaign:

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Representation Service No. ED466331).

From Donna C:  Six times a year, I plan to have a guest columnist. For my first guest this year, the following is from Donna, one of the members of the HOO Message Board.

When I began home schooling, I put myself in a cramped proverbial box feeling like I had to duplicate the “real” school schedule and classroom setting in my home. Although this is not wrong, to want a well-organized and scheduled classroom environment, it might not be the best choice for your child or yourself.

It was challenging to break free from the box I thought was ideal for educating my child. My daughter’s learning style is most conducive to moving, touching and doing school rather than sitting and listening. I prefer to have a pile of nice, neatly completed and corrected workbook pages at the end of the day, but my daughter likes to learn with manipulatives and messes.

Let’s set our workbooks aside for an afternoon and go into the kitchen to experience school. Doubling a recipe is great exercise for practical understanding of fractions and simple addition or multiplication if you dare to triple a batch of brownies. One particular recipe we tried called for alternating pouring the milk and flour to make the batter of the blueberry buckle. It occurred to me that my daughter was learning new vocabulary while cooking. Spending time in the kitchen, a student can learn reading, math, following directions, vocabulary, nutritional content of foods and history.

During the summer, my daughter was learning about graphing from her online curriculum. Enthusiastically, she got out markers and rulers and made all sorts of pie and bar graphs. It was her idea to go out and collected coniferous and deciduous tree samples. We sat up in the tree house with our mini microscope and our notebook to record our data. It was so refreshing to compare and contrast these aspects in nature rather than looking at them online or in a textbook. It’s true this took more time than the traditional workbook to learn about graphing and science, however I suspect it is a lesson that instilled a deeper love for the scientific process.

It’s hard for me to admit, but my daughter hates to write. Due to her language processing disorder, putting her thoughts to the page in written language it is like torture to her. But if I announce we are going to observe a particular aspect in nature, she will proceed wholeheartedly to write about anything we see. Later, we take her notebook and clean up the writing. I gently help her to fix her spelling and combine some of her sentence fragments to make one or two good sentences to go along with the drawings she made.

I’m not saying we can throw out the workbooks and online lessons. What I’m suggesting is to break up the days of formal lessons with something that will stick with your child. Many children need to learn in a hands-on manner to get the facts into the long term memory. For my daughter if we don’t find a way to get the information to the long-term memory, it’s like bouncing rubber balls off a brick wall. The information scatters and almost none of it will be retained.

I introduced the concept of division this week. I started with a big Hershey bar. Okay, that might be because I really like chocolate but I knew it would hold her attention. We played on the white board for a while drawing stick figures and pieces of the Hershey bar until I was certain that she understood this abstract idea. I know at first she won’t be able to complete her division problems in her workbook but she does understand it.

My last thought is to not be afraid to set something aside. If a concept like multiplication or telling time is not clicking with your child’s understanding then don’t be afraid to wait.

We had to back off from reading to make progress. We played games and read aloud to her everyday. For months I did not ask her to read more than a sentence or phrase. Yes, it was scary. I prayed and felt this was wisdom from the Lord but I was wondering if she would get farther behind.

Then without warning, she picked up a Junie B Jones chapter book and said she wanted to try to read it. I questioned her choice and she told me it just sounded like fun. I had to hide my enthusiasm so as not to scare her away from the idea. A week later she finished her first chapter book! She proclaimed it was like watching a funny movie in her head. Still trying to mask my excitement, I asked her what she did if she didn’t know a word. She said she read the words around it for clues. I could no longer hold in my excitement. I almost yelled, “That’s what you’ve been learning in your reading curriculum!” We had set it aside but she didn’t forget. She was ready to read and she was having fun doing it.

I hope I’ve challenged you to think outside the box of a regular classroom experience for your home-schooled student. Pray about creative ways to present a new or troublesome concept to your child. Hide those workbooks once in a while. I hope your school year is full of the pleasure of discovering the joy of learning.

 Although relatively new to the home schooling experience, Donna Crowley facilitates the education of her SLD daughter with unconventional, creative methods to ultimately instill the love of learning for a lifetime. Donna has also personally overcome learning disabilities and strives to encourage parents of LD children to never stop trying to bring their children to their full potential. Donna lives with her husband of 17 years and two daughters in a rural farming community in Michigan.

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling this year. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One five years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2008 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.

Most of the time in the Winter, it’s nice to hunker down and stay home. These are the times when baking cookies or treats is a plus. But during Winter there are times when you & your child have had enough of the four walls and want—need—to get out. Here’s a list of things to start your brainstorming session on places to go in the Winter.

