Well we homeschool too! Three of my children have issues. The most obvious is my dd who is 13 (going on 14) and still struggling with 3rd & 4th & 5th grade material. She is undiagnosed as well and we pulled her out after 3 years of failed public education and no end in site. My view is they learn at their own pace, you can't force it. My oldest really detested anything english but loved reading. Guess what he now has taken iniative to better himself with english skills and that is a huge improvemant plus proves to me my theory is true. That, they will learn something when they see value in it and they are good and ready. Good ole', you can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink. I think some would classify us as unschoolers or eclectic, I try to not label as I dislike labels. One thing I do is follow. I follow, which means to be watching and interested in what they are doing and interested in. And then when I see a spark I throw stuff their direction. And sometimes I do lead, just takes a little longer to get a spark and fire sometimes when going this route.

We live in the US and in a state with open-mindedness. So I jsut said I was going to do this and just did. They still sent a sheriff to my door but that fire was quickly put out, thanks to HSLDA.

As for socialization one thing that the powers that be, fail to see is that it doesn't just come from socializing with other children their own age. It comes from a broad base of many multi-aged children. And guess what? Adults as well! I think all of the answers you gave are great. How about any social clubs? Here we have the scouts, the church scouts, ymca (etc), and my children participate in CAP (Civil Air Patrol). Another big thing would be to get hooked up with an active homeschooling group and mention that. How about volunteerism? Taking care of eldery or visiting nursing homes, cleaning up parks, feeding the poor, mending fences, picking up trash, etc. Or how about acting, painting, or musics lessons, and sports - you could touch into that base. The possibilities are limitless and more open than just sitting behind a desk with peers your own age 8 hours a day and then coming home to possibly already stressed out parents. I don't have a problem with public school parents because some of have to make that deciscion and others of us choose it. What I do have a problem with is when others tell me how to raise my own, get me? You have some good links to check into, how about a blog - http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/ . She's one of my favorites! Good luck on your new journey and I hope you are able to jump through all the hoops they're asking you to!

Sometimes I read USA homeschooling sites and I envy you LOL. Getting a child exempted from public school is a huge undertaking in NZ. Once you actually gett hem exempted we have to provide a curriculum that 'they' consider will teach the child "at least as regulary and as well as public schooling"

Anyway this is what I wrote aboutt he socialisation aspect, not sure if it will pass muster tho.

Social Contact

DD13 has a wide and varied peer group outside of the school she attends. We feel that home schooling will have little to no impact on her socialisation skills.

She is a regular and well-liked member of her local Sunday school, and Youth Group. We have friends who have home schooled their children for several years. These children have known DD13 since she was 4 and they all enjoy each other�s company. We do plan on DD13 working with these friends from time to time for the purpose of benefiting all the children with additional interactions outside of the family. DD13 enthusiastically attends holiday camps, both locally and nationally. Her caregiver on occasion has children within DD13�s peer range stay at the same time, exposing her to others outside of her �normal� socio-economic background.

There is a local support group that meets monthly and organises outings and social events with larger groups of children. We intend to encourage extramural activities and sports, for example DD13 has indicated an interest in joining a swimming club this summer. *our home town* has a recently upgraded swimming pool, with many amenities. DD13 enjoys going to the library, and the shops. In addition, we have a very large extended family that live locally.

We also believe that learning to respect and relate to people of all ages and from all walks of life is very important. The available statistics indicate that home school socialisation is in fact significantly superior to that proffered in public schools. Our experiences with public schooling would suggest that in DD13�s case, this would be very true.

Once DD13 is preforming at the correct level she wishes to enrol in an extra Mural language course at the local polytechnic which will provide addition social contact for her.