Sunday, April 10, 2011

To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool!

Wow, life brings us to strange places, places we would never have expected to be.  Some are good and some, not so much.  We have a beautiful six year old daughter and if you would have asked me 6 years ago if I would ever consider homeschooling the answer would have been a resounding NO!  Be careful, because your no's could end up being maybes, then they might turn into a yes, louder than the before-mentioned NO.

Well, some things have happened to urge us to consider homeschooling.  When I first started looking into it fear overcame me.  "I am not qualified to teach children... I don't even know how to start... What in the world will happen to my daughter if I choose to do it?.. Won't my daughter be scarred for life?.."  and on and on the questions go.

But as I have researched the subject, going to dozens of blogs, dozens of websites and dozens of curriculum websites I have found that everyone who makes this decision goes through the same kind of stress and worries when trying to come up with the right decision for them.  That is a comfort, though not as much comfort as the statistics I have found going through many different sources.

If you go on education alone, homeschoolers test much higher on average than traditional school kids.  They transition into the non-school world much better and colleges are now recruiting homeschoolers because they work better on their own and are more self-motivated.  That was enough to get me to thinking more clearly.

Then the next thing that I researched was how it would affect my family and it's dynamics.  Would we get closer or would it drive a wedge between us.  That was exciting to read about as well because blog after blog, story after story, book after book all I found was that the bond between children and parents and siblings was strengthened and sealed on a deeper level than ever before.  I want that too!

When I started to see all the opportunities and possibilities, far more than I could share here, I started to get excited... very excited!  Again, not what I ever expected to feel when the word homeschool was ever mentioned.

We have not made a formal decision to homeschool but we know that it is a serious consideration and probability and that thought makes me excited.. with still a bit of worry.  How will our family take it, our friends?  But we know that if we listen to God, research wisely, make no rash decisions that we will be able to come to the right decision for our family.  God knows what is best for us, and He will guide our every path during this decision.

So even though we still are asking the question, To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool, I know we are on the right path!

Have a blessed day!  It is sunny!  That means fun in the sun!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You're asking the right questions and taking the right steps! I had much the same experience in my beginning days! I never imagined we'd be "those" kinds of people, but we are and we wouldn't change a thing now! God has brought this to you for a reason and I can attest it's a life-altering journey that I wish every family could enjoy!! I'll be praying for your research and your decisions as a family!

Carri said...

Thank you Danielle! I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I think we are doing it and just need to say the words, yes we are! We had great encouragement from my mom-in-love yesterday and my daughter is excited. How awesome this could be excites me!

Thank you and God Bless!