The Last Week Of Summer....

Seriously???  It never ceases to not take me by surprise.  No, it doesn't sneak up on me; I'm totally aware of it's arrival, I just always find it bittersweet.  I'm a homeschool mom for pete sake!  What is the deal?  My youngest has been asking to start back to school lessons for three weeks already and I've been telling her NO WAY... Sorry Chickadee, but the first day of school is already in my planner for September 6th...IN PEN.  There's no changing that, I mean, did I mention that it's in pen???

Yes, our new school supplies are ready to go, all organized and oh so tempting.  The basket of crayons and markers are just calling out to all of us.  Screaming at us to settle in and enjoy some creative journaling.  Fresh sketchbooks tucked in there as well, just peeking out and calling to the girls.  New glue sticks that aren't all sticky on the outside and dried up on the inside, watercolors, pastels, chalks, markers with the lids actually on, colored pencils with perfectly sharpened points.  And crayons!!!!!  Lots and Lots of crayons.  Whole and sharp and still with the wrappers (as opposed to broken and naked;)  A box of 96, a couple of 24 count boxes, a box of the JUMBO, even a box of scented.  I mean, you just never know what kind of crayon you may need, right?  Then there's the folders, the three ring binders, the spiral notebooks, the pens, the pencils, the scissors, the calculators, the rulers, reading books, math books, spelling books, handwriting books, health books, science books, history books, english books....I can go on and on and on.  It's a lot of stuff to start a new year.  And, it's all so pretty the last week of summer.  Full of promise and excitement.  But it's still A LOT OF STUFF.  And.... that's just the girls stuff.  Don't forget that I, as their teacher, have all the teacher guides to go along with all their books.  And, also being a female, I love pretty new supplies, so I too have a cute three ring binder to hold test guides, spelling lists, my planner, and everything else I need to keep my days stitched together.  Right now I'm looking at the work table in my studio, which also doubles as our school table, and I'm staring at stacks of books and papers, and notebooks, and piles of pencils and pens, and misc supplies, yet my eyes automatically go to our colorful art supply basket... and my spirit instantly calms.

This is our 14th year as a homeschool family and what school looks like now versus what it looked like when we began is vastly different.  Homeschooling is a journey as well as a lifestyle.  Do not let anyone ever let you believe it's just an academic choice.  When we first began I was still working 50 hours a week in our home doing licensed daycare and we only had 2 daughters.  Even though I knew WHY we had chosen to homeschool, it still took me a few years to not feel I needed to replicate a traditional school system's school day, and frankly I tended to just complicate things for all of us.  The early years were spent making sure that our oldest daughter was getting her school work done....which meant that she spent several hours each day at her desk doing traditional lessons, which made no sense since that was not her learning style and made us all miserable.  Tessie Bugg, if you're reading this, I'm apologizing yet again ;)  Fast forward to now.... our lessons are much more hands on and much less worksheet.  "Living Lessons" I like to call it, others call it "unschooling", no matter what you call it, it comes down to learning in a natural way, a way that supports and encourages our children to grow rather than to only meet a status quo.  I don't teach our girls how to take tests, rather, I teach our girls how to learn.  By teaching them how to learn, they will spend their entire lives growing and learning and never become stagnant and bored.  They dig into anything that interests them and they know no limits.  Historical facts aren't dry facts only memorized for a test; they are personal tidbits of information about real people, places, and events that the girls are given the opportunity to dive into and learn about.  For example, this past spring we had the opportunity to visit Monticello; suddenly Thomas Jefferson became very real to them as they walked the very floors he walked and stood by the bed he died in.  Learning about the lives of slaves was no longer a series of stories in their history lessons.... it became very alive to them as they walked along the road the Jefferson slaves lived and worked, spent time in their homes, shops,  and gardens, understood the difference of their lives "down there" versus up in the main house, and even as we visited the slave cemetery.   These are things that a traditional education, well what we've come to think of as a traditional education anyway, can never give them.

