Back to Life

It's that glorious time called Back To School. It's the time when all the schoolchildren are off to school, leaving homeschoolers to run free. Nothing against schooled children, mind you - we have lots of friends who go to school, it's just when kids are in school, it's a bit different in the world.

To us, it's more like Back to Life. Our busy Summer is over, and we can move at a more leisurely pace. It's nice having much-less-crowded museums and science centers to explore; parks basically to ourselves, especially during little kid naptimes. We love movie matinees in nearly-empty theaters and walking beaches without tripping through a maze of beach chairs and blankets. 

It's back to homeschool co-op on Fridays and Tuesday Night Sunday School. It's back to sermon notes and daily journal writing. It's back to the library to explore new topics and then out in the world to expand our horizons. 

It's staying in our pajamas all day if we want to, remembering to add in school bus delays when we need to get somewhere in the morning ... or early afternoon, and wondering why our homeschooled kids don't often sleep past 7AM. 

This is also the time when my OCD goes full tilt and the giant dry erase board is filled to capacity. There's a calendar with activities, appointments, birthdays, meetings, and the like; a daily to do list, upcoming events, household duties, writing assignments, and various countdowns all crammed organized in one central space so that everyone knows what's going on at a glance or three.

I love What School Looks Like to us, and what learning is to my children. Sights, sounds, conversations, experiences, meditation, playing, arguing, cooking, cleaning, tinkering, creating, thinking, sharing, planning, shopping, worshiping, traveling, exploring, and even sleeping are learning experiences. Life is school, and learning never ends.