Welcome to a 5 day blog hop: Back to Homeschool. My first post is about remembering the reason why we home educate-the overview.
Here in England, we are still enjoying the summer but this is ideal thinking and planning time. I enjoy planning but reality can be complicated and difficult. Spending time thinking about the why of home education is important. It is only against this that we can judge whether we should continue or not. Of course, the why can be different for different families. One friend encouraged us to write down our reasons for home education to reread on difficult days. This was sound advice.
Challenges can have different meaning depending on our underlying reasons for home educating. Sometimes academics can be difficult or a child may have difficulty grasping a new skill. Are we home educating to produce a genius? If the child has difficulty grasping a concept, this may be a problem. Are we home educating because we believe that the child should be brought up in the nuture and admonition of the Lord. The difficulty may be something to use to show the child to go to the Lord for strength to persevere.
Let's be honest, it is easy so easy to get diverted and feel that all is lost because the child isn't little Einstein. We lose sight of our objectives. Of course, we have to be diligent. That may involve extra research on how to teach a challenging concept, extra practice, allowing regular and consistent practice.
Equally, the beginning of September can be difficult. Facebook is full of pictures of children going off to their new schools and mothers arranging to meet for coffee. The home educating mother is girding her arms to start the year and face all the work that entails. Again, what is our purpose? It is unlikely to be to have an easy time. Look to the Lord. Reconsider why you are doing this and take courage.
Please pop over to visit other Schoolhouse Crew members who are taking part in this blog hop:
Nikki @ Angels of Heart
Tauna @ Proverbial Homemaker
Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Melanie @ finchnwren
Joelle @Homeschooling for His Glory
Linda @ Linda's Lunacy
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio
Tauna @ Proverbial Homemaker
Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Melanie @ finchnwren
Joelle @Homeschooling for His Glory
Linda @ Linda's Lunacy
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio
Such good thoughts, Sarah! I just read the "nurture and admonition" section to my 12yo. How true, that the Lord uses those challenges to draw us to Himself!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I loved seeing "fruit and veg" in your sidebar "Labels"! My husband, son and I watch Jamie Oliver's "15-Minute Meals" together on Saturday mornings, right after breakfast. (There's not that much on tv that we can watch, but we love Jamie!) We just adore him and his darling accent....and he often says something like, "gorgeous veg!"
I think it's so true that we need to focus on Why we are homeschooling our children. Although I do sometimes get a little jealous of the moms who are making big plans while their kids head back to school, mostly I'm just so glad that mine aren't going somewhere and that they'll be home with me. :-) I would miss them so much if they went away to school! :-)
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