My first thoughts are to stay warm. Some of the following ideas may encourage a good afternoon or even a full day of exploring, while others are more on the order of an outing of an hour or so. Some will need prior planning while others can be done on the spur of the moment. I've used my own home town of Fort Worth to help me with this list. I know you may not have as many options where you live, but think outside the box. You may find out that you have more in your own backyard than you first think.

Museum or Art Gallery

Even small towns are known to have a museum of one sort or another. See if they have anything set up for small tours. I know that some will give guided tours without worrying about a minimum number of participants. Another advantage of homeschooling is our ability to go while school is in session and while schools may not have their own tours going on. A little prior planning can be helpful, but going to a museum can happen any time. So often we forget what is in our own backyard and only think of these kind of venues when we have out of town visitors.

Find out what your local museum or art gallery has to help you plan on your trip. For example, we have the Sid Richardson Museum which has an extensive collection of Western Art located in downtown Fort Worth, and has free admission. We could talk about the Old West, cowboy and American Indian life, geography, and wildlife found in the West before going.

Botanic Garden (Conservatory)

Here in Fort Worth, we have a wonderful Botanic Garden. They have a Conservatory (large greenhouse) and in March it has an exhibition of tropical butterflies from around the world. Even though we’re in North Texas, we have been known to have snow as late as March 10th. Many times the Botanic Garden hosts special shows and activities inside, so even though you may not think of going to the Gardens in the Winter, there may be something inside in the warm in which you & your child may have interest.

Library

Most homeschoolers have this location on the top of their list at all times. I know for myself and my son, we can spend hours in a library (or bookstore) without even realizing how long we’ve been there. Most bookstores or libraries provide comfortable chairs and can be wonderful places to spend a cold afternoon.

Courthouse or City Hall

Many courthouses or city halls have paintings or photographs of previous mayors or of historic events. Tarrant County’s Courthouse has free tours just for the asking. North of Fort Worth, Denton County’s Courthouse has a free museum inside its 1896 courthouse building. Call ahead to your city hall and see if they have tours or if anyone can meet & greet you and your child to learn more about your city or town. Your local chamber of commerce might be helpful in giving you free material pertaining to the history of your area, as well as a visitor’s guide to things to do in your area.

Police Station or Fire Department

Call beforehand, but I know that children bearing cookies are almost always welcomed at local Fire Departments, and most likely at the Police Station also. They might provide a quick tour or offer to fingerprint your child while you are there. At one field trip to see a court judge, the children in my homeschool group were fingerprinted and even had the court reporter type their name on the stenotype machine and were given the slip of paper to keep.

Zoo

This might not be the first thing you think of for a Winter visit, but many zoos have aquariums or reptile houses that are kept warm. You may have a quick jog in the cold to get to them, but it can break up a cold day at home. Also, even if your prime thought is to get out of the house to go somewhere warm, a brisk walk in a zoo or park can warm up bodies, helping us all to get some exercise. Keep your eyes open while you walk and discover which animals at your zoo might even prefer the nippy weather.

The Mall or Go Shopping

Ok, this might not be the best field trip, but you can get some exercise and let the kiddo walk off some energy. A trip to the grocery store (or the mall) can incorporate economics and math. Or you can have a scavenger hunt where you make a list of things that might be found while you are walking around. Your child can be looking for certain colors or a particular number of the same items, using a tablet of paper to mark each item off as you walk.

What places are in your own backyard that you can take advantage of in the colder weather? Start brainstorming!

* North Texas Homeschooling One --  If you live in the North Texas area and homeschool just 1 child, this is the group for you. Discuss all that makes this a great situation and exchange information.

One of our moms wrote:  ...that would be WAY too much. Especially if it is a 45 minute drive each day to get there. My advice would be choose one or two per week. You can always add more, but once she starts with something it will feel like depriving her of something if she likes it. ..... I personally feel that interaction with people of ALL ages is much better than a lot of time with age-mates. Makes for a much more well-rounded person. .... Bottom line -- YOU know what is best for your child and your family.

Another wrote:  ....Socializing (which is simply being around other people and interacting with them) happens pretty frequently--especially in small towns. As you may experience, most errands turn into socializing as you run into "everyone" at the grocery, the drugstore, the post office, wherever!.... Socialization is actually the process of learning how to interact with other people of one's own culture. That is what your dd will best learn from you and your dh.