Ah I hate this time of year. I actually in turns hate it AND love it, with seemingly equal intensity.
The positive side first: Fall, and the start of another official "school year," means that once again we are making a huge, conscious decision.... send our kids to an institution, or let them continue learning in freedom. And once again, we choose - with unwavering and resounding certainty - FREEDOM!! So, for another year, we're celebrating. Celebrating that we're free from the confines of school; celebrating in the living, the breathing, the learning, the JOY that comes from unschooling.
On the other side of coin is the celebrating that's going on by the rest of the society, for completely opposite reasons. Everywhere I turn, another mom is gleefully counting down the days till her children start school and get out of the house. It's a popular theme right now on the message board that I moderate. One recent poster said that she thought that moms who aren't looking forward to their kids going to school (and presumably, moms who don't send their kids at all) are "insane." Well, I like having my kids around. I like spending time with them. I like watching them learn, and seeing the world through their eyes. I like that they're free to learn WHAT they want, HOW they want, WHEN they want, instead of being taught whatever some administrator deems appropriate.
If those things make me insane, then by all means, call me crazy.
