Looking back at 2016, I realise that our life has changed dramatically.
While looking through these photos, I could not help seeing that homeschooling was indeed a lifestyle choice. There are many aspects of homeschooling life that I miss, such as the ability to control our time and to engage in many uniquely interesting activities. Nonetheless, we are where we are at this moment in life, and I am grateful for the opportunities that we have been given to enable a smooth transition from homeschooling to 'normal' schooling.
Everything from September to December zoomed past in a blur for me, so it is important that I keep the memories of what life was like for us, so that I may look back and recognise that I actually miss a lot of what was so good about our homeschooling life (I certainly don't miss the difficult bits!).
January
Highlights:
February
Highlights:
March
Highlights:
April
Highlights:
May
Highlights:
June
Highlights:
July
Highlights:
August
Highlights:
September
Highlights:
October
Highlights:
November
Highlights:
December
Highlights:
There is a definite lack of photos now that we spend most of our week day times apart. I am still not used to not being the main participant of Tiger's learning journey. It is a bitter-sweet feeling for me to see Tiger diving into his new phase of life so readily and successfully, and I am certainly glad that he is so adaptable to changes. While I always knew that my homeschooling journey would eventually end, I was a little surprised to have it come so quickly and so suddenly.
Everything happens for a reason. I am just so grateful that we are all in a good place right now, having the experiences that we are meant to be having for this season of our lives.
Wishing everyone a very happy 2017.
While looking through these photos, I could not help seeing that homeschooling was indeed a lifestyle choice. There are many aspects of homeschooling life that I miss, such as the ability to control our time and to engage in many uniquely interesting activities. Nonetheless, we are where we are at this moment in life, and I am grateful for the opportunities that we have been given to enable a smooth transition from homeschooling to 'normal' schooling.
Everything from September to December zoomed past in a blur for me, so it is important that I keep the memories of what life was like for us, so that I may look back and recognise that I actually miss a lot of what was so good about our homeschooling life (I certainly don't miss the difficult bits!).
January
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with family, with friends
- Sports: table tennis, climbing, archery
- Classes: Chemistry lab, model aircraft, zoology, English, History
- Studying fossils
February
Highlights:
- Time: eating out, drawing, cooking
- Sports: Climbing
- Classes: model aircraft design, mask theatre, robotics, chemistry lab
- Studying prehistory and human evolution
- Field trips: Brooklands Museum, Colchester Zoo, National Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts
March
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with family
- Classes: model aircraft, zoology, chemistry lab, programming
- Studying rocks and minerals
- Special event: jazz singing concert, short story writing submission
April
Highlights:
- Classes: model aircraft, zoology, chemistry lab, programming
- Studying rocks and minerals
- Field trips: House of Parliament, BBC Broadcasting House, London Aquarium
- Special event: singing concert, short story writing submission
May
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with friends, with family
- Sports: table tennis
- Classes: physics lab, forest school, model aircraft design
- Studying art
- Field trips: Hertford Castle, Chartwell
- Special event: Universtiy Challenge in Chemistry (First Prize)!
June
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with family, reading
- Classes: physics lab, programming
- Studying art, ancient history, geography
- Field trips: quarry, geological excavation site
- Special event: jazz singing concert
July
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with family, with friends
- Classes: physics lab, astronomy, model aircraft design
- Studying art, insects, circuits
- Special event: jazz singing concert, model aircraft competition (First Prize), percussion concert
Highlights:
- Time: in nature, with family, drawing
- Classes: physics lab, programming
- Field trips: Cheddar Gorge
- Special event: 'geek' gathering
Highlights:
- Started attending school.
- Resumed mountain biking.
- Attended another 'geek' gathering.
October
Highlights:
- No photos!
- I was completely overwhelmed by work, and was practically just trying to survive it so did not even think to take any photos.
November
Highlights:
- Time: eating out, reading
- Field trips: Science Museum, British Museum
December
Highlights:
- Time: with family, climbing
- There's an obvious theme in this year's Christmas presents....
There is a definite lack of photos now that we spend most of our week day times apart. I am still not used to not being the main participant of Tiger's learning journey. It is a bitter-sweet feeling for me to see Tiger diving into his new phase of life so readily and successfully, and I am certainly glad that he is so adaptable to changes. While I always knew that my homeschooling journey would eventually end, I was a little surprised to have it come so quickly and so suddenly.
Everything happens for a reason. I am just so grateful that we are all in a good place right now, having the experiences that we are meant to be having for this season of our lives.
Wishing everyone a very happy 2017.
