A new hope

No, this isn't about Star Wars.

I feel a new hope coming about in our homeschool adventure. It's interesting how the family move last year just put a big dent in my flow/rhythm/whateveryouwanttocallit. I still have some things really unorganized and just kind of thrown in places because of trying to unpack, that I never got around to really making sense of it all.

As we approach a new "year" in our homeschool, I have been thinking a lot about our family's future in homeschooling, and the way we have it set up. Right now, I just feel like having our school take place mostly in the kitchen becomes such a distraction. So, right now we have a "living room" that we use as a "library" at the front of the house. We sit there to do much of our reading and we keep all our books in there. It's also where we have Family Home Evening lessons and where we sit visitors down to talk. There is usually a pressure to have a "parlor" type room as an LDS person. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that our family is a homeschool family and we deserve to be different from the norm and have a homeschool room! So that's what we are doing. All of our homeschooling will take place in this room. I know it will take me probably a year to get it just right (that's just about how I am, it takes me a while to figure out what I really like for a space), but I am excited to actually have a room where it will all take place, and hang up maps and cute calendars and the alphabet and magnetic white boards. I am excited to have a table in there that the kids can just be messy on and spread out and work together. I have a lot of ideas.

Also, my mom is not working anymore and since she lives with us she is now an official instructor of Woodruff Hall. I basically have no choice in this. She is excited to be a part of our homeschool and I have to be honest, I am pretty lucky because she is a GREAT teacher. If I retained anything I learned in public school it was through working on projects at home with my mom. She's so good.

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Today in church in my Relief Society class, we were talking about showing our love to our Father in Heaven by being obedient to His commandments. Some experiences of past people were shared where Joseph Smith and Brigham Young would tell someone to do something and that person would do it (even though it was hard or didn't make sense), and later something would happen to them that had they not listened to the prophet they could have been killed or their property damaged beyond repair. Then the question was posed, "What experiences have you had where you listened to the prophet or followed a commandment and the blessings came later?" A couple of people gave responses about tithing of course. But what I was thinking and feeling inside I really felt I just could not share. I know that the Lord has commanded me to teach my children and to make sure they are brought up and taught in a loving and true environment. I have always taken this seriously. When my husband pushed the idea of homeschool, I studied and read. And I also studied and read the words of the prophets. I prayed. I know that Heavenly Father wants me to homeschool my children and do all that I can to fight for parental rights and school choice in education. I just felt strongly from the beginning that my children should never attend a public school. I knew when my son was almost 3. People who were friends with me online and in real life probably thought I was crazy, and thought I had too much confidence. In reality, I was very worried. I had no idea how to do this. I thought I should be a certified teacher, I thought I would forget to teach something important. I was (and still am in many ways) very insecure. But I knew this was the Lord's will (I still do). Fast forward to now, I find myself increasingly worried for our public schooled children upon hearing about Common Core, and teachers who molest, and kids who get bullied, and kids who bully, and school shootings, etc. etc. etc. The more and more and more I hear ANYTHING about public schools I KNOW that my children are right where they belong. And I know that there are far too many resources for me to mess up teaching my kids or making sure they have friends and experiences. This has been such a blessing for our family so far in so many ways. If for any reason my kids had to go to any school outside of our home there would be a big hole in my heart and a heavy feeling of guilt as I disappoint my Father in Heaven.

 

This is THE new way of education I am sure and perhaps I will be the sort of person to give others hope and encouragement in their desires to protect their children.