Goodbye, summer

Tomorrow we start back into school again. It was on the short side, for a summer vacation, but I wanted to get a head start because we'll be taking some days off of school for our trip to CA, moving to our next location, etc. If we start a little early, we can take off some days here and there and still end reasonably early next June.

I'm excited about Jack's first grade material, and for Thomas's continued work on preschool reading and writing skills. But I'm also bracing myself a little for some of the "battles of the wills" that I'm sure Jack and I will face (although hopefully fewer than last year!). I'm trying to approach homeschooling from a different, and healthier perspective this time. My personality is very much achievement/goal-oriented, and I really, really like crossing things off my to-do list. I think last year I approached Jack's Kindergarten the same way, because it comes naturally to me. My thoughts are something like: "Knows how to read? Check! Has good handwriting? ...(hand hovers over paper, a little too eager to check off the box...) Uh, well, he hates handwriting and it's pretty wobbly still. I really can't check off that box, although I really want to. Well, better get back to the grindstone so we can check off that box!!". I'm trying hard to remember that the road to accomplishing some goal might be more important than checking off the box itself, and some things may need be left unchecked a little longer than others. It's difficult for me, but I've realized that it's another way that I need to die to myself and my set ways a little bit, and it's for the best.

I'll keep you posted on how homeschooling and the co-op are going. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos of the boys playing and being silly last week.