Other Links for those Homeschooling Only One

Parent Website: http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/

Not necessarily Christian or nonChristian from what I've seen; primarily birth to 8 year old children. Here are the message boards I found that would be pertinent:

Parents of Onlies Message Board:

http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=bcus7257&redirCnt=1

Message Board for parents of onlies…

Did you choose to have a one and only or is that just the way things turned out? Do you worry that others will see you as selfish or that you will somehow spoil your child? Are you on the fence about having another child? Meet other parents of onlies and share your concerns and stories.

Homeschooling (in general) Message Board:

http://boards.parentcenter.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=bcus18679

Message Board for those homeschooling...

Are you thinking about home schooling your child -- or have you already gotten started? How do you counter the common myths about socialization or teacher preparedness? Share your experiences with other parents and discuss methods, curriculum, and activities.

http://amblesideonline.org/PR/PR12p609EducationOnlyChild.shtml

The Parents Review, Volume XII, p. 609, dated 1901

"The Education of an Only Child"

by Mrs. Clement Parsons

The Parents Review is a magazine that was sent to parents and teachers of Charlotte Mason's schools and correspondence-type homeschools between about 1890 and 1920 (?).

Quote:

But nowadays, owing to the spread of the feeling of paternal responsibility, another phase has set in, and our "spoilt" only child is a harried and over-supervised and over-scrutinized being, whose parents have never been able to forget the fact of his natural handicap, and in consequence have never let him be for a single day since he was born. In their over-anxiety on the score of their child's "onliness" they have lost the simple and common-sense outlook, and forgotten the golden promise that in quietness and in confidence shall be their strength.

There are good elements in this article, but there is a recurring theme of onlies need to be put into a institutional environment early on. I know for a fact by living this life that it is not necessary for a child to be with children every day for hours on end, as we would gather from this article written in 1901. So take that which echoes in your spirit and leave the rest.

~~Donna C

http://cougar.iscool.net/

This is the website of an only child who was homeschooled until she was 16, going straight to Community College and obtaining her A.A. in English. She is going to UCSC and majoring in linguistics, according to her website.

Scroll down and you can click on "About Me" and then back to home, to click on "Writing" -- There are three articles posted which she wrote concerning Homeschooling, under "Essays": Homeschooling as an Only Child, Homeschooling: Yes, It Works, and My Educational Experience.

Some of the things she writes don't seem to show that she is a Christian, but her views on being homeschooled as an only are definitely worthwhile reading. (I do not believe that the only ones who can speak to us on the journey have to be Christians. So don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, when you do your own research.)

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Small article entitled Homeschooling the Single Child. Doesn't have any new and exciting things we don't already know, but at least it's addressing those who have only one.

There is a section for Homeschooling:

http://www.mamashealth.com/homeschool/