Real Homeschooling

We just had a wonderful day with our Waldorf Inspired Homeschool Friends. We celebrated May Day, with songs, a May pole, great food and games! The multi-ages surprised me with their ability to get along, form teams and play capture the flag for hours! The little ones were exploring and making mud pies. The parents were relaxing, talking and grazing. I was listening to many homeschoolers and their experiences and asking about their philosophy and what their schedule looks like. It always amazes me to hear how different school looks to each person. I think we have similar goals, to treat our kids as individuals, show them respect and help them learn at their pace. Just some of our goals, but how we reach them is the difference. When you start homeschooling it can be challenging to figure out your rhythm and routine. I am ending our fourth year and feel like I got it down now. Of course there are days I wonder if I am doing enough, but I trust my kids to tell me when they are ready for more. My son is almost nine and is starting to express that he wants to read more. Yay, it will probably be much easier now that he showing interest. He went to the library and checked out Scooby Doo and Stars Wars books! When you start out you are also trying to find support, so we tend to go online and read other experiences! The only problem is people make it look all great. They don't tell you the bad days or the days that you do no school. They don't tell how they threaten to send their kids to traditional school when they are not cooperating or how they pack them up and go to the library so they won't be distracted. They don't tell you about the days they have a lesson planned and the kids get sidetracked with snails. Well I noticed this problem when I had a baby, the mom's who always said it was perfect. Then came a show on Oprah, where real mom's tell it all! I loved it, calling a new mom, saying "I knew the other mom's were lying!!" I never understood that, I tell the truth, I feel it helps people connect. So I'm here to tell you- anything you are doing is right, you are covering what you are supposed to that day, your children will be fine and they are lucky and so are you!