What I Want

I want to send my kids to a school-type setting 1 or 2 short days a week. I want them to get the playground time with other kids and then maybe an art class and some other enrichment type activity. I want to do the core subjects on my own. This plan saves me from being with them 24/7. It gives them a taste of the good parts of school so they don't feel like they are missing out on something. Luke does feel this a little bit right now and that makes me sad. However, I feel a little bit better when I watch him play "school" with the rabbit. Floppy gets to hop freely around the house sometimes. He grabs her, sticks her in the little carrier cage, slams the door, and then laughs; lets her out, only to catch her again and repeat the same. I said, "I don't think Floppy likes that game" and he said, "Oh, we're just playing school."

Luke goes to a gymnastics class and Sunday school and by next year I'm looking to add another class or two to his life. I want him to have fun, learn from other adults, and work with other kids but I also think the core learning will happen best at home, as well at the tide pools, museums, library, grocery store, etc. I think if a school I was really excited about existed near our home I would consider it and I think it is possible I'll still decide on a school at some point in the future and drive for it.

I have started a list of my homeschooling pros and cons. I started blog-stormiong lots of topics I want to write about- mostly things that will make me re-examine, re-study, and remember the people and philosophies that got me so excited about homeschooling to begin with, details of which I can no longer pull together and articulate like I once could. My little starting point list of pros and cons is not ready to post and I think the reason is, I'm afraid of offending some random reader (not that I think my one-week-old blog has a big following or anything). None the less, there will probably be some sort a disclaimer post preceding my list post.