day :: 23

what a day! oddsox, paper & i took the shorties to pasadena waldorf's elve's faire. i have been to faires at a handful of different waldorf schools, but i must say this one was by far the most amazing.


these little creatures were having tea near the entrance to the human's tearoom.

***

an article on a one-room waldorf school was what started us on our homeschool journey. the place seemed so magical, & so in tune with who children are - manlyman & i wanted thehobbit to go there when he was old enough for school.

researching the sweet, little school; & waldorf education in general; we discovered a local waldorf-homeschool co-op. we'd never given homeschooling a thought, but we decided it would be good to get involved in this community, until thehobbit was old enough to attend (what we then considered) real school.

not long after joining their online support group, we began discussing the possibility of waldorf-homeschool becoming our permanent choice for thehobbit. we felt comfortable in this group, the list of classes the co-op offered at the time were fantastic (& free so long as manlyman or i taught 1,) & we'd still be a part of the greater waldorf community.

being the research fanatic that i am; our discussions led to many hours researching homeschooling. we wanted to know what it entailed, what the laws in that state were, the pros, the cons, & mostly what our choices were. this last bit; choice; was what sealed the deal for us. the freedom to choose how our son would be educated - education tailored to his learning style, his passions, his strengths & weaknesses.

once we decided to homeschool, we never looked back. eventually we moved to a new state, joined the greater waldorf-homeschool online community, then left waldorf-homeschool altogether. none of the belfries do well with too many restrictions & absolutes, & this community was rife with them.

our journey led us to unschooling (also known as child-led learning,) which led us to just making-it-up-as-we-go-along schooling. we never completely detached from waldorf in general, because much of it still resonates with manlyman & myself. mainly though, it's because of thehobbit. he thrives in that world just like we assumed he would all those years ago.

these days we attend their faires, & hang with our (real) waldorf friends. we live in a world where faeries & gnomes walk beside us, music & art are of great import, & nature guides it all. were this homeschool journey about me, we would most likely have followed the waldorf path in a more purposeful way. this is not my journey though, it is thehobbit's - so there are many detours, many roads that take us away from waldorf education for a time.

***

talk about detours. this post was to be about how much fun we had at the elve's faire, not about how we began homeschooling. i suppose that would be blog imitating life ;-)

~peace.