Take Two-Change Scenery

I wrote the following post below in 2008 to share with friends and family our decision to Homeschool. After a year and a half, we did send the kids back to public school. Now that we are settled in Hawaii, and after much thought, discussion, and prayer, we are returning to a lifestyle we all love next week. I thought I would share this old post because not much has changed in how I feel about homeschooling. 

I can't wait to see what it looks like to homeschool here in paradise.

For over two years we shared K's journey through Leukemia. We wrote from our hearts, instructing you about his condition, imploring you for your prayers, and occasionally inspiring you to help us fight the bigger battle of childhood cancer. And then, one day we stopped. We stopped writing because K's treatment ended. School started. Life, in its wonderful and wacky way took over! Although our family has charged onward with the usual colds and playdates, medical school tests and indoor tent fests there has still been left for us (especially for me!) a gaping hole where once we wrote things down as they happened. Sometimes, it was in the very writing of these things that they became more real for us. More poignant. Less paralyzing.

So, as we have found ourselves on a new kind of journey it seems time to start bringing it to reality on the page. This time it is a journey that is a choice, a new way of life we have decided to embrace. It is, however, not an entirely new experience to me.

Two months ago K stopped going to school. We filed paperwork. We joined groups. We stayed up late excited and nervous. We read. We read. We read. Then, one morning, we started calling ourselves "homeschoolers". And, strangely enough, the world didn't end. :) In fact, it was very much the same: long days stretching into nights with 3 young children hungry for endless activities and snacks. But, there was one major difference: we were taking charge of our little family's educational journey. Instead of dreading rotations away from home, we decided to embrace them. Changing schools every 3 years is no longer something that will keep us awake at night (Mike did this is a child and, like so many military children, did just fine). Now, we aren't preparing ourselves for how to deal with life's changes constantly thrust upon us, we are deciding instead to follow our own path, our children's own paths, of learning, discovering, philosophizing and postulating amid the sometimes unpredictable life we live--both because of profession and health.

Our days have been full. K is learning to read. M is right behind him. We practice letters and numbers at the table in our "learning room" (or on the bedroom floor, or the dining room table or the backseat of the car). The rhythm of our days have slowed down and look something like this:
We all wake up sometime between 7:30 and 8:30. We eat breakfast together (oatmeal with craisins and maple syrup, or eggless banana-raisin-cinnamon french toast and strawberries). We can take our time with breakfast because there is no rush! Then we either head outdoors (last week we spent time watching the osprey's and studying the pond for 3 mornings in a row) or we head to the couch and read as many books as L, the dog and mommy's voice box will allow (about 4 story books seems to be average). This usually leads into some creative endeavor by the kids (they've "published" their own books illustrated by them and narrated to me, made puppets and robots--among other things, acted out stories with our puppets--our favorite being a rousing rendition of Snip Snap What's That). We have lunch together and then quiet time all by ourselves. After about 45 minutes quiet time continues in the living room where we all work quietly on something (drawing or reading). Then I usually read aloud from our current chapter book (We've read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Henry Huggins--with daddy, and now we are working on The Secret Garden--a nice springtime story that has been sidetracked by K's interest in exactly what the bacteria Cholera *looks* like). The afternoon is for playing outside or meeting up with friends--which we are really fortunate to have many of, including homeschooling families in the area!

I really will never be able to do justice here to what K, M and L come up with all on their own. We have lively discussions about matters I thought were well beyond their years. We also giggle raucously over toots and dog poop. Still, even if I can't paint a 4 dimensional picture for you, I hope you'll let me share what I can. Sharing this new journey means as much to me as sharing the first. Writing down our little life experiences makes them more real. More poignant. And, makes permanent memories to carry with us wherever life (and the military) leads us.