Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Uncovering Homeschool Myth #2

   

1. Our kids are unsocialized(click HERE to go to this page)
    2. You have to be patient, organized & crafty 
    3. We breed like rabbits
    4.  We all wear glasses and live to be on the “Geek Squad”
    5. We keep our kids in a bubble so they won’t see or hear   evil

“I don’t know how you do it. I just don’t have the patience to homeschool.”


I want to scream “OOHHH! And you think I homeschool because I’m patient?!” Julie Steck is many things, but patient is not one of them. Ask my mom. She always made me wait on things. (Love ya Mom!) I think just to get back at her I married at 18. Not really. I honestly didn’t see the point in waiting if we knew we were going to get married. So it went from “we’ll get married after college” to “how bout after 2 years of college” to “Well, maybe after 1 year” to” Why wait at all? July sounds great!”

Definitely not patient. Why put off till tomorrow what you can do today!

Hear me say: Don’t cross off homeschooling for the wrong reasons. If God has placed this on your heart, He knows your character and personality. He will either mold you (and chip off a few jutting out pieces) into what you need to be, or fill you with His Patience anyway. This task is too big for your own strength or patience. Either way, you must rely on Him rather than your own natural ability.

Yes, patience is something I continue to struggle with even after doing this 6 years, so don’t disqualify yourself yet! Did you know that the term “patience” can mean more of the idea of “abiding under” rather than just sitting in a doctor’s office waiting to hear your name called? Imagine you’re walking through the woods when a big rain storm hits. You look to your right and see a bridge you can hide under until the rain passes. What is “abiding underneath” that bridge doesn’t get as wet; it’s shielded from the storm. That’s what the word “patience” is supposed to mean. Abide under the wings of the Almighty as long as you need!

And remember, the goal of the first year of homeschooling is to still love your children at the end of the year. Notice I didn’t say the end of the day…year my friend. Accomplish that one and you have succeeded year #1!

“I’m not organized enough to do that!”

I’ve heard it said that cleaning the house while children are in it is like shoveling snow while it’s still snowing! Welcome to the daily life of a home-schooler! We attempt to clean, organize, stack, re-stack, but at the end of the day I don’t know that anyone can tell. Maybe some are more gifted in this area than others, but again, I am not. My parents are artists. I organize like Picasso! It seems like every organizational plan I‘ve had has failed. By that I mean, it worked for a couple of weeks and then it began to strangle me.

I heard a wise homeschool mom say one time when we were talking about keeping up with everything, “I’d be a great teacher if it wasn’t for all these children!” Yes, exactly.

Even this, needed at times organizational quality can be a stumbling block. For high organization can come at the price of just doing it! Sometimes things just need to be executed. You will never be able to “afford” to have children and you will never be "fully organized" to start your school year. Kids and life are messy and we homeschoolers happen to have a large dose of both! Don’t cross yourself out yet!

“But I’m just not crafty.”

This quality I will say I have. I grew up with an art teacher and a sculptor, so making gifts rather than buying them was what we did. We went shopping to look for new ideas of what to make, not buy. But do I use this every day in schooling my kids? No. This is my kid’s education, not mine. I give them opportunity to be crafty. They have drawers of paper, markers and scissors that they can pull out while I’m reading aloud or while they’re waiting (abiding under…the table) while I work on dinner or this blog. I give them plenty of spare, boring time to be creative. Yes, this usually ends up messy and loud, for remember, we’re not organized or patient. 

But honestly, craftiness can also be a stumbling block. Schooling is not for me to do for them so it can be just right or for them to see a picture of a beautifully done Pinterest project and think theirs look like trash in comparison. What’s the goal behind creativity? I think it’s the Shamgar approach. Shamgar was a character hidden away in the book of Judges. He struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad and saved Israel. In the two verses we know about him, we have decided he:


Started where he was
Used what he had
Did what he could

The goal of creativity is to teach our kids to start where they’re at, use what they have, and do what they can. If they can learn how to swim themselves while everyone else is waiting for the boat to come, they will make it in this life. You don’t have to be on Pinterest to homeschool. You don’t even have to love art and classical music. Thankfully there are many curriculum options out there for you to choose from – some crafty, some not, some with batteries and all the brackets included, some not.

No, homeschooling isn’t for everyone. But don’t let anyone, including yourself, tell you that you can’t do this! I believe you can. I was scared to death to start, still tremble today and some days wonder if I’m doing the right thing here. It’s part of the journey.

I’d be glad to chat with you about anything here if you have questions. Feel free to leave a comment below!

Putting it In Our Own Words,

~Julie


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