Guest Blog over at Blissful Wife Ministries

Ever wonder about your qualifications to "teach" your children at home? Are you considering homeschooling? Then my guest blog is a must-read for you!!!


http://www.blissfulwife.com/2012/08/guest-post-am-i-qualified-to-homeschool-my-children.html

When a Teacher Asks...

I am taking classes to earn my Master's degree in Teaching and Learning. Recently, a professor commented on my decision to homeschool my children:
"Lyn, your educational leadership was essential as a homeschooing parent! I would love to know more about your decision to homeschool. What were the benefits and challenges? What guidance would you give others considering homeschooling? Thanks for sharing..."

This was my reply:


"Our decision to homeschool was made based on a few factors affecting our oldest son. He was in first grade and was reading at a fifth grade level and they had already used all the reading textbooks they could for him. He also had completed math through about third grade at this point. Because he would finish his work quickly, he became disruptive and the teacher simply did not know what else she could do with him. (I should mention here that we had homeschooled him from age four until he was 6 and entered first grade. When I was pregnant with my 4th and expecting her at the beginning of the school year, I thought it would be easier to send our oldest two sons to public school instead of homeschooling them. I was SO wrong!)
He finished out the school year and the following year we brought our sons home to be educated at the pace and academic levels that worked best for them.
The biggest benefits were both academic and personal. As each of our children started their schooling, we were able to progress them in the academic areas in which they excelled and work more remedially in areas that needed improvement. Additionally, we were able to take family vacations during the school year when other parents would keep their children in school and enjoyed less crowded trips to the zoo, museum and our fav out-of-state destination--Disney World!
Some of the challenges we faced were not with actually schooling our children, but rather with the reactions of our family who were not so sure about this homeschooling "thing"! It became a matter of proving ourselves worthy of teaching our own children and at times I was incredibly frustrated that they would challenge me in such a manner. As of now, I have graduated three students (one more has earned all her credits, but has chosen to not graduate yet so she can take classes at our supplemental school: Broomfield Options, through Aurora Public Schools!); one is serving his 5th year in the US Navy, one finished his automotive technician degree at FRCC, and one is attending FRCC to complete an Associate's degree. We participate in the supplemental school, so socialization (something OFTEN questioned of homeschooling families!) is not a concern as they attend regular classes with like-minded teachers.
I think the guidance and advice I would give to those contemplating homeschooling is to try it out over the summer. Many times, parents are worried that if they school their children for a year and they screw up, miss deadlines, don't finish work or workbooks, etc. they will mess their children up for life. This is simply not true! BUT, for those who desire a "test drive" I suggested a schooling trial over the summer. We school year-round so that we do not encounter any of the issues the public school students face when returning to school after a 3-month hiatus! Most of the first quarter is spent teaching students the information that they learned in the fourth quarter of the previous year anyway. We simply eliminate that long break, opting instead for 2-3 week breaks throughout the school year. I also suggest praying about the responsibility of schooling your own children. It's a big task and if your heart isn't in it, it will be a struggle, slow-going and challenging at best."

While challenges are nothing new to homeschoolers, we can also rely on those the Lord has put in our path to mentor and encourage us. We can be the mentor to a new homeschooling family or to be the voice of encouragement to a mom who is struggling to keep her house clean, her kids on task for school, the dishes washed, the laundry neatly folded and put away, and dinner ready every night. WE might have the one word that mom needed to hear today! WE might be that smile that says, "It's going to be okay!" WE may be the difference in a mom continuing to homeschool her children!!

Don't give up! Even TEACHERS are aware of the value of home education!!!

Struggles...Paul said there'd be days like these!!

The first three months of the year were quite a struggle for me as a mom, homeschooler, student, homemaker and wife.  Members of our immediate family have alienated us and removed themselves from our lives and it has been devastating, to say the least.  My homeschooling endeavors have netted less than desirable results and I have often fallen short of my weekly lesson planned goals.  I have submitted class assignments for my own school work late and feel challenged to complete the weekly assignments by the deadlines.  My kitchen has met with dishes stacked on the counters and in the sink, desperately waiting for me to put them in the dishwasher.  I have barked at my husband for menial things such as the television being turned up too loud or his empty fast food beverage cups being left all over the house.  I have been challenged in all areas of my life in just the past 90 days!

The word struggle means this:

 

1.to contend with an adversary or opposing force.

2.to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.

3.to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow.

4. (of athletes and competitors) to be coping with inability to perform well or to win; contend with difficulty.

Thankfully, I know I am not alone in these struggles. Philippians 1:29-30 says, " For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,  since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."  Paul struggled with the things of life and wrote about it to the Philippians to encourage them that they were NOT alone in their struggles.  Paul further encourages his friends and fellow believers " I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." (Romans 15:30).  We need to let our brothers and sisters in Jesus know of our struggles so that they may join us in prayer that we would overcome these struggles!  Notice Paul said to join him in praying to God.  We need to actively pray for ourselves that we would see the breakthrough, too!  We also need to persevere in our praying.  Paul wrote, "We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them."  (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).

Be encouraged today that while it may seem as though the struggles you and I are facing today are new and that at times it may appear we are going through these things on our own, we are not alone!




 

Finding the new in the old and liking it

Finding the new in the midst of the old is often difficult.  At least I thought it was. 

As the mother of eight kids, I found out quickly that when it came to menus, I needed to find things that everyone, or almost everyone, would eat.  Get 10 people in a room and I’m betting they won’t all like the same things for any given meal, and this was the case of my family.  We have used the same staple dinners for more than 15 years now, but I was the one wanting something different!  I tried a recipe that called for, of all things, Beefaroni as an ingredient in the meal.  Tonight, we had chili-roni and it was great!  Just one missing item, that I didn’t even realize could be an ingredient, made our same old meal that much better.  I scored some points with my kids for dinner and my husband, who rarely eats anything like macaroni and cheese, actually liked what I made!!

Last Thursday, we ventured to the beach to celebrate my oldest niece’s birthday.  It was a wonderful day and adding some schooling when the kids didn’t even notice made it educational as well.  We played in the tide pools where we found little puffer-like fish, then we found some clams/mussels nearby.  Next, we happened on a crab claw and a purple starfish.  We splashed and played and laughed and soon our day was ending.  As we walked down the beach back to the car, we were blessed to find a small hammerhead shark that was lying on the beach.  It seems it was caught by a fisherman and left to dry out in the sun.  These small editions enhanced my children’s learning more than they could have ever received if we had merely looked at the pictures on the Internet.  They actually liked what we did for school that day!

I began thinking about my life as a Christian.  What would it be like if I added one ingredient like reading an inspiring book (“Mere Christianity” was my choice!) to my daily devotions and prayer time?  Today, I began to read Book One of C.S. Lewis’ famed inspirational work. The rules of what is right and what is wrong and our expectations of others with regard to our idea of right and wrong are quite interesting to me.  And I actually like what he has to say about the Law of Human Nature.

What I am finding is adding one simple thing to a meal, to my homeschooling day, to my Christian walk just makes it much better than each area was before.