Homeschool Talk: Growth is a Guarantee
July 31, 2012 by Aimee • 4 Comments
This blog is really about Simply Inspired Home Living, but my readers have had a lot of questions and in response I’ve dedicated this ONE week to homeschool talk! Here’s my lame effort to bridge the gap between the two: Paint Chip Phonics Cards! Brilliant idea, right – the flash cards, not my attempt at uniting homeschooling with decor and design!
At the end of this week I’m going to share our journey, but in addition to my story, I’m so thankful to sweet friends being willing to share their wisdom! Yesterday, Krista shared a ton of resources for Homeschool Curriculum. Krista blogs at Not by Might and every year she publishes her blog posts and keeps it as a treasured family annual.
Krista’s perspective is very inspiring….
I found an email I sent to Jeff last July when I was out of town planning for school. Here’s a snippet.
Reading the note I wrote to Jeff made me a little sad. I hardly felt last year was “our best school year yet.” Was it and the preceding 4 were even worse? I totally had “crack the whip” mornings in hopes of a little down time for everyone by mid-afternoon, only to be frustrated in the late afternoon because we were still checking, correcting math sheets or answering the knocks on the door from neighborhood kids home from their school day. Before it started, the job felt big and overwhelming and packed. And the more squeezed I felt, the less fun I felt like having. Oh sure, there was SOME fun but much more could have been dished out. For sure.
So, how’s that for encouraging?? Everyone ready to home school their kids now?? Would you roll your eyes if I said, I love it? I do…..but I want it to be better! Energizing. Anticipated. Stimulating. Fun. I will always hope for that, plan for that and every year, for however long I get to do this, try again for that.
I think every Mom, home schooler or not, struggles with how her family’s days are going, how she is responding to hard situations with her kids, how she intercedes in arguments, how she teaches, instilling things positive peer pressure usually takes care of, how she reacts to her children’s behaviors (typical childhood silliness and downright disobedience), how to best protect the family calendar, and how to be pleasant, encouraging and generous when her husband comes home. For me, those are the biggies. Those are the ones that sneak into my thoughts at night when the house is quiet. I can choose condemnation and shame or I can choose forgiveness for the present and hope for the next day. I like to fall asleep with the latter on my mind.Being together all day magnifies everyone’s faults and faults magnified are no different than a piece of string under a microscope. It’s creepy. And messy. But here is the opportunity for blessing– seeing everyone’s mess, working through it and loving each other through it. We give and receive genuine forgiveness everyday. That’s good stuff and that’s worth whatever struggle I feel.
I read Oswald Chambers last week and I could relate to his words in a few situations in our lives right now. We tend to focus on and measure according to the goal, the end result. Walking with God focuses on the process, the journey, the dailies. The goal is important but I don’t think near as critical as HOW we got there and all the things that transpired on our way. That’s what I think was good about our last school year- a few minutes here, a good laugh there, obedience chosen, life lessons learned, conversations at breakfast, hurt feelings soothed, arguments settled, books relished. Our dailies weren’t always pretty, but there were great moments– moments I am counting on to shape not only their lives, but their next day. MY next day.
I will continue to trust the Lord as I plan once again to educate Julia and Brighton in these rooms– that He is in the detailed workings of this process, with us in all the rabbit trails this journey takes and speaking to me regularly regarding the dailies of our home.
Just as I did last year, I still have hope that THIS can be the best school year yet.
So true, growth is a guarantee when homeschooling, just as parenting is not for the faint of heart! Look for another homeschool post each day this week and at the end of this series I will share my story and answer some of the questions I’ve received from you. If you have any homeschool questions that you’ve been wondering…whether you home school or not, shoot me an email [itsoverflowing {at} gmail {dot} com] and I’ll include my responses to your most asked questions!!! Thanks again Krista, Not By Might for sharing these awesome resources with us! XO, Aimee
As one of the ‘homeschool pioneers,’ I think the thing that helped me most not to become frustrated was having the school year all mapped out ahead of time, long before the school year began. That meant that each spring I would work at constructing a curriculum (a compilation of stuff from various sources), making a scope and sequence, and weekly plans for each kid. That way when the school year arrived, it was a matter of making a daily lesson plan for each day of the coming week (which would get posted on the wall). Of course then it always helped to build down time into that schedule, so that if you’re ready to tear your hair out, it won’t completely derail your school plan but will be considered ‘a mental health day.’
great info! thank you so much! We have lots of friends from Church that homeschool! I am so excited about starting!
Hi,there I’m impressed with your honesty. I is encouraging to here what you have to say and I’m not a home schooling mom. I’m bad at structure and I feel like I let my self down every time I go to bed. I was home schooled as a child and I love it. I’m great supporter of it and feel it is a great way teach kids and help them become adults . I have lots of experience defending home school to others and I know many people don’t know the benefits of it, not just for “Christian” reasons. I’m not the gifted type to home school my kids but I’m inspired by those who do. Thanks for your story.
Rose @ http://www.arosiesweethome.com/
Those flashcards are great! Best of luck to you with the coming school year!