As Spring is here and Summer is well on its way, this is usually the time that I begin reflecting back on our homeschool year and wonder just who learned more… me? or my kids? At the time of this writing, our 5th year of homeschooling is nearing an end, and I just cannot believe that we have made it this far! This has truly been the adventure of a lifetime, and one that I would not change for anything in the world! At this point, I cannot imagine not homeschooling my children. In fact, anything but home education seems abnormal to me.
When I was pregnant with my first son, I had my home educating friends constantly asking me if I was going to homeschool. I laughed (out loud) at them, and politely said, “Are you kidding… NO WAY!” At that time, we had just moved into our home, and they were breaking ground for a brand new Elementary School just outside of our subdivision. I thought that was God’s way of making provision for him to go to school. I continued to say, “No,” until it was time to sign him up. At that time, I felt a little nudge in my heart (and a lot of panic in my mind.) Just as He always does, God started putting people in my path and starting changing, not only my heart but my mind as well. After LOTS of prayer and petition, I decided to give it a “try” for Kindergarten. After all, it’s just Kindergarten, right?!? I mean, what could I possibly mess up in Kindergarten?!? (I soon found out, but more on that later.) Technically, Kindergarten isn’t even mandatory in the state of GA, so all was good. Once I gave in, God started pouring information and friends over me, and more information and even more friends that could help us on our new journey, until we were completely equipped (and slightly overwhelmed) with EVERYTHING that we needed. Little did we know that we already had everything that we needed inside of us…
So here it was… the first day of school… Kindergarten. I started it off right, or so I thought… We woke up early, got completely dressed, ate a big breakfast and packed our brand new backpack (he had to have something to carry his books in, from the living room to the kitchen, right?) We prayed and said the Pledge of Allegiance, then came our Bible time, and yes we even sang some songs. We continued with this routine for a while, until it seemed to be becoming a little monotonous. I soon realized that God’s purpose was not for me to homeschool my son by “bringing school home.” It was to home educate him in a way that was right for him, and for me to teach him in a way that was right for both of us. In order to do this, I had to learn my son and who he is as an individual.
Through the years, we have definitely revamped our homeschooling routine to fit our lifestyle, not our lifestyle for school. The importance of family comes first and learning automatically follows with everything that we do. One thing that we do is allow our children to spend as much time as they can with their grandparents. Learning is a way of life, therefore school will always be there for them; however, their grandparents will not be. This past December, when they experienced the first loss of a grandparent, that became very real to us. I am satisfied to know that we allowed them as much time as they have needed to get to know their grandparents and the heritage that God has blessed them with. This has been priceless to us.
