Any Regrets?

Does anyone have ANY regrets about the decision they made to homeschool?

We're in our third year of homeschooling and, no, we don't have any regrets.

We started homeschooling on a trial basis when Morganne was kindergarten age. At that point, I figured we could try homeschooling for a year and then consider other alternatives if it wasn't working out. It felt really safe because she was so young, so any damage done by homeschooling could be easily undone at that age.

The local Waldorf school was another alternative we considered. At the time, I wondered if keeping Morganne home would really benefit her as much as sending her to the Waldorf school, which does so many things that seem both fun and worthwhile.

Well before the end of the first year, we were committed to homeschooling for the long haul. Morganne was flourishing; our family had never been happier. Our experiment was successful.

I'm well on the relaxed end of unschooling and have watched Morganne's educational progress respectfully. At times, I get a bit anxious because she hasn't recently made any great advances and then, all of a sudden, she'll leap forth in several areas.

We don't do any type of tests. Our reading instruction consisted largely of being available and Morganne can now read anything. Our writing instruction consisted mostly of being available and partly of asking Morganne to do small, necessary writing tasks (making birthday cards, adding items to the shopping list). She is now writing short stories and poems, with good spelling and punctuation. Her basic computational skills are good, particularly if money is involved. Her artwork has recently blossomed.

I really don't feel that I can take any credit here. I was willing to let her take her time, preparing myself for a child who might not read until age 9 or 12. I've never racked my brain to come up with schoolwork for her. Daily life seems to present learning opportunity enough.