Ok,
First let me apologize for any grammatical errors etc. I hope you can see past any you come across and make since of my sometimes rambling way of explaining things !
So when I first considered home schooling, I had a conversation with my best friend Jennifer.
She said " Whatever works best for your family " ...at first I kinda thought of it as a generic answer you would give just because you don't really have any advice. However after home schooling for a short time now, I realize what a jewel of information that really is. When I really think about it, I can see that for right now, at this stage in our lives and the circumstances we are in, it just makes since. Also other people who don't understand home schooling, also may not be able to wrap their minds around the idea because it either wouldn't fit into their family or they just can't see how it could. And that's ok ! It is NOT for everyone and the last thing both sides of the fence want is children slipping through the cracks uneducated.
So for our family, the decision was left up to me alone. My husband is pro home school, being home schooled himself, and very anti public school. That's more based on decisions made by the government directly effecting the schools then it is poor teaching etc. In our case, we have a church run Christian school available to us, and for a year we enjoyed it to it's fullest. But like I said, circumstances change, and for us, financial circumstances changed. We had other factors that lead us to question if home schooling might be a smart move for the time being. At first I was thrilled. No more getting up at 7:00 am, getting 2 sleepy, grouchy, whiny girls ready for school. No more waking the baby up right in the middle of his naps to pick up the girls, no more waiting in line at school, and then the kids running outside as soon as we got him without so much as a hug. No more confusing homework assignments with no instructions other then the girls saying " I don't know what we are supposed to do ".
At first I thought this was awesome, then I found out how hard it is. Teaching a child to read is like wanting to pull each eyelash out one by one lol. Can we tell I have to WORK at patience ?? So we struggled through the end of a year and I was never more thankful to see Summer in my life !
Then in no time, it's time for school again. I chose an all inclusive home school program complete with video's, and while it's not perfect, it's a lot more my style. But that's the thing. You get to make so many more choices. You get to choose what truly works best for you, your children, your husband and your lifestyle in general.
In our case, my husband works from home on Monday and Fridays. He has an at home office, and while I love it because he's home, he's also working way more than 8 hours a day. He really sleeps 8 ( sometimes ) is with us 2 hours a day, and the rest of the time is working. He owns a business and much like running a house, he's constantly interrupted, and needed anytime day or night. It has its benefits and drawbacks. But that is our life right now, and for us, home schooling has been a blessing. It allows us to flex our daily schedule more around Shawn's, allowing us more daddy time. It also makes it easier on us. No more early mornings getting everyone off to school late when the toddler decided to have a teething fit at 4 am.
In my opinion, it lets us break away from the daily set schedule and allows us to live more in the time we have. My girls sit down and do a good solid 4-5 hours of actual school work each day ( MOST DAYS ) and we are usually done everyday by 2 and that's not even getting started till 9 or sometimes 10 am.
Today, I am having a super thankful for home schooling day. I have had MORE days where I am questioning everything. But the most important thing to me and Shawn is what is overall best for our children, the most nurturing environment with the freedom to grow into independent thinkers, and children who are problem solvers.
So these are just some things on my mind today. For us, home schooling is just a piece of the puzzle of life we are on right now. We are not hard core one way or the other. Both sides have pros/cons and right now we feel our greatest benefit would be from schooling our children at home. However that may change ! So stay tuned !
I pray you all have a Happy and Safe CHRISTmas and a wonderful beginning to a New Year !
