Ann Leach

 Home educating, unlike school educating, looks different each day. I mean we do have routines - morning routine, chickens, cleaning, and laundry - but the details of each day are unique, depending on activities scheduled, energy levels, motivation, interests, and so much more.  This week we have activities planned: grocery shopping, a trip to the library, book club, a hiking meet-up, park day, and game day; but we also have a lot of free time to do whatever we choose. Lessons are planned for math, copy work (language arts), Newsademic (current events), the human body work book. We may or may not get to them each and every day. And that's ok. Life is so much more  than workbooks. Like this morning, while I am writing up this blog post, Isabelle is in her room listening to a Fabulous Five story on CD from the library, while she is getting dressed and making her bed (ok that's my plan she's actually playing with her dolls, getting them ready to go to book club).  ...

Home educating wears so many disguises. Sometimes it looks like books and papers all over the dining table. Other times, it is a week of adventures with very little book work. Most of the time, it is somewhere in between. This week, for us, was filled with adventures, and exhausting, but we loved it. Monday, Kenn and I attended an all day training class and Isabelle spent all day at a home educating friend's house. she packed her lessons in her backpack, and somehow managed to come home with them completed while also enjoying a whole day of play. Tuesday, Isabelle and I left early (for us) for the city to meet up with the home ed group and watch the Pandas documentary at the IMAX theatre which is in the Melbourne Museum. Of course, we stayed on to play and chat with our friends. It was a long and gratifying day, working on friendships. I think we were finally home about 4:45, just in time to start supper. We completed one lesson on the train. Wednesday is Park day. A...