On Day One.......

Dear Kennedy and Hayden:

It is just after 6:00 am on Monday, January 19, 2009. I really don't have to be up for a couple of more hours, but my stomach and mind are churning with anticipation, and I really can't sleep any more.

Today is a big day for you, and for our entire family.

Today is our first day of homeschool.

I will admit that this feels strange. It feels strange not to be scurrying around getting permission slips signed, folders filled, backpacks packed with snowpants and water bottles and snacks for the day.

It will undoubtedly feel strange when 8:15 rolls around and we're not running around trying to get out the door to get to school by 8:30. I will not miss the frustration and tears that sometimes result from the hurry.

It will feel strange when 12:05 comes and I'm not in the front window, waiting to see the big yellow bus come around the bend to drop Hayden off after kindergarten.

And again at 3:40, when Kennedy would typically walk in, throw her backpack down, and say "Hi, Mom, I'm home!".....that will feel odd today, I'm sure.

Instead, we will leisurely get up, have breakfast together, finish our chores.....for these are as much about learning as any book that we open.

Some of our new supplies are stacked here on the counter in front of me. I bought you each a personal-sized dry-erase board and a clipboard, both of which are highly mobile so they can be moved wherever we are in the house. And, of course, new crayons and markers and a full-spectrum set of flair pens.....just because they're fun! And plenty of new pencils, and blank notecards, and writing paper. I feel the anticipation of the first day of a new school year.

The only difference is, this time Daddy and I are the teachers, and our home and world are the classroom.

I want you to know that we have bathed this day and this whole journey in prayer, and tears, and lots of thinking and planning time. We know that God is going to richly bless not only you two but our whole family as we re-situate education and learning to our home.

We do not just want to "do school" at home; rather, it is our goal to figure out how to make the learning experience come alive for you as it is only possible in a safe, creative nurturing home setting. We want you to learn in comfort, according to your own unique learning styles, and to be able to follow your passions. We want to embrace learning as happening 24 hours of the day, regardless of what we are doing, and whether or not there are books involved. This whole process has challenged my understanding of what learning is, where it happens, and how it is best accomplished.

For you, Kennedy, I know that means that we will be exploring and studying lots of animals, and the planets, and lots of good books. We will be creating constantly and researching incessantly.

For you, Hayden, it means that we will be incorporating race cars into our lessons, figuring out how to use the Wii to our advantage in learning, and challenging you with increasingly complex number problems.

I am excited about starting to dive into world history together today, starting with Creation as opposed to the place where the public school would typically start. As a family, we are excited about learning the connections between the Bible and history as typically taught in public school.

We will go to the library and check out more books than we have ever checked out before in one trip. We will get Hayden his first library card today.

I look forward to curling up on the big pillows on the floor and reading out loud together.

We will draw and create.

Stories.....we will tell them, draw them, create them.

And I don't want to be totally utopian here! I know that we will have many moments of frustration, and wanting to give up, and tears, and feelings of failure. But I want you to know that mistakes are OK here, and we will embrace and celebrate them as a key step in learning. This is a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and experiment. Thinking outside the box is celebrated in this home!

We want you to know, too, that this decision brings with it a lot of sacrifices. I think many moms look forward to the time when their kids are all in school full time, for that additional time to pursue interests, scrapbook (!), and keep the house clean. We would have been at that point in September, and so I am choosing today to give that time totally to you and your development and learning. And it will mean some juggling with my teaching schedule and Daddy's event schedule; but with God's help, it will work and work well! We will need to work together as a family to make it happen, for sure, but we will grow together through it. I want you to know that you two are worth ANY sacrifice that we need to make to ensure your education is top quality, challenging, and tailored to you.

So it is my hope and prayer that today will be about reconnecting deeply as a family in the learning process. I hope that it is a day filled with fun, and exploration (with minimal tears!), and of good books. A day of creativity and the hope the only new journeys can lay before us.

And, most of all, I want you to know that while this decision was very difficult for us to make, we did so with the faith that bringing you home to learn will give you an enriched, individualized experience that will allow you to soar and reach your full potential in preparation for what God has planned for your lives.

I love you both, my beautiful kids, and am honored to be your Mommy, biggest fan, and teacher.

Love,
Mommy