Mothering a Hedgehog & a Butterfly

It's been a long time since I blogged, so I thought I would give it a bash.

We have finally reached the decision to homeschool both kids, hence the title of this post.

Matt is still my hedgehog - prickly on the outside,

soft little creature on the inside & hard to really get close to... 

& Amy-Grace is my butterfly - flitting from flower to flower,

much like a fairy, always happy, dancing & full of life.

It's amazing how different these two are from each other.

Both can learn so much from each other.

The butterfly inspires the hedgehog to look up once in a while

& see the world around him.

The hedgehog teaches the butterfly that it's a good idea

to put your feet on the ground every now & again

or you will fly away on a breeze.

& I guess that makes me the moon in this picture -

watching over both of them.... 

a little whimsy for today....

A delicious coffee giveaway...

One of the people in my support circle that I look up to is Melanie Grant.  What a lovely, inspirational woman of God!  She has a great blog:
http://mother-mel.blogspot.com

& she is running a wonderful coffee giveaway:
http://mother-mel.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-greatest-coffee-giveaway.html

I've had these coffees, & they are truly delicious (trust me - I'm one of those coffee-snobs who only lets the real thing past their lips!).  I highly recommend trying the Irish Cream (yuuuummmmmY!)  So go ahead, enter the competition - you can win a lovely hamper of different flavoured coffee & some divine chocolate coated coffee beans.

Entering the 4th term...

Well, we are now into our 4th term of our first year of homeschooling.  We've had ups, downs & a lot in-between.

I've realised that I can't do everything, even though I will happily still try.  I've realised that sometimes it's okay to just get a couple of pages of Maths done, & that sometimes we can get through huge chunks of work in a single day.  But I guess that comes with territory of homeschool - the word is F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E!

I have been assailed with doubts about whether I can educate my son adequately, but I have wonderful friends who support me & they keep saying the same thing... look at how FAR your little hedgehog has come.  And  this is the absolute truth - he is a DIFFERENT child to the one that was at school last year.  For the first time in his 12 years, he is happy, content & willing & able to socialise!  This same child who said for years, "I don't have friends" & "why am I so different?" is the child who happily goes to art classes, & comes home happy, telling me all sorts of funny stories!  This child who couldn't manage any extra curricula activity because he was socially exhausted goes to piano lessons & has play dates & has a cooking class once a month!  And so, a year after making the very hard decision to keep my child at home, & teach him myself, I have come to a couple of conclusions:

1. Education does not just consist of a "curriculum", but rather it is teaching your child to function as a human being in society.
2. I am more equipped to fulfill this function than anyone else.
3. I am not doing this alone, but there is a whole support team - other homeschoolers, as well as a whole host of others who love my hedgehog & want the best for him - who lift us up, encourage us & spur us on to continue.
4. This was the BEST decision I ever made for my son.

This is quite a daunting journey, but every now & again, it's worthwhile looking back & seeing how far we have come.  & as I write this I keep thinking, "I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me".

In the beginning...

Why?  It's a question that a lot of people ask.  Why have I decided to homeschool my 11 year old son?  Why is your daughter still at school?  Why now?  Why not sooner?  Why not later?  These are all really good questions, and the answer is fairly simple... because I have the gift of knowing my children.  Or even better... I know the One who created my children, the One who knit them together in my womb, & I trust that He knows them infinitely better than I ever will.

So why am I blogging about my homeschool journey?  Because it IS a journey, & I want to be able to look back & see just how far we have travelled, & seeing as this is only our second week, it's as good a time to start as any.

Okay, so now to explain the blog's name:

Mothering a Hedgehog

Matthew has Asperger's Syndrome - an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  It means that he can be very difficult to get along with.  He was created this way.  He will always be this way.  Ever since he was a little boy, I would describe him as "my prickly little hedgehog" - spiky on the outside, difficult to get close to, hard to understand, a little tricky to handle... but really just a sweet little creature on the inside with a heart of gold.  So from the beginning, this has been the challenge that God laid before me: to learn to mother this little hedgehog, & raise him to be the God-fearing man that I can see him being one day.  

So come join me on this journey...  help me celebrate each milestone with Matthew.  It will be interesting, and I have a feeling that God has some exciting adventures in store for us!

Here's my hedgehog celebrating his first official homeschool outing to Misty Cliffs.  I love this picture - he looks so genuinely happy - YES!