Availability

One definition of a·vail·a·ble according to Webster is “present or ready for immediate use.”  The disciples that Jesus called were available.  When He called them, they came without reservation or excuse.  They followed “immediately” and “at once.” (Matthew 4:18-22).

Patrick and I have always claimed that we wanted to be available.  We didn’t want to walk away sad like the rich, young, ruler (Luke 18:22).  However, it wasn’t until recently that we realized how unavailable we were.  Closets full of old sentiments, inexcusable debt, and obligations to work and school acted like weighty sand bags in a helium balloon. 

Shortly after the new year, we began to loosen our hold on our stuff…especially the sentimental stuff.  The guys at the Goodwill and I seemed to be on a first name basis as we dropped off van load after van load.  It was like throwing a couple of those sandbags over the side of our balloon.  We started to feel FREE!  We started aiming for a budget closer to our bare-bones-no-income budget of this time last year in an effort to pay down years of accumulated credit card debt.

In some ways, our “work” sand bag went over the side last year with the inception of insquare, LLC.  But what about that “school bag” (pun intended)?

For a variety of reasons, availability being a big one, we decided to homeschool our oldest two next year.  This decision has raised a slew of questions from family and friends so I’ll answer a couple now to satisfy your curiosity.

What about Ty?
Lord-willing, Ty will attend preschool at the school were our older two currently attend for three afternoons a week.  Since he’ll be home the majority of the time, he’ll very much be along for the homeschool adventure.

Have you decided on curriculum?
Curriculum choices are a work in progress but we will be using the same classical model that is used at their current school.  The classical model divides children’s development into three stages (or the trivium) and utilizes methods best fit for each stage to instill a love of and skill for lifelong learning.  One of my favorite sites on classical education is here where you can read more.  There is a good chance we will be using Classical Conversations for next year so help bridge the transition from traditional school to homeschool.  It’s a national organizaton so if you’re a homeschooling family, you should definitely check it out.  After that, I have a lot of ideas that don’t quite fit into a set curriculum and you can be sure I’ll blog about them as the year approaches or plays out so stay tuned!

How did your kids handle the news?
The kids handled the news with the same grace and sense of adventure we’ve come to expect from them.  We had been preparring them for the possibility for a couple weeks so the final decision was not a shock.  They are sad to be leaving a school we all adore, but they know schooling choices are a one-year-at-a-time now and are excited to see what next year brings. 

Ok, so those are the top three, I think.  I’m sure you’ll let me know if I missed any 😉