Home Again

I've actually been home from the conference for a few days, but have been reluctant to jump back into the world of blogging. Why? I'm not sure. I guess it just feels like there's so much other stuff I should be doing! Of course, when is that NOT true?! :)

The conference was wonderful! Refreshing, inspiring, educational, uplifting, spiritual, practical, etc. So much good stuff! I will admit that my head was absolutely spinning after the first day with various ideas churning around in my poor little brain--what's my philosophy of education? is it better to have a program that's rich in literature, or one that's more focused on hands-on activities? will I go crazy if every afternoon, I have to do a project with my boys, like build a model of an ear under our kitchen table, using pantyhose and cardboard? (answer to that one is probably yes) what about classical education? is it better to focus on Greek and Roman history in the elementary grades when a child can soak up the facts like a sponge? or better to wait until high school when the rich themes of that time period can more adequately be grasped and learned from? what's the balance between, on one hand, making learning fun and interesting and, on the other hand, training your child's character to be able to apply himself to things that aren't fun for him? do you make everything song and dance? what is my child's learning style? even if I do want to make it fun for him, what is the best way to do that, based on his personality type and learning style? am I leaving any gaps in my child's education? and on...and on...and on.

The interesting thing to me is that last year when I went to the conference, I was extremely new in the area of homeschooling, didn't really know much at all, and was confronted with LOTS of questions, just like this year. However, I knew I had a year to "figure it out" since Josiah was only 4 and the "real" schooling didn't start until this year.

So, this year rolls around, and I actually felt pretty confident going into the conference, since I had already essentially planned out this year of homeschooling and even started doing it with Josiah (and it was going well). However after attending a few sessions, my feeling that I had things pretty well figured out for this year went out the window and flew far, far away!

It took a night with my friend Jackie and some good discussion with her (she's a teacher...I LOVE the fact that so many of my friends are teachers...I throw questions at them all the time!) and some thinking time alone to realize that, as it turns out, I still feel pretty confident about the plan I had made for Josiah! I'm tweaking it a bit, but really, I feel like it's a good plan for this year--good for him as he gets a lot of basic learning into his brilliant head--good for me since it's a plan I can live with and am actually happy to do--and with no huge gaps. Whew!

Despite the whirl that my mind got sent into by the conference, I'm 100% thankful that I went. Besides the educational value of it, I also received these benefits:

~ the hope that comes from hearing other people's stories and seeing some of the long-term fruit of the homeschooling lifestyle
~ time away from home and family--a change of pace--time to refresh my batteries
~ spending time with Jackie and her husband Pete--it was really the first time I had spent any time with Pete, and I enjoyed so much seeing how Jackie and Pete interact (lovebirds, to say the least!) and conversing about all kinds of topics
~ in the car on the way, I listened to some tapes (I borrowed my parents' car...never too old for that, right?...and it--gasp!--doesn't have a CD player...so I dug out some old tapes and had a blast listening to them)--one of them was Jeff's sermon that he preached on Father's Day in 2002, three days after Josiah was born--oh. my. goodness. it was hilarious!!! it made me laugh and cry and fall in love more and more with the wonderful man I married--it was such a fun trip down memory lane!
~ coming home--there's nothing like a little time away to make coming home even sweeter than usual--Josiah was SO affectionate that night; it was delightful :)