Homeschooling???!!!

Aren't you afraid your kids will be weird? Won't they miss out on being socialized? Oh, the school system in Cali must not be up to standards? Won't you miss going to work?

These are just a few questions that I've encountered. These are a few questions I use to think to myself when someone told me they were homeschooling their kids. There was a time that I thought that homeschooling was great for anyone who wanted to do it... except me! I didn't go to school to be a teacher and if I wanted to teach, wouldn't that have been one of my first steps? How did I get roped into this? What happened??!! I was so opposed to homeschooling when I first got to Cali. I kept thinking that people were immediately trying to change me into them, or make me into something I'm not. And being the stubborn being that I am, I dug my heels in... I will not go quietly into that dark night!!! Ok... That's a bit dramatic, but not too far from the truth (don't judge me!).

Let me start by answering the questions above. My kids are already weird, so nothing to fear there :-) They won't miss out on being socialized because once a week they meet with a group of kids for about 4 hours and learn together. Not to mention that the church we go to has plenty of opportunity for them to be social (they don't need my help in that category). The school my kids went to was great! Shout out to Mountainview Elementary. They never had a problem with grades, the teachers were great and they know all the kids by name. My kids are either at or above the level they need to be in all subjects. Will I miss going to work? Yes and No... It was a hard decision to put my career on hold, well not really on hold, I'm going back to school myself for my bachelor's in Respiratory Therapy. I think, once you see my reasons for choosing to homeschool, you'll understand why it's worth the sacrifice.

When approached by my husband about an article, that was written by a pediatrician, about why she and her husband homeschool, I was reluctant to read it. I was reluctant because we had been in Cali almost 3 years and it seemed as though whenever I spoke with someone that homeschooled their kids, it was a like listening to a commercial! Almost EVERYDAY! It made me not want to hang out with those people. In my head I kept thinking "Are they trying to convince me or themselves of how 'rewarding' homeschool is?" Sheesh... it was a bit overkill... which made me resist more. I don't like being spoken to as if though the choices I make are not sound because they don't match some else's... If it works for your family that's great, but it doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone. As long as I adhere to the Bible and it is my standard and foundation, all else is opinion. Anyway.... that was a rant. The funny thing is that before my husband gave me the article to read, I had been thinking that we weren't spending enough time with the kids and that they were picking up some things from after school care that I wasn't that happy about.

The moment you've been waiting for... my reasons for homeschooling my 2 youngest kids!
1.) I wanted to spend more time with my kids. I find that I actually like my kids and my family :-). On my days off from work it was great to be able to spend time with them and direct their hearts and hear what was on their little minds. On days that I worked, it left me spent and impatient with them and not really appreciating the time that we had together.
2.) Nate is reading at about 5th or 6th grade level. Of course the teacher helped him but I felt like he was not able to reach his full potential in that area. The teacher has about 24 students and can only go so far ahead without leaving some of the other kids behind. His other subjects are pretty much on target, but I think he could go ahead in math as well, he zips through his homework so fast. So, I can cater his education to his needs, whether it's moving ahead or staying on a subject a little longer until it's mastered.
3.) Jada is a bare minimum kid. She does the exact thing that she needs to do... nothing more and nothing less. This is something in her character that I would like to work on. Help her understand that the quickest or easiest way is not necessarily the best way, and that when she puts in work she will be happy with the outcome. It will help her in her work ethics and just in life as an adult.
4.) We wanted to incorporate our faith into their education. The Bible comes to life when you see it line up with events in history books... at least for me it did :-). It will help them to be sound in their foundation of Christ.
5.) Homeschooling gives us a little more flexibility on our vacation times, especially since we try to travel at off peak times of the seasons. School travels with us as long as we have a computer.
6.) They could get into college earlier if they desired. If they move ahead in work, they can attend a community college... saving money!

These are my top reasons, there are some other little ones. We don't know if this will work but we are going to give it our best shot and hope that it does. I believe God will bless it because He has guided me to this decision. I trust that He will get us through it with flying colors.

As I said before, I was totally against homeschooling. Not because I don't like homeschool... I just didn't WANT to homeschool! I had to put my trust totally in God where my career was concerned. Ultimately I would like to work in the NICU of a hospital. Well... most hospitals only let you in the NICU if you have YEARS of experience under your belt. This decision is going to push that goal back because while I'm homeschooling, I'm only going to be doing CPAP setups. With CPAP setups, I am in control of that scheduling and it's a little extra money on the side. I also decided that I will be going back to school for my bachelor's. So while they're in school, I'll be in school too. Hopefully that will look good on a resume as far as what I did while I was away. But I have to trust that when I'm ready to return to the work field, God will have the perfect job waiting for me. If I want to work... which I probably will especially since I still have student loans to pay off :-).

I just glad that God made this opportunity available to my family to experience. And I'm putting this in blog form so that I can go back and remember that I am glad for the opportunity on those days that are not so smooth (you can remind me too).