BlsdMama Posted July 13, 2020 Posted July 13, 2020 We're gearing up for our TWENTIETH year of homeschooling! To all the moms who are scared, who aren't sure.... It is the best choice we've made. This year we celebrated our third graduate. Only eight more to go and only God knows if I'll be able to see it to the finish. But it was all worth it. I'm far from the most patient mom. I'm far from what I want to be and our homeschool is not idyllic. Often it's chaotic. My house gets clean almost every day and crazy messy almost every day. I have a framed dry erase board gracing my front room! I have a framed world map as "art work" on one wall. I know more about grammar than almost any 4th grade teacher and my claim to fame was a picture with Andrew Pudewa, lol. My curriculum has varied, grown, changed, and been sold in favor for others. I've never yet had a perfect year. I've tossed my color coded schedules and my blocked days in favor for checklists. "Read or sleep" afternoons have stood the test of time. The Green Ember is my favorite read aloud except for Charlotte's Web which has been each of my children's first chapter read aloud. ❤️ Homeschooling isn't a price to pay, but a lifetime of investment. It accumulates wealth over a long period of time. Go forth. Be blessed. 20 4 Quote
Michelle in MD Posted July 13, 2020 Posted July 13, 2020 Beautiful! Brought tears to my eyes! May you continue to be richly blessed! 2 Quote
NewIma Posted July 13, 2020 Posted July 13, 2020 What an amazing accomplishment!! It is so encouraging that you still feel blessed and enriched by your life as a homeschooling parent after 20 years. I have only been homeschooling for 8 years, but my life is also richer and more interesting for it. We are truly lucky to be be on this journey with our children. 2 Quote
cintinative Posted July 13, 2020 Posted July 13, 2020 Congratulations! That's such encouragement to those of us many years behind. 😃 1 Quote
medawyn Posted July 13, 2020 Posted July 13, 2020 Congratulations! We started back today, and my kindergartener listened to Chapter 1 of Charlotte's Web, her first chapter book just like her older brother. Glad it's a tradition worth keeping. 2 Quote
LMD Posted July 14, 2020 Posted July 14, 2020 What a beautiful post Blsd! Thank you, from someone in their 10th year struggling to keep my mojo, I needed to read this. 1 Quote
fourisenough Posted July 14, 2020 Posted July 14, 2020 23 hours ago, BlsdMama said: We're gearing up for our TWENTIETH year of homeschooling! To all the moms who are scared, who aren't sure.... It is the best choice we've made. This year we celebrated our third graduate. Only eight more to go and only God knows if I'll be able to see it to the finish. But it was all worth it. I'm far from the most patient mom. I'm far from what I want to be and our homeschool is not idyllic. Often it's chaotic. My house gets clean almost every day and crazy messy almost every day. I have a framed dry erase board gracing my front room! I have a framed world map as "art work" on one wall. I know more about grammar than almost any 4th grade teacher and my claim to fame was a picture with Andrew Pudewa, lol. My curriculum has varied, grown, changed, and been sold in favor for others. I've never yet had a perfect year. I've tossed my color coded schedules and my blocked days in favor for checklists. "Read or sleep" afternoons have stood the test of time. The Green Ember is my favorite read aloud except for Charlotte's Web which has been each of my children's first chapter read aloud. ❤️ Homeschooling isn't a price to pay, but a lifetime of investment. It accumulates wealth over a long period of time. Go forth. Be blessed. First of all, Congratulations! There are no gold stars for homeschooling moms, but if there were, you surely would have earned yours this year! Tell me about “read or sleep” afternoons? Does that mean that your students can pick one: reading or napping? Every day? Until what age? I love this idea, btw, and still use it today even though my youngest is 11. It’s mainly because I just need an hour (or two) when I don’t have to see/speak to anyone 😬. I’m curious how others implement this in their houses. I’m currently advising three new families in my circle who are pulling their kids and embarking on homeschooling for the first time. I honestly think mom-burnout is the number one reason why most quit. I’d like to suggest your “read or sleep” afternoons as one way to prevent this. 3 Quote
BlsdMama Posted July 15, 2020 Author Posted July 15, 2020 On 7/13/2020 at 9:46 AM, NewIma said: What an amazing accomplishment!! It is so encouraging that you still feel blessed and enriched by your life as a homeschooling parent after 20 years. I have only been homeschooling for 8 years, but my life is also richer and more interesting for it. We are truly lucky to be be on this journey with our children. On 7/13/2020 at 2:06 PM, medawyn said: Congratulations! We started back today, and my kindergartener listened to Chapter 1 of Charlotte's Web, her first chapter book just like her older brother. Glad it's a tradition worth keeping. Is there anything better than EB White? My BFF sent me a locket with a spider and a quote in it. It's my favorite piece of jewelry, lol - granted I am not a jewelry person so this says a lot about me on many levels. 😉 On 7/13/2020 at 2:54 PM, Æthelthryth the Texan said: We should do like Hive Anniversaries where whenever someone hits 10, 15, 20, 25 years of homeschooling we do a commemorative thread celebrating them and their best advice. We should! This one feels BIG to me. We had to fight for this one - and it was worth it. On 7/14/2020 at 4:58 AM, LMD said: What a beautiful post Blsd! Thank you, from someone in their 10th year struggling to keep my mojo, I needed to read this. There are days sometimes... And occasionally there's one of those years. I've had a kiddo who was truly challenging to keep home but it was academically best for him and FINALLY it is also relationship best for him too, but it has taken years to get here and there were days...... Protect from burnout. It is a challenge to not put the schooling in front of the mothering and it's one I still face often. It's getting far easier now that I can see what was worthwhile, what had great returns, and what was just extra hoops, you know? ❤️ 22 hours ago, fourisenough said: First of all, Congratulations! There are no gold stars for homeschooling moms, but if there were, you surely would have earned yours this year! Tell me about “read or sleep” afternoons? Does that mean that your students can pick one: reading or napping? Every day? Until what age? I love this idea, btw, and still use it today even though my youngest is 11. It’s mainly because I just need an hour (or two) when I don’t have to see/speak to anyone 😬. I’m curious how others implement this in their houses. I’m currently advising three new families in my circle who are pulling their kids and embarking on homeschooling for the first time. I honestly think mom-burnout is the number one reason why most quit. I’d like to suggest your “read or sleep” afternoons as one way to prevent this. It's a concept that is in The Well Trained Mind - it's been years since I've read it and I'm unsure now how much I've tweaked it... But essentially teach littles to read as soon as possible and then afternoons are for "down" time. In our house, naptime is pretty heavily protected as much as we can. You can read or you can sleep, but you can't do other things. Littles & middles, in desperation, will read rather than nap. My older kids keep it now as coffee & read afternoons, but I think there is value in that break in the day, and I credit read or sleep afternoons for my oldest DS' reading ability. Well, that and Tolkien. 😉 2 Quote
lulalu Posted July 16, 2020 Posted July 16, 2020 Congratulations!! Thank you for the wise words too. Quote
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