One of these adventures, is a new home-school co-op for Emma. This year, she is 4. So, we really have to make a decision on schooling. We were fortunate to move into an area with excellent school reputations. However, for the past 4 years, we lived in an area with only one good choice of school and so we had decided to home-school. I decided to embark on a journey of trying out the home-school option to see what we thought of it. So, this year, we joined a Classical Conversations home-school co-op because it was the only one available to a 4 year old that did not require an older sibling in order to join. :)
The first week we went to CC, I still had a car filled with pyrex dishes in the back seat and moving boxes in the trunk. We looked like a family that lived out of our car! Now, if you know me at all, you know that I am not very good at meeting new people and being in situations where I do not know anyone at all. I am introverted, painfully shy at first and awkward in personality. So, this required me to go WAY outside of my comfort zone. Fortunately, I birthed a child that is the complete opposite of me and have been pulled outside of this comfort zone multiple times a day in the last few months. You see, my daughter thrives on meeting new people and making new friends and chatting up the local coffee shop barista. This little 4-year old person does not know a stranger. Everyone is her friend, whether they like it or not.
So, in we go. We walk into a room of home-schoolers and our new life begins. Emma walks over with me to the area where everyone gathers to start the day and I pull her to the back row and sit in the chair with her on my lap and a strong coffee in hand. My little safety net scurries off of my lap and starts introducing herself to the other kids and making friends faster than I have ever seen anyone make a new friend. It goes something like this:
Em - "Hi! I'm Emma! What is your name?
Friend - "I'm _____!"
Em - " You are my best friend in the whole world!"
and off they go dancing together making new friends along the way
Meanwhile, the moms are introducing themselves to me and I am drinking coffee faster and faster to try to spur the extrovert to come out of me. Caffeine does the trick. Soon, I am talking and saying ridiculous and awkward things to everyone around me and Bam! Just like that, we are in a new community of people.
Emma LOVES CC and after 11 weeks now, I am loving it too. I'm not going to lie... it was (and still is at times) very overwhelming. It is a LOT to take in but I must admit, Emma has thrived with it and I am constantly impressed with how much she loves to learn new things. She far exceeds my expectations and while I realize that each child is different in their learning capacity and love for learning, I am slightly intimidated by how quickly she picks things up... and terrified at the things she must be picking up from me that I am not intending to teach her.
Right now, I love homeschooling Emma and will probably continue to school her this way through next year.
Not because I hate the school system. Not because I want to shelter Emma from the evils of the world. Not because I want to indoctrinate her and force her to my beliefs.
I want to home-school my daughter because I love being with her. I love being the one that gets to see that light bulb go off when she "gets" something for the first time. I love re-learning everything right along with her. I love making learning fun for her. I love going to the grocery store during the day with her and learning through our every day life. I love watching her talk with adults at the store during the day, picking things up for people, sharing a smile with someone who seems grumpy to her. I love having Friday morning coffee shop dates where we do our homework over a cup of hot cocoa and Emma talks up a storm with every single other person in the place.
I love that it gives me a slight bit of empathy for the people in my life who have dedicated their lives to being under-paid, over-worked, educators of young children. My hat is off to those, like my sister, who spend every day in a classroom filled with kids at all different levels of learning and speaking the English language. What a challenge!! I couldn't do it :)
What an adventure we have begun!
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