This is my review time. Tonight as I lay down next to my daughter putting her to bed, I was amazed at the fact that she was just 2 years old when I started homeschooling her oldest sister. How could 4 years be done so soon?! I remember how afraid I was to what God was calling me to do, and how I resisted the first year! Now, tonight, we ended our 4th year.
Now I stand on this side of the coin watching in anticipation as something great has happened in our family. We have become...a family! We are doing things together that I have always dreamed of! Like having the relationship with my girls to discuss the "hard stuff" as it comes up in conversation as we approach puberty and body issues and relationship worries, and working through things in our family dynamics that cause a hiccup every now and then.
As we speak my two oldest are sitting at the dining room table hanging on every word that my HUSBAND reads to them about a "gang" of kids in merry old England (The Secret Seven) solving crimes. This is big, considering my husband didn't like to read out-loud and couldn't concentrate when he was read to out-loud, but that has changed and he has grown in the last 4 years. We continue to visit with our neighbors and elderly acquaintances throughout the week to spread some cheer. And above all the habits we are creating and teaching our kids, they are learning of things near and far!
Isabel learned to read and tie her shoes in the same week! We celebrated with ice cream, of course!
We have learned multiplication tables, division rules and old kings of Europe. We learned about mammals of North America of all sizes and shapes, and have learned to dry brush them into our Nature Notebooks.
We have begun our timeline book! We have read fantastic books that are vital to my kids being able to live out adventures through mighty brave courageous heroes! We continually discuss faith, and hope, and love and what it looks like in our family, in our neighborhood, in our town, in our church, in our state and in our nation. This is an on-going discussion that delights my very soul.
We are watching opinions rise up and change before our eyes! Our girls are growing up into their own beautiful beings. They are responsible, caring, capable, smart, sweet, giggly little girls and I count myself
BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE.
I love to learn and teaching my girls is an excellent way for me to continue my love of learning! As these 4 years have changed our whole family we wouldn't trade it for the world! God has given us a beautiful network of friends who are at all stages of homeschooling, and encourage us when we are down and help us to work through our issues with school as they come up. I am so excited for the next couple of years as I move on towards secondary education in the high school years! In 7-8 years my oldest will be leaving Walnut Street School for the Big Wide World and I am glad to be able to give her the best start in life possible!
PGFWABF
