We meet with our Distance Education Liason with the School District tomorrow. Our last check-in/assessment/evaluation before the summer break.

We have not completed this last ‘module’. We will have merely the first of I don’t know how many math workbooks completed, just, to present to her. She will ask Beasley what he’s been working on and he will say, in typical nine-year-old-can’t-remember-past-this-morning’s-breakfast kind of way, “ummmm….. Nothing.” Helpful.

Despite the fact the child is learning to use my big ol’ digital SLR. He is loving taking pictures. He bakes muffins. He is at this very moment dismantling my kitchen making Smoothies. He will, in fact, reassemble and clean-up said kitchen. We have been camping. He has been diligently caring for his new veggies that are growing, while planting with great care new seeds as well as the plants he has been nurturing, like his very own new babies, these past couple of months. He participated in his first Triathlon. He reads all the time. He is LOVING reading… oh God, just writing it makes me all, like… VERKLEMPT! He LOVES reading. His own words. Oh, no… I knew it. Eyes. Dewey.

If I’d asked him if he enjoyed reading four months ago he would have screwed up his pretty little face and stated emphatically, out of squishied-up mouth, ‘NO!’

But, alas, he will say ‘we do nothing’. The insights of a nine-year-old.

And in her mind, he will likely be right. Because in two months we’ve not managed to complete an 18 day long ‘module’.

I’m having highschool flashbacks. Sorry. Homework. Not. Done.

As I’ve previously posted, we are feeling as though we are finding the right path for us.

Friday, we met with our homeschool/district liason and she offered a lot of encouragement, reminding us that we are free to pick and choose programs, including the Province’s own, and approach this whole process as works best for us.

As long as we are registered with our local school district we just have to be able to periodically show, and/or tell, her what we’re doing.  Beasley and Zip will just demonstrate that skills are developing and their progress is recorded.  And they advance.

I was so pleased when she asked if he was enjoying learning at home.  His response was an enthusiastic, resounding, “yeah!”

She’s also hooking us up with another homeschool family, recently abandoned by their previous group (families moved, kids transitioned to conventional school).  This family has really enjoyed a network as well as others to enjoy fieldtrips and outings with.  So, it could be fun…  it sounds like she’s pretty committed to the BC Curriculum- not so much relaxed… like us.

I’ve been poking around these internets for the past couple of hours moments and have come upon the most glorious of concepts. Deschooling.

Apparently, when transitioning a child from the rigours of the conventional school system into homeschooling, an effective way of doing so, while reinvigorating self-confidence, self-esteem and an enjoyment of learning is through a process of deschooling. Or, essentially taking time off from school. Recommended: one month for every year a child has been in school.

This process acts as a period of decompression for the child and parent(s), allowing for a cleansing of the negative effects of the conventional system and allowing for an opening of the mind and spirit so as to prepare for a new, more intuitive and ultimately, more effective approach to education and learning.

Whew. As we stumble along, here, new to this journey, this insight comes as a monstrous relief. We- mainly, I- have still been struggling with the idea of keeping up, or catching up. And the point to counter that would be, with whom, exactly? We are now on our own to accomplish and enjoy learning as works best for child. That was the purpose of our transition from school over there. The freedom in our learning.

We have jumped into another structured system, as dictated by the province and our local school district, and have yet to really unload the expectations, standards and constraints of what we experienced over there.

Anyways, a new and very attractive concept to open our minds to. Take a little pressure off.