Allies

I read several homeschooling blogs. The writers are my electronic friends (we have never met). Still--they are my mentors. They introduce me to things and give me the courage to try them. I put these friends in the right margin (there----->). Something about their approach or their resources suits me, and it is reassuring to not cut this that I don't have to break trail alone.

Another silent partner in homeschooling is interlibrary loan.



 When my blogging network posts a book or video that suits us, I jump over to see where-in-the-state this source is offered. I request it; they send it to my home library. The library provides--what I estimate to be-- hundreds of dollars worth of material for whatever tiny portions of taxes they get. We live in a small town, but the state is our smorgasbord.

There are the people who nurture my kids with their attention and acceptance.

Strangers have commented on how "marvelous...great...blessed" homeschooling is, and how well my kids are doing.

There are people who seem guarded about the idea of homeschooling, but they hold their tongues even as their faces betray them.

There are friends who have befriended my kids along with befriending me. We're like a package deal.

One such friend visited this weekend. He is a yoga buddy who met us in 2009 and has come back several times, to just...hang out:

AcroYoga: Bat Pose

With a background in gymnastics and parkour, he was drawn to AcroYoga after we graduated from yoga training.

I  used to do AcroYoga poses with him, despite towering over him and hovering above/around his weight. Nursing a scarred hamstring (never right after a pull playing with the kids) and a touchy knee (unstable at odd times for no particular reason), I let my much lighter/less injury prone daughter stand in.

From here: feet transfer to hands...

...to here, rolling up to standing.

It requires a lot of trust and strength and willingness to endure a scary moment for the sake of where you're going. She loves it. I happily stay on the ground. (At 5'10+", I was not meant to be held over anyone's head.)

Finally, my husband is my most valuable ally. Without his buy-in, this would be a stressful haul.

He had to be sold on the idea. I read John Taylor Gatto's books aloud to him. I read him chunks of The Teenage Liberation Handbook. I read and continue to read pieces of the bloggers' posts to him.

While sitting around a campfire, in a reflective mood, he remarked that having the kids home more made him open to their being around indefinitely. "I don't want to hold them back," he said, "but if they wanted to stick around, that would be fine, too."