Yeah, just so you know, we weren't that kind of homeschoolers.
What kind? Oh you know what kind I mean. The families with 15 children -- all the boys dressed in matching khakis and polos, all the girls in hand-sewn, modest frocks. The kind where the dad attends PromiseKeepers workshops on the weekends and the mom bakes pies for the church bake sale while supervising a home spelling bee and doing 4 loads of laundry, all at the same time. I suppose all those things might be good for some people, but none of it appealed to us.
No, we were a bit on the lackadaisical side. We wanted to make sure that there was room to enjoy life, make music, read, and spend time together as a family.
Also, we needed to make sure that eldest son had enough opportunities to dress up as Sherlock Holmes.
Because public school kids just aren't tolerant of sartorial quirks. Black t-shirt, nose rings and eyeliner? Sure. Homemade cape and detective chapeau? Not so much.
He did grow out of this phase after about a year. The library ladies and the grocery store clerks missed it when he finally transitioned toward a regular wardrobe. And we didn't have to worry about catching his cape edges in the minivan door either, which was a blessing.
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11 comments:
OMG, Zach looks exactly the way he did when he was a kid!
We weren't that kind of homeschoolers either. We spent a lot of time in the creek catching polly wogs and pretending to be Christopher Robin in our rain boots.
I am badly missing your blog and order you to post more.
That's it really.
My youngest boy tested at the 3rd grade level in many areas..when I removed him from the "system"...he was about to enter the 8th grade.
A year later, I felt like such a failure...I just hadn't fit the mold of what people think of as homeschoolers...so many things had trumped our book time.
He was retested, I felt like I had really dropped the ball and let him down...I told myself I would change and the coming year we would hit the books really hard...
Then the test results came in the mail and I nearly fainted. He tested at the 12th grade level and post high school in all subjects.
After ONE year.
Obviously you missed the memo that it's all about me. Where are the cute baby pictures of ME?!?!?!?
Great pictures!
you should probably delve into my paddington bear phase, the sweatpants addiction that swallowed most of my adolescence, and please don't forget the mohawk experiment - it's gotta be in my best interest that you cover all the bases of my shame...
It seems like you have a great relationship with your son and maybe the home schooling might be a contributing factor. Love the Sherlock Holmes-costume; I had a Peter Pan-phase myself even though I'm a girl which just got me a few strange looks from shopowners. My poor mom ;)
This is the kind of homeschooling I can get behind. As you know, I've had experience with the Promise Keepers kind recently...
Also, I frequently wear detective hats (or sometimes unicorn hats) to teach.
cape in the minivan doors? classic! I love the free spirit of really cool homeschooled kids. I like to think I'd have the patience and strength to homeschool any future potential children, but I think it requires a kind of temperment I simply don't posess. Thanks for sharing this view into your family life. And pity about the no matching frocks. I'm sure you'd look fetching.
Congrats on the dissertation wordage as well. Yes, I said wordage. And?
Compugrrrl-- I know, isn't it weird? I should show you the hospital pic... he looks just the same there too. It's actually kind of freaky. Like spooky freaky.
Mary Alice -- oh, Christopher Robin! Now that's how childhood really ought to be, poking around in the shallows with sticks and playing make-believe. Too many soccer matches and Kumon math tutorials and blah blah blah. No wonder kids are burned out at 12!
MLS-- your wish is my command, sire. You make me smile.
eloh -- I know, isn't that amazing! My kids all did fine, (altho son number 2 just admitted to me last weekend that he "cheated" in homeschool. Have to look into that one.) But I have to agree with you, not everyone is suited for school at all times, and excellent education can occur anywhere. Well done, you!
hannah -- sorry, sorry, but isn't that you sitting on the piano bench? Or is that Miss T? Sometimes you children just all blend together in my mind....
skylersdad-- aren't the photos funny? We just got them back, as I stupidly left them in storage while we were overseas for 7 years. Ooops! We've been having a blast looking through them.
z -- thanks for the reminders, I'm always in need of more blog fodder... need to dig up the school photo of C in his beret next. "How to be popular in middle school using your school photograph?"
ladytruth-- And look how wonderfully you've turned out! Costumes are totally underrated as everyday dress.
I do think my kids are especially close because of homeschooling. They were their own little tribe -- the gypsy band that homeschooled and moved house every other year.
Vic -- a unicorn hat!?! Is that to make an important point? *groan*
Good luck, hope Mrs PromiseKeeper's kid isn't in your class. Those types are... interesting. Although as with most things, the kids are fine, it's the parents who are... uh... well, you know.
Eileen -- yes, he had a couple of capes, actually... we had to trade them out for laundry days. Strangulation was always a lurking hazard, and the fact that he survived cape-wearing is a huge feather in my cap, parenting-wise.
And people always say they don't have the temperament for various aspects of childrearing. Having met you, I don't think there's anything you wouldn't do thoughtfully and well.
"Wordage". Yes. Thank goodness, we're almost there!
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