Possible Route

Leaning toward an option: local school district offers two half-days of on-site classes per week paired with home study using their curriculum. When I first looked into this I think there were some small differences in how the program was worded that made me close the window without further thought. This week when I re-read the description the wording enticed me and I saw that we are personally acquainted with one of the school's key people. We can get some insight from someone we know regarding the teachers and nuances of the classes.

• The most compelling factor here is the ease of the class time. I have always said that my kid needs some structured group learning time - whether it be one or two days a week in a school setting or multiple specialty classes that I choose and take him to on my own. Charter schools with such offerings are a drive; private schools with such are a drive and a lot of money. With the second option, there's cost and to have much variety, there's a drive. The route here proposed is a five minute drive and free. 
• Is it homescholing? No. It's learning at home. It's designed by someone else, overseen by someone else, and simply carried out by me. However it is ME for the equivalent of four school days a week. It is me deciding what approach and perspective to take, where and how to cover the material, how much we sit down, the daily schedule, etc, etc, etc and maybe more, I don't have all the details yet. I was looking at declaring myself a credentialed tutor and homeschooling 100% independently, that's the opposite end of the spectrum from this route. The lack of drive time, drive money, and class money are pro's here. Other definite pro: he is not one in 20 or 30. It is me focused on him; knowing what motivates him, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and caring very much.
• It is not the ultimate idealistic picture of homeschooling I have held in my mind. It is not everything I REALLY want to do that I really think is the best, but it may be very doable and doable counts for a lot - doable through thick and thin, consistent. Also, maybe I will be able to work in an awful lot of mentors and classics and Charlotte Mason; I bet I will. I probably won't be able to work in a lot of delayed academics and we'll just see how that part goes. If my kid is ready for the academics as they come, that's one thing; if not, it may do more harm than good . . . . and . . . . we can always try another route.
• Furthermore, academic concepts need not equal hours on end in a seat with "seat work." This option will hopefully still allow a five-year-old boy plenty of time to do things that I think are crucial - key words are dirt, play, experimenting, family, sunshine, running, climbing, thinking, problem-solving, imagining . . . .
• After spending months feeling a little crazy over kindergarten plans, I have total peace with this possibility. I still have legwork to do and details to learn; decision is not yet made but I have peace and peace counts for a lot. If we choose this route for kid #1's kinder year, that doesn't mean we are locked into this route forever. There are more school-aged kids and many more years of educating them on the horizon. This may be something we try and move away from or we may love it and be settled for a long time.
  

Attention

Today we painted using fall leaves, went the park and the library, read books, and built things using a given number of legos. Except for a few books read at bedtime, all of this great stuff happened before about one in the afternoon. After which I was exhausted and by three or four I was counting the minutes until bedtime. While trying to make dinner, Luke's questions and comments on everything I was doing were non-stop. I finally said, "Stop! Just relax and be quiet for a minute! My brain is going to explode!" About 10 minutes later, with genuine concern, the poor kid asked if my brain really might explode and if it was better now. Oh man!

One other interesting thing today, I read an article, "Attention Span: Our National Education Crisis" by Oliver DeMille. (http://www.tjed.org/2011/09/attention-span-national-education-crisis/) It's a good read. It talks about the attention span of the general public during the time of Abraham Lincoln and the attention span that dominates our present society. Entertainment, computers, television, and prevailing attitudes about work and fun are all implicated. Attention and focus are definitely traits I want to be a key part in the education of my children. In my disorganized notebook of things I want to remember about education, I found scribbled notes about Socrates, Plato, and Charlotte Mason that relate to ideas in the article I read today.

Socrates said, "wisdom begins in wonder." Plato was student to Socrates and had a school in Athens. The word school comes from Ancient Greek and meant leisure. Plato's school had a garden and the purpose of the garden was to provide a tranquil place for deep thought, pondering, wondering. Real thinking is hard work and it requires time, leisure time. Dictionary.com defines leisure as "time free from the demands of work or duty." Ancient Greeks valued leisure time as purposeful time for valuable activities, such as thinking. Charlotte Mason wrote about the importance of teaching children to really see things, to observe and focus. She said this comes naturally to young children who see a new bug or something else in nature for the first time and are completely engrossed. As adults we are often too quick to rush children along because after all, the new discovery is something commonplace in our minds. We should take advantage of and nurture this intent focus and curiosity. Back to Socrates' quote, this wonder is how true learning happens. Cultivate that attention span; point out details or relationships; let children develop a habit of observation and deep thought. I hope that my children will not be afraid of hard work (mental or physical) because they experience a joy that comes with it. I hope that keen skills of observation grow out of time spent watching a butterfly or walking through a field that will one day benefit all of their studies. And I hope for more book time, less screen time, and attention spans of Lincoln's day. And none of this sounds easy to me! I read it all and love it but it is not the habits my mind has been trained in and I have a big aversion to hard work!