The Decision to Homeschool
Well, I know that I have talked about it a bit, here and there. And that there are many of you who know me in real life, but are 8 hours away from me. I can't just sit down and talk with many of you like I used to. So, I want to tell you why I am choosing to homeschool! Here you go...
I remember within a few weeks of having EJ, someone said to me, "What do you think you will do for schooling, when it is time?" Oh good grief, I had just had baby, who was seriously ill, went through NICU, a c-section, my husband laid off, and a host of other issues. The thought of how I planned on educating my newborn son five years from now was the furthest thing from my mind at that time.
So, I answered it this way... "Who knows. But I can tell you this, I don't want to send him to public school. I pray that the Lord will give us the finances to send him to a private christian school. And the Lord would have to totally change me to EVER consider homeschooling!!"
Why, oh why, did I ever say that last sentence? It was as if I was challenging Almighty God, Himself, to change me and make me do something that I was seriously afraid of!
As time went on, I found that I was not a good "play mom." You know what I am talking about? The kind of mom who gets right down on the floor and plays and pretends and makes cars fly off of ramps, scrambled eggs in the pretend stove, and dresses up. Yea, it wasn't quite working for me.
I found I was quite the goal oriented kind of girl, even as a mom. I LOVED sitting down with my son and teaching him his ABC's and 123's. And fortunately for me, my son LOVED learning about them. And so, our play time as mother and son, was more teaching time. He never knew the difference!
Slowly, I started thinking that I may be cut out for this whole homeschooling thing after all. So, I went against the grain (particularly with my family) and I opted not to put him in preschool. I mean, he's never had a problem with socializing (EJ - can talk anyone's ear off, trust me!!). And all the kids in church and in the neighborhood loved playing with him. Plus, I wanted to be with him. I wanted to have him home. I wanted to be the one who was seeing him grow. And well, honestly, I wasn't so sure I could trust someone else to do the job.
Listen, a 4 year old is not learning algebra or trigonometry. ABC's, 123's, colors, shapes... I can handle that. And so I did. I taught him all the preschool things, without a curriculum, just on my own. He loved it. He still loves it.
Well, it became time to make a decision on kindergarten. I prayed. CJ prayed. And then I prayed again. "God, what do you want us to do for EJ's schooling?"
Quietly, I felt the nudge to keep him home. And thankfully, I felt the Lord encourage me to revisit him yearly with the decision.
Up next, insecurities, choosing a curriculum, and are you sure, God, you want me to do this???
Posted in: homeschool on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 at at 9:35 PM
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I know that God is going to give you everything that you need for this next season of your's and EJ's life.
Happy learning EJ!!!
Public, private, or homeschool, nomatter what a parent picks, they should all pray the prayer you prayed (and that we pray every year). God gave us all different little people with different gifts; therefore, we need to ask the Lord what He would have us do with them.
Our decision was not an easy one, but we believe that we sought the Lord for what He had for Scarlett. That's why we're doing a cyber school. It's what's best for her.
So, I applaud you for "going agaist the grain." There will be days when you feel like you made a mistake, but there are so many more days when you know that you made the right choice. God bless you!
Right there with ya! I'm doing Kindergarten this year for Baby Blue Eyes - and am excited about the routine and the structure it'll bring for us both. I am most excited however, to be the one to see him catch that spark for the love of reading and learning. It was a treasure that I got to do it with the older three, and with all that's going on here (adoption, finances, jobs, etc.) I wasn't sure if it would happen with BBE. Let's be sure to keep in touch over this year with Kindergarten stuff :)
It was wonderful to read this. My daughter is 3 1/2 and I am so excited about homeschooling. We have decided not to put her in preschool either and I am looking for new ways to teach her things now.
You should come over to my blog and check out "homeschool Open House".
There are so many wonderful homeschooling moms in this blog world :)