Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/406243
hvparent.com n Hudson Valley Parent 17 is a homeschool group for that inter- est somewhere in the Hudson Valley. "My son socializes all the time," says Holly Tarson, a homeschool mom from Red Hook. "Sometimes it's with one or two friends and some- times it's in groups. He's active with people other than me every day. And he's learning to be social with all kinds of people of all different ages, which is what socializing looks like when we grow up." Myth 2: I am not qualified to teach my child I hear this a lot and guess what? Yes, you are! Why is it that we feel qualified to raise an infant, take care of his every need, teach that child to walk, talk and learn all about the world, but once that child reaches school age we feel incompetent? I think it's because school is what we know. So fear of homeschooling is just fear of the unknown. And that's OK. Want to know a secret about homeschool parents? We're not all super geniuses or people with teach- ing degrees. Many of us are regular moms and dads like you. When we get to a topic that we do not know much about, we learn it right along- side our children. "Essentially we use each day as a learning experience," says Arlene Figueroa, a homeschooling mom of three from Mahopac. "We connect our world through conversations and 1$785(%$6(' &+,/'&(17(5(' &211(&7('/($51,1* &20081,7< )RU.LGV$JHV² )8//$1'3$577,0(237,216 +20(6&+22/5(6285&(&(17(5 9 Vance Road • Rock Tavern, NY • Ph: 845.361.2267 WatershedLearningCenter.org WKH BIRCH SCHOOL (Continued on Page 18) A local homeschooling group participates in an organized Easter egg hunt at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES Consider a career with us! for Fun, Friends & Challenging Work :HDUHORRNLQJIRUD LQVLGHVDOHVUHSUHVHQWDWLYH ZKRLVNQRZOHGJHDEOH LQGHSHQGHQWO\PRWLYDWHGDQG ZDQWVWRPDNHDSRVLWLYH LPSDFWRQKHUFRPPXQLW\ 3OHDVHHPDLOUHVXPpWR7HUULH*ROGVWHLQDW sales@excitingread.com Hudson Valley Parent 174 South St., Newburgh, 845-562-3606 &KLOGFDUHEHQHÀWVPD\EHDYDLODEOH