Another Thousand Miles, Another First Step

Homeschooling is off to slow start this September. I usually start the last week of August so that I can ease us into a routine, but the children were sick the last week of August. (It's my fault. I let them socialize.) Then I got sick for the first week of September. Most of you know that that was also when both my computer and my car broke down. Marina, not wanting to "fall behind" in her studies, started working on some of her subjects independently, while Chase and Sierra spent most of the week building Lego creations, drawing, and making creatures on Spore.

My car came back last week, just in time for all of their activities to start. After a week of driving to Tae Kwon Do, ballet, nature center, and religious education, I'm left wondering if I'm ever going to get back into a routine. This is usually the scenario for mid-February, not mid-September.

But I also see some effort. Chase is up later than usual, but he has his breakfast and reads science or history with Sierra and does his work. Sierra is progressing with reading and is teaching herself addition and subtraction (take-aways and pluses). I don't think anything could stop Marina from learning.

And so I feel the tug toward unschooling again. I still can't put away the subject lists, but I feel the reins slipping. The usual fears--NY regulations, testing--keep me from letting go completely. However far I travel in my life journey, I still feel like I am taking the first step.