A quick note to say that family activites tomorrow will keep me from posting This Week in the Kitchen :: Blog Hop. Let's pick up where we left off next Thursday, okay? Who knows... maybe some of you will have been apple picking by then!

Painting by one of Emily's friends, age 15 when painted. Jordan also homeschools and is an incredibly prolific artist with large windows of time to pursue her passions. She has a lovely Etsy shop too. Also, she free handed that lettering!

True to blogger form, it seems I’ve lost interest in finishing this series on updating our homeschool life. Sorry this has taken me so long to finish. The saddest part is that it’s only a two part series! It's no wonder I haven’t written a book yet. But here I am, tapping out a few thoughts and a collection of hopefully useful resources for my fellow homeschool friends.

Before I carry on, I wanted to clarify our definition of how we do school. And by doing that, I can only tell you we really don’t fit into a specific label. Homeschooling is the most easily understood umbrella term, and so we use it. There’s a lot of discussion around being a “homeschooler” or "unschooler” to the point that it just feels pretty exclusive and unyielding. I've never been very good a rigidity. But for descriptive purposes in my writing, I mostly use "homeschool” because it’s just easier. Truly what we do is we learn... in freedom. It’s as simple as that.

The terms homeschool, unschool, hackschool, immersion learning, freedom based homeschool - it doesn’t matter to me what it’s called. Learning and living in freedom, that’s our goal and our practice.

Okay. Let's get into it, then. If a homeschool family declares they are “done” with high school at the beginning of what should be their teen’s junior year, what exactly are they going to do with their time?

We love the book list section in Honey for a Teen's Heart. All the descriptions right there. This is one of the tools Emily uses to put together her reading lists each year.

Well, the first thing we’re going to do is schedule less. This might not mean we wind up doing less, but we will schedule less. In my last post I talked about how I love the unparalleled spaciousness in life that homeschooling and unschooling provide. Since we began homeschooling four years ago we’ve held evenings and weekends as large, wide open windows of unstructured, low-obligation time. We did however maintain a pretty structured routine to our weekdays - basically the hours of 9am-3pm were dedicated to learning. Now, to understand how this looked, please know it was not us playing school. This was me holding space (yoga teacher in the house!) for pursuits of all kinds - scholarly, creative, community oriented, etc. It just so happens that my daughter asked to fill that time with a fair amount of academic rigor, including expectations to fulfill and goals to meet.

And that was great for a while, but to fully reap the benefits of learning and living in freedom, you have to know when the time comes for change, and honor the new territory ahead of you.

So, “pre-college” is upon us. As described in my last post:

Not to be confused with a “grace year” or “gap year” that is becoming more popular (yeah!) among high school graduates. Pre-college to me is longer, and begins a bit younger - a time of slow and careful preparation led by curiosity and freedom. It is not an “instead of college” experience, it is a “preparing for college and/or life” experience.

Texts for Emily's university classes this semester. I'm jealous!

This year, at various times Emily will be:

• Attending two classes per semester at one of our state universities.
• Taking math and spanish at home per her request.
• Continuing with her competitive debate team.
• Working! Emily has her first job at a museum in CT. She loves it!
• Reading. Continuing her personal commitment to reading classic literature, Emily is forming her list for this year from the lists in this book as well as this one. They are both great resources. You can easily find plenty of great literature lists online, we just happen to have these books in house. 
• Learning to drive. The number of behind the wheel hours our state requires before getting your license is far too low. Emily has the time to put into learning to drive, and so that will be a priority for us this year. You can’t have too many practice hours.
• Piano lessons - her fourth year studying piano at Community School of the Arts.
• Gym - she goes to the gym 4-5 days per week. Girl loves building muscle. Also plays basketball for our town.
• Continuing her daily perusal of the New York Times and all the major news networks. My grandfather was a politician, her dad is a lawyer, and it was predicted by a teacher that my future would be filled with political activism (little did I understand how that would not work out for me as a HSP)... regardless, the apple doesn't fall far.
• Preparing for the SATs.
• Working on a (potential) secret family project that I'm not able to discuss at this time. Phooey.

As you can see, her interests still look pretty school-ish. True to form. What is different this year is Emily will be going about all of these things, and whatever else that grabs her interest, from a place of full autonomy. This is something we've always encouraged, but Emily has often preferred to know what the expectations were and to follow them. We've reached a point though where it is time for her to be the keeper of her days. A time to get up at 6am if she is ready, or sleep until 10am if that is what she needs. A time to plan her days according to her own ideals, making adjustments and finding balance as needed. She is so ready for this and I'm pretty excited to watch her live with even more independence and freedom.

