Three weeks in and we need some new spoons...

    
     In the last three weeks, we have been to the library no less than 8 times. In the last three weeks, my two oldest children built a desk out of scrapwood for their younger sister by themselves. In the last three weeks, we picked apples on our break, made a giant color wheel out of magazine scraps under the trees in our yard and learned that mother octopuses take care of their eggs exclusively for six months, and then when those eggs hatch, crawl out of their holes and die.  In the last three weeks, we have rediscovered Bill Nye the science guy, wondered what exactly happened to the Neanderthals and made molecules out of marshmallows and toothpicks. Some of us learned how to spell archaeology, and some of us didn't. One of us even got told to stop checking work with "90's math." (That someone was me.) Two of us had a writing debate in a journal, three of us learned what abstract nouns are, five of us learned a fun rap about the continents that rhymed "Antarctica" with "back to the start-ica." (Thank you, youtube.) In addition to all of these things, one of us got slightly alarmed when we separated out carbon and hydrogen from a spoonful of sugar over a flame wondering if people might think our house was becoming a center of heroine production.
     These last three weeks have been the start of a new adventure in our lives endearingly entitled "homeschooling." So far, I have to say with all honesty, we love it. Since we made the decision, way back in January, so many people have asked why we were choosing this road and I have been hard pressed to answer them succinctly. And here is why...
     Firstly, we have a fantastic public school in our town, one which I have been happy to send my children to for the last five years. Not only were my children doing well academically, but I feel we were supported as a family and whenever we had an issue, it was addressed quickly and thoroughly. We did not choose homeschooling because of opposition to any current teaching standards.  I did not feel pressure to buy my kids the latest clothes or gadgets simply because some of their friends at school had them. I did not pull them out because of a lack of prayer in public schools, opposition to the flag salute or fanatical gym teachers. (Our school has two very lovely ones. )So, why then?
     Pace, time together, a little bit more freedom in our days, and the ability to focus on the amazing world around us as a family. I am looking at this year as a gift, one that we are giving to ourselves to see what we can achieve together. I do not know, yet, what will happen next year or how we will feel at the end of a full year of homeschooling, but I do know this. I will never regret trying something new, stepping back for a while and taking this time as a family. And maybe that, too, is one of the things our children will learn and come to value this year.