September Fears

There are 5 days until all of the local children head back to school. Raccoon is going to miss his favorite playmates as they will only be free on Saturdays. He's seen them a lot this summer since they live right up the road from us. Catching spiders, looking for frogs, and playing with their puppies has kept him busy for the last few weeks.

When I thought of the long days ahead that he'll have with just me and Kitty for company, I began to have homeschooling doubts. At this point, our schooling only takes about two hours a day, leaving him with a lot of free time. Being an extrovert, he wants to spend that time with other people, especially kids.

How am I going to keep him busy, in a good way? I feel like he does need a class or something once a week to make some friends, but that means commuting 30 minutes at least to our nearby town. I don't know of any other homeschoolers in my valley, nor how to meet them if they do exist. The closest homeschoolers I know of are 90 minutes away, three hours roundtrip. Raccoon's various cousins are my next best choice, but they live over an hour away and will also be busy with school and homework.

I guess I'll see how things work out and find solutions as the problems arise. Perhaps his friends will not have as much homework as their mom expects; they'll be in first and second grade. What do people with small families who homeschool in remote locations do for socialization?