We continued to pray about the situation and it wasn’t until these past 2-3 months where I have felt at peace with our decision. I made up my mind and decided that I was going to do this and give it my best shot. Shawn and I attended a small homeschooling conference and it was a blessing for sure. To sit down and listen to people who have done this for years or someone who is currently homeschooling was very beneficial. Also, to pick their brain on our current situation and get curriculum advice was priceless. Other than a handful of people, I am not familiar with homeschooling whatsoever and am very new to the scene. So, we are going to take this one day at a time. I do not have a Kindergarten through 12th grade plan yet and we will continue to do it as long as we feel called to do so. That may be 1 or 2 years or through high school; I'm just not sure.
I sat down one evening and documented for myself on why I wanted to homeschool. On paper, on purpose. This way I can look back in 6 months or 2 years or when I'm having a bad day and remind myself why I decided to do this. I know it will not be an easy journey, but that was not a deciding factor in whether to do it or not. {Please note: I realize that people have different reasons for their schooling choices, but these are OUR reasons for homeschooling, so only positive comments please.}
Why we are homeschooling
1. God. First and foremost, I feel the Lord wants this for our family. While I am no bible scholar by any means, I want to base my decisions on the foundation of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” As a mom, I want to instill godly values and morals in my children. Romans 12:2 states “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” I had a revelation that I do not answer to the world, but to Christ. If I am completely honest, I am a little nervous about stepping outside of the box, but at the end of the day I know the Lord knows my heart and he will put His blessing on my efforts.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 states “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 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.” This verse really jumped out at me while reading a book this past month. How am I supposed to teach them the ways of the Lord if I am only with them a few hours of the day? Dinner and bedtime just do not seem sufficient for this vital task.
2. Time. It passes by so quickly and before you know it, the kids are grown and have moved on. I want to be able to soak up each and every minute with them that I can. I am very excited that we will have many more family time opportunities with homeschooling. When my kids are 7 or 13 I want to have a great relationship with them; I want them to feel comfortable telling me anything: their fears, their likes and dislikes, everything. Being able to spend more time with my children will allow our relationship to grow and give me the opportunity to learn all I can about them. Also, how awesome that Jase and Allyson (and soon to be Finn) will have the time to learn together. Jase has such a helping heart and who better to help than his younger siblings.
3. Academic. While this was not an initial goal or concern, I am definitely on board with the academic benefits of homeschooling. My children will be able to have mastery of subjects and work at our own pace. They will also get one-on-one (not one-on-twenty+) teaching and I can modify the curriculum to fit their needs.
4. Social. This word has brought probably the most doubt when it comes to deciding on whether to homeschool or not. Jase is very social and loves being around other people, so the last thing I wanted to do was to do him an injustice. Then I started really thinking about it and thought about what socializing would look like in Kindergarten or 5th grade or even in high school. And honestly, how much of this “socializing” will have a positive affect on him? We will not be locking him up in the closet when we homeschool, don’t worry. He will have plenty of interaction with me and his younger siblings and not to mention Church three times a week, sports and other family and friends. And if you think about it, when he gets out in the “real world” he will have to interact with people of different ages; he will not work with everyone his age. So our homeschooling environment should prepare him in this aspect as well.
5. Our Goals. We want our children to depend upon the Lord for everything. While Shawn and I are far from perfect, we strive to put our trust and faith in the Lord in all that we do. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Having bible time every "school day" will increase their bible knowledge and thus grow their dependence and love for the Lord. We want them to be respectful, have good manners, honest even when it is hard, passionate in everything they do, and humble in spirit. The fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are wonderful virtues to model yourself after (myself included). We realize these will not be easy goals to achieve, but we trust and believe that God will work through us, rather than depending upon a stranger at school.
Lastly, I honestly feel that kids are exposed to too much at such an early age. As a public school teacher for 2 years, that was a huge eye-opener for me. So if I can protect their innocence just a little while longer, then I am on-board. While I do have a college degree and have taught in the public school system, I feel like my best qualification to homeschool my children is that I’m their mother. I have their best interest at heart and will be completely vested in them. For as long as I can remember I've always aspired to be a MOM! I never really had a dream of becoming famous or being a business woman, but just a simple mom. As I am getting older, I am realizing that my dream is being fulfilled by being blessed with two (almost three) precious children and the shaping of their future is in our hands. We do not want to take this task lightly and thank God for entrusting us with them.
Jase knows that he will be starting Kindergarten this fall and we will doing school at home and honestly he seems excited about it. Today he was talking about his school, a local elementary, and I told him, well you're school will be at home and he said he knew. Then I told him that we will have to give it a name. Here is how the conversation went:
Me: We'll name it French Academy. No, French Christian Academy and call it FCA.
Jase: No, I just like French Academy.
Me: Well, we are followers of Christ, so that's why I suggested French Christian Academy.
Jase: Let's just call it Jesus Academy.
Me: We'll have to see.
Jase: We can learn about letters, numbers and Jesus.
Me: You got it Jase!
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