Today is my childrens' last day in public school (for the time being.) So this is my last morning for a while completely alone, except for the romping cats. I am going to enjoy this cup of coffee (Saint's Coffee, Free Trade, Organic and the sale supports orphans at the rate of one month a food per pound of coffee sold).

I have most things in place; ordered textbooks, lesson planning is occurring, educational contract is being written. The decision was not lightly made or easily made, but now there is a tremendous feeling of relief mixed with a small bit of anxiety. I had not realized until I made this decision how I really dislike our public schools. The anxiety comes from them leaving an excellent orchestra program and not having a replacement fully nailed down yet. They are anxious about leaving behind friends -- an anxiety I can fully understand. I have already been in full contact with one homeschool network and looking forward to meeting people in the second homeschool network.

I also have already written my first curriculum. For literature, we are going to read 4 of Shakespeare's plays, starting with one of my favorites "As You Like It." We are going to read aloud to one another every day (diction, vocabulary, poetry). I am going to have Entropy copy a few "lines" every day (handwriting, memorization). The are going to analyze each Act, imagine the staging, costuming. By the end I hope each have created a derivative work of their own choosing. I am also going to encourage them to memorize and stage a scene. We then will watch a couple of movies and go see the play at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival. At the end of the first month, I will re-evaluate, to see if it's really worth it.

So I am going to go an enjoy this last cup of coffee in a completely empty house -- later, y'all.