The School Year is Looming

Well, whaddaya know.. it's August again.

If we're speaking in averages, August is "on average" my second least favorite month of the year. (The first is a tie between February and March, depending on weather.) August 1st rolls around and suddenly everybody's all about Autumn. I don't understand it! In my heart August is still within the absolute best part of summer--everything is ripe! It's ALWAYS warm! (Except a few years back when we had "Auguary," where it rained and was only in the 50s for like two weeks and we had to wear sweaters and jackets every day and it was absolutely horrible.) We can spend all our time outside! And a big reason Summer is the best: nobody judges you for being lazy in the summer! Because, "Oh, I understand, it's so hot." In the wintertime, if you're feeling unable to function because it's so cold, you're just a wimp, but in the summertime, weather is a totally acceptable excuse for not getting anything done. And the best part of August: We're still on summer break!

--OH WAIT.

I think the reason people equate August with Autumn is because--well, except for their very similar spellings--August is when school starts back up. Summer vacation is over. Officially. It's back to early bedtimes, packed lunches, homework, after-school sports, signing permission slips, losing your lunch money, forgetting to bring something for show-and-tell, having to endure the humiliation of being called up to the blackboard to solve a math problem that you have no idea how to even begin.... And it's somewhere among that black hole of school memories that I realize--

NOT US!!

WHEEEEEEE!!!

We do start school in August, because after all the school systems have started back it feels kind of boring to not be doing school, but I feel so fortunate to be able to put it off until the end of the month rather than jumping into full-blown Fall when the tomatoes have just begun to get ripe. It doesn't feel natural!

This brings me to the actual point of this post, if I ever have a point, which sometimes I do, but it usually gets lost in all the tangents along the way. The point of this post is to say that FINALLY after however many years of homeschooling, I feel really confident in my chosen course. Homeschooling is getting really popular in my area, which has given me the opportunity to talk to a number of different families this summer about what their homeschool paths look like. It has been really neat to hear all the different mixtures of curriculums, methods, philosophies, and schedules that different families have found. There are SO many options! In years past when I heard of different methods of home education I either felt overwhelmed, or inadequate. But this year for the first time, I feel one hundred percent confident in the structure of our upcoming year. I'm even a little bit looking forward to it! Okay, that last part is kind of a lie.... I wish it could be summer forever. Especially since this one started out being so terrible but has since turned around and goodness, we have just been having the nicest days! But, the calendar rolls on, so I have been planning and preparing. We've ordered some books and maps, and each girl got a brand new eraser, which they were really kind of oddly excited about. I still need a few more things, but for the most part we're ready to roll. It's so freeing to hear about other people's plans and see with great clarity that their method would not work for us. I love the feeling of being able to encourage someone along their chosen path while saying frankly, "that is really not something I would be good at, but I'm so glad it works for you!" Because I AM glad it works for them. Because if we all did homeschool the exact same way that wouldn't be very homeschooly. Well, I mean, it would be SCHOOLing at HOME, but without the whole idea of freedom and doing your own thing, you understand.

Likewise, I can see the pictures of my friends' children setting off on their first day of buildingschool and I can be really happy for them! In fact, I may even get a little misty-eyed. Because I don't think buildingschool is terrible! I think it would not be the best choice for my children at this time.

My plan is to start our kitchen table schooling on August 27th, and I will NOT enjoy a pumpkin spice latte on that day because it will NOT be Fall yet, even though we'll be back at the books. And I intend to enjoy and savor this year, because I really think it's going to be a good one. And even if it's not, it'll be the only school year I get with a Pre-K, 1st, 4th, and 5th grader so I'd better live it up!

I wish all of you the best of luck in the new school year, no matter what your school looks like!