Friday, April 30, 2010

Let's Do This

Yesterday, Kylie had her first practice for swim team. I absolutely had to be there. She has come a long way from one year ago, but I wasn't sure if she was ready for the team environment. They are required to be proficient in the basic strokes, some of which Kylie is only beginning to learn. The instructors were convinced she could do it and Kylie was certainly convinced that she could do it, so I suspended my reservations and let her follow her ambition.

It's difficult to express in words how inspiring it is to watch her learn something she loves. She wasn't there to play in the pool. She was there to listen to a swim coach that she had never met…to listen to his lessons and to follow his lead with perfect concentration. She never says that she "can't do it" or that "it's too hard". She thrives on the challenge to get better at everything she does. It's this drive, this love of learning that keeps me on the homeschooling path. I want her to succeed and fail on her own terms.

Up next, I will share what I have learned about unschooling (yep, that's the direction we're headed). If you've heard negative things about it, please hold your objections until I tell my side of the story. Until then, here's the first episode of my stick-figure homeschool comic inspired by XKCD. I'm only using MS Paint, so bear with me as I learn how to draw.