Ahhh, Labor Day.

Honestly, I don’t care what people say. Blah blah labor unions and whatsiwhosits. We all know why adults really rejoice and throw parties this weekend.

It means the kids are back in school.

Yay, free babysitting!

That works great for some people. It works not so great for others. Really, if you send your kids to government institutions to breed the next version of Swine Flu, great for your family. We choose another route.

*Note, I really don’t think that government institutions are all that bad. However, I do believe they are germ factories and that’s a wee bit gross. Get your immunizations up to date and drink a lot of orange juice!*

I spent 13 years in school before I entered University. I can honestly say the best years were the years I spent at Montfort Academy.  Private school just was a better match for me. Sadly, it didn’t go through high school.

We tried public school. It just wasn’t a good fit. For a very many reasons. So we left.

Instead we build robots, make movies, study world religions, learn a smattering of many languages, and a great many other fun things. My boys get to learn at their own pace, exploring what interests them.

(You’d be surprised what they choose to write essays on. I’m glad that three months of ancient Asian weaponry appears over. On the bright note, I learned a lot about ancient Asian weaponry. Apparently there’s more than just Kung Fu and swords. Who knew?)

We claim our school year starts after Labor Day, like so many schools, however we really never stop. No one ever stops learning. No matter how long ago you left the halls of academia, you still learn.

One of our traditions is a picnic with others dodging out of public school. It’s our “Not Back to School Party.” Rain or shine, we head for the park to revel in the joy of what it means to home school.

Mostly that means now we get the parks, the museums, the libraries, the bookstores, and Chuck E Cheese to ourselves because the bulk of tourist season is OVER!

This school year, we’re changing things up. Ok, I say that every year. That’s the beauty of the way we learn. We decided to start with a strong unit focus on the United States. Our literature, history, government, extra reading, and videos shall pertain to US history. I’m really excited!

Really, in this post, I just wanted to taunt you with the fun of our playing outside while everyone else headed for classrooms and chalkboards. (Did I mention my chalkboard phobia? I’m really glad they released me from that conducting thing in the women’s meeting at Church. I seriously got the heebie jeebies trying to write the hymn numbers on the board.)

–Lady O