Sample of Emily's history timeline illustrations.

The hardest part for us over the years has not been lack of options as homeschoolers, it has been the opposite. The world is in the palm of our hands! When life is free and spacious, you can easily become overwhelmed with the endless choices before you and it’s hard to know when to commit to less. It’s all so good!

This feels a little bit like sharing the contents of my purse, but here goes nothing. I promised I'd share a list of the many materials we've used during our high school years here at home. Most of them we completed to the end, others were put on the back burner when something else came along to replace it.

Homeschool Resources for the High School Years


A History of Us - We have used this book series as a springboard for learning over the last few years. We don't really read the chapters, take the quiz and stop there. The simple text inspires us to dig deeper on particular historical aspects that we'd like a better understanding or perhaps a different perspective of. From these books, other books are read, movies are watched, state capital trips are made, art projects are completed... you get the idea.

World History, Oak Meadow - I loved Oak Meadow during the early years, but I really don't care for the way some of their high school courses use standard public school textbooks. This course, like many, uses a typical high school textbook that is supported by an Oak Meadow syllabus. For us, the textbook was flashy and full of tid-bits that were distracting. It's like the writers assumed none of us had attention spans so everything is delivered in magazine type snippets. However, the syllabus that Oak Meadow has created to use with this textbook is excellent, filled with the meaningful, interesting assignments that we all know and expect form Oak Meadow. Given that, we were able to get a lot out of it regardless of the text not being the right fit for us.

History Timeline Cards - Not really a resource, but something we've done for years. I don't recall how I came up with this idea, but Emily basically creates a drawing based on whatever topic or period in history we are studying. Emily likes the idea of art, and asks to include it in our work, but she gets frustrated when it is too free-flowing so prefers to have an "assignment" to fulfill. Timeline cards take care of at least two birds with one stone, as all learning should. Sometimes this happened once a week, sometimes once a month. The only stipulation I gave was that her finished work was on (or mounted to) standard page size cardstock. This way I could keep all her timeline cards in handy-dandy sheet protectors all tucked into a three-ring binder (can I get an "ooh... ahhh" from my fellow Virgos?).

Vintage Remedies - This wound up being something that was a great fit for me, not so much for Emily. She was moderately interested, but not enough to pull it out once or twice a week and commit to it.

Foundations in Personal Finance - I think if Dave Ramsey was a high school teacher he'd be one of those "favorites" that students remember for the rest of their lives. He's engaging, dynamic, funny, smart, and very well organized. This class has been one of Emily's favorites, and it completely exceeded my expectations. There is a workbook component that is filled with activities (no fluff at all, everything is well thought out and of great value), and there is a large dvd library that contains video lectures to go with each lesson. We love this program and highly recommend it.

K12 Web Design - A class that Emily took "just to see" if web design is something she'd be into. Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing these days? Nope, she's not. Aced the class though!

K12 Honors English Literary Analysis - This was an excellent course with a wonderful teacher who was attentive and thorough. We never did fall in love with the K12 interface or the necessary amount of screen time required for class, so haven't been back since taking these two course (Honors Lit. and Web Design). Part of the intention behind taking K12 classes was to have some accredited coursework with teachers to provide grades and feedback for the sake of her transcript. She achieved the highest grades in both classes which was her goal.

Debate Class - Entering her third year with the Westfield Debate & Public Speaking Academy. It is hard for me to write about this experience without sounding boastful. I will say that it's pretty fun for these (mostly homeschooled) kids when they routinely win state competitions as well as regional competitions against some of the most elite private boarding schools in the country. Yowza.

Learning Unlimited - Do you all know about this? Learning Unlimited hosts on campus days at major universities around the country for teens. The classes are created and taught by graduate students at the various colleges, and the course selections are as vast as you can imagine. The cost to attend is very low as well. Emily has attended classes at Yale University, MIT, and Amherst College. I highly recommend this program to any teen, not just homeschoolers. It's really fun to do with a group of friends.

Rosetta Stone - We used Rosetta Stone Spanish in middle school. Emily would like to buckle down over the next two years and take foreign language as most colleges expect you to. I was considering doing this through K12 so it would be a typical, accredited foreign language course. She decided fluency is her top priority, not how it looks on paper, and so Rosetta Stone it is. She specifically likes their languages that are designed for homeschoolers (ability to keep track of lessons, earn grades, etc.). I have to agree with her, if you're in it to learn and use the language, Rosetta Stone is great for that.

