I loved this question I recently received from a reader. Since I believe this is a common concern, I decided to share my response with all of you. As our family enters our 13th year of homeschooling, you can bet I’ve learned a thing or twenty. Most importantly, I’ve learned that I have a lot to learn, that every kid is different, that family needs vary, and that I really should sweep behind my office door more often. (I just learned that one five minutes ago when I closed my office door. Apparently it usually stays open so I don’t notice the filth behind it. Gross, Laura. Find a broom already.)

Here’s part of the email I received:

I want to homeschool my children. But I do have one concern that I do not know how to shake. What do I do if my child feels left out by not going to school with the other children? My oldest is approaching 5 this year and I have 2 two year olds. I have made the commitment to my self to teach my children at home, but I can see my oldest wanting to be with the other children as they venture off to school together. I do not like the idea of my 5 year old being sent off for the day, away from home to be taught by some one else other than me. Have you ever faced this problem? Any advise to ease my mind and turn his attention more toward home than school?

I remember feeling this way!

These are some of the questions I bad back when my kids were little:  What about first day of school clothes and pictures? What about lunchboxes and field trips? What about the school bus, bulletin boards, and shopping for school supplies? What about sports teams and choir and dramas and band? As all the other kids head off to school, how can I make homeschool feel special and exciting?

There are fun and wonderful opportunities that our public/private school friends enjoy that we do miss out on since we keep our kids at home for school. There’s no way around it. I am always hearing about neat activities and projects our public school friends are doing. I’m happy for them and rejoice with them. There’s no doubt those opportunities are rich, memorable, and really, really cool.

But there are also fun and wonderful opportunities that we, as homeschoolers, are able to enjoy because we are home together much of the day. Our family has been flexible during the daytime to visit fruit orchards, deliver special treats or meals others, sit down and get to know elderly friends from church, help with construction projects, help unload trucks for people who just moved to town, make an impromptu trip to visit our state capital, get together with other homeschoolers for special projects – well, the list goes on and on.

See, it’s not as if one set of opportunities is better than the other – it’s just that they are different. You have to choose what works best for your family, then create and embrace opportunities that bless your family and become blessings to others – no matter where your kids do their school work.

It can seem to your kids – or to you – that you’ll be missing out on all of that fun kids enjoy when they go to school. But I tell you what: If you choose to homeschool, you grab hold of any and all the fun traditions you want to. You hype it up to your kids. You make it a big deal, and pump it up, and I don’t think they will feel left out. In fact, in my experience, other kids have heard about what our boys are doing or have done and they start begging their mom to please homeschool them so they can do all the cool stuff we’re doing. (Which of course, all of our variety of “cool stuff” can be done whether you homeschool or not – those kids just didn’t initially realize that it worked that way.)

Here are our boys posing in their costumes after a play they
performed with our homeschool group several years ago.

Let your kids pick out a fun lunchbox. Use it for picnics, field trips, and other fun outings. Take first day of school pictures wearing special first day of school clothes. You’ll love having pictures like that to look at later! Plan a special first day of school breakfast. Make a list and go shopping for school supplies. We’ve done this for years and love this special outing.

The day the UPS man brings our box of new school books for the year
has been almost more exciting than Christmas. Almost.

Field trips? Sport events? P.E. class? Choirs? Bands? Dramas? Holiday parties? That is all available, trust me. You might have to work hard to make it happen, but there’s nothing you can’t do if you feel it will benefit your child and your homeschool experience.

It’s downright exciting, really. I mean, think of it. Your kids might even be able to hold snakes.

Or not. That was one field trip memory I can’t get over. Most of my boys wouldn’t touch ’em. Justus could have been there all day with his “new friends.” {shudder}

Whatever you choose, whether homeschool, public school, or private school – I encourage you to do so filled with God’s peace. Listen to His call for you, and without a doubt, He will provide just what you need.

 I can’t tell you the blessing our homeschool basketball team has been to our entire family.
 What a need this has met! What a rich experience it is to be a part of this.

Will there be hard days? Frustrating moments? Times of feeling left out? Certainly. I think we all feel those occasionally throughout our entire lives. There’s no such thing as a “be all and end all” – in school or in life. But we grab hold of that which God puts before us today, and we walk with Him.

Living life loving each opportunity? You betcha.

Homeschoolers, public schoolers, private schoolers:  Share some of your favorite school year traditions!