Academics and Beyond

When I started homeschooling I thought for sure that homeschool was all about getting the grade so to speak. I thought that it was so important to make sure my kids lived up to the homeschoolstandard. You know reading at age 3 and writing at age 4, playing 3 musical instruments by age 5 and knowing Latin inside and out by age 7.  I think you all know exactly what I am talking about.  Now please do not get me wrong. I highly look up to those homeschooled households that can have their kids do all that, but I was under the belief, when I first started out, that this was the norm and what was suppose to happen in my house. I was under the belief that homeschooling was all about teaching academics of course, through Gods eyes.

Then reality hit home! Not every kid loves school, or wants to re-enact George Washington’s crossing the Delaware or making lap books for everything we learn. My kids are just your average, everyday kids who like to learn hands on, be read to and play. And guess what? I am OK with that!  Now I have only been homeschooling for three years but I have learned so much during that time.

I have learned that just by having the kids around us at home all the time they can learn and absorb so much. Like how to apologize to someone, or how to grocery shop on a budget, how to pay bills (OK well, maybe not this one cause I get kinda stressed out), how to fix an electrical outlet, how to deal with door to door sales people, how about dealing with elderly people (my mom lives with us), how to say thank you and please, how to keep a clean and tidy house, how to make dinner on a budget, how to deal with rude people and I could go on and on.

Oh, yes, learning to read and write and do math is very important, but homeschooling is so much more. It is about teaching those academics and trying to have your kids excel, BUT, it is more about teaching your children character through God’s eyes. Teaching them how to live day to day and deal with ALL sorts of people and situation and actions etc. but with a heart for God. It is about praying for the ambulance people and the sick as they drive by your street,  saying hi to a neighbor as you walk by them on your daily walks around the neighborhood. How to listen and look at nature through different eyes. How to deal with day to day life with God in mind.

I can not think or even fathom the idea of letting my children go to someone else and relying on them to teach them these character traits. I look back at my own childhood and I think, God was surely watching over me and being oh! so graceful to me. My character was built by the kids at school, the teachers etc. Yes, my mom had a part in it too, but the main influence was school. How I got to be who I am today?!? I thank God for helping me become that and my Mom for helping me to realize as I got into my 20’s that I need to change. And now, I strive to help my kids become what I never was until my 30’s. A person who looks to God for strength, guidance and love.

Homeschooling is about building your child’s character through day to day living as well as the three “R”s. Unlike traditional school, it is academics and beyond.