home school rambles!

with a yr under my belt and 15+ yrs left ahead, i have learnt, discovered and enjoyed my journey through this crazy world of home education! and i wanna share them with you! cause, that's what i do...im an open book, i wear my emotions on my sleeves so you can see. ha

starting out last yr was rough. not gonna lie about it.  i was alone, felt alone and cried a lot.  i was also adjusting to a new born, healing from the pregnancy and learning to live with chris being around more (he was on pat leave)  i joked a few months back at home school get together that i quit every friday from sept-dec. i wish it was a joke, i did quit in my mind. i even looked up and got the contact info for the school nate would have been going to; more than once. ha. i   got his bus route and teacher's name but for some reason, each monday morning i couldn't make the call

one wkend in late nov. i was crying on chri's shoulders again about how miserable and alone i was.  all my friends and i mean all of them had sent their kids to school that past fall. i didn't.  i was scared.  i felt the weight of nate's education rest completely on my shoulders.  most days it got to the point that i didn't even like my own kid! i lost my patience time after time and got jealous when i missed out on another social gathering of the mom's that don't have kids at home...i felt that their invites was rubbing (gloating?) their freedom in my face, while i struggled on. alone.  that night, as i snotted over chris's shoulder...he asked me why i was h/s...i was very evasive about answering...finally he said something along the lines of "mel i will support you no matter what. if you want nate in public school im ok with that.  if you want to keep h/s im ok with that too but what is the main reason why you are doing this?"  and he threw the one dreaded question at me "what has god called you to do?"

with a sob and fear.  a fear so strong it kept me pinned to his chest while i mumbled along the lines of "what does it matter about god?  h/s is too hard and i want out"

chris,knowing me so well asked me a question that changed everything. he asked if he could take the weight and the burden of the responsibility of nate's and ellie's education and carry it for me.  he asked if he could be the one that would carry the burden of it for me, so i could be free to be me."  kinda like god wants us to do right? hahahaha 

i kept my head on his shoulders for a few more minutes and with snot on my face, hair messed up i put on my big girl pants and said "god has called me to home educate our kids" 

and that was that. i haven't looked back.  i don't compare myself to anyone else. what they do for school (or don't) 

i have however observed a few thing about home schooling in general i thought i'd share....

-if i had .01 for every. single. time.  i have heard "you are so lucky, i don't have the patience to do it" i'd be in florida right now.  no, i do NOT have patience for it. but anyone can home school!

-socialization- im not even touching this. it's so out to lunch and a waste of my quite typing time to elaborate on this outdate and narrow minded view towards home education

-grade levels....ummm what are those?  h/s usually work at their kids pace, public schools make grade levels for the kids....nate is in grade what ever he's working at!

-ive seen with my own eyes and heard from the teachers that h/s kids play/work/socialize well with all age levels.  there is nothing like watching a 10 yr old stop and help a 5 yr old during gym class

-there is little, if any concept of "cool".  so clothing, games, t.v, materialistic things are not labeled as anything

-close family relationships.  i have seen this over and over. the families are close and tight and opposite to that is 'normal' teens actually grow closer to their parents as they age, not separate

-we don't understand home work, what is that?  or snow days.  or tests/exams/report cards (at least for the lower levels)

-the kids wear what they want. no one tells them it's not cool. or silly.  personally, i love seeing the kids wear their fun clothing choices....no one can have too many spider-mans at science class

-one last thought before i get ellie up from her nap. ha.  the stereotype that home schooled are weird or socially unaware is simply not true....i have met many, many public schooled kids that are quite odd.....cough......

so there you go.  an off the cuff blog on home education ramblings and such!

happy new years eve eve!

Posted by mel at 2:45 PM