Let me back up a second - our spring/summer To-Do List

In May or June, we wrote a To-Do list together of all the stuff we wanted to do over the next few months.  It was taped to one of our kitchen cabinets all summer.  Here it is:

If you can't read it, here's the list (with completed items crossed off):
Visit Great Lakes Science Center
Visit Pump-It-Up
Visit Sky Max
Sleep Outside / Camp Out
Complete Spring Hiking Spree
Visit a Lake Erie Beach
Go Fishing
Get a RV
Go Running
Go to Yankee Peddler
See Hot Air Balloons
Go to the Pet Store
Watch Chickens Do Chicken Stuff
Cleveland Zoo
MAPS Museum
Hale Farm
Go to Brandywine Falls
Akron Zoo
Cleveland Botanical Gardens (before Aug 24)
Blossom Concerts
Bike Ride
Stan Hywet

All in all, not a bad summer!  So the recent collection of posts are highlights of things from this list - there are more to come, but I only wrote posts about things we haven't done before, or at least, things I haven't posted about before.  There are 3 or 4 more posts ready to go.  A note on the items that did not get crossed off of the list:  some will get moved onto our fall To-Do list.  "Get an RV" will get bumped indefinitely - Monkey wrote that because he knows we really want to get one and travel, although it's not going to be in the budget anytime soon.  He also wrote "Go running" and I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that... the boys run around like maniacs all the time so I could have crossed it off I suppose.  He may have just meant to go running errands.  I don't think he meant to go running, in a purposeful, athletic way... because that's just not happening.  Not my thing.  Shooting off on a tangent though, that reminds me of a conversation I need to record for posterity: Bug challenged his big brother to a race when we were hiking a couple weeks ago - he said, "First one to the bottom of this hill is a FRESH EGG!"  I love his way of looking at things.

It's Official! or, Not Back to School 2012

My response to all of the back-to-school photos everyone is posting on Facebook.  I think I'll do this every year.

Ok, I know I've been writing about homeschooling for almost 2 years on this blog, but I have now sent in our first legal home schooling notification letter... and we received our excusal letter in the mail from the school district yesterday.  Now it is legal and official and real!

In Ohio, the rules are that you must notify the school district in writing of your intent to homeschool, confirm that you will teach the required subjects, that you will provide the required minimum number of hours of instruction for the year, and that you are qualified to do so (high school diploma or equivalent).  You are also required to provide a "brief outline of intended curriculum for the year" and a "list of textbooks, correspondence courses, commercial curricula and other basic teaching materials parent intends to use".  Here's where it gets tricky:  both the outline and the list are for "informational purposes only" and the school district is not supposed to make judgements about them, it's just to show that you have some kind of plan.  But I've heard stories of districts demanding extra information from people, things that the parents are under no legal obligation to provide.  Some districts don't seem to understand that under the law, we are notifying them, not applying for permission.  But you do still need that all-important excusal letter from the district to prove that you're kosher.  Everything I've read about notifying says that you should give them the very minimum information that is required and nothing more, to avoid setting a precedent and causing problems for other families.  So it's a delicate balance of being thorough enough, but not giving any more information than you have to.  For me, the anxiety level of "needing to get this just right" was slightly higher than writing a resume.  I was surprised though, to find that the process was actually a bit helpful, in making me sit down and compose a formal (if still rather loose) plan for the year.  It was especially tough because we are pretty eclectic and child-led, so we don't know what books we will be reading until the topic comes up and we start researching whatever it may be. 

I've seen other people posting their notification letters online in some of the homeschooling groups I belong to, so other people can use them as examples.  So, in case anyone else finds it helpful, here's my actual outline:

(I couldn't get it to format right by copying/pasting, so I just took screenshots directly from Word.  Click the images to see higher-res versions.)

For my list of materials I included: the local library, metro parks, museums, homeschool co-op classes (more on that in a minute), board games and other educational toys, online games, and documentaries/television programs.  The only specific books/curriculae I mentioned by title were Math-U-See, Story of the World Vol. 1, Bob Books, and Usborne's First Reading set.  I did mention a few specific local museums and a few specific websites we'll use, but that's it.