Apologia Science - We LOVE Apologia Science, and we are secular homeschoolers. I don't know what else to say about this other than the science is excellent, really really excellent. I've looked at a lot of homeschool (and regular school) science offerings and this is the very best I've come across. The heaviest theological speak is in the first chapter(s) as Dr. Wile (who is brilliant and has a great personality that comes through in his writing) lays the foundation. Of course he's going to talk about the Christian worldview at this point, he's introducing the course, which is taught from a Christian perspective. This is the sample chapter that many people read online when considering this curriculum and it's a huge turn off. I get it, but I will tell you that all the scientific theories are taught, it's just that if something is seen differently based on Christian beliefs, he will interject with a "but we believe such and such instead and here is why...." I can work with that. And honestly, we've had so many amazing conversations in our home based on this dichotomy. I'm not trying to convince my secular friends to use Apologia, I'm just saying that we are secular homeschoolers and have found this to be an incredible science curriculum. Mama said to never throw the baby out with the bathwater, right? Apologia is not for everyone, but it has been great for us.

Teaching Textbooks Math - We have used Teaching Textbooks since middle school and it is a great fit for Emily.

Brave Writer - We love Brave Writer classes so very much. I'm kind of bummed that Emily likely won't be able to fit any in this year, they've been such a cornerstone of our English/Language work. In 2012 I wrote about Emily taking a Brave Writer course, and that we liked it very much but would have appreciated some sort of feedback to the parents at the end. Perhaps a grade for the course, but really just some kind of feedback from the teacher. Julie, Brave Writer's founder, emailed me and said, "Thanks for that feedback, that is a good idea!" And now when you take Brave Writer classes your child's work will be graded and you receive a transcript at the end which some people find helpful if they keep careful homeschool records for college purposes. Not that my mention changed their policy, rather it was part of the choir I'm sure.

Artistic Pursuits - If you are looking for a fairly traditional high school level art curriculum, this is a very good program. I wish we were able to get though it all last year as I'm pretty sure it won't make it onto the table regularly this year. Oh well, maybe once in a while we can pull it out. It really is fun and we learned a great deal about technique.

Easy Grammar Plus - We used it, it fulfills the purpose, but lots of reading and writing will always be a far better way to perfect grammar usage than rote memorization. Unless we're talking about prepositions, those babies don't memorize themselves.

Workshops Work! - Patricia has been a great cheerleader to me through the years. It's important to connect with other homeschoolers who are a step or two ahead of you. This is a tremendous help in terms of encouragement, resources, inspiration, etc. I've appreciated all that Patricia shares about homeschooling and then she went and wrote a book that spoke straight to my daughter's strengths! I never did get to lead a formal Writer's Workshop based on the book's teachings, but here at home we have used many of the ideas and tools Patricia lays out for her readers. Definitely a great book to add to your homeschool shelf, especially if you are more outgoing than me and are looking for a class to lead at your homeschool coop. This book will guide you right though it!

Field Trips - Want to know something? Field trips aren't really our thing. I know, what kind of homeschoolers are we!? Homebody homeschoolers, that's what. We do head out once a month or so to do local tourist kind of stuff, but we know homeschoolers that just about base all of their learning around field trips and that's never been our thing.

Artistic Pursuits sample.

What a list! Also, don't forget about Kahn Academy, The Great Courses, and Coursera, all are great resources. I could keep going but I have to stop somewhere!

There was also the two years at our weekly homeschool coop and three years with Emily's monthly teen book club. We won't be continuing with the coop this year, but book club should continue as usual. Perhaps that is in part why we aren't much into field trips, once a week at coop and once a month at book club felt like plenty. I know, wicked introverts over here (and New Englanders... yup, wicked true).

Friends have told me they'd love to homeschool as a better approach to education and life, but their kids don't want to leave school, they love the social aspect (and some feel the need to leave because of unhealthy social aspects). I get that, I too was a social butterfly back in the day. But really, that has not been the driving motivator in our family - school social time. Quality of life and quality of education speak to us. We also started homeschooling at a naturally transitional point (at the end of elementary school) so things just flowed for us. Because we live in an area where there is such a large homeschool community, starting this journey didn't feel much different, socially speaking, than if our family was to move and Emily switched schools. There were new faces, yes, but there were plenty of them.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. If you're on the fence, and nearly every part of your being feels compelled to homeschool, why not just try it? That was our philosophy when we began. I can still remember sitting on the porch with Adam saying, "If it doesn't work out, what's the worst that can happen? We simply stop homeschooling? That's manageable. But we'll never know if we don't try."

