We have been a homeschooling family for four years now. When we made the decision to move to a remote island we opted to give the tiny, one room school house a whirl. Our three school aged children brought the school population up to seven. We thought such a small class size, with two teachers, would be a comfortable fit. Well, as time went on it just became clear that homeschooling just fits better, for us. Life on an island is complicated in many ways. The biggest challenge for us is to keep the food stock plentiful. A shopping day means that we all leave the island together on the Mailboat. In the off season the Mailboat makes only two trips a day. So we leave at 8:15 am and return at 5:00 pm. When the kids were in school here, this meant leaving part of our family behind, on a remote island, a boat ride away, with terrible cell phone reception between us......That leaves an anxious mother feeling very unsettled. Then there was the added obstacle of planning "trips off" (island talk for trips off of the island). Planning trips off revolved around the Mailboat, our fishing schedule, the weather, and the school schedule. So, for us, having one less entity, public school, adding to the feelings of isolation, equals relief.
We have begun to plan our new school year for 2015-2016 and we are so excited to have found the world of Waldorf. It just takes what we have already been doing and seriously fine tuning it. While doing my research I discovered this great support group, and great Waldorf Essentials curriculum. I would highly recommend this to any family interested in approaching homeschool from a Waldorf perspective.
The trouble with homeschooling on a tiny island is this.......The year round population of 55 depends on the public school for a handful of jobs. The seasonal population of around 350, depends on the health of a community to keep the island going. The school is an integral part of a sustainable year round island community. So, for us to take nearly half of the school population out, to homeschool.......left some ruffled feathers. In such a small community you are almost always VERY aware of EVERYONE'S opinions. Turns out, we are homeschooling against the grain. Turns out, these are my children, they do not belong to the island community.
Blessings to you.
Thanks for reading,
Island Momma