The wheels of the bus

Homeschooling has been a bit of a challenge this year.  It just seems that we've had to deal with one storm after another... be it in our household or in our extended family... nothing has gone all that smoothly.  Looking back on all the years we've been doing this, 7 if you count Bobcat's kindergarten, this has been maybe the most tumultuous.  We've probably considered and reconsidered the direction for next year more than a dozen times, and not in a playful way... in a serious "I think we've done all that we can do from here, it's time that they learn from someone else" way!

I have my list of Why We Homeschool hanging in my computer desk, and I look at it frequently.  Sometimes I see different objectives on there and think that homeschooling at the moment is actually working against those, or that my own reaction is nothing like the Holy Family (so a massive fail on that agenda).  They fact is, we've been going through growing pains I think.  As a parent trying to navigate the road of "is he ready to do this on his own," and the child so much desiring more freedom whether he is mature enough to handle it or not.  Then you add in the additional extended family drama adding stress to Daddio and me... Yep, the perfect storm.

Who knows, maybe it is summer vacation (Praise God for our beach getaways) that seems to bring everything back into perspective.  We're on the homeschooling train, and we will have ups and downs... we knew that going in, and we've relearned that every year.  The reasons we wanted to homeschool still apply, and overall are being accomplished.  The boys have made great progress this year in areas that seemed to fall behind last year.  We're all maturing in this process, just at different rates... the long view is what is needed in times of struggle!

In just a few weeks we are headed back to the beach... 8 days of sand and surf (and beer for the grown-ups).  All will be right with the world again, and we will all be ready to face the challenges of next year!