Homeschooling

I've made a decision! For the past several weeks we've been struggling over what to do about school next year. Should we continue wiht COVA, an online public school? Should we go to the nearby cottage program, one full day of school and the rest at home (again curriculum chosen for us)? Or, should I put all my school-aged children back in the brick and mortar down the road?

I involved the boys in the decision. I told them this is an important decision we need to pray about every day. We have devotions together in the morning, read scripture and then journal. One day during this decision process we read Proverbs 15:22 - "Plans go wrong with too few counselors; many counselors bring success." The boys got excited about this and started asking many people for advice. They asked our neighbors, one who is a good friend and has been homeschooled all her life. Another neighbor who attends the charter school where the cottage program is. They also went back to visit the elementary school down the street to see if it had changed since they left. Here's the neat thing. Both of them decided that family should come first. That our lives were about being a family and not about school. When they realized that going back to school would make it so they would barely get to see the new baby, they decided against that. We talked about everything you can imagine.

Here's the decision: We've decided to create our own Terry University! We're all very excited!!! I believe this is going to open up a whole new world for all of us.

I recently read a blog from "A Lady of Virtue" (I've put her website among my list of favorites) - she has 15 children...This is what she said about homeschooling and I believe she's right on:

Things to keep in mind:

• Don't try to cover "everything"--no school could ever do this!


• Grade levels are not as important as allowing each child to learn at his own pace


• Grades are irrelevant to children who understand the benefits of learning for life


• Prepare them first for eternity, then for life, and maybe for college--in that order of importance


• Don't forget that they are people, not educational products


• No curriculum or method can guarantee "success", no matter how involved or expensive


• Your own prayer and devotional life are vital to hearing God in order to aid your children on their learning journeys


• Don't let your own pride or fear lead you--let peace be your decision-maker

That last one about fear is a major problem for me. For the first couple of weeks in the decision making process - all I could think about was why not to do something i.e. negative influences of children at public school, shootings, child molestation - I mean, if it was the worst case scenario, I thought of it. This lady put things into a better perspective for me. I don't want to be like the world.

"I am waking up looking at my Master, and asking how I can make Him happy today. I know that He bought and paid for everything, but I only have a few years on earth to show Him gratitude when it counts..."