Amy Writes

Today is one of those days when I just can't...get it...together. I can't. I have been back to bed twice, hoping that pushing the reset button will make it all better, but it's not working. Today was supposed to be a kind of back-to-the-grind day, as we've been on "Spring Break" for about a month (yay, homeschooling!!) So I stuck to my (fading) guns and we got school & piano done, and even did some of the things that we don't do on lesser-motivated days. We took a series of photos observing our new garden.We planted seeds in our little greenhouse box, we went outside and tried out the new skateboard, we foraged through the fridge for lunch (instead of defaulting to PB&J). I think one of the hardest parts of homeschooling is that (I feel like...) when I'm not at the top of my game, everything suffers. Or at least I'm surrounded by the evidence of everything suffering. I don't get to leave my house behind and go to work and just mak...

In the morning, the Eastern light pokes through the blinds above our bed and dances around our comforter - but my eyes are rarely open enough to enjoy it. It's not until I've dragged myself to the shower and let the water run over my face for a minute or two that I am treated to this little bit of happy. With the bathroom door positioned just so, the sun shining through the blinds creates a vertical line of oval dots on the door that I can see from the shower and I decided this morning: I adore morning light. I know it's cliche. Who doesn't love morning light? There are countless songs and poems written about morning light. I think, probably, you have to be a pretty grumpy person - or a teenager - to not love morning light. I'm fascinated by how the softness of the light in the morning immediately transports me back to childhood Saturdays. I associate the streaming sunshine with lazy days, full of potential. The house moved slower on the weekends. We'd may...

I guess the fact that my "Day 1" post was a month ago is an indicator of how we're doing so far. We're busy. But then, again, we're not that busy. We're not nearly as busy as we used to be. We're not rushing to get out the door in the morning, rushing to get home and do homework before an evening activity, rushing to get into bed on time because tomorrow's a school day. I'm not running from drop-off to drop-off or pick-up to pick-up, racing to get to a volunteer commitment or a school party. Maybe the word isn't "busy." Maybe the word is "together." We're just together. All the time. I get one, three-hour window a week completely to myself while the girls are at P.E. This is the first time I'm getting to take advantage of it and I've been practically paralyzed by my array of options. Should I exercise/cleanthehouse/dolaundry/write/read/dobiblestudy/practicepiano? Should I shop/planmeals/cutcoupons/getcoffee? So f...

I lay in bed last night, wide awake. So physically anxious that sleep was out of the question. Had I planned enough? Would the girls be interested? Could I fill a day - or even just a morning - with activities that would engage them? Or had I planned too much? Would I be rushing to get through my lesson plans? Did we make the right decision? Should I get up and work some more on the bulletin board? Knowing that the alarm was set for our early-family-exercise session, I desperately tried to shut down. My level of anxiety was a complete surprise. After a scalding, almost-midnight shower by eucalyptus-mint candlelight (I pulled out all the stops...), sleep won at last. The girls, on the other hand, were super-excited to get started. Eden found me on the playroom floor ripping apart perforated calendar numbers right before bed. "Mom. I need to ask you a question. About homeschooling." "Yes? Ask away." "What time should I meet you? And where? And what should I be w...

I remember talking to a mom who was taking her daughter out of private preschool after one year. She was telling me all about how excited she was about homeschooling, how she couldn't think of anything better than spending all of that time with her child, and why would she want to continue to let anyone else raise her child and on and on. It was a hard sell, and I could tell she was selling herself on it as much as she was trying to sell me. We were doing the same thing - pulling E out after one year in favor of a free program - so I just said something like, "oh, really? right. well, we just didn't want to pay anymore." I didn't have a good feeling about homeschooling after that conversation, and I've met plenty of other moms who have given me similar pitches. I don't appreciate those pitches. I like the ones where the moms hesitate for a minute and then say, "well, we love it, but..." Honesty, please. So, lest anyone think I have it all togethe...

Several writers have suggested that home school families have a mission statement. Mission statements can serve as a filter when deciding what activities to add & subtract from our daily schedule. This seems like a good idea, so we wrote one. The Wright Family Mission Statement, 2010-2011 School Year We aim to honor God as we live a better story by learning, playing and serving together. We will focus on 3 main values: Creativity - We believe that, according to Psalm 150, God has given us many gifts, all of which are designed to bring him Glory. We will praise Him in creative ways. 1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, ...

Seriously. Make one little decision, tell a few people and WHAM! - the inbox is filled with insights, advice and formerly-irrelevant-but-suddenly-spot-on marketing messages. It's like the universe, or at least MY universe, has been waiting for us to decide to homeschool. With a collectively breathed " at last ," sources across space and time are unloading the wisdom that they have been courteously holding back for a few years. Focus on the Family sends me regular emails, which I regularly delete before reading. But I was physically unable to delete this week's, which had the words "effective" and "homeschool" in it. I figured maybe God had pushed Dr. Dobson aside and was trying to get my attention. My theory was confirmed when 2 other people forwarded me the same email. The article was encouraging and included a link to an entire series of practical, how-to-start-homeschooling posts. Over the last couple of weeks I have alternated between reading b...

So, maybe I shouldn't have waited until summer, when my kids are home with me all the time, to make a decision about whether I want my kids home with me all the time. I've found myself dipping into the cons of homeschooling quite a bit - particularly the ones that affect my ability to get anything done. I am trying to find the line between selfish and practical. Is it selfish to want some time to read a book, write a book (or even just a blog, for goodness sake!), exercise in peace, see some friends or just plan a dinner? Or should I embrace the challenge of getting those things done WHILE pouring my own life into my kids? And as they run through the house yelling at each other at this very moment, I am asking myself: When does school start? But yesterday I was reminded of why this debate began again this year - not because there was anything wrong with our school experience, but because the school experience itself is simply exhausting. Mornings spent racing out the door + af...