As a child, my personal experience in a public school
setting was a positive one. I loved my school years. I was blessed with good
teachers and amazing friends! I have no
bad feelings towards traditional school.
Very dear friends of mine are teachers in private and public school
settings. I have other friends who send their children to private and public
schools. My journey of homeschooling
begins very simply with my enjoyment of teaching and having my kids at home.
I began researching homeschooling after my oldest was born.
My husband recommended a book (which became the catalyst in my desire to teach
at home) called For the Children’s Sake. In her book, Macaulay discusses the benefits
of a Charlotte Mason approach to education. I want to begin my story with a very important reminder and quote from
Macaulay:
There will be different
applications of these ideas for different families…more than that, different
children within one family may need different decisions as to what educational
system is best for them. And it is
important to apply Jesus’ teaching that we must not judge other peoples’
choices. Just because I decide to send
my little Tom to the local public school or a private Christian school, or
because I decide to give him a home education does not mean that everyone else
has to do the same. It is a complicated situation.” (pg. 8)
This is my story of how I came to homeschool my children, why I continue to homeschool, a
few of my personal struggles as a homeschooling mom, and what God has been
teaching me as I learn to teach my children.
*******
“What do you want
to be when you grow up?” my second grade teacher asked.
My hand shot up
into the air, “I want to be a housewife!” I enthusiastically replied.
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a wife and
mommy. I went onto college, because I
realized the importance of having a back-up plan and because I was good at
school. I enjoyed taking tests and
getting good grades. I knew how to study
and how to do well in school. College
seemed like the next logical step. Looking back, I’m so thankful for my college
education because it gave me a deeper, broader worldview than I would have had otherwise.
In college, my first roommate was a homeschooler. I had
never even heard the term “homeschooled” before meeting her. It didn’t take
very long to realize a huge difference between us. While we both were “good at”
school, she enjoyed learning. She could lose herself in books for hours,
and she actually retained information beyond the exam. I loved listening to her talk because she was
passionate about what she was learning. I would later meet many other
homeschooled students in college, each one so wonderfully unique but with one
common thread: they enjoyed learning.
Years later, I re-read For the Children’s
Sake, and Macaulay’s ideas ignited excitement in me. I loved the ideas presented in her book about
how children are hungry for learning and are capable of far more than we give
them. They enjoy depth in learning. Children are often not only eager to read
what Charolotte Mason describes as “living books” (books that come alive,
involving one’s emotions) but also to narrate the story back to others. Mason’s
methods include using atmosphere, discipline and life to educate a child. She offers that children can learn outside of
the four walls of a school building, through play and daily interactions. Macaulay described situations in which
children received individual attention, followed their own interests in
learning, created space for enjoying God through nature, and experienced
character training through real life. I became hooked on this idea of an alternative
system of education.
As I began to dig deeper into homeschooling, I began to see
a beautiful picture of all the ways we could incorporate learning into…well…everything! I began to personally fall in love with
learning and then realized that I wanted my kids to fall in love with learning for the sake of learning, not for the sake of passing a test. (Though, I really do
enjoy tests…I know it’s weird, but that’s what I liked about school: the
tests.) So, we jumped into our homeschooling journey and I found that I really
enjoy discovering alongside of my kids. As
they look at the world in wonder and amazement, I also begin to see things anew.
It’s fun! I
homeschool because it is fun for the kids but it is fun for me too! I love
being present when that “light bulb” moment occurs. When C-A-T actually becomes a character in a
living story, and suddenly they can read and want to read. I relish the moments when all the practice becomes a
dinner time discussion, or when a child asks to make a time line to keep track
of all the historical characters she’s been reading about! These are the moments that make the hard work
a delight.
Most days we are finished with school by lunchtime which
leaves the afternoons wide open for pursuing interests and hobbies. I have come
to really appreciate this aspect of homeschooling. Currently, my daughter is delving
into anything regarding horses and also learning to crochet. My oldest son enjoys bugs. He spends his afternoons with his “bug
catcher,” journal, and field guide. While set school hours are a must for our
family, I am learning to appreciate the beauty of learning outside of the
curriculum and away from the work table.
I have discovered that I deeply enjoy spending our long days
together. I enjoy the friendships that I am making with each of my children.
Though my first priority is to be Parent (one who guides, instructs, disciplines
and disciples my children), if I neglect
developing a friendship with each child, then I am missing out on some of the
deepest connections I will ever know. No
one makes me belly-laugh quite like my kiddos!
In addition, we have time to spend on deep conversations. My daughter seems to feel most comfortable
opening up about what is on her heart during lunch. When those conversations come up, I never
regret spending extra time exploring her thoughts and growing together.
Homeschooling isn’t without its struggles, however. My kids have never seen the inside of a
classroom except on T.V. shows like Elmo,
Blue’s Clues and Sid the Science Kid. I often
feel like they think they are missing out on something. I find myself trying to
make our homeschool, just like traditional school. In fact, I spent the entire
first month of my homeschooling endeavors trying to be like the teacher on Sid the Science Kid.
Wondering if I’m “messing them up” haunted me the first two
years of homeschooling. I just wanted to know that they would turn out okay
(Don’t we all struggle with that question?). My mommy-guilt still gets the best of me sometimes, especially on yet another rainy day, when everyone is arguing and mommy
loses her temper again or when we
just do not get around to a particular project or subject. I am prone to think that I’m probably ruining
them or at best setting them back behind their peers.
But it is on those
days that I find it helpful to “reset” my perspective with truth. I remind myself of why I homeschool and the
things that we all enjoy about this journey.
I take time to look back and reflect on the areas that I see growth: academically
and emotionally. End of the school year
tests have been helpful to confirm that we are on the right track, but more
than that, I see in my kids an eagerness to learn and passions growing.
Community is also so essential to my sanity. Surrounding myself
with other homeschooling moms who have walked the road a little longer and can offer
advice or a listening ear has been a gift to my soul many times! These ladies
help me remember my goals.
An unexpected product of this educational journey has been
the truth that God is teaching me through
homeschooling my children. He teaches me
of His everyday graces, His gifts to me simply because He loves me. He is teaching me obedience and faithfulness
to the job at hand. He teaches me
discipline and perseverance daily. I never
expected to receive character training as I trained up my children, however,
patience and humility are listed daily on my lesson plans from Him. The Lord is doing a good and faithful work in
every member of this family through our homeschooling journey.
Homeschooling is absolutely THE HARDEST thing I have done so
far in this life. Honestly, every
February, I think to myself that I must surely be a crazy woman to consider
this endeavor. Every August, after the
excitement of school supply and curriculum shopping passes, I look at my
husband and ask, “Have I taken on more than I can handle? What was I thinking?”
It is a big, scary job! (I want to mention here, that my husband has been a huge encouragement to me in this area. He is the backbone to our family and helps to refocus my vision.)
I am certainly not perfect in all of my ideals. As much as I want my kids to play outside and
enjoy God through nature, they have watched a lot of T.V. this weekend while I
cleaned and wrote this blog. As much as
I relish their creativity and want to foster exploration, I fussed and fumed
when my kids made a big mess in the living room yesterday. BUT the daily grace I
have learned through homeschooling is that learning takes place in all
things…even in apologies and re-do’s.
