{On a Mission}

I have been on a mission the past couple months.

1. To learn more about boys and to try to understand them and who they are. If i can do this, it will help me better be able to parent them in the way they need.  2. To learn more about the school system vs. homeschooling.

First, I read this book called "Wild Things: The art of nurturing boys"  It's a terrific book. I feel like i better understand my boys, and am excited to implement a few things in our family that BOYS need. It also helps tremendously on how to discipline boys, and how what they need is far different than what girls need, in schoools and at home. It's a very interesting read. And I am now reading "Parenting with Love and Logic"...this is terrific too, in helping how to discipline and teach our kids responsibility, and how to raise them so they know they were loved, but also know how to work hard. Both of these book combined, i have lots to learn and practice in this house, BUT i am determined. I feel this drive and motivation to be the kind of mom i need to be for my boys. I don't know why, But i am on a roll! :)  I have read a book called "Dumbing Us Down" and another one "100 Top picks for homeschool curriculum." And of course i have read quite a few articles online about homeschooling and the school system. It's been really fun learning about it all.

Second, I remember probably a year ago i was watching the news. There was something on television talking about the school system these days. I don't remember what they were saying, but i remember feeling like the school system is failing our kids. And that's when the idea was planted in my mind that i might possibly homeschool one day. I was the type that NEVER EVER would have considered homeschooling. I couldn't wait til all my kids were in school so that i would have time to myself. That has changed. My time is no longer my concern. As time went on, from that moment on, the idea still stayed in my mind. Then i started hearing of friends who DO actually homeschool. I started hearing more about it, and decided to visit with a few people about homseschooling and their thoughts on it and how they do it. That sparked my interest even MORE. Then i decided to research it. I was curious how it works...laws regarding homeschool, how you homeschool, different programs to help you homeschool, etc. There seemed to be so much involved with it and so many options that it felt overwhelming. After reading a few books on homeschooling, and reasearching homeschool curriculums, i am now more determined than ever to homeschool my older two boys this fall. Jaydon will go to kindergarten. He needs it. I might be able to teach him when he gets to be Tanner's age, but not right now. I just felt this feeling that i could do a better job at homeschooling than the school system can do. Not only that, but the idea of sending my kids off ALL day long to let them be taught by somebody else that they don't even have a close relationship with, stuck with a bunch of kids in a room that they will never keep as long time friends, and to be taught by someone other than me, started to seem unnatural to me. I have started feeling like i should be teaching them. Family is where it starts and ends. Why am i giving up my children ALL DAY long to let somebody else teach them? I feel like i never get time to teach them what i want them to know....i never get the time to teach them important things in life. They come home from school, do homework, then we go to some sport activity OR scouts or they want time to play because they have been cooped up all day long. I am here to love and teach them, but i never get to because everything else is taking up that time. I am letting the world teach them, alone. That's the way i have felt.   Now i get to teach them, and they will experience the world in a different way.  I want homeschool to help them build their character and i want them to LEARN TO LOVE TO LEARN. They go to school, memorize things, and are tested on it. I want to teach them to love learning, to build their character, to learn about a community and service, all in a loving environment surrounded by the ones they love. The more i started reading , the more it all started coming together in my mind and making complete sense to me that this is what i need to do. I know there will be hard days, but i feel it will be 100% worth it. I don't remember a dang thing i learned in school. It was so hard for me because it was so boring. I had to memorize everything just to be tested on it. I memorized it so i could pass a test, and it never stuck with me. Where was the fun in learning? There wasn't. Looking back, i don't remember much of anything i learned. I am hoping to help them learn in a fun way that it will stick with them, and they will love to learn, instead of being bored by school. Gavin has always been bored by school, which is something that has always bothered me. I didn't think it was supposed to be boring, and he is so young i thought. If he is already bored with school in 1st grade, then he is going to be bored until he graduates. I just felt like it shouldn't be that way. I feel like homeschooling can fix this for him. And he is excited about it. And i am letting them pick what things they want to study about science, and i am letting them pick their electives. And it's going to be a literature based learning, which is great. We will read good quality chapter books that will teach them a lot about many areas of life. And i am excited about it because they love to read. What better way to teach them than with a literature based curriculum?!?! :) I really am so pumped. I am going to post more about this as soon as i know my homeschool schedule, so you can get an idea of what i am doing. :) And i am so excited to learn along with them. It will all be like new to me.

I have learned a whole lot about the school system and homeschooling the past couple months. I wouldn't be able to explain everything to you because i am not good at reiterating my thoughts on what i have learned. I am better at writing it out. But i have been learning, and it all just makes me feel that more comfortable with my decision to homeschool. I chatted with a friend who pulled her oldest three out of school to start homeschooling them, for various reasons.  She said its the best decision she has ever made and she hasn't regretted it for a second, and that it has been the best thing for their family.