Today's "Why I'm glad we homeschool" thoughts

I've had several random thoughts recently and realized that mostly they fall into the category of "Why I'm glad we homeschool."

The first is a bit old, but probably the most important (at least to me).  Rosie Jane is in a GS troop that she likes but isn't participating in much this year mainly due to scheduling.  They used to meet on Thursday nights but everyone else was too busy then so they moved it to right after school.  That time doesn't really work for us either, she's got science lab then with her best friend down the street.  The good thing is that occasionally if I need to I can have the girls get together at a different time to work on their labs.  We had to do that a couple of weeks ago; Rosie Jane really needed to go to her GS meeting to finish up a project they'd been working on for months.  It was interesting when she got to the school though.  She'd been there in the evenings before when it's quiet and there's very few people there.  That day, they got there just as the kids were being dismissed from school, so there was lots of noise, kids running even though the PA said not to, just general chaos.  She came home that day and said she was glad she was homeschooled.  Words to warm a mom's heart, especially from the girl who is was always asking to go to public school.

This morning I was thinking about how glad I was that Sweet Pea wasn't going to public school.  Around here it can be high stress, with everyone trying to take as many IB, AP, honors, and other advanced classes as they can; get in all the sports and clubs, etc.  Sweet Pea is very laid back and all the spoken and more importantly, unspoken pressure to do all this stuff would make her very stressed out.  As it is, she can take the classes that interest her, take her time in the ones that she needs to, either because they interest her and she wants to dig deeper or because she's having a hard time and needs to move slower to really get what's being taught to her. Plus she has plenty of time for fun stuff, like her horse, and working at the barn.

Today was also a chance for the girls to help out in a way they never could if they were going to school elsewhere.  Bob volunteers for the Community Business Partnership, an organization that helps small business get started.  Each year at the end of October they hold the Women Entrepreneurs Expo.  Bob has a table there promoting his business and last year Sweet Pea helped at his table during the Expo.  This year, both girls worked at the CBP this morning by helping stuff their goodie bags that are given out to attendees.  On Friday during the Expo, they'll both be handing out the goodie bags as people come in to register/check in.  Sometime after noon, when they're off duty from that they'll be helping Bob at his table.  They both will be gaining some great experience from this, how to behave in a business atmosphere, talking with others (adults), making introductions and small talk, sharing information.  Lots of great stuff.  Hopefully Sweet Pea will be attending one of the workshops.  She's a budding entrepreneur herself, soon to open an Etsy shop to sell the bracelets that she makes and one of the workshops would be helpful to her.

I think that's enough for today.  I know I'll have more "why I'm glad we homeschool" thoughts in a week or two!!