Our son has learned a wealth of information as a homeschool kid. My husband and I have seen tremendous growth and progress in our kid. He is happier, he is steadily gaining his confidence back and he likes learning again. He is pursuing his interests and he is working at grade level. I could go on and on (as I usually do)...
Instead, I 'd like to share 12 things that I've learned in the past 12 months of our first, homeschool year. So here we go...
- Homeschooling has reminded me that I still love to learn. I love learning and I never want to stop learning something new every day of my life.
- Life is meant to be lived out of your comfort zone. I never thought I could teach math (I can!), move our family twice in one year (We are!) or begin the adoption process for our second child and plan on becoming parents again almost 13 years since our bringing home our son (Doing that now!). My comfort zone was safe, but it wasn't that much fun. Go figure.
- I have made the BEST friends in the world through homeschooling! Our son has an amazing group of homeschool friends, but guess what? SO.DO.I. I have this stellar group of homeschool mamas that have been so supportive and incredible during this past year. I love them so much and I am so thankful to be friends with them all!
- I watched our son fly a plane in January and I didn't vomit or pass out from worry! My husband and I just smiled, waved and trusted him to the Lord. Of course, we prayed for him, but then we went out to lunch while he co-piloted a plane to Massachusetts. (Have I mentioned lately how much we love him being in Civil Air Patrol?) Turns out, getting out of my zone GOT MY KID OUT OF HIS COMFORT ZONE. He flew a plane during his first year of homeschool. It's surreal just typing that sentence.
- I love the outdoors...just not lately, as this winter has been pretty heinous! Homeschooling gives us the flexibility to go outside more often- as a family, with friends and just in general.
- I love to travel. Always have, always will. Last year, we took six trips as a homeschool family. Guess what's happening again this year? Maycation: The Sequel!
- I've been pleasantly surprised by how many friends and family members have supported us in our decision to homeschool. Don't get me wrong, I've always known that we have supportive friends and family. However, our decision to homeschool just reinforced the knowledge that we have a very loving and supportive family. And friends.
- I can teach math and its not torturous for our son! See # 2, I just like saying that I can actually teach math and I'm pretty good at it.
- My husband is the BEST computer science/computer programming/ technology/ automotive/bass teacher in the world! He's also a pretty good "principal", too.
- We have grown exponentially in our faith and how we worship as a family. God is good all the time and all the time God is good! This year had its share of challenges (i.e. medical challenges, transitioning to homeschooling), but we learned that the more we let go of our lives, the better we can realize that God is always in control and He can show us that His plans are FAR BETTER than any plans we could imagine!
- Our yellow lab is very spoiled. I've always known this fact. He just loves having us home more often. As a result of our being home a little more, we get to see his "inner diva" on a regular basis.
- I.LOVE.HOMESCHOOLING.
If you're considering homeschooling, I just have one question for you....why haven't you started already?
#nowisthetimetohomeschool
