What does your first day of school look like?  How do you get ready for the year?  Even if you are homeschooling year-round, some activities probably begin in the fall, perhaps a sport, dance class or music chorus.  Preparations are made and schedules change.  Before homeschooling, we followed the same routine every year, shopping for clothes and school supplies just in the nick of time.  Once we started homeschooling, we could avoid the crowds.  Family vacations happened off-season, while everyone else was starting school.  Shopping for supplies meant browsing shelves in libraries and bookstores.  Meeting new friends could happen at a picnic in the park.  The start of each year was a gentle transition, with freedom of choice as our guide.  If something didn't work, we could change it, with thoughtful consideration but without hesitation.  Our goal was to have fun!  A happy child is a learning child!

 

Check out this interview that aired last June on a local cable TV show, recently posted on youtube.  If enough folks post comments on the youtube page, maybe they will have me back, as well as other speakers on this important  topic.  Please post a comment!

 

Here are books, crafts, local u-pick farms and cider mills, and recipes.

Family hikes and leaf-peeping trips.

 

Hear from "experts and speakers on unschooling, peaceful parenting and other relevant topics to today's life-learning families" at the first annual Life Without Instructions Conference, Oct 5 - 8 in East Rutherford, NJ (six miles from Manhattan).  Featured speakers include Peter Gray (Freedom to Learn).  I will talk about homeschoolers taking a self-directed path towards college.  Join us!