Someone commented on my recent school post questioning how I could recommend keeping school-aged kids out of school during their first months homes. I thought this was an important question. Sometimes brevity can confuse, so here's my long answer.

First of all, I am in no way suggesting you bring the kid home and then do nothing with him. If I were a public-schooling mom opting to keep my newly arrived kids home for a semester, I would simply tell officials that I am homeschooling. Not all 'school' has to consist of workbooks and flash cards.

You can teach a child language by talking with and reading to him. The basis for math can be built by playing games that require counting. Cookie-baking and grocery shopping teach math and reading right along with home economics.

Zoo and museum trips can teach kids about geography and science, not to mention (something that baffled my girls) the many ways there are to turn on the water in public bathrooms. A newly arrived adoptee has SO MUCH to learn about American life.

Where I live, homeschooling regulations are minimal. No one comes to your door to check birth certificates and drag kids off to school. That is the perspective from which I wrote my earlier post on this topic. If you live in a state that regulates the heck out of homeschoolers, you'll have less freedom. You may be stuck writing lesson plans and justifying a less structured approach to homeschooling, or even incorporating a workbook or two into your day.

It certainly makes sense to investigate the laws in your own state, and of course I would recommend working within the law. But plenty of learning can be done without desks and chalkboards. It is actually very possible to look at your daily ordinary activities with your child and write up a respectable (and honest) lesson plan describing the many things your new child is learning each day.

One final note regarding homeschooling regulation. Some folks are horrified to learn that some states require no oversight of homeschoolers. They picture a boatload of hillbilly kids playing in the mud all day learning nothing. Certainly in every state there are families (both public-schooling and homeschooling) who are not doing an adequate job with their children's education, and their kids are suffering for it.

But homeschoolers in general tend to be motivated and involved parents who care deeply about their children's well-being. Stadardized tests show that homeschooled children are successful learners. Why? It's not the regulation (or lack of it)-- it is having parents who care.

No one knows your kid better than you, and no one cares for your kid more than you. If you weigh all the options and decide that it would be in your child's best interests to learn some language at home with you before hitting an all-English classroom, you're not neglecting your child. You are tailoring your child's educational experience to fit his needs, which is at the very core of a successful education experience.

I may have gone off on a little tangent here. I think that my reader's question dealt less with the viability if homeschooling and more with the legality of taking a semester off, so back to that point. I am not naive enough to assume that every board of education in every town would see a semester of informal school the way I do. I would encourage you to do your homework and find out what is legal in your area.

But don't discount your gut instinct, and don't assume it can't be done. You may indeed learn that it is completely possible to keep your child at home with you for a few months if that seems to be the best option for your particular child.

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