Let the Lessons Begin!

Oh, the joy of sitting at the table in your pajamas, joking and laughing out loud while you learn! We started a new school year yesterday, and simply had fun! Madison is quite the enthusiastic learner, and she is so silly and light-hearted that it is a joy to do lessons with her.

Today we did our first science experiment, which is something that she got so excited about that she flitted about, singing and skipping all the way to the kitchen to gather materials. Our lesson today was about mummification, and our experiment was to see if we could "mummify" some apple slices.

We will have to check our apple slices next week to see if it worked. Science this year is going to be so much fun! Our curriculum came with a kit containing all that we need to do 15 experiments!

Yesterday's math lesson, on the other hand, was very boring. The first several units in the math book are review, and it just feels so useless to keep beating that horse to death. Therefore, after Madison did the first page in her math workbook, I decided that it was a waste of time for her to do problems that she could do blindfolded with both hands behind her back. So, instead of doing another workbook page today, I started giving her quizzes, to see if she could "clep" lessons in the math book. She has tested out of 8 lessons so far. I have a funny feeling she will get to skip over half of the math book. We will just start with the concepts she hasn't mastered, and when she finishes the book, we'll order the next grade level. She may end up doing ninth grade math by the end of the school year.

Bible class yesterday was the highlight of the week so far. The lesson hit me right between the eyes. We are studying worship: what it is, why we do it, and how we are to do it. One of the verses that we read was Revelation 4:11 that says, "Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." I have always loved that verse, as it tells me what my purpose in life is: to please God. But the thing that struck me today was that I find myself misunderstanding my place in the relationship. Oftentimes I live my life as though God were created for me: to help me in my time of need, to strengthen me when I am weak, to heal me when I am sick, to comfort me when I am frightened. But the truth of the matter is that, first of all, I am here for Him, not the other way around. Granted, He does do all of those things in my life, but it is not for my good pleasure that He assists me and comforts me; it is so that my life might point others to Him, and in turn, give Him the glory. I choked up as I read the verse. Madison was not struck with the same epiphany, but it made for a great start to a wonderful year of home schooling.

I hope and pray that this school year ends as well as it has started.

Aha! Moment - The Decision to Homeschool

Yesterday was our first day of homeschool. Madison, our bright, enthusiastic twelve-year-old, has been looking forward to this day for about a month now, which is surprising, because we felt sure that she, being the social diva of sixth grade, would not want to leave her classmates of the past 8 years to jump onto the homeschool bandwagon.

Our decision to homeschool Madison came as a sort of "Aha!" moment for us. My husband taught junior high and upper level sciences in our community's Christian school for five years, and I have taught preschool, eighth grade, sixth grade, and fifth grade at the same school off and on since 1996, when our oldest daughter, now a Sophomore in college began kindergarten there. I love our Christian school! I really do! Our middle daughter is now a junior there, and we want her to finish and get her degree from VBS, as she has set a goal for herself to graduate as valedictorian, and she is well on her way to reaching it.

After five years of teaching junior high and high school sciences, my husband, who is an environmental scientist by trade, started his own business from our home. He loved teaching, but our school could not comfortably support our family of five. I continued to teach over the years, until the school made the decision to go through the accreditation process, which would force me to continue my education, at my own expense. I decided that already having a bachelor of science in nursing was enough education for me. I also decided that I could not afford the time nor the money that it would cost for me to take the continuing education courses that it would take for me to remain a teacher at our school.

From August through December of this school year, Madison has enjoyed being in Mrs. Pastorelli's sixth grade class at VBS. She is a delightful teacher, very well-organized, and very witty, with great classroom control and rapport with the students. So, until my "Aha!" moment, I really hadn't considered homeschooling Madison. Then, one evening, our volleyball team played a local homeschool team. I struck up a conversation with one of the homeschool moms, pointing out which of the girls on our team was my daughter Haley. I continued by telling her that I felt like all the girls on the team belonged to me, because I had taught all of them in one grade or another. Later in the conversation I explained that I was no longer teaching at the school, only subbing from time to time because of accreditation. That's when she asked me two life-changing questions:

First she asked me, "Would you say that teaching is your God-given gift?"
I took a moment to ponder before I answered, "Yes. I would say definitely, yes!"
Then she asked the second, "I hope you don't think me too bold by asking, but if teaching is your God-given gift, then why are you paying someone else to educate your children?"

I have never been so profoundly affected by such a question. Never before had an answer been so obvious. It's like my mother used to say, "If it was a snake, it would have bitten you already."  It felt like God was slapping me upside the head, and all I could say was, "Duh..."

Immediately, I imagined what negative feelings my husband would make about the idea, so I didn't even mention it to him for a while. I had heard from him so many times, "Homeschool kids are weird and unsocialized." But, I couldn't get it out of my head. The question resounded in my head day and night. I couldn't sleep. I started praying about it; then I started researching the topic on the internet. I found some really great articles that convinced me that it was a wonderful option. Armed with printed internet articles, I approached my husband with the idea, and to my surprise, the tune of saving $285 a month for Christian school tuition spoke to him. I asked him read the articles anyway, and he, too was convinced that we should do this.

Then came the task of telling our school's administrators and Madison's wonderful teacher what we had decided to do...