Last night during the standing ovation after Ben's final homeschool orchestra concert, it hit me. He got his diploma in June, orchestra class is finished. That's it. July 1 marked 18 years since I started the homeschooling journey with the kids at 10 months, 2 years and 4 years of age and now we are at the end. What is that overused saying? The days are slow but the years pass quickly? That's it in a nutshell, even if it's not word for word.
I have struggled with what's next for the past few years. The kids did high school on their own with help from the internet. I know their education has gaps, but they will fill them in as needed. Teaching yourself what you need to know is easier than ever. So is falling down rabbit holes when looking for information, but I did that all the way through school. Went to the library to research an assigned topic and came out with a stack of novels and a few nonfiction books on things that caught my eye. Too bad the internet isn't always that benign as most forks in the path lead more toward funny videos or memes than anything semi-useful.
I don't think I realized what an impact computers would have on our homeschooling. We had one, ONE, at the time. It was on dial-up, I used it off an on during the day, Matt at night after work and we barely touched it on weekends. The other stay at home moms I connected with were the same way. About 4:30 local time, we'd start signing off with, "See you tomorrow!" Or Monday if it was the weekend.
When we first got the computer, Matt suggested I could store recipes on it, I barely touched it. After a few months, I joined a couple bulletin board chats and the first time I got a direct response, which at the time went right to your e-mail, I was SO excited. An E-MAIL! I joined a ghost story site, bought things from one of the early auction sites-everything from toys to an elliptical machine. We still use a small cabinet I got for the bathroom.
We got a printer and I printed out worksheets from one of the two or three websites with them at the time. We printed out directions for trips, and later confirmations for campsites or hotel rooms booked ONLINE. I messed around with building websites.
The kids had several computer games that taught them shapes, typing, reading, spelling, math. The levels progressed all the way through 5th grade and computer time was scheduled into the days. We got a second computer, a laptop for me. Then that was passed to Chandler and I got a new laptop. Matt eventually built his own for gaming and Jake and Ben shared the family computer until Ben was 13 and got his own Dad-built computer.
I look back and wonder how many hours we spent sitting around the kitchen table vs sitting in front of a computer. We used to go to the local state park on Wednesdays when it was free and do school at the picnic tables. They would finish their lists and I would check their work while they played. That is honestly the only 'sit together and work' time I recall outside of co-op. They usually sat while I went over the daily goals and we would read history twice a week and they would do math sheets twice a week, then science and whatever experiments we had going before lunch. After lunch was computer time, reading, copywork and then journaling as they got older. Friday was art, roller skating, friend time, field trips. Everyone we knew had a similar schedule, Friday was Fun Day. After a while, we turned Tuesday into the hangout day, most often at our house, and kept it that way for years. Jake was 19 before we stopped hosting. The last gathering was his birthday/graduation celebration.
We did Charlotte Mason when they were very young, then unit studies, then child-led as they got older and their interests went different directions. Then unschooling, with me not so much strewing as just sending them assignments from Khan Academy on Sunday night. I don't know what it was at the end. Lots of me with lists of things they 'should know' and stocking the shelves in the bathroom with all the high school reading list books, sending links to Crash Course, pointing out various colleges. I'll call it Hopeful Nagging.
And here we are.
Last night Ben thanked his band director, his friends who played with him, his friends who came to see him play, his sister for her support, his Dad for pitching in last-minute to cover drums and that was it. No 'thanks Mom' at all. And that's how it goes. That 18 years of them growing up was 18 years of my life as well, time I am glad I was able to spend with them day in and day out.
I will keep blogging for a bit here before swapping to a new blog. The website is gone, "roamschool" is no more, though I will retain the name a little longer. Not ready for just anyone to be able to set up shop under what was our banner for many years. It may have been a thankless job, but it was my whole world for a long time. And I was very lucky that it was.
