I haven't really blogged about this yet.
I wanted to make sure that it was going to for real stick- that "IT" being homeschooling.
We heard very clearly from the Lord in October that were to homeschool. Kaylyn started Kindergarten this year at a WONDERFUL local Christian school. There were no "issues" with the school in the least. In my mind, it was near perfect.
We just felt a very strong impression from the Holy Spirit. Jason has felt strongly about the Lord leading us to homeschool for a while prior to October. But, he was so patient with me and wanted the Lord to change my heart about all of it since the majority of the homeschooling responsibilities would fall on my plate.
This gal didn't go down without a fight though. I'm not proud that I fought the Lord about this. But, I don't want to give the impression that it was the easy for me. I fought, I questioned, I bawled, I feared, and at the end of it all I said "let's do it".
I don't have any fancy words to describe the homeschooling experience thus far other than "it fits". Our lifestyle out on a farm is very conducive to homeschooling since a living and breathing schoolroom awaits us (I don't think you have to have a farm to homeschool though).
I think what I've learned the most through this process is that there isn't an exact formula to homeschooling. That is sort of the beauty of it, but also hard for a brain like mine who likes to stick labels on things.
If you asked 10 homeschool moms how they "do school", you would get probably 12 different answers. Those numbers don't even go together. But, what I found is that some moms have schedules they follow to a "T". Other moms throw schedules out the window. And some moms have different schedules depending upon what day it is and what the weather is like.
For me, the balance is somewhere in the middle knowing that have small babies at home but we also need structure and routines. I love to embrace the flexibility of homeschooling, but I personally know that I do need structure in my life or chaos takes a toll on me and our home.
I most definitely don't have everything figured out. And that is okay. All of this is to say, there isn't a "method" to homeschooling- just lots and lots of prayer involved. If the Lord has called you to homeschool, He will equip you.
One of the things I beat myself up about the most is the fact that I don't have a college degree. I didn't even make it half way through college.
But, something was off in my brain to think that because I don't have a teaching certification I'm not qualified to teach my children. That is a bogus thought. If you are a mother, you ARE a teacher regardless if you homeschool or not.
Finding the right curriculum can be overwhelming in and of itself. I asked several wise women who homeschool in my life and narrowed it down to a few to really dig deep into. It helped me to write down goals I wanted my girls to walk away from their schooling experience.
Wow, this post is a lot longer than what I intended it to be.
So far, I've LOVED homeschooling. There are challenges most definitely (i.e. time management on my part). Kaylyn has really loved homeschooling too so that makes me happy that she looks forward to it everyday. We try to incorporate things she loves to do in to our learning- cooking, sewing, crafting, whatever. I've seen her grow so much and I've seen our relationship grow so much.
I made our little office/computer room into more of our schoolroom. I don't think that you need a schoolroom to homeschool. I've seen families do just fine without one. We had the space already.
This little area has became my favorite spot in the house. These photos were taken after I had everything all cleaned up. If you were to come over to my house on any given normal day, you would find pipe cleaners everywhere, beads on the table, legos on the floor, and books piled a mile high next to the couch.
One thing I do KNOW for sure.....we are NOT a pinto bean playin' kind of family. Those are for eatin' in this house.
I decided to take a rubbermaid storage container and fill it with beans and funnels and cups and lots of other fun things. I even put a sheet under the box for the girls to play on. Somebody just slap me upside the head. What was I thinking??? I'm still finding beans all over the house.
Messes are fun- if they are easy to clean up. The bean box has officially been retired.
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