the short story of homeschool

We started out in 1989 with me making them do all this STUFF. I had schedules and lists and way too much fear and too many ideas.

I felt so weighed down by the responsibility. We started homeschooling due to dyslexia, so between that issue and my own insecurity, it was an ordeal for them and for me.

I also took on the judgements of every person who had an opinion, and they were legion. I constantly was seeking the "right" materials, worrying all the while, trying to socialize them at homeschool groups. (Are you feeling tired yet?)

Then....then I gave birth to a baby boy, a fifth child. And I couldn't do it anymore. I had this huge, demanding baby, and these big foolish boys (11 and 12), and no time and even less energy. I had to let go of the big agenda simply because I could not go on.

I also found John Holt about then and it was like stepping through a doorway into another way to be. While I nursed my baby and read John Holt, the boys spent hours reading about the weaponry of WWI and WWII, depth charges, battles at sea. (I couldn't care less about this.)

I noticed how they concentrated and studied for hours---all without me! That's when I realized I could trust them to learn, could trust their ideas better than my own, and our homeschool started to feel....well, like home, like us.

When my brother in law was planning a trip to Las Vegas, he spent whole afternoons playing Blackjack with the kids, and we counted it for math. Monopoly--count it. Tadpole kit? Sure. All at once life seemed full of fun, and academics became something we chose, not something we had to do. Twenty years later, it's still evolving and still real. love, Val