I LOVE homeschooling!

I truly LOVE homeschooling!
Is every day easy? NO
Am I always overflowing with patience? NO

BUT...
Do I love being surrounded by my children? YES
Do I believe I am the best teacher for my children? YES
Do I love that they are one anothers peers? YES
Do I love that they are being allowed to keep their innocence? YES
Do I love that they are learning about Jesus, the Bible, and showing love along with the lesser important things? YES
Do I think homeschooling is the best and only alternative for MY children? YES



There are so many myths about homeschooling. So many Moms say they would like to homeschool but they don't feel qualified.
If you are a Mom you are qualified!!
God created that child in your womb. He gave your children to YOU! He must have thought you were qualified. Teaching your children is not about having completed so many courses, or having a college degree of any sort. (I never stepped foot in a college and I am completely confident in teaching my children) God entrusted your child to you when he knit them in your womb. He gave that child especially to you to nurture and train. Why is it when they turn 5 years old so many believe the lie that they are no longer qualified? Did they begin to learn to walk with your aid? Did they learn to talk from you? Are they learning boundaries from you? Are they learning about things in life and about God from you? Why is it they cannot learn everything else from you? They truly can. You know your child; You know how they are bent. You know their strengths; You know their weaknesses.
You truly are their first teacher and you are truly qualified to be their only teacher - with the aid of the best teacher, Jesus Christ!

There are almost endless resources and supplies available for homeschooling. You do not need all the knowledge in your head; you just need to locate great resources and facilitate their learning! You simply need to love them and learn along with them.

The following is an excerpt from the first article I read a few years ago that inspired me to homeschool: (click here to read the entire article by Eileen Spatz at Homeschool Christian.com)
Main benefits of homeschooling:
1. You will become unbelievably close to your children.
2. You will watch your children thrive on the individual attention and assistance they receive from you, and you will notice how their behavior and attitude improves, too. You will find that home schooled kids are, generally, very well-behaved.
3. You will have many more opportunities to actually parent your children. Being with them more, you will find that important topics and issues will come up in conversation (even during lessons) and you can help guide them, versus a peer. It will be YOUR values, not their peers or a school's, that they are learning.
4. Your children will move at a faster pace than in traditional school, and you will be able to cover more subjects in more depth. Home schoolers score far above the national average on standardized tests.
5. You will have control over what is being taught to your children, and they have some say about what they want to study. This nurtures a true love of learning.
6. You will find your family life become closer and much more relaxed. No more of those crazy mornings, rushing around to get them to school on time. No more evenings monopolized by tedious hours of homework.
7. Your children will feel secure and happy being at home with you (most days!) 8. Your children will become closer to each other (despite the squabbles.)
9. Home schooling is FLEXIBLE. You can arrange vacations and short get-aways without worrying about a school calendar.
10. You will be able to take lots of field trips and day trips, augmenting the school experience with some real world experiences.

You can also find homeschooling getting started stories from Homeschool Christian.com here.

Some quotes I appreciate:

"Childhood is not preparation for adulthood - it is a part of life." A. Neill
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yeats
"Homeschooling and public schooling are as opposite as two sides of a coin. In a homeschooling environment, the teacher need not be certified, but the child MUST learn. In a public school environment, the teacher MUST be certified, but the child need NOT learn." Gene Royer
"I learned most, not from those who taught me but from those who talked with me." St. Augustine
"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." Albert Einstein
"I am much afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which means are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must be corrupt." Martin Luther


Blessings,
Momma Jo