What lies ahead...
So there it is. We're sorting our stuff out and packing our bags, leaving for the flight home very soon. Excitement and sadness in equal measure. We will be returning to the inevitable month of rain and thunderstorms following the legendary summer 2018 but it will be filled with family and good times before the reality of school/work/routine in September.
What next? How are we going to fit back into society after a year like this. Reintroduction to our normal.
Polly is really excited about starting secondary school with her old buddies in September who she has missed very much. She has loved travelling and exploring, fallen in love with Whistler and grown hugely in confidence. She has made new friends, taken every opportunity given to her with open arms and is a wonderful, brave little lady... in her element baking, skiing, downhill biking or jumping off anything into a body of water.
Meg was 3 recently and is full of smiles and chats. She has gone from toddler to little girl this year, never complains or even mentions her miracle fingers and can't wait to go to Nursery in September to meet some local friends, dress up and play with dolls to her hearts content... she is very much a pink girl.
Oh... Did we mention we're going to carry on home schooling the boys?
We had been talking about this in a 'what if' scenario all year as there was always a risk we would loose our school places but it was a risk we were prepared to take, and a risk that we came to believe was really no risk at all compared to what they were going to gain. We just weren't brave enough to make it an active decision, despite it playing on our minds constantly, but we had our arm twisted, by not actually getting back into their old school. We had choices... they could start elsewhere at school together or go to different schools but neither of them wanted to do that and something didn't feel right about it.
This last year has taught us so much but one thing that stands out was learnt through trial and error but seems obvious in retrospect... Kids are individuals and therefore learn in different ways. There is no 'one size fits all' approach and I honestly don't know how you teachers do it!
Jinks loves learning about whatever he is interested in, researching at length, emersing himself in something while seeing, doing and getting his hands dirty. If you want something doing he is your man. We have had woodwork, rope making (by that I mean a good 60 metres of rope) and this week it is all about magic and card tricks. Tom is looking much the same. He's keen to learn, loves nature, enjoys everything we do and his confidence is growing day by day. He also likes hanging out with his brother and the two of them have loved going to Whistler Outdoor Learning with Rachelle who is going to be one of those people in life they look back on as a big influencer. She is awesome.
I suspect there will be a degree of justifying our decisions to people and explaining to every man and his dog that the boys aren't ill or going to the dentist... they are home schooled, or home educated as people prefer to call it these days... People will think we are a little bit weird, stuck at home staring at the walls surrounded by books and wearing hemp... the reality is they will see their old friends, make new ones, do football/rugby/swimming etc. We will be out and about, as we have this year, seeing things, taking trips, chatting to people and doing normal day to day stuff. They will have plenty of opportunities to socialise, which seems to be the number one concern when anyone mentions home schooling... if it doesn't work out, we will change plans.
There are some changes to make to our week and work and there will be hurdles, of course, but it absolutely feels like the right thing to do and we are all excited about it. We have read so much about it and for anyone interested in reading more this blog post I found summarises our feelings really well http://familyedventures.com/world-schooling/
As you can see someone, in particular, is very pleased....
