Back in the day (pre-college years), I was asked to help my aunt with a homeschooling project. You see she had decided to homeschool for her own reasons. One being that my cousin was being bullied at school. He has had difficulty with muscle tone and eye sight since birth and we now have a word for his condition--leukodystrophy. I could go into detail on that, but there would be a need for a separate blog. Anyway, the other reason was that his sister was in kindergarten and asked her mom constantly if she could stay home. My aunt finally gave in and tried out homeschooling. They never looked back.
That fateful summer I was asked to help with an art project. My aunt had decided that a unit on art would be just the thing for summer. I came up with an activity where I taped butcher paper under a table and had my cousins lay on their backs and draw pictures. This would lead into a lesson on Michaelangelo and the Cistene Chapel. I had a lot of fun with this lesson. My aunt asked me to also teach Geometry since she was not very skilled in math. There were ups and downs in this process, but Geometry was taught!
All of this planted a seed inside of me. I enjoyed the process of homeschooling.
Fast forward a lifetime later and you have our little family. I must introduce you so that you know the main characters to this journey.
First, there is mom (that's me). I'm a (recently) turned 34 year old housewife (also recently). I was gainfully employed until state budget cuts in the education system lead administration into believing I was not fit for my job. I did search for jobs, but God had other plans. The job search was not fruitful, so my husband began to wonder "can we pull this off??". I went to a convention for SHEM in Southwest Missouri with some church friends. I enjoyed the speakers and felt excitement of what was happening. We decided to homeschool.
Speaking of my husband, he would be character number two in this family. In the event of going full force into homeschooling, my husband came to the conclusion that we could not afford for me to stay home on his current income. He started to look for a new job. Guess what? He found a job working from home!
So here we are two people who formerly worked in the education system now going full throttle into being stay at home parents. His job seems to be going well right now. We're counting on God right now that finances will be taken care of.
Next, there's Hannah. She is our 5 year old. There have been some challenges in raising her. For instance, she is a strong willed little girl. Ok you might think your child is strong willed, but until you've met an actual strong willed child you have no idea. I could go on, but that's a different subject. Along with her strong willed spirit, Hannah is playful, imaginative, extremely caring and sensitive. We've also had some hearing issues which are being addressed. Last month, we found out she has damage in her right ear, but nothing significant. She is a joy and frustration all wrapped up in this bright little girl. We began to see what was to come when she took out a piece of paper when she was 4 and wrote "dog". I had no idea she could spell. I asked her to spell some more words. "Hannah how do you spell cat? How do you spell bat? How do you spell fat?" We giggled at that one when she answered "Daddy!". Just so you know he's not, but it sure was funny!
Finally, there's Noah. His grandpa calls him Dr. Destructo. He is a whirlwind of a 2 year old. He has no fear and will take flying leaps off of the furniture. I think he will be my biggest challenge in homeschooling. How do I distract a 2 year old so that I can educate his older sister. Like his sister, he is bright and full of energy. There are days that I wonder what I am getting into. I'm tempted to start school now so they will be on a schedule. The sibling rivalry is beginning, and they often get into things. Big sister is the leader, and baby brother is the minion there to do her bidding.
This should be fun.
Next time we'll discuss curriculum. I'm so excited!!
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