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Is homeschooling addictive to you?
Do you find yourself getting glassy eye, slack jawed and oooing and aaawing at craft stores, thrift stores, book stores or just anywhere as your mind starts contemplating how you can intergrate whatever is in front of you into an educational experience or a thrifty homeschool use?
I have to admit that I never really realize how”addictive” homeschooling could be until we personally had begun to homeschool and it has definitely changed our lives and focus.
One of the things I have discovered and love is that it causes a much deeper involvement with a child’s educational development.
It’s not to say parents who send their children to public school aren’t as involved, but when parents become the teachers, there is a level of involvement that goes beyond just inding out how school is going through the child, the report card, the teacher or having to find out either through digging through the backpack to make sure you weren’t ask to make a thousand cookies the next day or that the school had been relocated to Mars.
I’ve found my evenings after the dinner is done, the family time is spent and everyone is squared away and gone to bed, my thoughts automatically go to what our lessons are going to be the next day and laying out materials for the next day or if it’s the weekend, preparing either next week’s lessons or trying to prepare at least two weeks worth of lessons to ease doing that on the moment or the night before a lesson needs to be done.
Mentally, I’m going over at least five times, what we have learned that day, what needs to be worked on or emphasis, and what might be tweaked for next day’s lessons or in some cases, next week.
Each weekend, worksheets are printed, workbooks are prepared, I write out lessons plans for the week and for Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation, in addition to visiting with family and just enjoying the holidays, I have my lesson book laid out to begin planning for the year ahead as we begin adding bible study to our curriculum and begin the next semester of school.
Why do all that?
It makes teaching easier to have some sort of idea of what we are going to cover, if I get sick, my subsitute teacher, I mean, my husband can easily step in, open up where we left off and know where to pick up and there are the other things that are involved with homeschooling, at least for me.
Plus, I enjoy sharing in that educational experience with my kids, watch them learn, grow, develop and become the individuals that they are.
It’s great when we are out and about or if we are doing something later in the evening and they look up with me with pure joy and excitement and ask, “Can we have study that in school?”
They greet each mail delivery with the first question,”Is that for me?” “Is that for school”" or offer suggestions as to ,”I need that for school”. Granted sometimes that “I need” is actually a video game that has no bearing on learning so I have to reply first with,”Nice try” and followed with,”Wait for Christmas”, followed of course with,”Honey, if the kids have to wait for Christmas so do you”.
Is this something I regret?
I have to say never.
If anything, it’s brought a new dimension in our relationship with our children and just seeing and personally experiencing their curiosity, their growth and just the blossoming independence has been the richest award.
Although just 2, my youngest starts yelling out, “the water cycle”,”the water cycle” whenever it begins to rain or she sees the rain in reference to a unit study we did on,”The Water Cycle” and it’s cute to see the kids tell the inlaws about what form ice is when it’s frozen.
I wasn’t planning on the “Water Cycle” being part of our Pre-K curriculum but more as a beginner’s introduction for “Kindergarten”, but to show how much it benefits not just one child in the family but all children in the family is is a blessing and just reinforcement that we are doing the right thing.
They are BOTH learning and not just restrictive to what is before them, but they are going to be exposed to different levels of learning that will keep them challenge, curious, excited and a form of bonding for the both of them.
Not only do the kids just get to go to school together, but they also get to share with each other and in a way, teach each other what they are learning, reinforcing what they have already learned and developing what they are just now getting to learn.
The other day, a dear friend, Lori, sent me a heavy box of homeschooling workbooks and material that had me and all the kids and even hubby, feeling like Christmas had come early and I found myself answering over and over,”No sweetie, this is for school, it’s Saturday, don’t you want to rest and play?”?
I know for me, my rest and play, is looking at the multitude of resources that are available to homeschoolers and the many forms of homeschooling there are out there. There is no one true way, and its so adaptable to the individual teaching and learning that the children are able to get.
It’s difficult as a homeschooling parent to not go to stores or bookstores or libraries and leave with fresh new ideas and just a renew sense of energy and direction to go.
I have to admit, that the biggest thing about homeschooling is the rearranging of priorities.
Due to this being our first year homeschooling, the past few months had been focus on homeschooling, not only to set a schedule and habit with myself and the kids, but for homeschooling to work. It does take tame and dedication and patience.
It takes being able to place what is important first and going from there. In this case, it meant that homeschooling, particularly for the first time, isn’t just going to happen and its about finding out what works and what doesn’t work and tweaking things till we find a method that benefits everyone.
In the process, there is a deeper establishment of relationship with the kids and our spouses and ourselves as we learn how to become more focus and not let outside distractions keep us from putting education as first priority.
I found it helpful to have a schedule to start off with and staying with it to help get us into a routine and as we became more comfortable homeschooling, it became more relax as I knew that no matter what, homeschooling will come first before everything else.
Now…homeschooling has felt like it’s become a part of the family and even my spouse keeps on the lookout for ways to blend homeschooling more and more into our lives so it becomes like breathing.
I miss the time I use to spend blogging or working on my bible study and just reading the bible and I have to confess that I haven’t had “alone time” with God as much as I did before, but I’m getting back there as I become more confident and use to homeschooling the kids.
I’m starting to relax some and learn to make more time for the things I NEED to make time for and I feel in my heart that our Heavenly Father knows I haven’t forgotten Him, but rather remember Him more and more and if anything on a deeper level more than anything.
Homeschooling has taken on a more deeper understanding of the responsibilty our Heavenly Father gives us as parents as I read the following verses that inspire me as I homeschool:
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (NKJ)Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (KJV)
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
When we had gone to the library earlier to pick up books for this weeks lessons, my oldest proudfully announce to the librarian that,”Mommy is my teacher” and gave me a big hug.
Wow.
That is worth all it’s weight in gold. They are still learning, we are able to still bond as a family, but more than anything, as a Christian, as a mother, as a daughter of our Heavenly Father, they will still have the innocence God has blessed them with and still be able to be children and they will be able to not only develop and learn to be strong, confident and independent adults, but they will be allow to speak and read and learn about our Heavenly Father.
Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
As much as they are going to be taught about the world, they will still be able to learn about our Heavenly Father for studying God’s word isn’t just for Sunday School and starts and end at church but is an everyday experience.
Through this, they are able to fully appreciate the world, the heavens and more than anything our Heavenly Father while retaining a strong love and respect for learning rather than look at it with fear or dismay that “Oh great, it’s another day at school”.
School and just basically, the experience of learning can and should be fun and exciting and there are ways to do it without taking away the joy and independence of a child. Respect and wanting to learn is something that is nurture and encouraged and developed and not to be taken away from a child.
3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.Matthew 18-1-15(NIV)
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Is homeschooling addictive to you too? I would love to hear from you and your experiences as well.
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