Halfway Through Year 4 of Homeschooling

The thing about homeschooling is that at first I thought it was about curriculum and schedules, but have since come to understand it as being about relationships, about really sinking into trust with my kids and believing them when they say they want or need something. 

This is not to say that I give them everything that they say they want or need, especially instantly at the moment they bring it up. Many things feel urgent to people who live in the moment. But I at least listen and consider it, and if I can't make it happen, then I will tell them why. This has also freed me to say what I want or need, and in a similar fashion, make it happen if possible. 

Homeschooling over the years has become more of a lifestyle for the entire family and less about what my kids do for a set number of hours per day. I do keep a list of Daily and Weekly tasks, and we use math and handwriting workbooks for some of this. But our social studies, science, art and music study is interest/project based, so people are very inclined to work a great deal on something that they've set out to learn, and there's very little enforcing I need to do. Mainly I feel like a librarian...answering questions and pointing people in the direction of resources. M is also one of those constantly-learning people (and would be whether or children went to school or not) so there's always something he's working on. 

I'm thinking about what label I would put us under. Unschoolers? Home educators? Brave Learners? (from Julie Bogart's book) Self-directed learners? 

Prioritizing physical and mental health first is making a clear difference for us, though. I can especially see how beneficial it is for teens to get enough sleep. Also, it's not a bad life to wake up refreshed and excited to continue on what you were working on the day before.