Well, that evening on the porch was over four years ago. And you know what they say... the rest is history.

The reason I'm sharing these thoughts is because I get emails weekly from people with questions or a need for support and encouragement around making this decision. I always seem to come back to the one thing that is guaranteed, you'll never know if you don't try. Never underestimate your own intuition. You know better than anyone what your child needs.

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If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them for you. Also, feel free to share your own homeschool resources as well.

The companion to this post: Scratch High School, Let's do "Pre-College"Instead

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

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• Warming foods have been on the menu almost daily. Although yesterday it did creep up to some pretty warm temps which left us feeling a little uninspired at dinnertime. We had eggs. Where would we be without the beloved, perfect little egg? A lifesaver in many ways.

• I've started to dig our potatoes which means our garden to table offerings just got a whole lot heartier.

• We used up the last of our 2012 bread and pickles this week (I rotate between bread and butter pickles or relish each year - last year was a relish year) so a big batch of those needs to happen. I use the recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving but sub honey for the sugar. If you google "bread and butter pickles" from this book you will get a recipe that is different from the one in the book... I use the book's. Maybe the other is good too, I don't know.

• I was recently thinking about how I don't can as much as I used to... trying to switch to preservation methods that better retain nutritive qualities of the food. I thought I was only canning applesauce and salsa these days, but that's not true! I forgot about ketchup, bread and butter pickles, and relish. Oh! And pickled beets. I guess there is still quite a bit that I'm canning.

• I didn't bake anything this week but we did have a few things that simmered and lingered on the back of the stove which is equally comforting to my homebody self. Feeling very grateful these days for freezers that are filled with colorful foods, both from our own land and that of others.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

Like many of you, my time right now is not being spent close to a computer. I can’t recall an August quite as glorious as this one, and I think August makes a pretty good appearance most years - the slow, sweet release of summer. Crisp days framed by sapphire blue skies, early mornings calling for flannel shirts. I wonder where I put my wool slippers at the end of last winter? Upstairs or downstairs closet? Hmm... it’s time to locate those, I think. There is nothing finer than sitting on the front porch with your morning coffee, slightly bundled while enjoying the chill in the air. Reminds you that you’re alive and to make something of the day. I’ve been keeping busy preparing for our “back to home” week (which I prefer to the idea of “not back to school”). Even though things are going to feel quite different for us this year, I still like to mark the transition of seasons and such. Give me a reason to fluff the nest and I am there.

I’m working on the follow up to my last homeschool post. I thought it would publish this week but it looks like next week will be the date. Thanks for your patience, and thank you also for your kind words of support as I share this part of our lives. It’s delicate, you know?

Currently I’m reading Cold Antler Farm, and re-reading Farmer Boy. I’m in the mood to reread the entire Little House series and couldn’t help myself by starting with Farmer Boy. I bet you understand. I wonder, what are you reading these days? It’s been so long since I’ve asked.

In recent weeks a few hats have come off the needles and this week I'll cast on for some mason jar cozies. My mother has crocheted for decades and she never really slowed down much in the summer months as is common with fiber folks, she just worked on small projects that weren't too hot to handle in the heat. I've taken my cue from her and never really stop knitting. Maybe less (I sew more in the summer and need time for that), but I don't stop all together.

Well, my neighbor’s cows are greeting the day with their cute moos, which tells me our chickens need to be let out in a few moments. Lately they’ve been sleeping in, not asking to come out until nearly 7:30!

I just wanted to stop in for a moment to say hello and share this tiny peek of last night’s garden harvest. Soon I will do a proper garden update, it’s been a year of highs and lows for sure - which both teach us so much. By my calculations, I should be a seriously excellent gardener by the time I am 94, and not a day sooner. In the meantime, we’ll keep building our soil, picking off bugs, and somehow manage to pull baskets of homegrown produce week after week from the field. All from a couple handfuls of seed. Now that’s what I call a miracle.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• I love August. I don't often think about my least favorite months (I truly enjoy living with four distinct seasons), but this year I realized that indeed, I have a least favorite... July.  I could really do without all the horseflies and mosquitoes dive-bombing and feasting on my family for 30 days. When we lived in the city I tolerated summer better than I do now, there honestly wasn't much to do outside so we could hunker down in the cool of the house. But now, with a 1,000 square foot (or larger?) garden to tend, it's hard to draw the curtains and emerge only when the cool winds blow again... which happens in August! It is most definitely still summer, but the air and light has shifted ever so slightly, I'm beginning to feel alive again. This week the stove was used more than the grill and there was even a little baking that happened.

