Why homeschool?
God showed us it was the right decision for this season.
That is the simple answer. If you are interested in knowing more, here is the longer answer!
There are so many reasons why families choose to homeschool. Some choose it because they have a strong conviction that God has called families to teach their children at home. Others choose it because safety concerns. Some feel it is the best option when private schools are too expensive.
Our journey began with my clear understanding that I would never homeschool. You read that correctly. I was not ever against it, but I simply felt it wasn't for us or our family. I attended public schools growing up and had an incredible education coupled with caring, Christian teachers. My husband attended public school until 8th grade when he went to a private Christian school. He was homeschooled one year during high school because of finances, then was able to return and graduate.
We did agree before our girls were even born not to do preschool. We both felt those early years would be a vital time for our girls and we didn't want to miss anything! So when my oldest daughter started recognizing her letters by age two, I realized it might be a good idea to do some preschool.
I started searching about what is taught in preschool and was so very overwhelmed! Then one day when browsing a catalog I saw a preschool curriculum that I could get excited about! This was my first introduction to Heart of Dakota. She loved it and thrived! By the time she was 4 she was begging to read so I once again headed out to research. We choose a reading program as well as some other k-4 level work.
We continued down the traditional school path when circumstances caused us to choose to bring her home for 1st grade and begin homeschooling. It was a decision made with much prayer and planning. We weren't sure what to expect, but I knew I would return to Heart of Dakota for our curriculum. Things went quite well for the first couple of months when I suddenly realized something...
My girl was thriving and I was enjoying teaching her.
It may seem odd that this surprised me, but my background is in middle school education, not elementary. I knew I could teach her, but I didn't realize how much she would blossom or how fun it could really be. I love that I can individualize her curriculum to her strengths and weaknesses. I love that we can talk about her learning all throughout the day. I love that she isn't exhausted every afternoon.
So we are on the journey of homeschooling. We pray over this every year and know God may lead us elsewhere in the future. For now we are in His will and enjoying every minute of it!
Thanks for sharing. I just left my middle school job this past June to stay home with my 1.5 and 4.5 yr girls. Like you, I did not want to homeschool but did begin looking into it last spring because of circumstances that I was seeing in our school district first hand. I knew we couldn't afford private school, which was my first choice, so I started reading about homeschooling. I quickly started getting so excited about it and within a month or two I made a list of pros/cons and quickly came up with over 30 pros and only 3-4 cons (most selfish on my part). I had to accept that God may be putting this on my heart for a reason but my husband wasn't on board so I continued to pray that if it was what we were supposed to do then He would talk to my husband because i knew we both had to agree on this. This past week we were talking and he brought up homeschooling and how he thought it would be the best option for our oldest next year. He said that while he was watching me homeschool for preschool this year he saw it as a gift I had and why would we not use that gift in our home. I don't necessarily agree, I feel very incompetent at times and I get worried just thinking about how to be structured and organized enough to do this. However, I'm also very excited and can see myself falling in live with it. I'm currently trying to decide between HOD and My Fathers World curriculum, which is why I'm visiting blogs to learn more. Your story hit close to home for me, so glad it's going well.
ReplyDeleteKristi,
DeleteThank you so much for taking the time to share your story! Isn't in beautiful how God leads us all in the direction He wants without us even realizing it?
I would encourage you to check out the message board (http://www.heartofdakota.com/board3/) at Heart of Dakota as there are some really good discussions there that can help you with your decision. Particularly take a look at the week in review section and you will find many more blogs to visit.
While I don't know much about MFW I do know friends who have used it and enjoyed it. Enjoy the journey! It's a roller coaster :)
So wonderful to see this! We homeschool three girls while my husband pastors. We are using Sonlight but I've heard great things about Heart of Dakota. I also said I'd never homeschool...but we absolutely love it despite the hard work. Very fulfilling.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever want to chat a bit more feel free to get in touch with me through the "contact me" button :)
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