And we are thankful. For so many things.
The choices that are available- Classical education, unit studies, online, text books or living books. What ever we want to do we can, in any order that we want, and at the speed we want. No one tells us it is time to move on if we are really interested in a subject and we don't have to dwell on things we deem unnecessary.
The curriculum that is available- Oh man, are there some amazing companies out there! As a matter of fact, that will be the topic of our final post tomorrow. If you can dream it, you can find it. If you can't find, just ask me- I will help you. Curriculum is my passion and I love helping families find just the right fit.
The time together as a family- Let's face it, we spend a lot of time together. 24/7 it seems at times. But that is the point. We are building relationships first, and schooling secondly. I don't send my kids away for the majority of their days and then have to try to squeeze in together time. When we are not schooling, we are playing games, exploring nature, traveling together, and just being. Not every day brings an adventure, but every day brings us closer together.
The one-on-one time with each child- Believe it or not, we do have one-on-one time with our kids. We are not always together as a group although I do tease people we travel as a pack. I often meet with a child one-on-one to concentrate on a particular subject. Other times I have quiet reading time with a child and I even sneak off with one at a time for a special lunch date just to catch up. If they were gone all day, those things would prove to be more difficult to fit in. They will not be with us forever so I am taking advantage of our time together while I can.
The closeness of our kids- If you know us personally, I hope this is something that stands out to you. When my girls were younger I remember people asking me about this all of the time. "Why do your girls get along so well?" Ummm, one because we have never tolerated a bunch of arguing and rivalry, and two, they were together a lot and considered each other best friends. Still do. Once the boys entered the scene, the closeness continued. The girls thought that the boys were their personal projects and playthings and loved spending time with them. Of course, every minute is not perfect, but we encourage building relationships as a priority.
The family closeness- Again, see above. We are deliberate with our time as a family. We began this journey because my husband had a crazy schedule when the kids were younger and we knew if they were off at school all day they would never see him. Of course, God changed our reasons for homeschooling along the way to align more with HIS reasons, but through the years we know we have been blessed by our time together.
The opportunity to talk about God in all we do- Yes we are unashamedly Christian and seek to glorify the Lord in how we live, homeschooling included! Much of what we study comes from Christian publishers and we start our days with Bible class and end most evenings with family devotions. We do not have to worry about what we say and how often we say it- God is at the center of our school day without fear of persecution.
The flexibility in our schedule- Have you ever seen our school year? While we consider ourselves year round schoolers, every year looks different. For years we schooled according to dad's schedule and his travels with the military. Many times we schooled on the road due to a move and then took off weeks while we explored new states. We have followed our girls' college schedules to be able to take off when they were home for visits and we have been known to take off almost all of December just because we wanted to. Currently we are on week 10 of our new school year but getting ready to take off two weeks so we can move into our new house. We do what works!
The many things we have learned together- Book knowledge and otherwise. I don't know about you but I was not the best student as a kid. It wasn't because I couldn't do it, but often because I didn't really care. Sad but true. So with my kids at my side, I have relearned math I never understood, rediscovered books I loved as a kid, and learned a foreign language better than I did in high school. We have explored subjects like aviation and done Bible studies together that reaffirmed our beliefs. I get excited about things the kids find exciting and vice versa. I count it all joy.
So, yep, we are so very thankful for homeschooling. We have found the advantages outweigh any disadvantages we could come up with- but ummm, not coming up with any right now! ;)
I hope to see you back here tomorrow for our last day of the Blog Hop- I am going to share with you some of our favorites from the past 20 years!
Blessings,
Welcome! Follow our family of 6 on our military moving, God loving, homeschool adventure! We are honored you have joined us and look forward to hearing from you.
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