UPDATE: I have been reprimanded for not sharing the artist’s name. And here I thought Ambrose wouldn’t want the world to know what he’s doing instead of his school work.

(click to enlarge)

Inside Catholic is re-running a column of mine today … about my complicated relationship with homeschooling:

I Love Homeschooling … I Hate Homeschooling

I just set up a second computer for kids’ schoolwork in an upstairs bedroom.

More and more of the kids’ schoolwork is requiring the use of a computer — we definitely needed this. But an internet-connected computer in a private room makes this mom of growing kids worry.

So I decided to set up this computer with a wireless USB adapter. Now this school computer can only access the internet when 1) I say so and 2) I hand over the adapter.

No sneaking online … “just to check email.” And no surfing without supervision. But it’s quick and easy to go online when we want to. I love this easy solution!

The sweet young mom who laminated my school schedules for me at Staples handed them to me with a shy smile.

“This looks intimidating to me,” she admitted. “I am a homeschooler too, but I find it so hard.”

“Really?” I asked, “How old are your kids?”

“Three and one.”

Three and one.

What I wanted to say was, “Oh don’t do that! Don’t even try to do that! I did that and it was a disaster! Bake brownies and read stories and count buttons, and play with play-doh, but don’t do that!”

But it would have been silly for me to say that. She wouldn’t listen to me. Not any more than I would have listened to someone like me 10 years ago. She needs to learn and grow and stretch and change in her own time and on her own schedule.

So what I did say was, “I have a 4-year-old and he’s not on these schedules. He plays with rocks in the sandbox and makes up imaginary games with Playmobil. We read to him and I think he might be able to count some, but that’s only from playing hide and seek. School will still be there when he’s ready. Next year probably.”

And then I smiled and I left, breathing a silent prayer for that mom and for earnest mothers everywhere at the daunting start of a new school year. Myself included.

From Maureen Wittmann at Homeschool Connections:

Last week Domenico Ruggiero gave an awesome webinar on his work at NASA. It was a wonderful learning experience for my family. The great news is that the webinar was recorded and you can watch it yourself at: One Small Step for Parents, One Giant Leap for Homeschool Kids: Insights from a NASA Engineer.

PLUS, Domenico arranged with NASA to give away all kinds of neat NASA goodies — posters, decals, rulers, and more. To receive these giveaways drop Domenico an email. He’ll email back a form so you can choose what you would like to receive. But don’t wait! The deadline is August 19, 2009.

Get all the deets.

When I step into our “classroom” (aka my laundry room — don’t ask) and see a white board that look like this, three thoughts enter my mind:

1. Thank you God that I have a husband who teaches the kids math and science.

2. This is 5th grade math?

3. Thank you God that I am all done with 5th grade math.

“Mama! Come out and see what we found!” Gabrielle called to me through the bathroom door yesterday. “It’s really cool and just a little bit gross!”

An appropriate description, I think, for this snake in the process of ingesting a frog.

I’m a homeschool mom. I took pictures and called it “science.”