I get questions all the time when people find out we homeschool.  First off, let me say that every state has their own set of laws governing home education.  We are very fortunate that Nebraska strongly supports homeschooling, and I pray that doesn't change.  They allow families the freedom to school in the way that works best for them.  My girls are NOT morning kids (neither am I, for that matter), so you will never find us doing lessons at 8:00 am.  I shoot for 10:30 am, but that's a goal and I enjoy the freedom to adjust our day as needed, if that means we school later in the day, so be it:).  With the health issues our family has, it's a blessing to be able to have this flexibility!  Not all our lessons are book based, so just because my girls aren't sitting at a desk filling out worksheets, that doesn't mean we aren't schooling.  I'm not a firm believer in written tests being the end all be all....for instance, two of my girls typically do well with them but two do better if I test orally.  It's more important to me that they show they've mastered the lessons than forcing them to do things one way. If something just isn't clicking and it's clearly causing emotional issues (i.e. meltdowns), we take a step back.  We are not on some preconceived timetable that we have to meet.  My girls emotional health is more important than getting through a math unit "on time".  In my experience, by taking a step back and letting them advance at their own natural pace, they actually excel (with fewer migraines all the way around).  Grade levels are put in place for the ease of a school system not the benefit of kids and therefore I don't pay attention to them.  My kids are on grade level in some subjects and may be ahead or behind in others.... what's important is that they are actually learning, not how fast they are ingesting facts for a test.  On that note.... while certain relatives may freak out because my girls don't like to read out loud in front of people (keep in mind that two of my girls have dyslexia and still know how to read, and another is actually a very good reader but is not a brave reader) or recite their multiplication tables for the entertainment and amazement of all to behold (insert sarcasm) it does not mean they are stupid or unsocialized, it just means they are not trained monkeys;).  How do I know when the girls are ready to graduate?  When they finish their course of study, just like in any other school; only in our homeschool they have they option to set their own pace.  Tess chose to finish up early, whereas Sarah seems to be choosing to finish in a more traditional time frame, so far.  Oh, and here's a biggie.... COLLEGE IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION.  The fact is, Craig and I are raising our girls for the Kingdom of God, not some university system.  If they choose to go to college, that's fine...but guess what?  It's also totally fine with us if they choose not to go to college as well.  There are so many other options available and frankly, college isn't the right choice for everyone as it's been made out to be in the past couple of decades.

While I'm on it, (and this post has already taken a turn down some rabbit trail that I hadn't intended)....homeschooling allows kids to actually be kids (now, there's a novel concept).  Seriously, think about that for a minute; let it soak in.  Our school systems reflect what is going on in society, both good and bad, and we know that our kids are hitting puberty at a much early age than ever before. Why is that?  I'm sure the answers are vast; I can come up with dozens myself.... and they all lead me back to a core difference between homeschooling and what we've come to think of as the traditional school system.... homeschooling allows kids to learn and grow at their own natural pace, whereas school systems are set up to handle the masses and do not leave much room for individual growth and natural pacing.  I'm not suggesting that everyone rip their children out of their local school system, quit their jobs, and homeschool... I'm just pointing out the obvious core difference between the two.  Homeschool kids (and their families for that matter) are as vastly different and unique as there are stars in the sky, but one broad stroke of the brush I can make is that they are "different", which is exactly what we want them to be.  Different doesn't have to mean odd.  They deal with the same things every kid deals with.  They aren't sheltered from the hurt of bullies, the disappointment of not making the cut, being on the bad end of gossip, they still have to make decisions concerning "sex, drugs, and rock & roll".... and guess what? They aren't perfect; they mess up and make mistakes, sometimes even life changing mistakes at times.  But, they still have something their traditional school counterparts don't have and that is the freedom to have a childhood that is almost forgotten today.  Our days aren't spent inside with outside time being a 15 minute recess.  We aren't constrained to a desk.  We can take our learning anywhere we want.  If it's a nice fall day, we might pack up our books and head to the lake.  It's not uncommon to find the girls on the deck or up in the clubhouse doing their lessons.  And yes, we travel quite often, so they just pack up their backpacks and are use to schooling on the road.  They are much less stressed then their friends who attend traditional schools.  Think about it though.... we don't have homework; when their work is finished, they're done for the day.  Their friends are at school 7-8 hours a day, come home with a couple hours homework, plus sports.  They barely have time for dinner and a shower before bed.  Whereas in our home, evenings are relaxed and usually entail a bedtime snack after a long hot shower.  Yes, it's good to be a kid in our house :)

So, off this rabbit trail and back onto the original intent of this post.... the last week of summer.  It's fleeting and bittersweet.  I'm thrilled to see the heat and humidity of a Nebraska summer drift off into the prairie sunset as the crisp autumn air starts to usher in the season of spiced pumpkin everything :)
COZY!  Fire in the fireplace to warm the house.  The smell of bread and soup filling the air.  Chilly evenings laughing around the fire pit in the backyard.  Quilting!!!!  Flannel shirts, sweaters, jeans, and boots.  Seeing your breath in the morning air.  But also realizing that it's the 14th year of your homeschool journey which means your kids are growing up... one is already out on her own with another soon to follow, and the youngest two are at the threshold of the teen years.  You look around and wonder where it all went, then your eyes fall on that basket of pretty new art supplies ready for the new year, and you spend the last week of summer mulling over how vastly different your homeschool journey is now from where it was when you began.  14 years ago Tess sat at a desk, all proper and cute.....now, we school wherever we feel like it, sometimes hanging upside down from a favorite overstuffed chair, to read a favorite story if the mood strikes.... or maybe Dad will say, "pack your bags, we're hitting the road, I have a surprise" and we'll end up in Walnut Grove, MN again, jumping off of Laura's big rock into Plum Creek, just after we stood in the dug out, on the Banks of Plum Creek :)  You just never know where this crazy homeschool journey is going to take us ;)