Why, yes, we do homeschool

Once upon a time, in a city across the metro, I promised a homeschooling post to a friend ... (sorry it took so long ... but here it is)

I remember the day that I knew I wanted to homeschool.  I was in 5th grade and my best friend was homeschooled.  I had stayed the night at her house (because my mom had to work overnight), naturally, we talked about school and what-not ... I went to school the next morning, knowing without a doubt in my mind that someday I wanted to homeschool my children.  I loved how close her family was, how she got to do school in her jammies (if she wanted to), and that she wasn't in school ALL.DAY.LONG!

Fast forward about 15 years ... SO much had changed in that time ... my friend had moved away when we were in 6th grade, I had finished high school, and gone to a great college, was now married and we were thinking about having a baby/pregnant with said baby.  The one thing that stayed the same through all of that was that I still wanted to teach my children at home.  Lucky for me, my husband was homeschooled and had been praying for a very long time that his someday-wife would want to homeschool their kids!

The closer our sweet daughter got to being school-age, the scarier our decision to homeschool became ... I mean, if her/their education is lacking - that's on ME!  No pressure or anything, right?!

When our oldest turned 4, we started doing preschool things with her ... testing the waters, so to say.  I created our daily plan (sometimes it was great, sometimes it was lacking); but we enjoyed it.  She loved being able to say "we do school at home" when people asked about school.  I loved that I still got to spend all day, everyday with my sweet girl.  I also learned very quickly that she is very, very smart!  By the end of preschool, she had taught herself how to read some basic words!  She never ceased to amaze me!

As we sought out council from friends who have homeschooled or were planning to homeschool their kids, we learned about MACHE and attended their conference in April.  That made our heads spin (in a good way)!  So much information, so very many options on what to teach and how to teach it ... we were overwhelmed, to say the least!

We chose a curriculum that we were certain we would both thrive with - I wanted something that would tell me what to do, and she loves art projects/hands on learning - so we went with My Father's World (Kindergarten).  While we have thoroughly enjoyed this curriculum, I have learned a few things ... My sweet girl is NOT at the level of a typical Kindergartener ... and I don't like having everything handed to me .. I want to create my lessons a little more than a boxed curriculum allows.  I want to piece together things that interest her and make lessons that suit where she is, educationally.  So ... for next year, we'll be back to the drawing board (exhibit hall at MACHE) for what to use for first grade.

The other thing that we did this year was to join a homeschool co-op.  I thought that having other kids around and having her involved in this would be beneficial to us ... it wasn't.  I think that for the right family, this or any, co-op would be very beneficial.  However I learned that I want more control of our schedule.  We chose to homeschool so that we can be home and doing school together, on our schedule - not in a setting of "controlled chaos", sometimes barely (I can say that, I am also their teacher).

I have heard so many times that I must be "so patient" or some variety of that ... I can tell you with 100% honesty that I am NOT "so patient" and many days I "don't have the patience for that" ... but to see my sweet girl learn to read for the first time, and watch her get something after struggling with it - it's ALL worth it!  I, firmly, believe that God gives us the grace and strength that we need for each day ... some days, I need more than others.

All this to say, I firmly believe that homeschooling is an excellent choice for just about any child, assuming that the parents are able and committed to educating their children.  It's not easy or for the faint of heart; I mean, we make messes and have an ant hill (eww).  BUT I wouldn't give this up for anything!