I remember rising early before the kids, to exercise, study God’s Word, and pray over my day. I enjoyed that morning cup of coffee—or two—while reviewing my lesson plans, knowing the quiet would not last long. This was the calm before the storm. For when those little feet hit the floor, we would charge full steam ahead into our day.
Looking Back on Homeschooling
The Spanish moss is swaying gently from the trees as I write this afternoon. I’m sitting in my home, which was once so full of noise, busyness, and activity from homeschooling five children, and I see that what I did during those twenty-one years really mattered. You see, I’ve completed my homeschooling journey. So it is from this place that I share with you.
My house was once messy, with LEGOs, toys, books, and pencils scattered everywhere and laundry that was never “done” for more than an hour. Our days would begin early and end late. (How did we ever find the energy to maintain that pace?)
Now the floor needs vacuuming just once a week, the dishwasher runs maybe every three days, and the laundry baskets are mostly empty. I know, Mom, you can’t image that right now. How can you? You’re in the midst of raising your children. (more…)
I’m talking over at VibrantHomeschooling.com about Embracing Your Unique Homeschooling Journey. Having completed our journey I can confidently say your family is not designed to be a mirror of someone else’s family. Let them be all that God has for them. You will spare yourself much frustration by building your family according to their strengths. I invite you to read the full post <here>.
School is in full swing! For some of you bad attitudes, resistance and discouragement have already derailed your well thought out schedule. It’s okay. Those days do happen. Especially when you begin the new school year. By focusing on the five secrets that helped me cross the finish line with all five of my children you can get back on track more quickly.
Homeschooling for 21 years has given me a unique perspective. I have experienced the first-time fears and doubts associated with starting something new, worked my way through the high school years, managed five children on different levels, navigated the college admissions process and sent all five off to college.
I want to encourage you as you begin your new year to keep your eye on the end goal. Don’t be short-sighted. Be mindful of the values, character qualities, and academic pursuits you have in mind.
These are five points I intentionally focused on as I began each year:
Statistics show parents tend to think their teens have life so easy. I can see why some would; teens are often given cars, cell phones, computers, and a host of gadgets that connect these relationally driven young people to the world. Even though they may have more technology most parents just don’t understand the struggles teens face every single day. I recognize their struggles may not be as complex as what adults have to work through… but to our teen, it’s just as difficult.
Teens are bombarded with information on a continual basis. Yet having the ability to fully process all that comes their way is more than they are usually able to handle. In some ways, it is like giving a 12 year old the keys to the car when they haven’t learned the rules of the road and can’t see over the dashboard. They may think they can drive, but I doubt many parents would agree.
Teens don’t have the processing capabilities that their parents have. While they want to have more and more freedom, they simply might not be ready for it.
So what’s a parent to do? I encourage you to try and understand how you can help them!
Many of you know the struggle, the struggle with Raising an Artist. You have a child whom you’re concerned will struggle in school, they may have trouble focusing on lessons because they can’t help but stare out the window and daydream, and they’re always managing to turn every blank space in your home into an art canvas or musical instrument. I was that child, and I’m here to give you a few tips on helping yours!
1) Don’t Over-Test/Analyze Them: While every child is different, I can tell you what worked/didn’t work for me growing up. My Momma lovingly homeschooled me all 12 years of school, and what a great advantage I had there. And trust me, in as much as you may spend your time fretting and wondering what possible career paths your child can have a future in, the artsy child (if anything like me) spends just as much time wondering the same thing. Mom put me in every kind of test she could to try to help me hone in on what I am good at, and what I found out was probably more discouraging than helpful at the time. I recall one of the results I was given was a florist. A florist! I’m pretty sure most kids don’t aspire to use their creative gifts to arrange flowers. I had different hopes. My point is not to say that strength/personality test-taking is bad, it’s just to say use caution, you don’t need to put your child on a career path in grade school, nor do you want to unintentionally put them in a box. Rather, help invest in their gifting and allow them to explore their interests. For me it took years of trial and error for the puzzle pieces to start to make sense.
