Binder

First Timers and Their Silly Notebooks

Sure sign of a “first-time” home schooler: Piles of random catalogues and newsletters detailing the lastest HS news and regulations, late night schedule planning marathons (not the “un-schoolers” I guess… I’ll have to think about that (now very appealing) option… social planning (sports, PE, field trips, play dates, etc.), and a good dose of self-doubt for even this most confident (I thought) of mama-teachers.

Traditional schools provide all of this. I’m not sure I quite realized the sheer amount of planning required to educate a child within a modern framework. And I feel - daily, but only momentarily - that I am missing big chunks of the puzzle.  Do I really need to explain what an amber alert is to my 4 year old?

Don’t misunderstand. I DO sit down with my incredible, spirited son and just bask in the time I have with him, realizing the most important things to teach him now are not in any books: most of them learned while trying to get along with his 2 year old sister who steals and usually destroys his favorite lego buildings. Patience, compassion, empathy, kindness. But our French lessons are suffering terribly. We still haven’t memorized Frere Jaques - and it’s only 4 lines! (The Bonjour Les Amis videos are charming to watch however.)

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