Today is a big day for us. A life changer. It's the first day of school in our district. And our children are not there. I am scared to death and more excited than I've ever been. We feel like we just stepped off of a cliff. But instead of falling, we are flying. We are beginning a new journey.
As I look at all my friend's posts about their children's first day back to school, some are happy, some are sad. The photos are mostly cute, sometimes funny, and just a few are heartbreaking. I "like" them all, and remember fondly the times I sent my children off to school when they enjoyed it. It was a good day. And I sincerely hope it is a good day for all those sweet kiddos.
I knew my kids had no clue what day it was. I wanted to thrill the two older ones by sharing it with them. But I was afraid my 8 year old would be very sad. She loved school, her friends, and the whole shebang. Imagine my surprise when I told her. The older two, expectedly yelped with glee that they were still in pj's while their friends were in 3rd period inside of brick walls. But Rebekah, the 8 year old, literally jumped off of her chair and began dancing around in circles.
I saw it for the first time. They are free.
I guess that's where the "scared to death" part comes in. It's all in our hands now. If they stumble, I cannot blame a program, a teacher, a system. I know that we have chosen an amazing path. I also know it requires a tremendous amount of dedication and organization on my part. I don't know why that scares me. I've been a dedicated parent for over 25 years. I've been homeschooling/unschooling all those thousands of hours when they were not inside the brick walls. But this is so different. And we know it. This is new territory. We are stepping off of the trodden path, and choosing to go a different way. We feel crazy. We feel rebellious. And amazingly, we feel content.... more content than ever before. We have closed the door on that brick building and have opened the window to the sea.
Sometimes I wish they didn't call it "homeschool". That's why everyone worries about socialization, etc. People get this image of children huddled in a house, never going out into the world. But it's just the opposite! Traditional school is the mandatory enclosed shelter where children are cordoned off and told what to learn, when, how, etc. Have you seen a classroom of children when the first snow begins to fall? They all flock to the window to get a glimpse of the magic outside their brick box. "Homeschool" is more like a nest. It's a safe haven, not for keeping in, but for sending out. Our life has just opened up beyond any adventure we've ever undertaken. We are not bound by calendars, clocks, schedules, semesters, periods, or common cores. We are free to learn every minute, discover every path, dance while we count, pick flowers while we spell, climb trees to read, draw pictures in beach sand. We can visit the graves of Mayflower Pilgrims, hike along the same trails walked by Native Americans, investigate every inch of the oldest existing whaling ship on the sea, visit the home where Herman Millville lived and gaze out at the mountain that inspired the great white whale, hike a chasm formed at the end of the last ice age, enjoy the largest collection of fresco paintings in North America, visit the mills that led an industrial revolution, visit farms, orchards, monasteries, battlefields, forts, nature preserves, animal sanctuaries, marine biology centers, world class museums and aquariums, hospitals, nursing homes, mansions, natural bridges, rock cliffs, planetariums, tide pools.... and the list goes on and on. And all those are within a 3 hour drive of our "home" school. They ARE our "home" school.
Our home is the nest where we return for safe harbor and rest. But it is also the strong foundation and deep roots from where we encourage our children to spread their wings and fly towards their dreams, interests, and goals. Our intention has never been, and never will be, to keep them home. It is to open the door to life for them to partake of the journey.
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