The First Day

 “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

Deuteronomy 32:2 

The summer has finally come to a close for us. I'm sipping coffee and watching the sun come up, soaking in the silence before the kids come down and our first school day begins. This year has taken so many twists and turns for us that the thought of adding school on top of it almost seemed like more than I could take on, but standing here at the beginning, it feels familiar - and right. We ended early last Spring, with Magnolia's arrival, and I've missed the familiar rhythm of it. It is crazy chaos and a mess, of course, but it contains whispers of my own childhood and memories of the years when they were so much smaller.

While I welcome the break, Summer is never my favorite. I really do love these Fall days after a free and frantic summer, returning to a little bit of structure and sense. I love the weather and feel of fall, cozy knitting and baking and turning inward. While its a lot more work in some ways, it also feels like slowing down. The neighbor kids go back to school. My kids stop dashing in and out, packing and unpacking between trips just long enough to run some laundry. We can get into a groove now. The predictability feels comfortable and reassuring, at least for now. I know by next Spring we will be ready to flee for freedom again.

I'm not a very good teacher, and teaching will never be my passion. Some homeschool Mamas adore it, I know, the school and academic part of homeschooling. My love for schooling my kids at home has always been the at home part of it - building a life together where my kids are a part of my every day, where school is a natural outgrowth of real life. I know these years are fast fleeting - indeed, I wasn't sure this year if we'd homeschool at all - so my admonition to myself is to enjoy it. To try and keep distractions at bay and to truly enjoy my people here.

This year we have 7th,5th,3rd,1st graders and three little ones besides. I resist the term "preK" because I really don't believe in imposing academics of any kind on littles. Even Kindergarten is very lite over here. It is going to be a beautiful week, and I hope to get them all out in it. Apple orchards and nature hikes and little adventures here and there. I made a new chore chart which will take some adjusting to but I'm hopeful that it works well. Our co op begins tomorrow and the kids are so excited. I'm basking in the privilege of schooling my kids my way, for another year. Full of good books, creative chaos, faith and light and real life learning.

Just another precious year, doing what we do.

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