You most likely know that our family home-schools. Seventeen years now, so I’m pretty passionate about it and like to share that passion.
I don’t share as much as I would like to sometimes, because I simply don’t care to ‘debate’ a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. I know homeschooling is not everyone`s thing. My husband and I already know what`s right for our family, so there`s no need to debate from that point of view. I also don’t feel I need to push my own beliefs on another, so I do not feel a need to shout it from the rooftops and try and make others feel like how they are raising THEIR kids is wrong, or not as good as how WE choose to raise our kids. That`s just not for me to say, or decide! As parents, we all try to do our very best, and make the best decisions for OUR family.
I enjoy sharing information, articles, etc. here and there so that those who may be on the fence, or those who may be in need of encouragement in their own homeschooling endeavors, can feel supported. So I’d like to share this article below, not to debate, but for those who would benefit from reading it. If homeschooling is not for you, feel free to ignore the rest of my post!
If you`d like to read more, carry on!
The article linked below is one of the best lists regarding homeschooling that I’ve seen, and not surprisingly, written by one who works in the public school system!
Some time ago, when we had just two, and then three children, I worked from home and provided child care for several years for two teachers (I had a home day care with more children then those two), and both teachers said pretty much everything the linked article says. They always fully supported our decision to homeschool our kids and and often commented that they wished they could do the same.
I sometimes wonder if people who know us best, think they know why we homeschool. The reality is, there’s just too many reasons for us to even begin to list, and no one could possibly ever truly understand all the real reasons why unless they decided to travel in the same shoes, or traveled alongside our family for the ride, in support of our decision.
Now that our eldest is 21 years old, our second eldest is 19, and the next three are 14 and soon to be 13 (twins), I can look back and realize something.
I am not a perfect teacher. In fact, some times I am a horrible teacher. I loose my patience, I HATED teaching reading (I hate to use the word hate, but I really did not enjoy the countless hours spent listening to the same words, the same sentences, being read over and over, and over and over again. I could have almost fallen asleep through every beginning reading lesson, really, I did NOT enjoy it!)
I have promised my children that if they choose to homeschool THEIR children, and live within driving distance of our home when it`s time to teach them reading, I WILL BE THERE to give them a break because teaching a child to read is one of the very most boring, tedious tasks one can get through as a homeschooler, at least it was for THIS homeschooler! If they live too far away to drive, I guess I`ll have to fly out for a few weeks to help them get through that hump of learning to read! That`s how tedious I found teaching to read to be, especially with a couple of our kids who were very slow to catch on (one has aspergers… if you know what that means, you know I don`t need to explain further…)
However, when a child masters reading, when they really get it, THAT is one of the most wonderful experiences as a homeschooler that I have been a part of! Now that we`re FINALLY past that with ALL the kids, I rejoice almost daily that we made it through!
I may regret not being a perfect teacher, I may regret not always having the utmost of patience as my children`s teacher, but I will not regret homeschooling! For every bad day we`ve had, there`s been more good. For every day we fought at the table over book work, we had many more days in which we relished in the glory of God`s creation through nature walks, science experiments, and many, many, MANY day trips that we may never have done if our children were away all day.
I will never regret the memories!
The memories we have!
Photo after photo after photo of all the places we`ve been and the all the wonders we have seen!
Life is overwhelming!
There`s SO much to do, and SO little time! Our choice was to keep them home so we could do more of the things we truly cherished in life. Things besides sit-down book work and teaching to pass standardized tests!
Such a mixed blessing it is, the good, and the bad, but that pretty much sums up homeschooling! That also pretty much sums up parenting! It`s the hardest thing we can do, yet the most rewarding as well!
I did homeschooling with my two kids.
What an amazing post! I really enjoyed reading it, and looking at all of your photos 🙂
I also one of those who disliked the act of teaching my children reading. I like you found it boring, as did my children. Thinking outside the box was a must in this area for us. I used reward systems, allowed texting and instant messaging to improved reading and spelling, websites like Spelling city were helpful, and of course nothing like letting them read their favorite character books 🙂
~> Homeschooling is such a wonderful gift, not only for one’s children, but for one’s self as well.
~Keri