The Real Reality Dawns

Here we are.. A week and a bit into the first term of our first year of homeschooling Jethro.

 Our other three songs ( although they are our songs, all four of them, I meant to write-SONS) are settling in at their two schools and so are we.. 

It is indeed "a settling period".

 A coming to grips time. 

A finding out feet space.

I won't lie.. I wake in the wee early hours of most mornings and think to myself " What the heck have we done?" ............and then I remind myself of these two things a friend's husband asked me.

Is Jet happy?
Are YOU learning?

Along with all the other good tips people have given me these two things were compelling and I can answer without missing a beat.. 

Yes!

I am totally aware that many "Purest" homeschoolers would be horrified at us having some of our children in school and one at home. They might even think we are not true homeschoolers BUT I know that we are so encouraged and enriched by the broader educational community, despite its faults. It has enormous strengths  despite our own individual experiences and I count myself fortunate to straddle these two worlds. It would be great to see more of a sharing and integrating of the two sides of the same coin. There is much to be shared!

This week we had the usual orientation meeting at our primary school.. This year it was a meeting with a new, fresh start. You see, as things shift in life education is forced to shift too. Gratefully but a little late for us, this school is shifting in a good way.

 Collaboration and team work learning is going to be emphasised, rather than individual's competing against one another. Etc.

The introduction of Kagan. Took me on a search and I stumbled upon another world of growth mindset education.. This was an exciting and helpful discovery for us. I feel as if I want to go study again. There is so much new info on education and brain development and it is exciting.

So, back to Jet.......and me.

We are having fun and we are experimenting.. I am adding, chucking and using so much good stuff from Footprints to LLATL.. Through to Cambridge and yes CAPS( which despite the much shared negative thoughts around it, it has many helpful learning tools and great activities)

 We are both experimenting, exploring, trying and discovering and we have not yet found our rhythm.  He is learning something about himself and so am I.

The best thing so far is such a simple thing. We can go and stop doing something when we feel Jet needs a brain rest or when he has got it. The flip side of that is we can pick it up again in the car or while watching CNN Student News  because that is how we rock with home-schooling.