A homeschool post :)

Yep, I am actually writing a homeschool post. First I would like to let you know I wrote about our homeschooling philosophy and what curriculum we are using on my new homeschool page (you can see the link on my menu bar too). 🙂

I tend not to write about our schooling a whole lot because things tend to flow pretty smoothly around here. Yes, we have our days like everyone else. Frustrating days, sick days and the like, don’t think I’m saying we have no problems with schooling, I’m not saying that. Most of the issues now isn’t so much with curriculum but character issues. Our children are now teenagers, Sarah is 16 and Paulie will be 15 in April. And though we are concerned with their book learning, we are more concerned with their character and spiritual growth. They are independent learners, and do most of their book work by themselves. The most I do with one of them, is Paulie and I are reading his science together. But starting next year, he’ll even be doing that by himself. Paulie does still read with his father every night and that will probably go on for years. They like to read together, and it helps Paulie to learn more words and practice his reading.

I realized too, as I am trying to write this post, I don’t always write about our homeschooling because I don’t want to focus on my children’s short comings. And if I don’t mention their short comings, then it sounds like my children are perfect (which believe me, they are not 😉 ). I have one child that has a learning disability but it’s not something we focus on here. We let them do their work, never giving the disability as an excuse as to why they shouldn’t have to finish their work, or why it’s ok if they ‘skip’ something. But we also don’t push them so hard they are discouraged. It’s a balancing act for sure, and one that we don’t always have fully balanced.

Paulie will not always be taking and doing the same things in high school as Sarah has, why? Because he isn’t Sarah. 😉 I won’t list a ton of reasons why, all I know is my kids learn differently and will have different paths in high school and beyond, I’m sure. As far as we know, we will continue to homeschool through high school (unless the Lord shows us differently). I don’t pretend to say my children are somehow advanced beyond their public school peers, because for us, it’s not about that. Truly, I wouldn’t have a clue if they are or aren’t anyway. But they are doing well for them, and they are doing their own, individual best, which is all we’ve ever asked of them. What blesses my heart more than an A on an assignment is when I hear what sweet children they are. Or when I see them helping without being asked. Or I hear how well they played with other children. That, to me, is way more important than book learning.

It’s taken us almost the whole 10 years of homeschooling to realize there is no ‘right’ way to homeschool. People always say, “Oh, I couldn’t homeschool my children.” Or, “Oh there is no way I could homeschool through high school.” Honestly I thought the very same thing before I started, and I often think the same thing now. 🙂 And I think my biggest problems come when I think of trying to school as the public schools do. We are not a public school, we are a homeschool family. Our children will not do their school work like they would in public school, because they are homeschoolers. Once I realized that the public school is not the standard I should be using, and that I shouldn’t compare my children to other homeschool children, my stress level greatly decreased. I’m also (trying to) trust in the Lord that He will continue to show us what our children need, whether it’s book learning, character building or spiritual. It shouldn’t be all about me and what I can give them anyway. It should be about them growing in the Lord, and learning to hear His voice so that He can show them what to do. We are not perfect in that or any other area of our lives, but we continue to strive for His guidance with it all.

So there it is, a homeschool post. And now you know why I don’t always write about this adventure we are on called homeschooling. But every once and a while I will throw a post out there so you know we are still doing it. And, as always, if you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask. I always love to help where I can. 🙂