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.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
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:
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:
- Education does not just consist of a "curriculum", but rather it is teaching your child to function as a human being in society.
- I am more equipped to fulfill this function than anyone else.
- 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.
- 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".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)