Written by: jensmiles3
2/22/2009 12:00 AM

To jump start my hopefully regular habit of blogging about life, homeschooling, and other such things, I begin with a list. Four months ago we began homeschooling our two children, daughter age 10 and son age 7. So here’s my list of:  Top Ten Really Cool Things So Far.

1. I have spent hours in the library with my children and with no rush or clocks to watch. I just let them wander and pick up books, and they let me wander too. It’s Heaven.
    
2. I have spent most weekdays walking with one of my children, as we walk the dogs and talk. With my daughter, it’s just talking about the sky, about something she’s read, or what a new friend wrote in an email. With my son, it’s silliness, a bit of running and a lot of one-liners: “Did you know…” These relaxed trips around the block are only 15-20 minutes, but I am truly living the old cliché about cherishing the time while your children are young.
    
3. My daughter spent two hours of extreme patience and understanding to convince her brother just to TRY something he was very anxious about – and she succeeded. The two had a great time with the new activity – together.
    
4. My son’s enjoyment of reading has finally perked its head up – like a budding seedling that’s broken through the soil and is seeking its first access to light. From Biscuit books to Box Car Children before my eyes.
    
5. With just an hour of experimentation and analysis, we discovered that simple triangle pencil grips and some re-instruction on grip-tension reduced the pain my daughter experienced while writing.
    
6. We learned that milk takes a long time to freeze and chocolate syrup never does – at least not in our freezer. And, that designing our own science experiments is a lot trickier than it seems.
    
7. My daughter has plunged head first into a new interest: Robotics. So far her bravery to get out there and try new things have been rewarded with: getting to use a real jigsaw on her own (to cut out a piece of the robot-arm model) and using a soldering iron, not to mention to working in a team of other budding robotic engineers (most of whom are 2-3 years older too).
    
8. Homeschooling is good for ME. All the theories of developing a schedule, finding a flow through the day, and creating a life that fits my unique combination of medical, emotional, and intellectual needs seem to be proving correct. Having to research, prepare and teach is re-sharpening a part of myself that I’ve missed. I am really an academic at heart: a book-toting, mathematical-puzzle loving, wanna-be library and non-profit builder who aims to change the world!! [Ah, grandiose feelings… a small perk of my life]. WHY couldn’t I fulfill these needs of mine while my children were at school for 7 hours a day and I was home alone…is a whole other blog entry that I’m not ready to write yet.
    
9. We actually did it. We researched, we fretted, we worried. I cried, I worried, and I had a few panic attacks just for kicks. But we did it – we took the leap of faith that stepping into this new world, this different way of doing things, this world of homeschooling. And whether for better or worse – as we will no doubt analyze in the future – we will always know that we tried that option and gave it all we had.
    
10. Our three pets seem to really, really like that we are homeschooling. And if you’re dogs and cat are happy – you must have done something right, right? *giggle*

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