Monkey is almost 5. Kindergarten looms on the horizon, a black cloud of locked schedules. After almost 4 years without a fixed daily routine, the idea of diving back into that rhythm is abhorrent. Preschool, with its MWF 9-12 itinerary has been difficult enough.
A week ago, I caught whatever it was that had knocked Monkey and Peanut out for the weekend. With Peanut still recovering and me down for the count, we missed Monkey's preschool that Monday, and started Tuesday with no real plan for leaving the apartment. I ended up giving Monkey a few worksheets out of a Preschool workbook we'd received at Christmas. I thought it might entertain him long enough for me to give Peanut a bottle and get her down for a nap, 20 minutes at best.
He asked for more sheets to be torn out of the workbook, and kept tracing and practicing letters for an hour and a half.
Maybe this homeschool thing isn't such a crazy idea after all. Maybe we can fulfill one of our primary responsibilities to our children, delivering an education, without giving up the flexibility that makes this car-free life work so well.
I started researching homeschool groups in the area a little more thoroughly, and came across one that isn't affiliated with a particular belief system, which was important to us, though we live our lives as Christians. Today they had a playdate at a local beach-front park, which happened to be not far from where and when we do MOPS.
Monkey loved the beach. Peanut wasn't quite as sure, since she's not quite 2 and walking through the sand and rocks definitely tested her balance. But Monkey was in his element - water and sand to explore, a playground structure similar to the one he's mastered across the street from our apartment, older kids to follow and play with, and the tallest slide we've encountered yet. I met parents of kids older than preschool age (yay!), plus another mom relatively new to homeschooling who offered to take us out on her family's sailboat at some point. I haven't been on a sailboat in years, but the idea is intoxicating.
I'm still nervous about taking the plunge into homeschooling. Will I get all the necessary material covered? Will I drive myself and my kids crazy with too much together time? Will I ever get anything done around the apartment? Do we even have the space to store school materials? How exactly does one "do" school at home with no area to dedicate to the task?
We live in 900 sqft, two bedrooms to house two adults and two children. We have no dining room - just a double dropleaf table we use for dinner and craft projects as needed. I have a tiny desk area of my own tucked next to our bed that I think can accommodate practical things like extra pencils and paper. Our kitchen is already the site of many experiments of the culinary kind - that's science, right?
We're fortunate to have a plot in a community garden across the street, so the kids get to play in the dirt. Monkey even planted popcorn, the one vegetable he'll consider eating other than the occasional broccoli spear.
Maybe this homeschooling thing isn't as crazy as it sounds some days... maybe what I needed was the bright hope of social sunshine on the beach today.