Since yesterday was the first day of school for our area, and we happened to receive our excusal letter that day as well, I wanted to do something special to celebrate the day - however, my motivation was dampened by the fact that Bug woke up with his first-ever stomach virus in the wee hours of the morning, so most of my attention was devoted to him instead.  I did take a moment to feel very grateful that I was not dealing with one vomiting kid AND trying to get the other kid ready and out the door for his first day of school at the same time.  It really is lovely to be able to go with the flow and live by our own schedule!

Oh, and the homeschool co-op I mentioned?  There's a new one that has just formed not far from where we live, and we are going to give it a try.  It's an inclusive group with people of multiple faiths and I think there may even be a few like myself who do not practice any faith at all, so I think it will be a much more comfortable fit than the rest of the (fundamentalist) options around here.  I'm excited about it but also incredibly nervous as well.  Since it's a co-op, all parents are required to work in some capacity, and although I tried signing up for the option of being a permanent member of the cleanup crew instead of teaching, I was recently asked to replace one of the co-teachers of the Astronomy class, and I said yes.  For some reason I feel totally capable and qualified to teach my own kids, but I'm sort of terrified of teaching other kids.  But I *do* love Astronomy, and it makes sense... and I'm no good at saying "no"... so, yes.  That's happening.  Will keep you updated on how that goes!

In other news:

Monkey got glasses!  And he digs 'em!

Bug "Pities da fool."  At least he did, before he got sick.  Now he's just pitiful.

We got a new family member.  Meet Parker the fish!

Bug giving me his adorable/ornery grin, before he was overrun by cooties.

What? You don't care if your kids go to college? What kind of parent are you?!

Image credit: Discovery Education. Artist: Mark A. Hicks

I read this great article the other day and it got me thinking. I know it may be shocking, but I really don't care if my kids go to college or not. I mean, I want them to be educated, but college is just one of many possible paths to get there. My goals for them are very simple: to grow up to be happy, to stay curious and love learning, and to be good people. If college fits into that picture for them, great. If not - also great.

I went to college right after high school, but after a semester I realized I really had no idea what I wanted to do, and therefore had no specific goal to work toward. I couldn't decide what classes to take. So I didn't go back... until about half a decade later. I then spent 4 years working full time and going to school part time, and got an Associate Degree in Computer Networking and Maintenance. At that point I was on the fence about continuing to work towards a Bachelor's Degree but finally decided not to, because I was tired of putting aside things I really wanted to read and learn, in order to complete required reading that wasn't interesting and busy work that wasn't useful. I realized I could always keep learning on my own in other ways. Once I made that decision I felt like a huge weight was off my shoulders, and it felt good to have chosen that freedom for myself. I kind of became a twenty-something unschooler.

If my kids do choose college, I strongly feel that they should have to pay for a significant amount of their own educations so they're invested in the results - I know plenty of people who partied their way through college and completely wasted Mom & Dad's money. I had to pay for most of my own education and I was driven to get every dime's worth out of it - nothing less than straight A's was acceptable to me. If my kids know what they want to do and want to go to college, great - and I will gladly support them. But if it's not for them, I'm also fine with that. In the current day & age, I think what is more likely to be useful is a) actual work experience, even if that means starting at the very bottom - something which a lot of people seem to think is beneath them - and being the best darn whatever-it-is that they can be, and b) more specific technical training / work skills / certifications which can be acquired by taking a few classes in specific areas as needed, rather than taking a whole roster of courses where maybe only 30% of the classes are actually relevant to the job desired.

And my Associate Degree? I got it in 2003 and I'm still making payments on my student loans. Even though I finished with a GPA of 3.98, I didn't feel like I could represent myself as a qualified "expert" to get a job in my field. I lacked confidence in that education I had worked so hard for (and paid so much for). So I chose to stay at the company I've been with for the past decade+ because I like the work and the people I work with, and the pay is decent. And once I had kids, they offered me the flexibility to work part time at pretty much whatever hours are convenient to me. For me, it turned out to be a really good choice. The degree though? Well, maybe I'll use it someday...