Yay!!!! The first day of school! :-)
I spent yesterday finishing up the last minute details on schedules, filing photocopies of assignment pages, organizing stacks of books, and trying to remember where I put the notebook paper. Pencils? Yes, I bought a box of pencils 2 weeks ago, and no, I have no idea where they are. I'm sure they'll turn up by 8:15. I hope.
Hard to believe, but today begins our 5th school year of homeschooling. Something I never really thought about last night, was the differences, and similarities, of the reactions of the kids, and parents, on this "last night of summer vacation" before the first day of school.
When I was a kid, this last night was filled with anticipation of the first day of school for very different reasons. The new teacher, the new class, seeing friends I hadn't seen all summer (and the dread of seeing those kids that made childhood miserable - you know who they were!). I don't ever recall looking forward to the first day of school for any other reasons - certainly not academic reasons.
Homeschooled kids are different. For those that do take the summer off, the first day back to the books is equally anticipated but for much different reasons. These kids are excited about the new work books, upcoming field trips, learning new things!! It's not that they are robbed of the social aspect of things - they have this - but for many of them they look forward to this several times a week, all year long (not just one day of the year). Church, sports teams, dance class, music class, 4-H, homeschooling support group get-togethers, family field trips - and for the older kids, part time jobs and community volunteer programs. Indeed, the "lack of socialization" issue is truly a
non-issue, for homeschooled kids.
Likewise, homeschool parents (at least in this house) look forward to the first day back to school for very different reasons than their public or private schooled peers. Because we've done both - public school for 11 years, and homeschool from 1999, we can speak to the differences.
When our kids were in the public school, the biggest reason to look forward to the first day of school for us as parents (and I hate to even admit this), was to get some peace and quiet back in the house! Sure they were learning (or so we
assumed) but the best thing was that the house was quiet for a few hours during the day and we had at least a little freedom to do things without worrying about who would watch the kids, or if we had to take them along. That's very hard to even admit, but it's the truth. We love our kids dearly, but we had fallen into the cycle of expecting the government run schools to be our babysitters, for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months out of the year.
After homeschooling all these years - I don't quite recall what "peace and quiet in the house" actually is. :-) Sure there is the odd moment of quiet time for an hour or so, here and there, when the kids are done with school work and outside playing - but I think I might get nervous if my house were actually kid-free for 6 hours (or more) a day.
We look forward to the first day back to homeschool for an entirely different reason. Several reasons, actually.
ORDER!
Summer vacation is great, but enough is enough already. With a family this size, we need order, schedules, plans! :-) When school starts in the fall, we all quickly drop back into the routines that just make the whole house run smoother. And laundry is done by 9 am! (This is always a bonus).
WHO'S WHO?
We always look forward to teaching the new material for the new grade levels - and reviewing the basics of last year. One of the brightest spots in the day of any homeschooling parent, is watching your child grasp the newest skill, or new material, then master it, then be hungry for advancing to the next level - whatever subject it may be.
Because in most homeschools, the focus is in the child, and their rate of learning (and not the clock, or federally mandated guidelines), it's not at all uncommon for homeschooled kids doing work that is a grade or (more ahead) of their public schooled peers. Granted, not all homeschooled kids excell this way - some of them remain on par with their public schooled peers, and some are homeschooled primarily because they have learning difficulties, and require the one on one teaching method that a homeschool provides. Whatever your situation (and we have all 3 in this house), there is just nothing quite like watching them finally "get it" and move on to the next level.
Okay so I said several and only listed 2. I'm watching the clock, and noticed I only have 1 hour left of "me-time" before the day begins. "Me-time" is the time in the morning between when I get up and grab that first cup of coffee, and the time I head upstairs to wake everyone up. Funny how me-time is often spent putting away laundry, getting another load started, printing off worksheets, planning next week's spelling lesson, and letting the dog out, and back in, and back out, and back in. Oh yes... and finding those pencils. I better get on that, after all, this is "me-time". :-)
Happy First Day of School! I hope you have your star-stickers ready! :-)
Soli Deo Gloria,
Carla
