I love homeschooling. Thus far I have no regrets about our decision to start our family on this path. Last year I ended the year feeling very encouraged that we had done a good thing for Jonah, because by homeschooling we were able to teach him in a way that he learned best. However all of this does not mean that I homeschool with the utmost confidence. The act of taking full responsibility for my children's education right now weighs on me, and I give way to worry. God is teaching me to trust Him.
When we started this year I knew that Jonah was still behind, but he continued work hard and progress so I had no concerns. I had a meeting with his supervising teacher in November who tried to say that she was also not concerned, but wanted me to know that if we were enroll him now he would qualify for remedial help with reading. Instead of being thankful that we were able to spare him from going to the classroom and being labeled "Slow," I was crushed. I chose not listen to the "not concerned" part and began to worry. It turns out that I didn't need too. I questioned my methods and curriculum choices, tweaked a couple things, but with encouragement from Jordan kept on the way we were. (With the exception of math which is ironic because he was not struggling in math!)
Something clicked after Christmas, and Jonah's reading skills grew by leaps and bounds. At our February meeting our supervising teacher was blown away! Jonah not only continued to progress but also caught up to grade level in reading. It was a huge lesson for me. (Not that I probably will not have to learn it again.) I am glad that I reevaluated how we were doing things. I am also so glad that we stayed the coarse and didn't make any massive changes.
The other worry that I had for this year was just the lack of time we were spending with science in comparison to last year. I just cannot do it all, all the time. I've told myself that we will have a summer of science experiments since this winter it has something we just read about! Jonah naturally loves science, and we have been blessed to be able to surround him with great science books which he spends a lot of time pouring over on his own. One book that Jordan's mom picked up for him had a few pages on currents. He jumped on it, and I said "Talk to your dad!" Jordan took him out a couple of weeks ago and bought him all that he would need to set up his own electrical currents. The two had a blast. Last night we met up with my folks and my dad got him bells and alarms to add to his light bulb collection. I woke up to the lovely alarm this morning. Ahh the sound of learning!
When we started this year I knew that Jonah was still behind, but he continued work hard and progress so I had no concerns. I had a meeting with his supervising teacher in November who tried to say that she was also not concerned, but wanted me to know that if we were enroll him now he would qualify for remedial help with reading. Instead of being thankful that we were able to spare him from going to the classroom and being labeled "Slow," I was crushed. I chose not listen to the "not concerned" part and began to worry. It turns out that I didn't need too. I questioned my methods and curriculum choices, tweaked a couple things, but with encouragement from Jordan kept on the way we were. (With the exception of math which is ironic because he was not struggling in math!)
Something clicked after Christmas, and Jonah's reading skills grew by leaps and bounds. At our February meeting our supervising teacher was blown away! Jonah not only continued to progress but also caught up to grade level in reading. It was a huge lesson for me. (Not that I probably will not have to learn it again.) I am glad that I reevaluated how we were doing things. I am also so glad that we stayed the coarse and didn't make any massive changes.
The other worry that I had for this year was just the lack of time we were spending with science in comparison to last year. I just cannot do it all, all the time. I've told myself that we will have a summer of science experiments since this winter it has something we just read about! Jonah naturally loves science, and we have been blessed to be able to surround him with great science books which he spends a lot of time pouring over on his own. One book that Jordan's mom picked up for him had a few pages on currents. He jumped on it, and I said "Talk to your dad!" Jordan took him out a couple of weeks ago and bought him all that he would need to set up his own electrical currents. The two had a blast. Last night we met up with my folks and my dad got him bells and alarms to add to his light bulb collection. I woke up to the lovely alarm this morning. Ahh the sound of learning!
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