Posted in School

As homeschoolers, our schedule generally follows the local school session.  We begin school in the late summer and finish in the spring.  We take breaks when the schools are out, sometimes.  We have summers open for whatever may come our way. 

However, someone came to our house the other day and noted that things are always changing.  We had switched from colors to letters.  We had finished the steps regarding the writing process.  Nature was abound.  We had finished school weeks ago.

I had come to realize that although we weren't "schooling", we were still learning.  Homeschooling is more than academic education, it is life.  Learning life skills, learning about things that aren't necessarily academic, experiencing different cultures.  Looking for sharks teeth on our beach, along with interesting shells, is educational.  Homeschoolers are always learning.  It is our way of life.  It is a driving force, to learn as much as we can about the world around us, not just the facts. 

I recently had a friend comment to me that my kids are "different".  She struggled to say it in a way that wasn't offensive, which caused me to giggle.  While she thinks my oldest can be "weird" (he isn't a jock, he's a comic book geek), she says she finds my kids are on a completely different level than her own or others she is around.  I took it as a compliment.  However, thought later that the main difference is in my kids is that they are thinking constantly, not just about the facts, but how a whole concept meshes with everything around it. 

There is a vast difference between high level thinking and drone thinking.  Homeschoolers are far from drone thinkers, and that is the way I prefer it.  Interestingly, my Pastor commented that he sees homeschoolers as being the area where God's leaders will rise, because the Word says they will be trained away from others.  Very cool!  Homeschool: A Way of Life.

These are my thoughts.