time marches on

Here is some non-knitting content.

We are a homeschooling family. The older kids have been homeschooling since elementary school. The youngest was not yet born when we decided our kids would no longer go to school. While I understand that this is not an option for everyone, it has been great for our family.

Oldest Daughter homeschooled through 10th grade. In what would have been her Junior year of high school she began college. Oldest Son homeschooled through 9th grade and then discovered an online high school that fits him like a glove. They offer a rigorous course load that works well with his baseball schedule. Both of the kids test off the charts, and are way smarter than I can ever hope to be.

Now it is Youngest Daughter's turn. She is looking forward to high school in the fall of 2008. As much as she is looking forward to going to school, she does not want to attend the local high school, which has thousands of kids. All of the high schools in our district have thousands of kids. So I began a search. We live in a major metropolitan area, I am willing to provide transportation and would consider a private school. Youngest Daughter is looking for a small school with a naturalist/environmental program and prefers not to do parochial. This is a broad list when coupled with a city/area of our size. I have been searching for months. Can I find anything that works? No. So we changed our requirements. Small is the biggest thing for her. Using that we came up with a small school that operates out of THE central city location. It has an arts focus. Arts she can do. She is a dancer, painter and photographer. I will give them a call in the morning and arrange a visit. I do all of this with a heavy heart. I know it is the best thing for her. This is what I keep at the top of my mind. But my life will change. I will be on the road driving her to and from school everyday. I will be volunteering and committing to a school. There will be school lunches, and functions, and school spirit days, and all sorts of things I was so happy to close the door on all those years ago when we became homeschoolers. I am happy for her. She is smart and gorgeous and people flock to her. I am sad for me and my freedom. Yeah, I will get over it.