Day 1 of our school year

It's the first day of school for many and I'm *finally* figuring out our plan for our school year. Thanks to all who have prayed and encouraged me! We will be doing a mix of unschooling and relaxed schooling. I want more free time and less sit down paperwork. More field trip and more talking "with" my kids instead of "at" my kids. We'll get there. We might follow a math curriculum but we might not. Still working out some details. A weight has been lifted. I may not know exactly what this year will look like but I'm looking forward to spending it with my kids.

This was my facebook post a few days ago.  After trying to decide all summer how much freedom I wanted to give my kids, I woke up that Tuesday and knew there would not be video games and tv shows on all day.  And I knew that would be my kids preferences, especially with friends in school.  I know myself and I know that I am not the type of person who will constantly suggest things for them to do either.  Occasionally, I do but it's not the norm.  And I didn't want that pressure.  I already struggle too much with the "should" syndrome. 

My goal is to see where each day takes us and see what they end up wanting to do.  I want to say yes when they ask about doing things and plan to take more field trips.  I want to play more games - some obviously educational but some that aren't so obvious. 

That day was the day before our homeschool co-op, Pioneers, started.  So the kids got their stuff organized.  We went for a haircut and shopping and made copies.  We talked about the history of the world while we were in the car.  I'd like to read The Mystery of History together and create a time line.  I played a yahtzee-style game with Owen and helped him add his score, making piles of 100.  It was a good start to the year.  Brendan requested to watch the USA basketball team play in Spain against New Zeeland.  That led to a discussion on where those countries were, which led to another discussion on the countries my father-in-law had been stationed at when he was in the war.