Home edding a highly spirited boy

[princesspoet]

So we have been wanting to home educate E since he was in utero, his peers are going to be applying for school come 6th October with a deadline of December. To start sept 2015. As that time draws near, I find myself second guessing if I can do this.

I know it is the right thing for him as no schools suit my idea of what I want for him. Dh & I have always said we'd home ed until at least age 7, after that if situations change which mean we have to give up our ideals then so be it.

Can an INFJ who is managing depression/anxiety successfully home edd a highly spirited child and manage a baby whose temperament we don't know yet?

Tips, insights & encouragement gratefully received.

[MudPies]

I am an INFJ and jumping in to homeschooling this year. My kids are spirited. Not sure yet if I will succeed though

[Earthmummy07]

I'm an INFP, managing depression and home edding our high spirited 7yo. without the baby

I like to think I'm being successful the early years are pretty low commitment anyway. Some books, some crayons and regular park trips about sum it up

ETA: I can go into more detail if you want to know what we did in the beginning with DS. Resources etc. I still have most of them

[princesspoet]

Yes please any experience is welcomed! I am excited yet anxious about it. We have joined our local group since he was 8 months but haven't done things in a year or so hoping once I pass my driving test I can jump in again!

I have been looking at pamm's house as a guideline curriculum. I like the themes.

[sweetpeas]

I'm an INTJ with 3 (all very differently) spirited children. Homeschooling works WONDERFULLY for us, but I had to consciously make the decision to do things the way that works best for my children, and now how *I* want to do it (which would be very structured, all 12 years planned out from day 1, lots of boxes to check off). We're eclectic/unschoolish/delight-directed.

I believe in "better late than early" (not pushing academics before age 7 or 8) but all 3 of my kids have wanted to "do school" around age 3 (so we do lots of art and nature and stories at that age) and then are asking for more academic work around age 5 (it's been amazing, I thought Lina would be different but soon after her 5th birthday, a switch flipped and she's all about learning EVERYTHING.

[princesspoet]

Did you ever get the "can I do this?" Wobbles?

[BlissfullyEsther]

Originally Posted by princesspoet

Did you ever get the "can I do this?" Wobbles?

If you don't get them on a regular basis you're doing it wrong.

My eldest is about to turn 8 and I've just had a major freakout. Fortunately my GP talked me down and it's all back to unschooling as usual.

PS: INFJ here with depression, intermittent anxiety, and ASD-parenting-related burnout. Woo. But it's still better than school for my little family.

[princesspoet]

thank you for that boost!
Started reading all the books I bought years ago about homeschooling.

[joyinthejourney]

I am inf something (j?), history of anxiety/depression, one spirited boy + one spunky girl. I've had success homeschooling. Loved pamm's house in the early days. I didn't try to follow it exactly. Most days, I followed his lead, reading books, building with blocks, play dates, park. But when I felt like we needed something more, I liked that I could pick the week we were in (or any week I liked) and do some of the activities. We use My Father's World now and enjoyed K & 1st, now using 2nd. I just have to tweak things to suite his personality. I loved the book Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Kurcinka. Being around like-minded mothers in person also helps tremendously. Always good for a "yes, I'm normal" boost.

---------- Post added at 04:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 AM ----------

As an IN-anything, get yourself some alone time daily. That's how you recharge.

[princesspoet]

Thank you! I was halfway through that book and it did really help!