Planning Ahead... A Home Schooling Post

I have home schooled my children a couple of times over the past 8 years. Each time we did it, it was for very specific reasons and those reasons varied for each child. What we learned along the way was that home schooling is a gift. It's free to anyone who chooses to accept it. But for some children, home schooling isn't the best gift. We discovered this with our eldest. He is a natural leader. He is strong-willed and loves a good competition. Working along side his younger sister did nothing to boost his drive. I was not a good student. I just barely graduated from high school. (That's a post for another day:) So for ME to choose to home school my kids was a huge leap of faith and it was very hard for me. Teaching is actually one of my spiritual gifts...really, shepherding is. Which some think is the same, but I disagree. To get up in front of a group of people and teach a lesson on something I'm not passionate about would be a failure for sure. BUT, to shepherd someone... to come along side of them and encourage them in the love of Jesus... THAT is what I love to do. So we did great with Bible. I could go on and on with my children (and I do) about the Lord and how He loves them and has great plans for their lives. I used the Precept D4Y material for our Bible time and LOVED it. I also was given the opportunity to lead an entire class of home schooled children through the gospel of John. It was amazing. My daughter can still remember the miracles that Jesus persformed, and most of them in order. It was a sweet year and one that I will treasure forever. But we realized in the middle of our son's 4th grade year (he's now in 6th) that he was depressed. He hated being home schooled. He liked several of the perks of being home schooled, but he just wasn't being challenged enough and it was like pulling teeth to get him to sit and do the work. He was so bored. I honestly felt like I was doing him a disservice by keeping him home. So we registered him for the charter school across the street and 2 weeks later he was sitting in the classroom. He never looked back. The healthy competition of knowing that you'd better study hard because there are other kids aiming for good grades too, gave him the desire he needed to work hard. Matt and I have never doubted that decision for ONE SECOND. It was the best thing we could have ever done for him. I probably won't ever attempt to home school him again unless it's absolutely necessary. Now with Ansley... She's totally different. She would LOVE to be home schooled again and we may do that again in the future. For now, she is exactly where she needs to be too. She had a slow start with reading, and still struggles with reading comp. We put her in the public school last year (3rd) after having homeschooled her for 1st & 2nd. I felt like she needed to be challenged to push harder. Children will always work harder for someone else and I wanted to see where she was academically in comparison to other kids her age. Her first quarter in the 3rd grade was HARD. But, she managed to get all B's and a couple of C's. The math they were doing was OUTRAGEOUSLY CHALLENGING. Thank heavens she had wonderful teachers. They took extra time with her and really poured into her like nothing I've ever seen before. This is a public (charter) school we are talking about and ALL 3 of her teachers were Christians. She ended up getting straight A's the last quarter and received the President's Award. God knew exactly what she needed... what WE needed. What an amazing experience. And it was a great way for our kids to see what public school is like. The kids there definitely came from all sorts of backgrounds. I was scared of the big, bad public school. I went to some myself as a kid. I know all too well what goes on there. I also had the amazing privelege of going to a small Christian school for 8th-12th grades. I appreciated it so much because I felt safe and loved. But I have to admit, it's a big, bad world out there. We have to equip our kids. We found out that "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world." Our kids got to see folly in a way that they never had before. Especially our son. One of his teachers (last year) was just barely out of college. She looked like one of the students. She would play songs like, "Dynamite" for them while they were doing their work and she would talk about her obsession with a certain NBA basketball player. One minute she was their big buddy and the next she was trying to be an authority figure. It was eye opening for our son and gave us much to chew on in conversations. (which we have alot of. He is a big talker and I love that.) His peers were allowed to have cell phones and would text like crazy with each other, which made him fell left out. (Our son still does not have a cell phone). They were all allowed on Facebook. I'm not even on Facebook, so why would I want my tween on there??? He signed up 3 different times without us knowing! You can just imagine how that went down... not so good with this mama and papa. Boy, was that a tough time. But it's like I always tell my children, "We are always in prayer that your sins will find you out". Why? Because our children do sin. Daily. And we want to walk beside them and show them the right way. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of EVERY child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him". We love our children and we want for them to see how the world lives and then see the consequences for how the world lives and hope that they can make a decision for themselves to choose the ways of the Lord, even though it's not always the coolest choice. Alex's friends last year (We're still talking 5th graders here) all had girlfriends and their parents would drop them all off at the skate center on Friday nights and they would hold hands (and who knows what else) and plaster it all over Facebook. For the end of the year party, there was a "lock in" from dusk till dawn. Yeah, I don't think so. But I did tell him that I would take him and sit in the wee corner with my book and he'd never know I was there. Not all night long, but at least for a couple of hours. Alex is a well-liked kid. He is handsome and athletic... not very shy or self-conscious, so this wouldn't have made him embarrassed at all. He thought about it and then said, "You know mom, I don't even want to go." And that was that. Graduation was the next day and he hasn't kept in touch with one kid from that school. Not one. Our kids are all at a wonderful (small) Christian school now and totally LOVE IT. He was able to glimpse and even partake in what the world has to offer for a short time, and he understands like never before what a lie it is. He is at peace this year. He has shown so much growth. We are SO proud of him.

So... We have tried it all. We started out in a big, fancy private college-prep Christian school for 2 years, where we thought we'd stay forever. Then we home schooled for a year. Then back to the big, fancy private school again for a year. Then home schooled AGAIN for 2 years (year & 1/2 for Alex). Then public school for a year (year & 1/2 for Alex). And now they are at a different smaller Christian school, where we hope to stay. We didn't start out on this journey thinking we'd be all over the place. It sort of seems like we are indecisive people. Actually, we have bathed each of these decisions in prayer. We take school one year at a time and we have done some things that we never thought we would have. Each family has to make their decisions based prayer & on what they believe is best for their family. No one knows whats better for your family than you. I recently read a blog of a home school mom who feels that every mom should home school and she makes no bones about it, that if you choose not to, it's because you are lazy or want more "me time"... As my good friend Jill always says, "There is no room for me in the Trinity". In other words, the Holy Spirit will guide you as to what you should do with your children. Rarely will He tell someone else what you should do with your children without telling you. If you feel called to home school, go for it! If not, then don't. The great thing is that we have the freedom to choose. I am so thankful for that!

AND, having said ALL OF THAT... We have decided to home school Ashlyn. I will share more about my thoughts and plans in future posts. I was given some great advice yesterday from a BTDT mom that I plan on using. If you have any suggestions please feel free to chime in!

Blessings,
Rebecca