3 Plus 6.....Is What?!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my kitchen table! I am so glad you decided to join me. I will be writing you twice a month to share with you my experience as a new home school mom. Hopefully through our time together I will encourage those of you who are in the throes of homeschooling and those who are considering it. As I allow you into my heart and my head (maybe not the best place to be), we will laugh, probably cry a little but most assuredly ponder our decision for alternative education. But before I start to divulge the ups, downs and sideways of being a “mommy teacher” I want to give some background on why the decision was made to home school.

Eleven years ago when Brian (the husband) and I married we decided that when children came along that I would no longer work outside the home. So almost 8 years ago Brandon was born and I became a full time stay at home mom. 4 years later Christian was born. I was glad to be home with my boys (not all the time). And even though I believe that raising my kids was my second ministry, my marriage being first, I looked forward to them going to school. ‘’Why?” You may ask. Well for several reasons, one being to have some peace and quiet, for those of you raising boys you know what I mean. The other reason for sending them to school was more image than anything. I like the thought of being the mom who took her kids to school, picked them up, volunteered at the school, made cookies, joined the PTA and went on the trips. Well, how many of you know that when your children are surrounded by influences that go against what you believe and they are not getting challenged academically, holding onto an image gets old and tired real quick?

Now before I continue let me back up and tell you that Brian was in favor of homeschooling when Brandon was 2. He had been subtly sharing information about teaching your kids at home. He had done research comparing the effects of home schooling as opposed to public or private schooling (he is a scientist, what can I say?) My response to him was “Oh really honey, that’s interesting.” NOT!! It was more like “Yeah right, whateva!”

So Brandon turned 5 and off to kindergarten he went. It was a good first year experience. It was a school dedicated to nothing but kindergarteners. He had a wonderful time. And yes I did volunteer, make cookies, and go on trips. Then 1st grade came and to tell you the truth I was not feeling it. It would take too long to tell you all the things I did not like but I will say he did have a pretty good teacher. What do we do we asked ourselves. I asked myself, Brian already had the answer. With one income private school was not an option. I thought to myself I should pray about this. What a novel idea to go to the One who has all Wisdom! Guess what the outcome was? You are right! Ding, ding, ding! Tell them what they’ve won! By the time you read this I will be four months into this thing with no regrets. Is this challenging? Definitely. Do I have peace and quiet? NO! But as I mentioned before I have no regrets.


Hugs and Kisses,
Cheryl

Cheryl's Next Blog: Thursday, January 21st...see you then!

Friday's Blog: Rita Scarborough, "Married People"