What I want to remember about homeschooling

It’s a Monday night and my younger son wants to go to a movie. We decide on the 7:30pm show of The Lego Movie. He says, “Buy tickets online so we know it won’t sell out.”

I say, “It’s a school night. Kids don’t see movies on school nights.”

We walk into the theater and we are the only people there. We put on the 3-D glasses, lift up the arm rest between our seats and snuggle in next to each other for the previews.

I want to remember this moment. We are so lucky to be with each other, not worrying about anything, having fun together.

He laughs. I laugh. We laugh at different times throughout the movie, because that’s how good the movie is, like two movies in one. I want to take a photo for my blog. My blog is my record of what being a mom is like to me. But it’s too dark.

Then the credits roll. With no one else to see, my son gets up to dance. Now is my chance. I want these pictures. This is what homeschooling is like:

22 replies
  1. Lisa B. Sharp
    Lisa B. Sharp says:

    Yes! The freedom to do things with your kids when you aren’t tied to a crazy school schedule. This post could also be “This is what homeschool looks like”.

  2. karelys
    karelys says:

    I’m only commenting because I know you like comments and conversation. I don’t have much to add. I am excited to homeschool.
    I am excited for all of it.

    I am much more excited to have found all this info and community BEFORE we even started regular school.

  3. Vness
    Vness says:

    Lovely photo. I really had this feeling today too – creating my 3yo son’s first singing video. Homeschooling gives me a chance to record these moments.

  4. Jessica
    Jessica says:

    This is how it is for us all the time, at the pool, museums, historical sites. Not having to endure crowds is one of the major great things about homeschooling. I’m happy you recognize those great moments for what they are- precious.

  5. Lucy Chen
    Lucy Chen says:

    Oh this is so sweet! Thanks for sharing with us, Penelope. And showing some of us (me, at least) how to share being a mom, in such a simple way, when you’re writing a professional blog, and how to still relate it to your topic of education.

  6. Brian Hagan
    Brian Hagan says:

    Your sons are privileged, not just because they have the experiences they do, but because they have parents who want to be there to share them.

    Thanks for setting the example.

    • Penelope Trunk
      Penelope Trunk says:

      Okay. well, thank you, but just to be fair, I seriously missed three years of my sons’ lives while I was running a startup. I had two full-time nannies and I traveled all the time.

      Just writing this is difficult. I missed so much. It’s so hard to know what you’re missing when you have never been a mom though. You only know work, so you know you’d be missing that.

      This is off topic, maybe. But I think about it a lot. Those three years.

      Penelope

      • sue
        sue says:

        You were exactly where you needed to be at that time. And you’re exactly where you needed to be now. That’s the beauty of life…..you’re always doing what you needed to be doing…..the funny thing is we don’t know it. Love reading your blog!

  7. MBL
    MBL says:

    EVERYTHING about that movie IS AWESOME!! :D

    My husband wouldn’t pay 3D full price to see it with us, so we’ll see it again at the $2 theater.

    Love the photo! My “this is homeschooling” shot is of my daughter suspended in mid-skip as she heads down the sidewalk at noon on a beautiful fall day while earning money from her dog walking gig.

    The really good days make the really bad days totally worth it.

    • Penelope Trunk
      Penelope Trunk says:

      I have a feeling that each of us has a “this is homeschooling” photo that we carry around in our heads.

      Penelope

      • Constance
        Constance says:

        Mine is at the beach on a September afternoon (before this winter-that-never-ends began)! I’ve noticed that my kids hate it when we go places and it’s too crowded for them to see the exhibits. They’re used to having the run of places.

  8. Melissa Lloyd
    Melissa Lloyd says:

    Not being tied to the public school system is so freeing. I love being able to do things with my kids on our schedule. I am glad you had fun. The Lego movie is awesome!

  9. Isabelle
    Isabelle says:

    My kids are back to school after years of homeschool… I miss so much our homeschool life… My kids are happy to go to school and I know there is no way to homeschool them again… But anyway… I miss them when they’re at school, I miss our long days together…

  10. Cheryl Lewis-McCarren
    Cheryl Lewis-McCarren says:

    Yea. My experience with home education/special needs/crappy daze/lifecrisiseveryothermoment……..You have it right on Penelope. It’s LIFE that counts and it is a life well lived that is the most important thing to each of us.

    You made my day. :)

  11. Karl Bielefeldt
    Karl Bielefeldt says:

    My four year-old daughter calls the end credits “dancing time.” Heaven forbid if I stand up to leave too soon.

    It’s funny how often “this is homeschooling” moments don’t happen at home. My last moment was on a trip. The kids picked up tourist maps at the rest stop and were comparing them with the GPS map and asking how maps work. They were excited to learn, and it was very easy to teach them. They think of these moments as playing, not as learning times.

    People argue these experiences aren’t unique to homeschooling, but they are at least richer and more frequent. Schooled kids come to think of their teachers as the people they learn things from, so they don’t ask as many questions of their parents. Parents of schooled children come to think of their kids’ teachers as the people they learn things from, so they don’t answer as many questions. I know, because we didn’t always homeschool.

Comments are closed.