Next year we will have two kids heading off to the deep south for college. We are all excited about what the future holds for the girls there. My two drivers are taking a car and leaving the nest.
The next two will be home schooling sort of. One will be taking classes part time at the high school. One will be doing some classes online, and some classes with her small group of friends she worked with this year. She has been blessed by having a couple of other girls her age who have been schooling at home for a while. Their moms have things down and she has been able to ride along with them. I am very thankful for their help, and she has thrived this last year.
The five youngest will be back at our local Christian school this fall. There are a couple I know will have to work very hard, but I think I have a better handle on what their struggles are. It may not be successful for them, so I am keeping an open hand and exploring other options for the following year if that is what I need. A couple of them are doing fantastic at school, and I am very happy to have them continue on that track.
So what did I learn this past year? I learned that homeschooling a great paradox. All the things you love about it are likely the things that make it so stinking hard. It is an incredible amount of hard, rewarding, messy work. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
I learned that I love teaching my kids. I love reading with them and discussing what we are reading. I love re-learning Algebra, writing, grammar, geography...I think I really just love learning. I learned that I had forgotten a whole lot of really good stuff in my lifetime. I'm pretty sure my kids are forgetting most of what they learned over the year as we speak. My hope is that they will get a chance to re-learn it someday and love it as much as I do.
I loved having everyone home together. They really did pull together as a family during this year. In the end that was one of the unexpected blessings of the year. I had no idea that two of my kids would be heading away from home for college this fall. We got to have our last year together all at home. I couldn't have planned it better myself. Thank you Lord! The flip side of this is that there were days when I was sure I was going to lose my mind. There were people in my house ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. I cherish quiet time. I didn't have one moment of quiet time for the entire year. That really wore on me. It is the one thing that I need to get a grip on if I'm going to have people home full time ever again.
I learned that while some of my kids struggled academically, their struggles are more disciplinary, and motivational than academic. I have at least one, that it my just be that they need more time then they can be given in a school setting. I will see how this coming year goes. I am not willing to just keep holding a child back an entire year if they really just need 30 more minutes in a couple of subjects. Those are the ones that I will work through my own issues with home schooling and find a way to make it work for both of us. I am very interested in Classical Conversations. We are exploring that option and how we can make it work for our family. I love the Classical model, and I think it can work even for the kids with challenges.
I also learned that trying to home school solo is not a great idea, at least for this mom. I missed the fellowship of school for me and my kids. It was lonely and hard to figure out how I was doing with no outside measure to look to. I think that I need to have an outside structure to keep me going and motivate myself to press on and do all that needs to be done. I was not comfortable with the loose structure and being the final say in what was good enough. The kids that had another child to work with even if it was once a week did much better work than those of us who just had us. For high schoolers doing math, having accountability at least three times a week is a must! Once a week math is a killer.
I did find some truly marvelous things along the way. Belhaven High Scholars was a fantastic dual credit program for high school. My daughter loved the classes and they really challenged her to grow in her faith. I had a fantastic writing tutor who helped my daughter write creatively and love it. North Idaho College has dual credit math classes for high schoolers that are a fantastic introduction to college math. Sonlight readers will help your kids love reading. Khan Academy helped us with math, science, computer programing and SAT prep. Dragon Box app for iPad was a great help with Algebra concepts. Stack the states and Stack the Countries are great apps for learning geography. I also discovered that homeschooling grandmas are amazing. I hope I get to be one someday. Watching moms homeschool their children, and then step up to share that expertise with their grandchildren is both beautiful and inspiring.
I learned more this year than I have in the last ten years. It was rewarding and challenging, which is something I really needed. I learned a lot about my people and about myself. Some of it was sin I needed to deal with in my own heart which I might not have had to dig up otherwise. I think getting out of the rut and finding out what happens when you have to really think about your life is a good thing. No matter which direction you are going a change up can expose blind spots you might never see otherwise. I learned to appreciate my fantastic local school. I learned that I need not to fear any situation, but to trust the Lord in whatever he leads me to. I guess that is the most important thing I learned. God has a plan for my kids. His plan might not look the same for all of them so I need to be flexible and willing to go wherever he leads. I worship God, not any one educational method. He is good, and he will equip me for whatever he needs me to do for my kids. He makes us all unique and I need to be willing to make my box big enough to hold all the treasures he gives me. I still have a lot to learn, so I will press on.
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