Day One

Last spring we dabbled with homeschooling and came to the decision that this was for us. But how to proceed???

Over the summer we took a break. My children played, swam and had delicious summer fun. I played, swam and had the delicious summer-fun task of reading every homeschooling item I could get my hands on. I grilled the homeschoolers I knew. Borrowed texts. Read blogs. Surfed the web. And then, I shopped. I bought supplies and books and art materials and other stuff I just knew we needed.

As the boxes rolled in my 6-year-old eyed them eagerly asking: "When do we start!" Right after labor day I told her, repeatedly.

I made schedules: daily schedules, monthly schedules, year-long curriculum schedules - drafts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... As I posted these in our homeschool area my 6-year-old eyed them eagerly asking: "When do we start!" Right after labor day I told her.

Finally, I felt ready. We could begin. But it wasn't yet after labor day. And then, my first "ah-ha!" moment: We had started long ago. As the supplies had rolled in and the schedules developed and the books were read - we had already started. The rhythm of our day unfolled long before I put a schedule down on paper. The supplies have been opened and examined long before our start date. We're making felt dolls, knitting, getting into our daily rhythm of head, hearts, hands. It's all been happening.

Thus the first lesson is mine - we really are learning all the time.

BTW we did start our first subject block today: Form Drawing. It went swimmingly.