Why I Homeschool...There's more to learning than you think!
I struggled over the issue of homeschooling for years. I thought about it, and prayed about it, and thought about it some more. I finally decided two years ago that after my children finished that year in public school, we were going to give it a try. My children now are 11, 8, and 4.
Our first year, which would have been last year was at times rewarding, hard, easy, amazing, and not so amazing. I learned a lot about my kids and myself last year. For some reason though, I felt so compelled to follow the public school setting. You know, the same schedule each day, and every day. I felt that all of the material had to be covered by the end of the year. I was so overwhelmed and just didn't have it together. Now don't get me wrong, it was still rewarding, and I have always loved being home with my children.
This year however, I decided to do things differently. I decided to not stress over whether or not everything got completed for everyone each day. I realized that last year, I had missed out on a lot of opportunities to answer important questions from my children. Whenever they asked a question that didn't pertain to our lesson I would tell them that we would talk about it later. Then of course I would forget. I missed so many opportunities last year to talk to my children. For that matter, I guess public school would have been no different.
This year has been wonderful. Obviously we're not always happy and bouncing off the walls, but we have had a great year. The struggles haven't been so bad. I have learned so much more about my kids. When my daughter and I are doing math and she wants me to explain to her about how people and animals reproduce, (thanks to her guinea pig who just had a baby. She's only eight, thought I would have more time to have to talk about this subject.) , who cares about the math! When my son is doing language and decides that he wants to learn more about the creation of the earth, well then forget the language. I have realized this year that there is so much more to learning than just textbooks. I have been able this year to teach so much more "eternal learning" than just "school stuff". These are opportunities that I would have missed out on had they been in public school. I wouldn't trade my homeschooling experiences for the world! What a privilege to be able to "raise and teach" our children ourselves. Our society has definitely lost touch with this; being seen as a duty or chore and not the privilege that God intended it to be.
-Christa E. Wilkinson-
