Side note: For some insane/inane reason, my blog is still not updating in anyone's feed in a timely fashion. My kitchen blog does fine in this area, as does my private blog when I take it public to test it.
The best solution I have found for this problem is: If you have me listed in your blog roll, or if you follow some other way and have to enter my blog address, add this one-- http://cheerfullychaotic.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
For some reason this makes my new posts appear instantly. I don't understand the problem but know that this is at least a temporary solution.Thank you to all of the technie nerds geniuses who have e-mailed and tried to help me with this.
Now... on to the real reason you're reading this post...
Yesterday I wrote an introduction to Lisa, from The Little House that Grew, and explained what drew me to her blog and led me to shamelessly beg nicely ask her to write a guest post here.
I happen to be a freshman when it comes to home schooling. In other words, I am still wet behind the ears working my way through this choice. In some ways that is an advantage when talking with young moms who are discerning home schooling. I was just there. I was them, and in some ways I still am them. Even after 5 years of home schooling I have doubts, worries and regret.
Let me just state, before we go any further, I am a homeschooler….not an ANTI-SCHOOLER. And there is a difference in my opinion. I don’t think my children will become corrupt if they associate with or enter a “school.” I don‘t hate school. I wish it were that simple. But just like with all families…there is more to the story than that.
Mine started when I was in Alaska, a young mom to 2 little girls, and I met 2 Catholic home schooling moms. Upon meeting their families I was impressed. I just liked what I saw. The kids were kind. They were respectful. They spoke while looking at you. They prayed with their parents at supper. They read…for FUN!!
But this is not what you want to hear. If you are considering home schooling than you too have met families like this. You too are intrigued by what you see in these families.
I started asking them questions. A lot of questions. How do you do this? How do you do that? And more importantly …WHY?…that was my biggest question. And from there I began to develop my own how’s and why’s. But as time has gone on, I have found that my why’s have changed, and so have I. And the biggest problem I have in explaining my reasons for home schooling is there are so many different connected, yet unrelated reasons why I started, why I still do it, and why I plan to continue.
Mine is just one story, my story, and nobody but me and God will ever know the whole thing. But let me tell you the first part.
All Things Start From Faith:
But first, some background…
I am what you would call a revert. I was born and raised Catholic, but never developed a faith of my own. After getting married and having children I still was pretty “faithless.” I had a desire to know God but I never really knew how or where to meet Him. I knew how to go through the motions of being Catholic, but never was one at heart. And that story began changing after I met the above-mentioned moms. These two women were strong practicing Catholic wives and home schooling mothers. They wove their love for the Lord into their every moment, seamlessly. I was touched. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to love God with my daily actions. During this time I could not learn enough. I was inhaling books on the faith and praying like crazy. I was feeling God’s love in every area of my life. I started buying all sorts of kids Catholic stuff. Reading to the girls, teaching them the basics of our faith. All the while I was learning right alone side them. I loved it.
My girls were very young so home schooling was just a twinkle in the future. But I felt my heart being pulled that way. I could not help but think, “I could learn along side them.” And the idea of that was intriguing. Sure I had all the same thoughts you have, is this OK for them? Are they going to hate me for missing Prom? What will everyone think of me? Will my kids be weird? Do I have to start wearing jean jumpers ? You know, all those very rational things that rush through your head when you realize that God may be asking you to do something He wants of you.
Meanwhile, my 4 year old daughter was (is) a high maintenance kid (her fault or mine???). She is not the affectionate type. I was having a hard time relating with her. I loved her and wanted to show my love to her but we were just “at” each other. I was reading all sorts of parenting books and trying some of the techniques but I was also very pregnant again right after delivering a baby at 20 weeks, and keeping up with my other 2 year old little girl. So needless to say things were a bit rocky between us.
During this time my friend happen to give me the book Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. She told me that was how she taught all 4 of her kids to read and she loved it. I gladly accepted the book and immediately liked the Direct Instruction approach. I had worked with Direct Instruction in a private school I worked at in California. Direct Instruction is a script format that the teacher and the student follow. I saw the success this type of instruction had on those students and thought I would give it a shot. And why not, 20 minutes a day was doable. I was not officially home schooling, just preparing my oldest for kindergarten.
Over the next few weeks I informally began using the book. I would pull Emily’s chair really close to mine. I would tickle her back, play with her hair and just be close to her. We would spend about 15 minutes a day doing this. I would always encourage her progress and celebrate her successes. After a while I noticed she wanted to do more and more. Not that she loved doing the lessons, but she loved being with me. She did not want our time to end. I was noticing a difference in her altogether. She was more lovable, more affectionate. Could this all be because of that 15 minutes a day I was spending with her doing “school”? It was! She and I became different people from that moment forward. I saw the power I had in this relationship and how it could be used for the good of both of us. I became a more aware, present mom once I realized the impact all my interactions with her had.
My heart was really feeling pulled to home schooling. And I thought that was what God wanted. But I began to wonder after I had my 3rd baby and 3 months later got pregnant again with #4. How in the world could I do this? And were my reasons for wanting to home school strong enough? Was it enough to just want to learn and live your Faith with your kids? Couldn’t I do that while they were home after a day at school? I prayed and prayed…and wound up enrolling Emily in Catholic School in Alabama which is where we were moving 3 weeks before school started and 6 weeks after my 4th child was born. I was convinced that was what God wanted…or was it?
And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen-- the first post from Lisa at The Little House that Grew!
