Why we are homeschooling…

Today was the second day of our school year and we spent the day “country schooling” at Grandma and Grandpa’s.

	We feasted on the first ripe blackberries of the season.
	We learned that even though deer poop looks like black beans- the similarities stop there…
	Ryan got a tractor driving lesson with Grandma.
	We played elaborate games with our cousins and their plastic animals.
	We took a break from playing outside and played Rainbow Race with our cousins.
	Ryan found a drowned lizard that he ‘loves’ so much that it just had to come home with us…
	Time with Grandma wouldn’t be complete these days without some painting! We discovered secondary colors and used watercolors to make beautiful rainbows.
	After that long hard day the kids didn’t fall asleep on the hour-long trip home! Probably because we were repeating our Spanish lesson from the trip there. Ryan wanted ‘just one more game’ before bedtime books.

The idea of this being a ‘school day’ is absolutely joyous to me!! We put a lot of thought into what to do for school this year (far too much if you ask my husband and close friends…) Ryan absolutely loved and thrived at his preschool last year, but his teacher isn’t sure if she’s going to be open this year. Ryan thrives learning at home too. He technically is supposed to start Kindergarten next year, but is very comfortable in all of our Kindergarten curriculum.
Ella is only two. She loves to play and isn’t really interested in many of our tot school activities.  Both kids get tons of social interactions everyday with friends. SOO, to make  a very longwinded decision short- we’re using this as our ‘trial year’. We’re working on establishing a daily rhythm and cherishing our time together. I’m focusing everyday on being the kind of mom I want to be and trying not to think about how way too soon our kids will grow up and we won’t have the luxury of spending all of our time together.

**As you saw- we had a good day, which makes me confident in this current decision. However, I reserve the right to plead temporary insanity and ship them both off to preschool if  we drive one another nuts ;)