• This week saw homemade granola, almond butter brownies (with a wedge of Not Your Sugar Mamas chocolate - yum!), blueberry muffins, lasagna for Emily, and lots and lots of swiss chard. I wrote earlier in the season about our swiss chard having a tough year. It seems to have turned around and is now lush and bountiful. Swiss chard seems to love the shift in light and temperatures as well.

• I think I'm going to make soup today. Can't remember the last time that happened and I'm usually a one pot cook so it feels odd to be without for this long. Perhaps my Bean, Kale, Rice & Sausage Soup - Kathie sent me some Jacob's Cattle Beans that she grew and dried, they are my favorite!

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

It has been ages since I’ve written about our homeschool journey. For the first several years our style could be seen as very “school-like” by an outsider, something that many homeschoolers understandably resist. This structure was entirely based on my daughter’s prompting; it is how she preferred things to be - lots of structure and routine to our days, assignments that were graded, papers to write and exams to study for. That sort of thing. I drew the line at homework though! Being a lifelong foe of the practice, I was not entering the world of homeschool freedom to finish our day with three hours of busy work in the evenings. No way. Thankfully, she thinks the idea of homework is not a very good one as well, so we’ve never included that.

Over the last year however (her sophomore year), we noticed a shift. Emily’s interest in history, politics, and world affairs deepened to the point where we were at a crossroads with our time. There are only so many hours in a day and if we were determined to keep a typical “school schedule,” she would never have the time to read the number of books, watch the number of documentaries, or attend the number of lectures on these subjects as she would like. It’s time to let go of the typical high school course load of seven subjects per day and instead, dive into that which deeply holds her attention and interest. Many homeschoolers follow an interest led style from day one, but our first four years homeschooling Emily requested a (mostly) typical curriculum of courses based on her choosing.

Now, we’re moving on from that school-ish routine. Thankfully! (Although, to many people our style will still look pretty focused and structured, which speaks to Emily’s true nature. But for us, things are about to feel a whole lot less “9-5” around here.)  

Sometime in the spring, as I sat across the dining room table from a friend, our daughters (and their friend) elsewhere in the house holding their monthly teen book club, I asked the typical homeschool mom question, “How’s school going?”  (Which is more of a general lifestyle question among homeschoolers than it is a which chapter in the textbook are you on type of question... but it just so happens this particular mom does have more structured homeschool days, similar to us.) She smiled and without hesitation said, “It’s not! With the baby goat and chicks to care for and the outdoors calling, there is no time for school! So, we've let it go for now.” We then talked about how in more ways than not, our high school years felt complete in the sense that our girls were “educated.” All of them are very well-read, excellent writers, have a thorough understanding of history and science, and great math skills (some better than others... oh, math...). So, what’s left we wondered? Do we still keep playing the school game or do we explore the next season of learning and personal development... and what exactly does that look like?

I see it as something that doesn’t exist as the norm in our society, yet we are about to implement in our family. Something I’m calling “pre-college.” A space between high school and college where deep immersion and development in personal interest occurs. A time for travel, employment or apprenticeship. A time to read and write endlessly. A time for physical activity, care and nourishment of self, and for honing important life skills. A time to take classes specific to your own unique path. A time to feel out your existence and understand your place in this world.

Not to be confused with a “grace year” or “gap year” that is becoming more popular (yeah!) among high school graduates. Pre-college to me is longer, and begins a bit younger - a time of slow and careful preparation led by curiosity and freedom. It is not an “instead of college” experience, it is a “preparing for college and/or life” experience.

Officially, we are done with high school. Instead of labeling Emily as a "junior" and continuing on with 9am-3pm days that are filled with multiple subjects, we are entering a two year (give or take) phase of pre-college.

