Anna: Come As You Are

We home-school.

Katy's favorite subject is history. This year we are doing the ancients. She is always disappointed when, "Oh, no!", a new ruler she has high hopes for forms a military dictatorship. They can't all be like Hammurabi.

Chucky is my studious, optimistic learner. He is reading quite well and has a knack for math. He has expressed a desire to attend kindergarten in the fall and I think it will be a positive experience for him.

But, Anna, I believe is benefiting most from the family experience. When we sit down at the dining room table with all of our books she is eager to join us. She usually demands to have some book or paper of her own also, and, for about 40 seconds, is engrossed. A minute or two in I look up and see this-

Anna's empty chair.

And then, about 10 or 15 minutes later when the older two are at work on their phonics or a math worksheet, I might venture into the room Anna shares with Katy and see this-

Anna sitting on her rocking horse reading along to her Madeline book-on-CD

(she has a copy all her own of the CD's so she can help herself)

or this-

Cleopatra sitting on her throne. She loves having free reign over all the toys.

Rarely is she fully clothed(even if she did start out that way- which she usually doesn't). With her stringy yellow hair and ensembles made of pajama bottoms and dress-ups, my sister, Emily, has taken to calling her Kurt Cobain. On fine days she wanders out into the back yard and enjoys a good jump on the trampoline without anyone heavier spoiling it. Or, she gathers the long pieces of grass going to seed(okay, weeds) into a basket and sings a little song to herself. She finds she can bear the solitude quite cheerfully. It is, in truth, her favorite part of the day.