Here we go!

We love our neighborhood school. We love the families, the kids have great friends, we have been happy with the teachers. But this past year, I started to entertain the idea of homeschooling...again. I talked to most of the people I know who homeschool, and then spent the summer studying up on the different approaches, curriculum options, etc. There are stacks of books all over the house, dozens of homeschool websites up on my computer, and online shopping carts with orders waiting to be placed. I have learned so much. So much that even if in the end we didn't homeschool, I would still incorporate much of what I learned into our life.

This week the kids received their teacher assignments, and the phone was ringing off the hook with friends checking who was in whose class. I started to feel a bit panicky. I felt a little bit of that excited adrenalin that comes with back to school. I started to watch the girls closer. I tried to listen to Sela as she spoke with her friends on the phone. I checked in with them over and over and over again to make sure this is what they wanted. They never wavered. Especially Nina. She is so excited. And she is my little social butterfly.

The decision came down to a few things. I desperately want freedom from the constraints of the school calendar. Winter is long in the Northwest, and I want to be able to get away. We want to spend more time in Kauai and I want my kids to see their cousins in Texas for more than just a week or two. I want to take field trips locally on a whim. I don't want homework to fill our evenings. And I am extremely excited about the academics, and the opportunities for hands-on learning. Oh my gosh, we are going to have so much fun learning together. I can hardly wait!! And this may be selfish, but I want to really "be" with my kids this year. The years are flying by and even if it's just for a year, I want to make it count. I know what's ahead when the kids are a couple years older, how busy it gets. I have many friends there already. So I'm stealing my kids back this year, and it's going to be great!

Nina wrote me three cards today telling me how much she loves me and how she is so thankful I am homeschooling her this year. On a day when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and even melancholy about not seeing all my friends as much this year, I felt such a reassurance that this is worth it. I sat on the bed with the girls talking and laughing for over an hour this evening. We made plans. We laughed like crazy. We talked about getting our back to (home) school pedicures tomorrow. I told Sela that Rollin, who will be going to Kindergarten at Hollywood Hill, requested pancakes from "Sela's Diner" for his special first day meal. And then I tucked the girls in. Our official start date for homeschool is September 6th.

Stay tuned!