School is starting and I'm happy!!!

Usually about this time of year I'm feeling a little melancholy. The days are getting shorter, the weather is cooling off, summer is almost over. And school is starting. While alot of mothers are thrilled to death that their kids are returning to school (some more openly then others), most years I was always a little sad. I think it's fun to hang out with the kids all summer - heading to a lake to swim, or meeting up with friends to hike. So every year, after we would buy school supplies and check the school roster to see who was in their classes, I would be thinking "Too bad summer is over." Well, not this year. This year I can't wait for school to start again - since it will be at home! And this year we have a full plan (well, sort of - it's in my head anyway). I don't have to drop the kids off at school or watch them get on the bus to head off to a place where the teachers get to have all the fun watching them learn. I don't have to volunteer at the school, copying or something else in the workroom. I don't have to monitor homework time and work around schoolwork for outside activities. And - this could be best of all - I don't have to spend the first few weeks after the kids are back at school having Pat come home from work and ask me what I did all day! So, I really like homeschooling. The kids seem to like it too. I know they do miss their public-schooled friends and the hanging out time at school, but hopefully Wilderness Awareness and the Co-op will make up for the decreased school-day social time. (It helps that this will be the first year APD's best friend is homeschooled and one of RMD's best friends is homeschooled as well!). APD says he likes to work at his own pace, and RMD likes the freedom to be more creative. As it is now, we're doing one year at a time, but as long as we are productive and everyone seems to be happy and learning, we'll continue our homeschool journey.