I was thinking (!) about a conversation I had with a nice lady at a garage sale a bit ago… about educating our children. She was telling me about problems and “situations” at our local schools. I was once again very glad that I homeschool my son.
It took me awhile to get materials figured out and I spent too much money over the years on products I didn’t need. Moving, divorce, renting different homes and, finally, helping to build our own home this past year, interfered with Alex getting the education I had planned. Hmmmm… or did it?
I seem to recall, long ago, writing goals for my son’s education. Things like “joy”, “freedom to have time to be a kid”, “freedom from other kids teasing him while he might struggle with math or reading or ?”, “freedom to explore the world without being limited by the school’s schedule”, and so on. My self consciousness about the fact that Alex did not master long division, fractions or decimals before now dims when I look at what he HAS learned…… he opens doors for people, he knows how much fiber should be in a breakfast cereal before I consider it “real vs candy”, he checks labels for MSG and hydrogenated fats (heck he has been doing that for years), and he saw, first hand, what goes into building a house. And he tries really hard to be a good kid.
Alex sleeping on Mauna Kea
Now that our lives are calmer, schedules are more fixed and life has gotten easier, he is zooming through his studies. He’s tackling those fractions, decimals and more with ease. Add to that the opportunities we have to go on “field trips” and we are having a blast. Heck, just this past week we spent the night on Mauna Kea with other crazies normal people watching the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower at the Onizuka Visitor Center.
Two days ago we took in not one but two different planetarium shows at Imiloa Astronomy Center (and we saw Iron Man at the $1 theatre between those!). At last night’s Scout meeting he got a lesson in ceramics and made several creations which are drying and then will be fired.
He can handle hanging at the local Boys and Girls Club, and plays Runescape online. He rides a Rip Stick and his bike and is learning to snorkle. He is discovering he can hike longer distances and doesn’t whine about it anymore. He thinks about subjects like, Gandhi, religion, cats, bikers, rude people and more. I can trust him to go to sleep when we agreed, even if I already hit the pillow an hour (or more!) earlier. Yes, I am very proud of him. And I guess homeschooling DID work for us.
We started a Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop in our neighborhood and we meet weekly. Oh my goodness the adventures we have enjoyed already. And the best is yet to come.
I really should stop now and turn up the surround sound and clean my house. I promised myself….
Thanks for visiting!
Kristin
