Homeschooling Somewhere in Between

Jordan wanted to make a picture book based on a cardboard fold out style (we had received a very fancy invitation in this style and she wanted to try it out).   She chose the topic of unicorns and we searched for some pictures on the internet and then she created a short story around them.

She decorated each page with various papers and pictures

The text of the story:

There was once a staute of a unicorn and it lived in a museum park and it would come to life at night.
It would go into this realm that other statues of unicorns come to life and they would have baby unicorns too.
One day a little girl came and wandered off from her mother. She wandered into the park and saw the statue unicorn. The little girl climbed onto the unicorn’s back.At night it came to life and the little girl was not frightened. The unicorn ran and when they got to the realm the little girl aged and became a princess. The unicorn and the princess ran into a beautiful field of flowers.   Then they saw a dragan spitting fire and a squirrel.
The princess and the unicorn got tired and fell asleep on the soft grass. When she woke up she was back at the museum and she was a little girl again. The unicorn was a statue again.

Last week we went on a two night field trip to Devil’s Den State Park (about a 4 hour drive from us) with a couple of other homeschooling families.  We had wonderful Autumn weather and took our time hiking and climbing the Devil’s Den trail.     When we got back, more than one relative asked, so, what did they learn?

Um, really?

Well,

They learned to appreciate the simple, unplugged beauty all around them.

They learned that any place can be a stop for quiet reflection and self expression

They learned caution

They learned to face a fear head on

And to conquer a physical challenge

They learned to help those smaller than themselves

And most of all, to enjoy a nice Autumn day.

Good enough?

Aubrey started a class at a local community college this week.

Here is her on her first day of school.

This has been somewhat of a pivotal year in homeschooling Aubrey.   She is technically a “freshman” in high school, so it is all “real” now.  I have to start thinking college, ACT and creating a productive, independent citizen.  Well, ok, I thought about a few of those things before this year.

So, of course it has been a year lacking in ambition or purpose for Aubrey.   She remained “young” for just long enough for me to start worrying that homeschooling was creating a lag in her development and then suddenly **WHAM** with the texting, boys, friends…

We’ve kind of reverted to a sort of unschooling due to necessity.  The necessity of preserving the peace and our relationship.   She has always requested a schedule, deadlines, etc.   Now she requests them so that she can dawdle as they wander by, lol.   Exasperating, seemingly endlessly “lazy” (is this the child who taught herself to read at 3 and multiplication at 5???).     It is time for me to trust.  Trust that she can be independent and decide what needs to be done.  Time for her to learn to trust herself.  Late in the game, she is deschooling a bit and starting to plan for next year.

She elected to take 3 courses from the state sponsored online virtual school (I know, it is public school at home, not homeschooling, but she is happy with it).  She’ll take Chemistry, Web Design and Marine Science with them.  She plans on finishing Algebra 2 and then possibly looking ahead in math.  We are looking at typical high school graduation requirements and starting a transcript.    This summer she is taking (eeek!) Drivers Ed at the local high school.   And going on a mission trip with church (to another state, without me!!!).

For now, she is reading reading reading and playing soccer (and I’m driving driving driving so that she can play soccer!).   She is doing well in her online writing course.  She has finished math for the year but is still making very slow progress on her biology.    And in between it all she is texting her friends.

And playing on the computer.  She bought a computer and adobe photo shop.  This is hi-tech sibling torment.  She turned her brother into an alien.

Creepy!

And she gets a little muddy.

She’s playing for a homeschool soccer team that plays other small private schools in the area.   She plays hard, and her skills as an athlete have really grown this year.

And occasionally she even dresses up…. Like for the hs group’s dance…

It is all changing and I’m finding myself needing more and more to step out of the way so she can step up to the plate (agh, what a cliche!).  It is scary—what if she doesn’t!!  She’ll live with me forever and tell me when she’s 25 that I ruined her life!!! No college will accept her!  She’s neither taken the typical path nor done something extraordinary!   Deep breaths.   She’ll find her way.  And one day I won’t be driving her to it.