Whew, what was that streak of light? Oh it was summer. It's gone now. Wow, what a sight. Our first public school summer. We (really I) tried hard to have a normal homeschool perspective on these three months, but that proved impossible when the children have been swept up into the world's flying version. Crash and rise again the last week of August pheonix style to file into appropriate boxes of learning. They have adjusted well in one year. No tears, crying or hanging. They walked excitedly into the brick building rising threateningly in my view. They slapped five, greeted old friends, hunched under their backpacks (one old, one new thanks to the economy) and soldiered forward with the ringing bell. I sat in the car proud of their coping skills, grateful for the successes of last year and the hopes for this year, but holding my heart gingerly in my hands as I see what is so tenderly important to me for them lieing in the dust.
Crumbled amongst the pavement stones lies the love to learn, the eager comfort of books, the questions and answers so far out of the box I needed a road map, their passions and imaginations. This yellow brick road holds forced learning, scheduled investigative inquiry, limited phsycial activity, standardized performance, and legislated reading. Tossed among the weeds growing in the cracks are values, ethics, and morals to mud their feet and stain their souls.
But yes, they've grown. Yes, they've adjusted. Yes, they fit right in and have learned the rules.
