We have so many kind and caring friends and family. But my kids haven't been the only ones a little tongue tied recently at the frequently asked question, "So how's IT going?"
IT is the codeword for home schooling. This strikes me as funny now, but flash back a year and I probably would have asked the question with the same hesitancy.
The question also comes to my children in the form of "do you like home schooling" or "what do you do? or to me in the form of "yes, but how are you doing?". I humbly admit before I actually attempted a home schooling life, I felt this same curiosity at how something that seemed so stressful from the surface could possibly be anything other than my preconceived notions.
Well, wonder no more! I used this approaching 4 month mark in our new lives as a teaching moment, as the saying goes. I posed the questions to my children. We then discussed the fact that HOW often really means WHAT. No one's really asking HOW we are home schooling (though some are and I still ask my new experienced homeschooling friends that). Friends and family are really asking WHAT have you been up to? WHAT have you done? WHAT do you like? WHAT do you dislike?
I also made it very clear that the inquiries were NOT asking them to choose right this moment in time public school over homeschool or vise versa. They, my children, do not need to feel the political pressure to rank these lives (and I'm trying not to either).
But, what I do want my kids to be able to do is answer the questions when asked at a playdate, over the Skype phone with grandparents, or in an email to an uncle. I want them to be able to communicate the events of their recent past, a few feelings or opinions about those events, and, someday soon, to spontaneously mention a new bit of information learned, concept grasped, or resulting inspirations.
So to that end - and to finally eliminate the "when do we get to start our blogs?" pestering - we started blogs. The kids were tasked with answering THE question in their first blog entries. I have had a blog in one form or another for umpteen years, so now that I've set them up I need to put a fresh coat on mine and also answer THE question. We make no promises that our answers to THE question (which, please, keep asking - it makes us feel important, interesting even) won't change and frequently. So check back often, leave comments (especially for the kids; they love them) and share what YOU'VE been up to too!