Sunday, February 3, 2013

Tired and Stressed...BUT...I love homeschooling

I'm not feeling well this morning. I don't know if it is just fatigue and stress, or whether I'm coming down with an illness.  I hope for the former!
 
I LOVE homeschooling. I am SO thankful for the privilege of being able to homeschool.  There are parents in Germany and Sweden whose children have been taken from them because the parents homeschool.  How thankful I am that we have the freedom to homeschool here in the US.
 
Having said that, it is hard work.  I have so many things going for me...a supportive husband, a decent income so we can buy supplies...wonderful, smart children.
 
But, the going gets tough sometimes.  Our 2 older boys have handwriting glitches.  Every child has areas of struggle.  That is normal. I was an academic powerhouse in my youth but I struggled with anything spatial.  My mechanical drawing class during my senior year of high school was really tough for me, and some less academically minded classmates blew me away. 
 
Having areas of difficulty really is a blessing because the ultimate "renaissance man" (or woman)
may be tempted to pride.  So, I am thankful Kevin and I didn't give birth  to geniuses.
It would be nice if all the kids learned the same way, with the same materials. But that isn't realistic either.  And of course, part of the reason I love homeschooling is I can tailor the children's education to each child's particular needs and gifts and areas of difficulty.
All this is to say that I need to give myself a pep talk and keep on trucking.  It IS hard to keep track of every child, to think and pray about each child, to trust that I WILL do a good job teaching our kids.  But I know I will, not because I'm so amazing but because we serve an amazing God!
My last thought is this.  A friend of mine is retired in Florida.  She and her husband have a motor home and have it parked in a park with many other retirees.  Just a few days ago, a motor home near them caught fire during the night. The couple escaped, with their dog, but all possessions except those in their car were destroyed in one short night.
 
I tell you, that really makes me realize how much I 'sweat the small stuff' in my life.  Our family is healthy.  We have food on the table. We have a roof over our heads.  We have lots of possessions. We have the LORD JESUS.  Forgive me, Lord, for stressing about the little stuff.  Helpe me to be thankful for what You have given me, and help me to trust YOU with all the unknowns of our future.
 
P.S.  I apologize for the weird formatting on the last few paragraphs.  I don't want to figure it out...too much trouble!
 
 
 
 
 
 

1 comment:

Sarah said...

I'm glad that for the most part they are all doing the same thing like Mystery of History and Apologia and even math is the same publisher if not the same grade, but they all learn and retain it differently. I will say that at the risk of sounding like a proud parent, H is like my prodigy, she really doesn't have a weakness when it comes to school (unless it's test anxiety) her retention is great, writing is superb, reading is above level, however it's hard for me to remember that the other two won't and aren't learning like she does and to not compare them to her.