Aside from buying a house, college is the greatest financial investment most of us will make in our lives. It’s kind of surprising that we don’t give the time leading up to college the full respect it deserves. It seems our teens will benefit if they can prepare and proceed from a place of wisdom and experience rather than college simply being the thing you do immediately after high school.

Some homeschoolers and unschoolers have no interest in college which is perfectly okay, and believe me, we are among the many who are seriously questioning higher education these days. But we have always been college bound homeschoolers, not because we think it is essential or even necessary for all paths in life, but because Emily is of the college mindset and so we support that.

This sounds kind of serious and formal, but it really isn’t. I mean, we do keep good records of all that Emily studies, her achievements as well as interests, and she will be taking the SATs, but we don’t obsess over AP classes and such (yup, you can take AP exams as homeschoolers), nor do we follow our homeschool days with hours of homework at night.

It’s a tricky balance, being college bound/freedom based homeschoolers. On the one hand, I’m committed to my mom job of keeping careful records and a portfolio of Emily’s high school years (our state does not require this, I simply do it for potential college admission purposes), but on the other hand, I’m always ready to do a 180º if we’re inspired to make a change or explore something new. I’m never so committed to a chosen curriculum that we can’t drop it if it isn’t working for us, or if something new and exciting fills our time.

I’m often asked, because our homeschool life has such an emphasis on academics, how things are so different for Emily than if she were to go to school. Aside from the absence of bureaucracy, standardized tests, racing to the top (or whatever the catch phrase is these days), and the fact that all of her academic pursuits are chosen... our days are spacious.

I need to say that again. Our days are spacious. And I am not one to underestimate the power and importance of a spacious life. Oh man, that's the good stuff.

When you remove the long bus rides, standing in cafeteria lines, hours of homework, and simply waiting, waiting, waiting that cannot be avoided in an institutional setting, it’s truly amazing how much rich learning can take place in a day while still leaving plenty of time to have a nice dinner and watch movies or play games with your family on any given weeknight. My greatest observation when I look at our life compared to the lives of Emily’s friends (most of them go to public school), is that we seem to have the time for living that they simply do not have. And though I would never point that out to them, they are the ones who mention it to us. Often. (Which is the only reason I am mentioning it here.)

It can be argued that one will achieve a better education at home than at school, or vice versa, but the amount of time we all have in a day is concrete. That cannot be argued. And although I am of the belief that my daughter is indeed creating a far better education here at home (and in the world), I am mostly grateful for the spaciousness and connection as a family that this lifestyle affords. We only get one shot at this life, and we all have different things that we place great value on. As for me, I need time, space, and freedom in my days... and my daughter would also like the same for hers.

I feel like I should add this note here, because it is something that comes up often among folks who would like to homeschool but feel they cannot afford to. Homeschooling or unschooling finds its way into the life of most families after a series of long and careful choices and sacrifices. It is not something people do because it is the easier or even practical option. It's a philosophical calling that runs deeper than reason. I actually don't know of a single family that homeschools because they can "afford" to. If you ask any homeschooler how they do it, they'll probably tell you where there's a will there's a way... and also, as cliche as it sounds, things have a way of working themselves out.

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So, what’s it all going to look like, this “pre-college” thing? I’m writing a second post that will publish next week explaining that. I’ll share what our new routine (or lack of) will look like, as well as resources that we’ve used so far in our high school years and what we’ll be using moving forward. I always love to see what other homeschoolers are using, so hopefully we’ll have something of interest to add to that deep and wonderful pool.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

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• Beets! Pickles! Scout sitting at the dinner table stalking the beets! (???) Those are pretty much my kitchen themes for the week.

• I am so happy to be growing kale without the infestation of cabbage worms this year. Green smoothies make the perfect late night summertime dinner. Surely I'm not the only one who looks at the clock and realizes it's 7:30 and oops, there are no dinner plans! It's summer, we can fly by the seat of our pants just fine.

• My apologies for being so quiet here. I wrote a few thousand words about our homeschool year and then deleted every last one. It's never been so hard to write about homeschooling before. I think in part it's because I believe in it more than ever and didn't want to come across like I was shouting from my soapbox. But seriously, in this day and age of education, homeschooling is the bomb-diggity. I'm going back to the drawing board and instead of getting all philosophical, I'm just going to write about what we did last year and what we'll be doing next year - with hopefully a good amount of resources to share. I'll post that here on Monday.

• In other family news (these are not really notes about my kitchen!), I wrote a few words over here about something pretty exciting that is happening. I'm so proud of my guy. xo

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!