One Day At A Time

When I started blogging I was consumed by trying to figure out every detail of my son's kindergarten education. I think it hit me hard and unexpectedly that it's advent was a year away and, for all my philosophical ideas and past studies, I had no solid plan of action.

For the past couple of months pregnancy, holidays, and other pieces of life have kept me occupied and taken my immediate attention off of educational study and planning. And you know what - learning has still been happening at least as much and as well as it was before - it seems to happen so naturally when allowed. I sigh - partially a sigh of relief and partially of giving up - and realize that come Fall, I most likely will not have a perfect plan and everything will be fine. I don't even know that there is one perfect plan. In all of my formal education, including or especially, the pursuit of my MA in Education, the biggest thing I learned was that no great expert or secret exists on the topic. I don't know that I was really setting out to find the perfect plan or if that was just my way of making sure I did my very best and didn't go about homeschooling lazily. I believe I need to know my kids and really pay attention to their learning and what motivates them; know what they understand and what they don't and refuse to just go through the motions on any level; do the hard work to think things through and do my best to model reading, thinking, and love of learning; and be purposeful in how their time is spent.

I like the writings and principles of Charlotte Mason, John Tayor Gatto, Oliver De Mille, and a motley pile of bits and pieces from many others. I don't need to settle on one philosophy and stick to it 100 percent; no one is 100 percent perfect for 100 percent of children. I've picked up the first few McGuffey's Readers, not because I determined that this was the absolute best tool for the job, but because I found them at an estate sale for two or three dollars and I know they are one of the many quality tools out there. They will not be the sole way my son learns language arts but they'll help. Reading and writing materials abound in this house and he seems to be picking so much up on his own because it's there and I try to cultivate his interest in it. Oh ya . . . . plus, I don't really even think formal instruction is necessary for a few years yet. I have a Singapore math text but haven't done anything with it yet. I don't know if or what charter we'll go through to homeschool and whether or not a day at school will be included. I am feeling much more at peace about all of it. One day at a time.