Home is the Hero

Gus is back. He had a blast. He starts many, many sentence with "when I was in Jacksonville, Florida......" He had all these amazing experiences, he got to fly with Grandma and have her all to himself on the trip.  He saw the Spaceshuttle Discovery take off, helped "rescue" a turtle who needed help getting back to the pond, went to a movie, went to the beach (saw the Atlantic), saw Alex play soccer. Aunt Lisa got him a watch for his birthday and he loves being able to tell the time, counting by fives! The dynamic in the house without him was interesting. There was still the usual bickering and aggression... so it was actually good that that can't be pinned on him! He looks bigger and seems louder, but that is probably due to the decrease in noise without him! I am seeking balance again... I think that unschooling is probably the best way for kids to learn, especially my kids who don't seem to do well at all in traditional learning environments. When I think of how I need them to behave in school mode it makes me wonder how much "homeschooling" I am doing and how much I am just doing "school at home". I can't see myself becoming a complete "unschooler"... it takes a lot of faith in the process and a lot of trust in the child's innate ability and hunger for learning. I'm not there yet.

Working mother

Homeschooling feels like a full time job. It really does. I used to try to get all housework done before the weekend so that I was free for family time... and I still am... but today as I vacuumed I realized that it felt really strange not to have to think about what the boys were doing all the time today. I remembered that nice feeling on Friday night knowing that I didn't have to work on Gus's math plan for the following day. I also thought about the number of times this week that I have found myself explaining to Trent why something didn't get done (not that Trent requires explanation), the reason being that school comes first, food second, laundry third... After that we are lucky to get the floor vacuumed or a sink shone!! I thought that homeschooling would be an extention of my parenting and it IS BUT it is also like being a working mother! I love it though and it's been good to not feel so defined by a picked up orderly house.

Homeschooling

Our first official day of Homeschool. Everyone was pretty enthusiastic (I know that this will change.....) We started a very cool history book called The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. It is a read aloud history book for elementary ages. I love it and the boys seemed to. Again, time will tell... One of the hardest things for me will be not only doing what "I love"...