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Friday, April 04, 2008

Home Education Week #6: Their Own Words


Share your children’s home education experience in their own words. What have they said about their education? What are their likes and dislikes? Share some stories, some quotes, or turn your blog over to your children for the day.

I didn't directly interview my children for this post. Though if I did, I am sure you would hear mixed comments. My older ones think of homeschooling in a "been there, done that, moved on" kind of way, to be completely honest. While they readily admit that homeschooling was great for them and served its purpose in their lives, they will also tell you (especially my oldest) that homeschooling is something that was not the solution forever. That they needed to encounter the things they are encountering in school and learn how to handle it. That they were ready to spread their wings and fly. And that they thank me for allowing them to do so.

My younger ones would tell you that homeschooling is awesome and that they are so excited to be with me every day and that they love the fun things that we do and most of all they just love not having to go to school. Because school is not as fun as they thought it would be and they just would rather be home, home, home.

Vastly different. Right?

And thusly, you get the picture of how we have to parent this collection of kids we have. In vastly different ways. We have to be quick-change artists-- ready to have long, in-depth discussions about the meaning of life with our teens one minute and the next minute be ready to calm a screaming toddler or painstakingly help a five year old learn how to make coffee for his crippled mother. Emotionally, it can be exhausting. I ain't gonna lie about that. But it is also rewarding at times-- just enough times to keep us moving forward, pressing on towards that day when we sit at the head of a (very large) table and see them all there, grown, with families of their own and know that we did it. And hopefully, in that moment, we will look at each other and know that it was worth every tear, every sleepless night, every struggle, every worry, every laugh line, every effort we put into it.

While we rarely hear "well done" in their own words in the here and now, I hang onto the hope that we will hear it in the future-- if we just keep moving forward, doing the absolute best we can based on the information we have at the time and seeking the Lord for wisdom every step of the way. After all, that's all any of us can do.
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