Managing Fall Semester

Fall is the time of year when all the neurosis comes out in homeschooling families, in my experience. Suddenly you feel like you are supposed to be signing your kid up for a million activities, just like everyone else. Supposedly, anyway.

Well, I missed this frenzy period once again this year, because of moving around Labor Day.

We did get in on the local Homeschool Co-op startup, though, but we are currently in the position of deciding whether or not we will try to continue this fall, or wait until January, when a new semester begins. I am leaning towards waiting until January, due to the fact that bringing Ottar along has been way too challenging for my ability levels right now. And also Ezra was put in a class that is for 4.5-6 year olds, and he is going along with it but not enjoying it to the degree that he is willing to participate in it on his own (with me dropping him off). So, I am thinking of things we could do this fall as True Unschoolers!

Ezra did start "Little Ninjas" last week - a martial arts class. He's wanted to do martial arts for a long time, so I was very excited when I saw this class being offered.

The other things Ezra said he wanted to learn this fall are: archery, blacksmithing, and art.

I can't find him an art class so far, so I think we'll do that at home. And I also can't find a kids' archery class, but I am trying to figure something out. And there is at least a one-day blacksmithing workshop we've found that he can take with one of his parents.

As parents we have also decided to take the opportunity to look at Ezra's "first grade year" as a chance for us to gain some of the skills we are bitter that we never learned, ourselves! So, for this year we are going to work on a variety of skills as a family. Included among them, for the record:

-woodworking projects
-sewing lessons
-"handy" projects, such as fixing the screen Ottar just wrecked
-beekeeping workshop (I've always wanted to do this!)
-hunting skills (my husband is going to work on this with a friend)
-gardening
-patio construction
-knitting
-woodcarving

Well, that's it for now! I just wanted to write some stuff down before I forgot. Once again, too bad I don't have a digital camera right now, to spruce up this barren post.