This Dirt Road

You have to start somewhere right? This co-op has been in the works since January of 2013. We put ourselves out there to find a community of others to hopefully link with. Sometimes, I come home and wonder why I even went for something out of my comfort zone. This has not been one of those experiences! There was a group of us that immediately had a great connection, but not in sameness. We connected because we were all so different striving for the same goal: creating long lasting relationships in a community we build for the success and education of our children.  Now, after creating a structure for this co-op, a board, and fine tuning the details (which is still in the works), we are kicking off this coming Tuesday!

It has been crazy, yes, but so worth it. I think that homeschooling in itself is such an investment of your time, brain power, and emotions...throw in creating a co-op for 17 families on top of running a household and schooling your kids, and we ARE some pretty amazing women! This journey is very personal to each of us, in how we came to homeschooling. Most of our first few meetings were about sharing those journeys. We are choosing to be apart of that 4% of the United States that is not putting their children in the system.

So my journey? For a mainstream thinker as myself, this has been 4 years of discussions with my husband. I'm finally getting to the excited point, writing at 4:00 in the morning about this stuff!!! (My biggest passion in life btw is sleep!) I didn't have a horrible schooling experience. I achieved many accolades that made my parents and myself proud. Somewhere along the way though, there was a disconnect from this achievement, and I started getting lost in the system sliding by without learning. I actually started learning some legit stuff my junior year of college, (By legit I mean stuff I will actually be able to use in life) and was interested in what I was learning. I taught in the public system for 6 years, and now have the opportunity to stay home with my kiddos. Again, I found myself lost in the system, but this time as the teacher. I felt like a paper pushing, meeting attending robot that was limited in the amount of time to actually be excited about teaching.

So now, we are creating our own system that thrives on originality, uniqueness, and creativity! We are a secular group for various reasons, in which many members have their own faiths. We want our kids to look at the world with their eyes wide open, not tinted and clouded by the governments views. I recently went to a huge homeschool convention up here and saw this really great video. Sir Kenneth Robinson...just look him up. Great speaker and powerful information...

That was an awesome graphic and explanation! This made me think of the kids who would doodle in class and get in trouble...who knows what all of those kids could achieve if the drawing was embraced!

So hang around and see where this yellow brick road goes...or rather this dirt road goes. It is guaranteed to establish a new destination!

Out and About,
Jess