Be Ye Separate

HomeSkilling 101

Blessings!

   Did you know that the number one reason that parents/guardians give for educating their children/charges at home?..."The government school system is inadequate..." The true answer is longer but you get the picture.

   I have been asked this same question, time and time again. Even by my own mother who once said, "parents need breaks from their children". She truly doesn't seem to understand WHY I simply enjoy having my children with me all the time. It never occurs to me to "need a break". It never crosses my mind to get away from my children. That's not to say that my husband and I haven't had a night alone or even a weekend (like just recently). But that' wasn't until all 7 of them were nearly grown. (Our baby is going to be 15 in October). But NEED it? Not at all.

   As a parent who educates our children at home, I want to share why "I" do this and what MY opinions are about that. Some folks may share my beliefs and opinions, other may not. Home educating is not for everyone. One must truly be called to it or it will never work. That isn't to say that even those who DO feel called to it won't have struggles and frustrations but perseverence and relying on the Lord will get you through those times and in the long run you'll be glad you did:) Just remember that trials and tribulations is NOT necessarily an indication that you were mistaken about that calling, most times it's the prince of doubt and fear that is the culprit. Onward Ho!:)

   My husband and I had long felt the desire to home educate our children. I had already done it with my elder 2 children and though they were back in government school a few times in the process I still knew in my heart that I wasn't listening to the call. Anyway, my husband had also felt this for the last 12 years and we finally gave in to it and just did it after pulling 5 of our children from the government school one afternoon in October. This would be the very last time our children would experience the government school system.

   Okay, now we had them home...now what?...Ummmm...BOOKS! Right! We combed the internet, the library, Christian bookstores and business phonebooks to find the curriculum that would teach our children at home. We spent a LOT of money in the first two years of this little endeavor. We tried everything from aBeka to Bob Jones to Christian Light. We did the Advantage curriculum, Switched on Schoolhouse and even tried the Alpha and Omega lifepack Gold series.

   Each of these had their merits. Each of them were fairly thorough in what they were teaching. Most were very easy, some were more challenging, ALL needed a child to be in their seat, bent over a book, pencil poised and paper spread neatly. Just...like...government...school! Ugh!!! Nooooooooooooo!

   It occured to us, several months into this that we were emulating and recreating the government education setting. So it was at home, so it was one on one, so it was teaching them the three R's. I WASN'T fun or interesting or "free". After all I had learned about the "freedom" of home educating I was finding myself tethered to a dining table feeding seatwork, tests, and information to our children while correcting papers and placing stickers on callenders. The children were quiet, somber, and bored! And yes...I was bored out of my mind!

   One day the children gathered around the table at the appointed hour, we said our vespers, we passed out papers from the day before, the books were positioned in front of them and their faces told me the whole tale. They weren't enjoying this. They weren't having fun. They weren't putting their whole into it, they simply weren't happy. I stood up, asked the children to stand with me. They did, like little robots standing at attention and looking at me as if they could roll their eyes clean out of their heads no doubt wondering what new mundane and ridiculous antic we were going to do now. I told them to march out to the front yard. They did. Once there I told them to touch their toes...they did. I asked them to reach to the sky...they did. No one said a word so I kept going. Needless to say I was getting quite the workout but decided that I had to stick this one out and not let them see me wearing down. Just about 3 minutes shy of 30 minutes into this one of the spoke up and said..."Mom, what are we doing?" I said, "we aren't having fun, that's for sure!" They still didn't get it. We sat down and I said to them, "There was a reason Papa and I took you all out of the government, it wasn't so we could bore you to pieces or so we could "control" you, it was because we love you and want you to have the very best in education. Not just book learning but learning to be good people who love the Lord, to provide for yourselves and your families (one day), to be good workers and good stewards of money, land and the provisions of the Lord. We want you to enjoy learning and to smile even when things get boring, or unpleasant. We want you to learn to think for yourselves and to ask questions...just like now...what are we doing? We are learning!:)"

   What we came to realize was we were trying to remake that government institution in the comfort of our own home, the very institution we had removed our children from for their own spiritual, emotional and physical safety. We didn't want to have a regimented education time. In fact, we realized the children were receiving more education by living! Learning homekeeping and homesteading skills. We knew that it wasn't our desire to school our children. We wanted to SKILL them. Thus HomeSkilling was born!:)

   Yes we do still do a little seatwork because it's important for children to learn to sit still and to stay focused. Many people ask us how our children are to learn "routine" if we aren't making them sit for their education through certain times etc. We always answer that our children understand routine better than most adults! They have routine in their lives daily. They get up, get dressed for the day, have animals fed, watered, milked and gathered by a certain hour every morning and night. They have their meals and help to fix them as well at certain hours. They have their baths, brush their teeth, some of them must go to outside jobs. THAT'S routine! :)

   I will go into what exactly we do for our homeskilling in my next posting. I just wanted you to know what our ideas, thoughts and opinions were of why we chose to and continue to home educate our children. And to encourage everyone of you that chose to follow the calling to bring your children home. Education is not sitting at a desk 7 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week. It's not standing up and sitting down to a bell. It's all about learning. It's about discovery, self motivation, inquisitiveness and encouragment. I just can't wait to share our days with you:)

   Have a VERY blessed day in the Lord and may He richly bless you with His grace and mercy.

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

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{ 04:18, Sunday, September 16, 2007 } { Posted by Joanne }

Thanks for sharing, Sister Lori :o) I look forward to more in this series. When we started homeschooling, we failed tremendously because I tried to organize it like public school....boy, did I learn a lesson (no pun intended!). Though we use a curriculum, it is mostly a "guide" for me so that I can cover all the bases in my own creative way.
Blessings~
Joanne

~~~Blessings!
It's very common for the new home educator to try to keep up with the government school. It's all we know and we are locked in to that vision of how it "looks". Sadly, it tends to discourage some folks and they begin to question their ability to educate their children. But as you seem to know...it CAN be done:)
God be with thee!
Sister Lori

Edited by SisterLori on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 16:51

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{ 04:26, Monday, September 17, 2007 } { Posted by gokings13 }

I love your article. It is an encouragement to people who are thinking about or just beginning this journey!!
You are so right........when we try to home educate in our fleshy strength, it will be miserable for all. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to lead........what a breath of fresh air!!

We pulled our kids out of public school when they finished 6th, 5th, and 3rd grades. It did take time to 'deprogram' my little robots..........but the approach to home school the Lord lead us to is very much "school at home". We are very structured, with schedules, quizzes, tests, text books, workbooks.......the whole shooting match. But it is what the Lord has called *us* too.
I don't know what He has for our kids for later in their lives, but I do know that what ever it is, as long as I follow His lead, the kids will have what they need to do His Will!!
Blessings.
Laura

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{ 15:26, Monday, September 17, 2007 } { Posted by Keeblur }

Sister Lori,
I love that you posted this! We too, started out looking very much like a little school and have through the years changed curriculums many, MANY times. Two of my kids, the 15 & 12 year olds once spent 1/2 day in a public school because they were curious and I was at my wits end. The 13 year-old says that he was the only smart one. Well, the experience was a giant attention getter from God for me and I have never looked back or questioned our homeschooling. Also, He's given me peace about the curriculum we're using - which as you probably know is a blessing in itself!
Also, thanks again for your encouraging words on the military thing as well! We're taking your advice and trusting God.
Vicki