I was a Mom, Long before I was a ‘Homeschool Mom’

In a few short years, our homeschooling journey will come to an end. My oldest son will be 18 in less than six months. It’s common to hear him comment several times a day that he is nearly a man. Our days are no longer focused around learning to read or multiplication facts. My independent learners are now interested in things like  photography, writing a novel, gaming, physical fitness and sometimes it seems, everything except school. My children are growing up and soon, their homeschool careers and mine as ‘homeschool mom’ will come to an end. I have to admit that on occasion that very thought has gripped me with fear.

Not because I’m not ever tired of homeschooling or teaching. If I’m completely honest, sometimes I am. Not because sometimes I wouldn’t rather spend the day browsing thrift stores, or playing on Facebook, or Twitter, or reading a stack of novels from the library. Sometimes I can find a hundred things I’d rather do than homeschool my children. Not because sometimes I wouldn’t love to have a career outside the home. I’ve often wondered if choosing to be a stay at home mom and depriving my kids from a public school education wasn’t a huge mistake.

When my senses return, I remember that though it has had its ups and downs, for the most part, I have LOVED homeschooling my children. Has it taught me patience? To be diligent? To persevere? Oh, yeah! Has it been hard? You bet! Has it stretched our entire family? Yes. Has it been worth it? A loud, resounding, thousand times, YES!

Thrift stores, Facebook, Twitter and that bestselling novel will still be there when my children aren’t, and honestly, working outside the home wasn’t that great the first time around. Have my children really been deprived of a traditional school atmosphere? I think not, after all, how many times have I heard someone tell me to be thankful that the Lord has led my family to homeschool?

Homeschooling has had its ups and downs but, now that we’re nearing the end, I’m reminded of the blessings that my family has received over the years as a result of homeschooling. My children have learned at their pace without the stigma that they may not learn like everyone else. We have memories of wonderful field trips, snuggling on the couch on a cold winter day, reading an amazing read aloud, the laughter at failed science experiments, the joy of reading the bible together each morning, and the fact that we love to spend time together. Plus, we’ve been able to travel with my husband which has been an education in and of itself; something we wouldn’t have had the freedom to do if our kids were in public or private school.

I’m not stricken with fear wondering if we made the right decision. I’m stricken with fear because sometimes I wonder if my children will still need me when we no longer homeschool. And then I remember that I was a mom, just plain mom, long before I was a homeschool mom . And I know that my fears are unfounded. Yes, my children will still need me. They will always need me.

This post is linked to…

Love You Forever

The Homeschool Village is having a blog hop today. Their question was “What is your child’s favorite book and why would they recommend it to a friend?”   So, I asked my kids sure that I would know the answer. My daughter has been on a Jane Austin kick so I thought for sure it would be Pride and Prejudice. Nope. My son loves all things Lord of the Rings but he also loves the Chronicles of Narnia as well so I thought it could be a close tie between the two series. My other son is a history buff so I wasn’t sure which book it would be but I just knew it would be battle related. I was wrong. On all counts.

My daughter prefers the Left Behind series and thinks everyone should read them just because. Sounds like the answer a 13-year-old would give if she were busy playing on the computer and didn’t want to make a well thought out answer right?   

What really surprised me was the book my boys both agreed on. Though they say Narnia is a close second, they both agree that Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is their absolute all time favorite. Mine too. 

 

Why? Because from the time I began reading books to the kids, which has been ever since they were born, we’ve read that book. We’ve cuddled on the couch, at first with one little blond haired toddler on my lap, then another and finally a third. We’ve read the book. I’ve sang the book to them. I’ve choked up reading the book and almost can’t finish it to this day without getting teary eyed. We’ve worn the book out, lost the book and bought new copies of the book. They love it because to them it signifies the love of a family and the bond between mother and child, child and mother.

I’ll love you forever,

I’ll love you for always,

As long as I’m living,

My baby you’ll be….

Want to share your child’s favorite book or see what other families recommend? Stop by The Homeschool Village today. 

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop: Student Photo Week

Well I messed around and missed participating in the blog hop last week which focused on ‘school rooms’. I guess that’s because personally, I’m opposed to school rooms…for my family. You can have a school room if you want to and there have been times that we have had a designated ‘place’ for school. But over the years I’ve found that we prefer a mobile, all through the house, in the van, in the museum, out on the trail, kind of atmosphere. I guess you could say that our school takes us all over. Both in and out of the house. 

I will say that this year we are enjoying our school days IN A HOUSE. I guess I tried not to think of the space we DIDN’T have in the camper at the time, but looking back….

…maybe it was a bit of a tight squeeze. And for those that are wondering, Yes, my son is reading the lettering on a Pepsi bottle. As long as they’re reading, right? Ha!

This year we are enjoying our added space…    …and the fact that that until I get some bookshelves, the couch hides our clutter pretty well…

Of course this week’s blog hop at Heart of the Matter has nothing to do about school rooms but school pictures.   I used to take individual first day of school pictures of the kids, but haven’t for quite a few years. Now I just snap the customary picture of the kids at our First Day of School Breakfast …

…they take a picture of what they’re eating…

….throw in a self portrait…

…as well as one of the kids goofing off later in the day...

   …excited that they survived their first day of school….apparently they have a fear that they would not…and that’s the extent of our school pictures. Of course I take pictures almost daily throughout the year, documenting our field trips, projects and other activities for my own personal records as well.  

Want to show off some of your school pictures? You can link up to the blog hop too and don’t forget, next week you can share a-day-in-the- life…that should be a fun one!

How about a blog hop?

Well, we're back from our whirlwind trip and though I can't wait to tell you all about it, I have a few other obligations like grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning the rental car before I can really focus on adding updates.

So...in the meantime...I thought I'd participate in this week's blog hop hosted by Kylie at Our Worldwide Classroom. This is one homeschoolers will love! So if you're looking for some new bloggy friends or you're interested in finding some new homeschooling blogs, why not check out some of these?

So for now I'm off the computer and busy sweeping SAND out of the car...I still can't figure out how we managed to spread it everywhere....