...with a little help from a friend. My new homeschooling friend called today, as though she were telepathic, and assured me that the week the public schools start back is always challenging for homeschoolers. She suggested lying low and keeping school-friend contact to a minimum. Apparently, even committed homeschooling moms and kids can get swept up in the excitement of going back to school. It's certainly been the truth over here (at least for me).
We managed again to get all our basic academics (literacy and mathematics) done in the morning which left only French and Science for the afternoon. It made for a relaxed afternoon and we lingered longer than usual with our French, and I made the executive decision to delay Science until tomorrow. Thursday afternoons are for Music and Art, and a Science class (especially the magnet experiment I have planned for tomorrow) will be a welcome addition to the lineup.
Lest I leave the impression that our day was perfect, let me admit the following: in order to motivate Thing 1 through her history lesson, I had to threaten to send her to public school. That was a trump card I was hoping to hold in my pocket until somewhere around December. Ah, well. Whichever way you turn in life there are challenges. I might as well embrace the ones I have at the moment instead of doing my usual "where can I run?" dance.
And it's not all challenges. The kids are happy, so happy. The relaxed pace that homeschooling affords us has given them the chance to relax and just be. They seem to be fighting less and playing more and when they do get into a game or a project, there is time and space for depth. That's priceless and worth all the struggles.
I'll leave you with a Zen quote that both eludes and inspires me at the same time:
Before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water.
Ah, the power of the mind! Now to harness it (and keep it harnessed).
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