Why am I laughing? Because I've run out of pictures, PapaGray is gone, and this is all she wrote.
First, I will make an official apology. We have done the blogger faux-paus. We start a site, we blog on Saturdays, and then POOF. Two Saturdays in a row, no blogging!
Our excuse? Planning a family vacation to Canada, great developments, teleseminars and a live event with 48 Days, and kids. We have two. That means double the brain loss. Double the chaos. And double the excuses (yikes).
Bottom line, we dropped the ball. I’m home alone this weekend while Papa Gray is camping in the Smokey’s with his brothers (literally and figuratively), reflecting on the last days of bachelor-hood for one of them.
While he’s gone, it’s my turn to reflect…this website – we jumped the gun – we hopped on board, ready to dive into this “alternative schooling” world, not comfortable calling it “homeschool” but definitely think it far from institutional… so why are we doing this so soon? Technically, we don’t have to lift a finger on schooling until our oldest is 6. That’s two years from now!
Well here you go. This is why: My child doesn’t start learning at six. Shockingly enough, she’s been learning since the moment she was born. Recently my mother and my mother-in-law both took Ladybug Girl for a day each to teach her art – she learned to draw in two ways – by simply creating a masterpiece on a box, and a detailed step-by-step on how a snail is made.
I have to say, I’m pretty proud of her. She’s become a true artiste’ because of these two wonderful grandmothers. She’s careful, detailed, creative… and the amount of depth she’s learning – way beyond mere paint colors – is incredible. She knows how to mix and get another color, but she also is learning spatial reasoning, what things are concrete (a piece of grass is a piece of grass) or flexible (but that piece of grass can very well morph into a pirate ship in my mind). She’s learning about her emotions, and how art will match her mood (wild and crazy or methodical and ornate). She’s learning how a finished product is a process and doesn’t just appear immediately…hmm, much like life.
So much of what my girl is learning today is crucial not just as an art class but in life skills and connecting this passion she has with application throughout her day.
I promise we’ll cover nitty-gritty details like curriculum and laws, but we’re learning as we grow here, so cut us some slack. It’s coming, it’s coming!
