sleepless nights

I have had sleepless nights for the past few weeks.  Several reasons. 

Heat. My mom. Homeschooling.

There is just so much on my mind these days and I have a hard time shutting down. Last night I came down at 1:00 AM to sit, think,write in my journal and read. I finally went back upstairs an hour later and fell fast asleep. Then this morning while running, I had all these thoughts that I wanted to write down.  Now at the end of my day I finally have a chance to have some quite time to capture those thoughts. Will it be the same as this morning? Probably not, but I will try my best.

So my thoughts on homeschooling at the moment.

A year ago I wrote this post on how we use life as our curriculum. Since that time I have contradicted myself and tried several pre-made curriculum, and read tons of catalogs, web sites, talked to friends endlessly about what they recommend.  Only to discover that I am still wanting the freedom of choice.  To follow the boys' interest.  I still have resources that we can use but will not make a classroom out of our home.

I chose the homeschooling path because:

I wanted to be with my boys for all their moments. Both good and bad.

I wanted them to be able to learn about what interested them, not what a school district decided.

The freedom to use the whole world as our classroom.

Extended time with family: making stronger bonds with one another.

I know in my heart that they will learn just by living and experiencing our world.  Somewhere that idea became buried deep and I kept thinking there's always some better program. As I mentioned, we still will use learning resources but they will not be the driving force of our homeschooling. Instead, the boys interests will.

This summer is my time to get back into that mode of thinking: relax more, create more, explore more, listen more, laugh more, to really enjoy the boys at this moment. (it is quickly slipping away)

My job is to provide a loving, nurturing, encouraging environment for them.  I will guide them along the way, help them when they are down, and be an inspiring  model(hopefully) for them. 

We are always learning on this path of life..........