Chin up! You can do this! Part 2

September 8th, 2009
Homeschooling is not something you “Do right”. It is parenting. How you do it will be different from anyone else. Your style and your childrens styles will make your school unique. You decide what you want her to learn ( you have 13 years to teach these things remember) and her talents, abilities, and personality will decide how those things are learned. You are mommy. Mommy has the love and ability to make the learning wonderful! No teacher could do it as well- no matter how smart, prepared, or dedicated they are, because YOU are mom. You care more than anyone, you love more than anyone, you will do what-ever it takes to teach her. Believe in yourself. Inside you is all she needs to be able to learn. Trust in yourself and those “I told you so” voices can just shut up! When she got her first fever- did you “give her away” to a hospital to raise? No, you cared for her and kept trying things until the fever was gone and she was happy again. This is the same thing. So school is not what you thought it was going to be. Are you going to “give her away” to a school to raise? Of course not. You are going to try different things until she is happy learning!
Ok, now to the brass tacks. A 5 year old needs to be playing. They learn by playing. Forget strict sit down lessons. Play instead. Decide what you want to teach and play! Take counting: Let’s count the washclothes as we fold! One, two, three, four… How many colors do we have? One , two, three, four…. How many fingers do we have altogether. Count mine and sissy’s too!
These years will go so fast honey. Make them fun. Enjoy your kids. Being the mom of small children is mostly a memory to me. It went too darn fast. Enjoy it. I am SOOOOOOO glad I did. We laughed and played the days away.We strung memories on strings like pearls. My adult kids love how they were raised now, and plan to do the same with their kids. You can do this. I have faith in you. Make it a loving time. Hugs, Barbara