Back To Life Back To Reality And The "S" word!

Tomorrow is "Back to Reality Day" in our house! 

Sydney's reality?

My reality? 

We resume school, Dr. appointments and dance. It means we have to get up early, get dressed, eat breakfast and hit the books!  Since I am the teacher, it means today I have to dig out school books and transform the playroom back into the schoolhouse. It means I have to dig out Math, Spelling, English, Vocabulary, History, Science and Reading materials and figure out where we left off and how best to proceed for the rest of the year.

Books leaving my house... last summer purge!

I dream of school room looking like this by morning...

Being able to homeschool our daughter is the best gift anyone gave our family but it's not always easy.  I wrote about my reasons for homeschooling here.  We are in the middle of middle school and we are over halfway through this journey. I have days where I am a complete mess and I wonder if she is getting all she needs to have to get her through life.

Onto the "S"word...the entire world seems to be concerned whether or not homeschooled children are "socialized".  In our rather large circle of homeschool moms we giggle at that word and call it the "S" word!  We know this as code for "those people are crazy and their kids don't have anyway to make friends".  The truth is, most of us have children who are happy, balanced and are able to interact with children much younger and much older and can have a decent conversation with an adult as well...this will serve them well in the "real world".  Besides, who decided it was healthy to put that many children in close quarters was insane. Oh! I forgot, our government decided for us and we know by how they handle the postal service, DPS and tax offices how smart and efficient they are so yes!  Let's trust them with our children...not! Please do not assume this means I don't like teachers because I think most people who go into the teaching profession love children and want to help them become all they can be.  Sadly, I can only think of 3 teachers (Drama, Homemaking and Geometry) in high school that had a positive impact on my life and none in college.  I'm pretty sure that being a government employee got in the way of their passions for teaching.

Can you pick out the homeschooled girl?  It's all of them!

The moral of this story today's rambling? If my daughter isn't prepared for life, college, trade school or being an administrative assistant in a few years... I can't blame the government! I have seen successes and failures in every educational venue and we can only do what is best for our own children and our own family.