I swing between two ideals. On the one side of the pendulum is my desire to be completely child-led, unschooly, and free-flowing. On the other side of the pendulum is my desire to provide a rigorous and deep education.
This pendulum has swung since I started homeschooling, back and forth.
We're currently on the unschooly, free-flowing side of things. The Kid has chosen four goals for herself, and I'm working to facilitate those goals. Two of the four could easily be termed "academic" - applying to Epsilon Camp (which requires quite a lot of math, including a formal Algebra 1 class) and learning to write poetry. Two of those goals are not, at least not in any classic sense of the word "academic" - learning to use a sewing machine and working on her Destination Imagination projects.
She has dropped French, though decided to continue with Homeschool Spanish Academy. She decided not to add another language, which had long been her plan. We're doing no formal English, no formal science, no formal history.
With her newly freed up time, she has been doing more art, gone back to playing on Burning Cargo, and occasionally sat at the piano again.
I know the pendulum will eventually swing back the other way. Every time we loosen up, she and I both eventually miss the academics. But for now, a lull.
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