Spring Break is over and we are slooooowly trying to get back into the swing of things around here. The girls are ready to hit it hard, but I'm still suffering from an SB hangover. Not literally, of course, but I do so like having my days completely free. Well as free as they can be with 3 kids and a dog to take care of.

My girls amaze me though. They are such deep thinkers. I wonder if I asked such tough questions when I was their ages or if I just accepted whatever information was thrown my way? I'm a people pleaser, so I'm guessing that I was one of those ideal public school students who sucked up any information I was given and then spit it back out on test day. I know I've certainly forgotten most of what I've learned even though I was an honor student. My husband laughed when I told him my favorite part of homeschooling was learning the history and science I had already forgotten. I truly can't remember much of it - even what I was supposed to have learned in college.

Things are different with my girls though. They seem to have a better understanding of what they are learning and how it all fits together. I won't even fantasize that it's because I'm such a fabulous teacher. That would be laughable. I think they "get it" because they have time to take in the information, ask questions, read historical fiction, take field trips and do projects that seem to tie everything together in a way that never seemed to happen for me in the classroom. I know my teachers tried to do those things. But they never could tell if we understood what was being said or if we were totally bored with the subject and just wanted to get to recess or art class. At home, we aren't in a big hurry to finish a book by the end of the year. We don't have to teach to any test. They can absorb the information, apply it and ask the tough questions that, I think, most kids are too busy or too rushed to ask.

I don't mean to imply that my girls LOVE everything we study. That would be awesome, but it's definitely not true. They do seem to want to learn what I am trying to teach them though. It's not just a bunch of facts and figures. It all has an importance to them in one way or another. They want to learn math facts so they can count their money or divide up their toys. They have an understanding of and appreciation for the struggle the early settlers had (from Biblical thru Colonial times) in a way I never grasped. For me, it was just a bunch of facts to memorize. For my girls, it's about the people. They have a deep compassion that I think is taken out of the equation in public schools. I love knowing that they are learning about the struggle as much as they are learning about the dates.

I never thought I'd say it, but homeschool is cool

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