Changing gears this week. I thought I would talk about my recent post on Facebook that I got a lot of questions and inquires about. Homeschooling. My favorite response was:
"You are really brave!"
I posted a comment on Facebook about getting some of our homeschool curriculum in, and how EXCITED I was about it. (I am really not sure "excited" is an appropriate word for it...I am bursting at the seams to get started.) I introduced the idea to my husband before our son was even a twinkle in our eye. The idea would come and go with the wind. When I was working it wasn't really an option for us. I couldn't homeschool and be a manager working 50-75 hours a week. I had to sleep sometime and so did my son. We dropped the idea.
I can pick what we learn about! If he hates it? We switch. Its about learning to love learning.
Now that I am a stay-at-home mom it is FINALLY a viable option. We started praying about it. After about a week it wasn't even a question. We would home school. It was the right thing for our family. Accepting the "call" like ones goes into a scary movie. Apprehensive. Scared. Anxious. -Brave?- Not one of those. It scares the breath out of me when I think about taking my son's future into my hands. How educated we are impacts our life, without getting over dramatic here, even so far to say our family tree. It also impacts the social society around us. Don't believe me? Walk into the inner cities of Birmingham, Detroit, and Compton. I do NOT want failure to be in my son's future. I also want him to be able to do anything he wants. Plumber? Electrician? Parts Salesman? Doctor? Surgeon? Dentist? Stay at home Dad? Fine. I am there behind you. I will give him the tools to do all those things.
There were a lot of people saying: "Couldn't ever do it", "I've thought about it, but don't know where to start" "How is your son going to socialize?" and "I am not smart enough to homeschool." Those are all legit comments and questions. I don't think there is 1 reason we decided to homeschool. All I know is I am a product of the public school system and although I don't consider myself to be an idiot. I do still struggle with a lot of things that I am embarrassed about.
Learning doesn't have to be expensive. These are homemade.
Match the number with its word name.
1. I can not spell. In the words of my mother "Your spelling is atrocious". Yes. I know. Thank GOSH I have autocorrect. (and even then my phone is like "I got nothing")
2. Grammar? HA. My favorite teacher was ALWAYS getting me for my commas.
3. I did NOT know what a Noun was until my Junior year in high school. I am serious.
4. I finally grasped math my junior year in High School. I am not talking about 1+1, I am talking about fractions.
Do those things disqualify me from teaching my son? No. Actually I feel like it motivates me more. Every single one of us learns differently and I will not tolerate some teacher telling me my son needs to be on medicine because he is bored in class. I also think the curriculum that teachers are required to teach impacts our children and their self esteem. There is a time and a place for things to be hard. When they are young...learning needs to be FUN! They will learn more. Be excited about learning. WANT to learn.
Parents who send their children to Private school are BRAVE.
Parents who send their children to Public school are BRAVE.
Parents who send their children to Charter schools are BRAVE.
Parents who decide to teach their children at home are BRAVE.
I think parents in general are BRAVE. It takes a lot of courage to have a child. To be selfless every single day to make decisions that are no longer what is good for you, but what is good for the child. I have a girl friend who had a rant and said "We need to stop comparing ourselves to others. We need to stop putting each other down and encourage one another." Do you know who knows what is best for your child? YOU DO! If something doesn't sit right with you. It isn't right. We give to much credit to people who have degrees in something and we reluctantly give credit to our God given intuitions.
Fine motor skills? Clothes pins! Match the letters to its popsicle stick. He LOVES it!
Plus. Guess what. School doesn't have to be what we are used to. Taking a trip to the beach turns into an endless learning opportunity. Going on a walk around the block turns into learning. My son's favorite thing in the world is trains. " T is for Thomas!" Fantastic way to learn the Alphabet. Every single thing you do can be turned into learning. Don't worry about "socializing". A trip to the grocery store is an amazing way to learn eye contact, thank you's, excuse me's, and learn how to count money or how to be polite to people in line.
I wont go on right now. I will do a follow up post later. One thing I know for sure. I am scared to death deciding to homeschool.
God doesn't choose the qualified. He qualifies the chosen.
xoxo
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