For two boys who love the outdoors and reading, what better thing to do on a balmy autumn day, reading high on a giant outdoor play rhombicuboctahedron (honestly - I had to google it!).
Thankfully our boys are adjusting well to home school life. They soon realised that although there are some things they miss out on, home school has it's benefits. The biggest being that play time involved climbing trees, making tree huts, playing Bear Grylls with all sorts of ropes, sticks, and pocket knives. Most of which wasn't permissible at school.
It hasn't been a totally smooth transition. There have been some very ugly moments, and sometimes those have turned into ugly days - and that wasn't just the boys. Home schooling isn't easy. Easy is dropping your kids off at school and doing what you like from 9am - 3pm. I loved that part of my life, and really appreciate that time I had now. But ... I wouldn't go back now. I love homes school as much as the boys. We are learning together, and boy is it fun. History, geography, literature, cultures, beliefs - we cover some great topics. Topics that broaden our world view - all through well written children's' literature.
I think I'm going to start a recommended reading section, to share all the fantastic books we are reading. There are some utterly rubbish books on the book store shelves and the library shelves too. But if you know where to look, there are some great books available. Creating a family library is a very worthy investment. Thanks to www.bookdepository.co.uk it's not ridiculously expensive either.
Back to home school ... if you are thinking about homeschooling, and are terrified for your children or your own sanity then welcome. I'm not a teacher by occupation. I was not even a very good student when I was at school. The only thing I have is a deep appreciation for my children's hearts and minds. I love those two rascals. They test me, challenge me and infuriate me at times, but together we endeavour to learn. To be honest with you, the best curriculum can not measure up to a parent who desires to invest in their children's heart and mind.
We didn't have a choice to home school. As we are preparing for the mission field, we felt this was the only option for our children while we were overseas. So reluctantly I started looking into it. It took one day face to face with Google to be convinced, it's a good thing to home school.
But what about Socialisation? Dude! The number of times I have heard that question! Sadly we are too busy to worry about socialisation. With football and basketball practises and games, language lessons, play dates, kids version of youth group, kids church, I don't have time to do all I would like to with our boys. But that is how it is for us at present, we are jamming all we can into our time here, until we are to leave for PNG.
This home school lark is fun, fun, fun. Not easy but definitely full of joy, not just enjoyment kind of joy but also joy in relationships. My boys are way more connected to me, even on days when I have been Mrs Battle-Axe (which was a surprise). Joy. That's worth all the ugly moments, that is.
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