No more fears

I realized I have not really blogged much about home-schooling. It is such a big part of our lives right now. I was so scared when I first started it. I was afraid of being with our girls 24-7. When my husband was gone, I was. I was alone 1 hour each Sunday morning and that was it. My fears were completely gone regarding that issue. Sure, it was hard sometimes. But I also realized (again) how awesome our girls are. They are so much fun and so smart. I also realized I have limits and that it is OK to have limits. About 6:30 p.m. is mine. The girls do not take naps anymore, so around 6:30 at night, I am ready to be done. An easy solution is to give the girls a neat toy for their room. I let them play in there till they are tired. It kept me from getting "fussy" with them and allowed me to sit in the living room....alone =). Also, I am no longer scared of being a teacher. That sounds silly. I know it does. I used to teach kids church to 30+ children and helped direct a Kids Choir and have been in charge of multiple VBS programs and community programs. Teaching your OWN child should be a cinch right? RIGHT! It really is! I follow the agenda laid out in the curriculum (LOVE Sonlight)! It works really well and flows so nicely. I also am brave enough to be ok with the things that do not work so well for us. Like reading 3-4 pages out of the bible? Not working so well. So, we switched to our own devotion book and it is wonderful! I did not like their history, so we read Little House on the Prairie books and go to local historical places. On the other hand, we love science, so we take it outdoors and can sometimes devote an entire day to it. It really is a ton of fun and you get in a groove. Being with your kids is NOT scary! I know that may sound crazy, but you get used to hanging out with other mom's and reading during kids nap times and it is scary to think of giving that up. I admit, there are times I envy the mom's dropping their kids off and getting 6 hours a day to themselves, but I would not trade this time for anything. At the end of the day, I know what they ate and when. Exactly what they were taught, anything they saw on TV, how much exercise they had and how they did on their work. If you have ever entertained a notion of home-school, please think about it. It may be just what you need. What does our future look like for this? We still don't know. In Korea, we may not have a choice. We may only be able to home-school there, or we may be on a base with DOD schools and we may choose to send them there. Time will tell, but for now it is great and if I can answer any questions, please ask.