T minus 5

This life we are living here, in the city of our heart, is one of twists and turns. Like all lives there are compromises we have to make so that we can reach our big long term goals. Right now that means that in five days Alder will be heading off to school for the very first time ever. We found a new alternative public school that has small classes, and the kids spend Fridays doing special projects rather than academics. It is far from our dream situation, but I’ve met the first grade teachers and they are enthusiastic and I just get a really good feel about them. Really that’s what matters, it is the people that he is surrounded by at this age that matters more than anything.

So we’ve bought the school supplies, the clothing (more on that in it’s own post), gotten the haircut, and I’ve done a dry run on getting him to school on time. Everything is ready except maybe my heart/soul. It isn’t that I am the Mama who is going be sad to send my son away from me, I’m actually sort of looking forward to a little break, it’s just that traditional school goes against so many of my educational beliefs. Yet, if we ever plan on homeschooling for the long run we have to let him go for a year or two until the rest of our lives are under control. I am deciding to look at these next months as a time where I can put my focus into certain projects, to help them blossom and grow.

We’re trying to fill these last days with adventures and projects, the sort that will be less often for a while. Kevin and Alder spent the other day with the Lego creating their own train, from sometime after breakfast until almost dinner time they were at it. To me that is the speed that learning should take, so I must remember to give him as much of that as I can with in the constructs of the school day.