Going to do it!

[dancestomyowntune]

Some of you may remember I considered taking my oldest child out of school a few years back, when she was in year 5 I think.

Well, finally, I have managed to get dh to agree and she is coming out of school at the end of this school year! However, she is now 13 and I want her to still study, to gain qualifications and have more time for her dance training.

Any suggestions for how to get the right balance of iGCSEs and discipline instilled so that she can study without me having to nag all the time? I'm so excited! If it works I may take the 6year old out too!

Congratulations!!! Hope you all enjoy it.

No advice from me on instilling discipline. I think it works best when it comes from within, so I tend to let the kids' own motivation determine what they do. I know a number of other parents who have used this approach and although not all of our kids have chosen to sit a whole host of IGCSEs at 16, none of them have emerged into young adulthood without jobs or qualifications. Sometimes they don't go in the direction you expect, but they have direction. It's common for them to appear to be doing very little, and then suddenly emerge from their chrysalis full of determination.

If that feels like a leap of faith you aren't prepared to make, would you at least be willing to let your daughter have a few months off enforced academic work to concentrate on dance and start to discover her motivation? A break will make it easier to get her on side. There's no hurry: there's no danger of her falling behind the class when she IS the class!