Two summers ago my dear friend Sarah visited us at the coast. It was a windy summer and on that particular day the high tide sea was completely wild, but having made the journey from London, Sarah was keen to try the water. Once we’d mustered our courage and run down the steep slope through the point where the waves crashed mercilessly down on the beach, we found ourselves in deep, deep water, waves as tall as us hitting us every few seconds. Once we were in, I realised this was the roughest sea I’d ever “swum” in (I decided not to share that observation with Sarah until we were safely back on dry land!).
We spent an exhilarating 10 minutes making split second decisions as to whether it was safe to let ourselves be lifted up high by a still-rising wall of water, or whether an approaching wave had passed the point of being safe to float over and had to be dived through.
My experience of home-educating over the last few weeks has felt a bit like that day in the waves. Making a decision about whether C is to take up an offered place at a local (“outstanding”) junior school has put our homeschool under a magnifying glass, at a time when it’s probably not wise to look at it very closely at all! It’s been a very intense few weeks, with some highs – I’ve loved researching different homeschool styles and exploring some of the wealth of practical and inspiring home ed information out there – and some more, as we deliberate creators say, “contrasting” experiences!
Listening to an Abraham workshop CD in the car earlier (one that just happened to be still in my CD changer – my boot is so full (I’m not sure what of 😐 I don’t change the CDs often), I was reminded that “it’s all unfolding beautifully”. After over four years of school (including nursery), C has been at home for just five months. I’ve only been home-educating for a year, and the changes I’ve seen over that time have been profound and wonderful. The children are happy, bright and confident, they have plenty of friends, and they participate in a broad range of activities at home and within our community.
That day two summers ago the children played happily on the beach as we grown-ups were tossed around by the wild sea. I would probably never have gone in if I’d known quite how scary it would be, but it was also one of the most fun experiences of my life. And so is home-educating my children. It’s all unfolding beautifully.
