When it comes to home educating I'm torn. The mom in me wants to run her "school" by the seat of her pants! I want to see fun projects, to bake and cook, to work together around the house, to sit and the couch with hot drinks and read for hours, to go the the park on every sunny day, work in the garden (hey, PLANT a garden), travel here and abroad, and the list goes on and on!!!
And...then there's the teacher in me. The one who worked her rear off for 5 years to get her degree, the one who loves chalkboards, bulletin boards, workbooks, and ALL school supplies (I still sniff new packs of crayons and playdoh as if they were roses), who loves charts and schedules, lesson plans (but I still HATE grading papers!) The teacher in me loves science experiments, math "short-cuts" and diagraming sentences! I love watching kids get excited about learning and am thrilled to see that "ah-ha!" moment!
So...the conflict! Do you see it? Home educators are either known as unschoolers (listening to their mommy side, I'm sure) or traditional "home schoolers" or school at home. Somewhere in the middle is me! I crave to tick the boxes when book work is done, but want to say yes to "Hey, Mom, can we make a volcano?!" I want them to pursue their interests, but I want them to have all the classes to put on their transcript for university! Oh, the turmoil that rages within me!
Funny, though, I think this year we have finally found the happy medium. Yes, I have been home educating for nearly 12 years. But each year I grow. I become less absorbed with getting 170 lessons done and more inclined to see that everyone has the "basics" and yet has time to draw, paint, write, read, and learn the piano. We still cook and bake and travel...probably not as much as I'd like, but it's getting done. I see progress in Bible studying and reading, knowing grammar rules and math facts, and I see character developing from hard work. So, it's working for us! Find what works for you!
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