Ahh guilt. That creeping, niggling feeling that somehow somewhere I have done something wrong, by not doing enough, or too much, or not soon enough or too soon. My Mother was the CEO of  Guilt Airlines and being that good old pre-Vatican II  Irish Catholic she was amazingly good at it. I am in awe when I think back. WOW amazing! She's still  a pro at 84yo. LOL

So last night I took a trip. I have not baked bread in weeks, (bad, bad mommy) I've been feeding my 8 precious babies store bought cardboard.(SHAME) I am normally a very contented, UnSchooler, seeing my children thrive, crazy about and hungry for learning. Being the product of a Public School Administrator and the afor mentioned CEO I frequently experience guilt and worry somehow I may not be equipping my children for life. That they will grow up to be illterate, slack-jawed,  professional, welfare recipients. I must make a plan! Tie  them to their desks (we need desks) and drone on and on about Math, and force them to read, say the Pledge of Allegiance, maybe invest in school uniforms and.....and waaaaiiiit a minute.

The plane landed and I came to my senses.  My 8yo twins are having a reading contest. Jimmy in the last 24hours has read 19 books, Josh has read 17. OK they are Golden Books and Dr. Suess. But what a great contest. In one part it will earn them free admission to a local amusement park, but another piece is that they spur one another on. Josh  has decided enough of those baby books he just grabbed Indian In the Cupboard off  the shelf. He proudly stated. "I think I'm ready for some chapter books!"  Jimmy not to be outdone grabbed our one and only Sugar Creek Gang Book and off  they went, to snuggle with their dog and read read read. I am not MAKING them do it. They LOVE doing it on their own.

That was my one goal as a beginner Homeschool Mom several years ago. That they read well, but that they LOVE it. So here we are. I have 3 readers and a diligent, driven Kindergartener who is following right along with her older sister and brothers. They are 2, 2nd graders, 1 1st, grader and 1K. They love Maps, The Old West, US History, Outerspace, Animals, Books on Construction, Art, music etc

Jimmy has a notebook he constructed himself from carboard and various other materials that contains the names, habitats, and region of over 400 animals. He has a goal to learn about all of them one by one. Josh hears a song, likes it, then plays it on the piano. That is a nothing I could ever have taught him. In short, they love to learn and even occassionally ask for workbooks, and will do as many as 10 pages in a given workbook in a day. Sit back and say "I did school".  Now these are not genuises. They are averagely bright, kids. All adopted from the 'system" and most born addicted to some substance or another.

I'm not certain why I occasionally go through these moments of of thinking that by bringing the institutionalized model of schooling in to my home it would be some big favor to my kids. I even put them in Public School last year for a whole month, before I took them out. Now that was a long flight. What was I thinking! I know better now. When I get frazzled or hit a bump I just pull out some John Holt books or my new favorite, Diana Waring, Get a grip on reality and miss any departing flights on Guilt Airlines.

I am aware that the way we 'school' is not for everyone. Still there was a time I really believed Unschoolers were irresponsible, backwoods hippy types and children need to be at a desk learning.(UHM I live in the woods and I homeschool, have long hair and infrequently bake my own bread and Uh Oh!)  Silly me. Evidently you can teach an old dog new tricks!