Counting the Days

In our state, we have three basic options for homeschooling legally.  One may homeschool through their local school district, in which case they are subject to the guidance of the district in regard to curriculum, attendance, testing, and so forth.  One may also choose to register with a large, state-wide accountability association.  They are then subject to the rules and regulations of that association.  The final "third option" is to register with a smaller accountability association.  As with the second option, "third option" homeschoolers are subject to the rules and regulations of the association of their choosing.  There are, of course, differences between each option, but one thing remains constant:  We must instruct our children for a set number of days.  Some associations allow absences, but as far as I have seen, every association, as well as the school districts, require 180 days of instruction.

And so we count our days...

The attendance calendar isn't always easy to look at, nor is it always encouraging, especially during times when we struggle to make school happen five days a week for an extended period of time.  The thing is, Life happens, and when Life comes at you hard and fast, as it sometimes will do, you have to duck and dodge and jump and adjust in all sorts of ways.

So I found my calendar looking rather distorted last fall.  Five day weeks, three day weeks, four day weeks... all executed with no apparent sense.  We were doing school, and doing it conscientiously, but the calendar was a mess.  We'd had a death in the family and were dealing with a couple medical issues with the children - nothing serious, but enough to disrupt the normal routine...  or rather, to prevent the expected routine.  Everything combined to make five day school weeks few and far between.

Still, we logged about half a year by Christmas.  We weren't quite as far along as I had hoped we would be, but we were doing alright.  We would still be done by early to mid-May, if we worked hard to stay on schedule.

And we did, for the first six weeks of the new year.  Then, for reasons with which I will not bore you, it became increasingly harder to make Thursdays productive school days.  Suffice to say, four day weeks are beginning to look familiar again.  

As I vacuumed the dining room, slightly simmering over a lost day of school, a question arose:  WHY?  Why does it matter if we miss this day?  Why does it matter if every week is a four-day week?  Why do I feel like we have to do five days of school every week?  Why does it matter whether we finish May 18 or May 25 or even later?

Okay.  Discipline, order, routine, training for an adult life in which they will likely work five-day weeks...  Yeah, yeah. No.

The real reason I hate unexpected days off boils down to a fear that we'll never finish fourth and second grades.  (Also, I'm really eager to get back to Ancient History and Zoology, with a brand new kindergartner doing her thing).  This fear is, of course, completely irrational.  We will, barring major catastrophe, finish the school year.  But it really makes no difference when we finish, at least not when we're still on track to finish in May.  I really shouldn't fret over the attendance chart. We'll log our 180 days.  

More than focussing on counting days, I must remember that though I am eager to finish the year, making the days count is far more important than counting the days.  I will, of course, keep counting the days, but I'll also try to remember that how we finish is more important than when we finish.  Given the choice between a mad, frantic dash to finish our books with little time for diversion and a leisurely exploration of the world through books and life in general, I'll take the latter.  If we take a little more time, but finish full of peace, joy, and happy memories of days of play entwined with days of diligent study, I think we'll be okay.  

Even if we're still doing school in June.