One Step Forward…

We didn’t home school our children from JK. It didn’t really occur to us as an option, actually.

Both Dave and I were products of a Christian educational system, and we wished when school registration season rolled around, that we could have enrolled Kayli in a Christian school, but the funds were not there. At the time, Dave worked from home and I worked outside of the home. We were a two income family, and needed it desperately to make ends meet.

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, in January, where we decided to bring our children home. It was an easy, and yet difficult and loaded decision. I do not regret that decision. I will, however, say, that homeschooling is not smooth sailing.

Our first semester went well. The kids were eager and really wanted to learn from us. We felt like we flew through the year.

There was lots of learning. We had to figure out how to schedule classes, and-stick-to-that-schedule-no-matter-what-is-happening-in-the-world-around-you! Something we still don’t always do well.

We still miss classes sometimes and have to make up for them the next day. Sometimes things don’t get started on time. Sometimes we have hard days that end in tears. Sometimes we get frustrated. Sometimes, like this year, school years don’t necessarily start on time. It’s so so challenging to be your children’s educator.

Sometimes I get stuck on the negative days. I wonder why things won’t run smoothly. I wonder why something I said triggered tears and frustration when the day before a light went off. Sometimes I get stuck on how we didn’t get everything in. Sometimes,… I could go on and on.

I guess what I wanted to write here is, it doesn’t matter how many bad days you have. It doesn’t matter if you don’t always stick to your schedule. It doesn’t matter if you get frustrated. Take a breath. Teachers have these days too. The important thing is to pick up and keep going and remember what a blessing it is to have your children always in your home, learning from you.

So today we got up early. We tried a new schedule. We started again. Fingers crossed that maybe we just needed a little… adjustment, this year.