I’m angry. 

I know … usually I come here and write about the bright side of things if I can, the #onegoodthing, the nature, the books and resources, the “kids are awesome” and all of that. 

This might sound odd but stay with me. 

I’ve been thinking about how one of the most meaningful ways I was able to facilitate and support high school age connections for my kids actually ended up being to offer myself/ourselves to other people in ways that were helpful.

Her: I’ll be getting up earlier tomorrow so don’t worry if you’re hearing a bit of noise. I’ll try to be as quiet as possible.

Me: As early as this morning?

Her: Not quite, but maybe like 5:30/6:00

Me: Are you heading out earlier tomorrow?

I’ve been thinking about the distinction between supporting our teens’ interests (and children’s too, but this is more about teens) and entering into shared experiences with them. 

Last week I shared the following online:

sat across from my kids at my in-laws’ house, listening to one of my sons (23) fill us in on his last few days of a snowboarding trip to Alberta and BC. I heard him talk about some pieces that weren’t easy, yet he didn’t identify them specifically as such and recounted them in a matter of fact way. They just appeared in the story chronologically.

When I first dipped into the homeschooling world, it didn’t occur to me that there would be homeschooling trends to keep up with. The word “homeschooling” didn’t exactly equal “cool” at the time.

I decided to write this “spur of the moment” after reading posts a few others had written about their days with teens. I had taken notes on a day in early February but set them aside because it seems tricky to write about a day in the life with teens.

I think it’s safe to say that no parent is looking for a limited, substandard, bare minimum of an education and life for their child!

These are interesting times. Choices abound, and so do decisions. Usually it’s easier to just follow the path and yet, suddenly it’s clearer that there isn’t just one path, or even two.

The interesting thing I’ve found about being Canadian is that there is an inherent sense of multi-culturalism, regardless of where you live or the make-up of your family. Never mind that Toronto, our largest city, is apparently the most multi-cultural city in the world (I’m always a bit skeptical of how things are measured but, for the moment, Wikipedia tells me it’s still so), with a varied history, we have a range of linguistic and cultural perspectives right across the country.

Is learning that is expressed through play still relevant as kids become older? Do we see differences in the way that “older kid” play is expressed depending on personality?

As I was writing about the personality of play, I started to have memories of the many a-ha moments over the years. These were times that the ideas, knowledge and skills that a child had, literally came bursting into their play.

Play is so important. It expands the horizons of a child’s world, builds competencies as they are ready, and allows them to try on new ways of being.

More than two decades ago, in the middle of a sunny morning, I sat in a bright, spacious room with fellow counselling students. We were about to begin an important therapy activity.

One week ago today, I was sitting in the study room of a library, with two text messages coming in simultaneously. One was from my oldest son letting me know about orientation for his new job starting Monday and his plans for balancing that with his final college classes/assignments this week.

A few months ago, the teenagers in our house, plus a friend, began the Film School 4 Teens course. We were all quite impressed. My daughter and to a degree, my youngest son have had some interest in short film making over the past couple of years and after looking into and having some telephone conversation with the Film School 4 Teens company itself, the Intro to Filmmaking – CLASSIC seemed like it might be a really nice starting point. And it has been:).

Mid February is likely a good time to do something interesting and a bit different. Looking back on the day that was and making note of it step by step isn’t something I’ve ever done before. I’ve talked to people over the years about what our days look like and goodness knows I think about it a LOT, but actually writing it down for others to see is something new!

The first home education get together that I experienced was in the Spring 2003. Spring Of 2003. 17 years ago. Wow! While it initially doesn’t sound that long ago, at further consideration, I’m realizing that it actually is!

Things that are simply parts of our lives sometimes – often- have been the things we’ve learned the most deeply from.

I finished my last bite of lunch and put the container in my bag, preparing to head out to drop my daughter and her friend off to their Art class. We were at a library in a community centre the next town over and we had been reading in one of the private study rooms.