I haven’t talked much on here about our decision to homeschool. One reason is probably because it would be the longest post ever to explain our thought process and reasons why. I might write that someday, but the second reason why I probably haven’t talked about it is…I am scared. Although I have an Early Education degree, I never used it. I graduated from KSU (7 months pregnant), got certified, and had Caleb a month later.
So, although we felt called to go down this road and I have some training, it is still scary.
I’m scared I can’t do it.
I’m scared I will miss something important-that they NEED to know.
I’m afraid my kids will be too sheltered.
I’m afraid they wont have any friends.
I’m afraid I wont be relatable or have any one to relate to..
I’m just afraid.
I heard two talks this weekend that I don’t think I stumbled upon accidentally. One was a talk through TED about the need for creativity and how that can be killed in schools. The second talk was by Andy Stanley. It was part five of Future Family, and it gave parenting tips on how to be intentional and love your kids well.
I found both of these talks encouraging and reaffirming, and I see it now as God loving me by building my confidence with those two tools put before me. So, I did all of my last-minute preparation Sunday night with joy and excitement.
Today was a great day!
I’m trying a new schedule all the way around. I’m setting my alarm to get up BEFORE the kids. I don’t think I have set that alarm clock since my student teaching days. My kids were my alarm.
Today, I successfully got up before them, made coffee, and did a short devotion. When the kids woke up at 7:10am and were excitedly ready to start school…we did. 🙂 As we went about and did the different things I had planned, I kept thinking how fun it was. I was creating and implementing the things I loved about my degree. I got to do the fun stuff, with kids I REALLY cared about, without all the paperwork/testing junk. I think I am going to love this.
My boys are into Transformers like crazy right now, so Matt made them a “Transformers School Desk”.
It folds out like a transformer. We have plans to paint it Optimus Prime colors.
The boys are crazy about it! They especially love how it all folds up into its self, so their sweet little sister can’t get into anything in it!
Since we started at about 7:30am, we could easily have been done by 10:30am, but the boys wanted to keep going. We did. I made it to lunch and then Matt took Caleb out to lunch for their traditional (It started last year when Caleb went to a preschool down the street.) “back to school lunch date”.
They got a Little Caesars pizza and went down by the Chattahoochee River to picnic eat and have a little playground, duck watching, geocaching fun. Caleb had a blast!
Next up was J’s FIRST starting school activity with his daddy.
They went and got a special drink. J wanted a Starbucks smoothie. They then went to the mall to play on the indoor climbing stuff and go up and down the escalator, of course!
I know I have LOTS to learn and new routines to figure out. I am still scared, but I can do this. God wont take me down a path I can not handle.
Thank you so much for reading this post! I have not forgotten about my promises of traveling tips. That post will still happen!
Bravo! You can do it, and your kids will be the better for it! Love the transformer desks. Nothing like a handy husband who knows how to make his wife and kids happy. What a great idea to make the kids want to sit down and do their schoolwork. Enjoy the moments!
Liz
You can do it!! This is my first year homeschooling as well, with 2 boys, kindergarten and 3 year old preschool, so I know where you are coming from. I know the “feeling scared” and the “this is so much fun” moments. Here’s to a great year of building into our sons lives!