The little things

I was excited about homeschooling from the start, but I find that the little benefits are dawning on me day by day.

For instance, that we will be spending a lot less money on clothes. Have I mentioned that my kids hate clothing? Have I mentioned that many days I never get out of my flannel pants and sweatshirt? Not to mention the lack of peer pressure to wear brand names.

A. has dubbed the letter combination "oo" the "ghost letter". This is in reference to me telling her that a string of o's would make a sound like a ghost (which I imitated). I am so glad no one will ever tell her there is no such thing as a ghost letter, or in any way disdain her nickname for a double o.

I am happy that A. will, in all likelihood, never again receive a Valentine bearing the likeness of The Incredible Hulk, Barbie, The Little Mermaid, or the Power Rangers.

I've realized that (for example) there is no reason I can't explain the concept of multiplication before A. has mastered addition. I think I was overly worried about the possibility of confusion, for instance in not wanting to start French until she was reading English reasonably well. I've now decided not to be so hesitant. If A. wants to know what "eight eights" makes, I'm free to explain that eight times eight is 64, even if, to her, 64 is merely a number on the Chutes and Ladders board which is more than halfway to the end. Maybe she'll get the gist, maybe not. But my answer to her questions will never be "It's not time to learn that yet."

My kids will grow up with the Peters Projection map:





...and they will know that Greenland is not as big as Africa. We have this hanging on our wall upstairs. I plan to take it down and re-hang it, upside down. The only reason north is at the top-- and consider all the positive connotations to "up," "above," and "top"-- is that the white people live there.

My kids will not ride a bus with no seat belts. (Anybody else think it's unthinkable that the only vehicles not required to have seat belts are the ones that transport children? Insert expletives here.)

My children will never experience the horror of dodge ball, of hitting the volleyball after it went out of bounds, or of being continuously picked last for sports teams. (Have I given myself away?)


I've also tried to think of little things my kids might miss out on by not being in a formal school. So far, I can think of one: they will not know the joy of surreptitiously passing notes during class. Possibly other missed experiences will come to mind, but so far, that's all she wrote.