{"id":788337,"date":"2013-08-01T04:13:49","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T04:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/?p=788337"},"modified":"2013-08-01T04:13:49","modified_gmt":"2013-08-01T04:13:49","slug":"new-to-homeschool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/2013\/08\/01\/new-to-homeschool\/","title":{"rendered":"New to Homeschool?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you are new to the homeschool world, or feeling a little burned out, I hope that there will be some nuggets here that will help equip, inspire, encourage, or remind you why you chose to homeschool.<\/p>\n

My dear husband of almost 19 years and I went from being “anti-homeschool” to being in a position where we could not imagine living a lifestyle that does not include homeschooling our two boys. \u00a0Here is our story and a few things we have learned along the way…<\/p>\n

David and I were not raised in Christian homes and the idea of homeschool was foreign to us. \u00a0As a young married couple, pre-kids, we had only two examples of homeschool families that we experienced. \u00a0One family lived an extremely alternative lifestyle to ours; one that we had a hard time relating to. \u00a0The other family pulled their child out of public school because the child was struggling. \u00a0In our extremely limited scope at the time, we felt this was negative because the child could not “handle” the traditional school setting.<\/p>\n

When I was pregnant with our first child, we planned on moving from an apartment into our first home. \u00a0I spent hours, HOURS, researching different school districts in the Seattle and Eastside cities and towns.<\/p>\n

We fully intended on immersing our kids in the best school district we could afford,\u00a0but God had other plans for our family.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Arriving home from the hospital with our beautiful, amazing, perfect (aren’t all babies?) son, I held him in my arms, and gently swaying, whispered to him, “what am I going to do with you all day?”<\/p>\n

This is when I went online, researching different activities that would keep my baby mentally stimulated and entertained. \u00a0I kept coming across websites that were targeting homeschool families. \u00a0I kept dismissing them, because we weren’t a homeschool family…<\/p>\n

But, some of those websites held my interest enough for me to read a snippet here and there. \u00a0Soon, I discovered that homeschool was not, necessarily, “reactive”, but that there was a whole world of parents proactively choosing to homeschool their kids from day one.<\/p>\n

God captured my interest, and slowly, began capturing my heart, for homeschool. \u00a0One website lead to another, and another, and I began wondering if this was something the Lord wanted us to do. \u00a0I began reading voraciously, different online resources.<\/p>\n

I asked my husband if he would ever consider homeschooling, and his response was an emphatic ‘NO’!<\/p>\n

When our oldest was six months old, we were blessed with another pregnancy, and all homeschool curiosity went out the window. \u00a0With two little ones, ages 15 months apart, we spent the next two years wading through diapers, bottles, car seats, and a double stroller.<\/p>\n

When Preschool rolled around, we had to decide what to do. \u00a0By this time, God had really seized my heart and I knew this was where He wanted us, but I also knew David was against it. \u00a0I started to pray, “Lord, either change my heart or change his.”<\/p>\n

With the Holy Spirit’s prompting, I asked David if he’d consider letting me homeschool through Preschool. \u00a0He agreed…only through Preschool. \u00a0The reasons for approval:<\/p>\n

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  1. Preschool is expensive and with two kids in Preschool, we would have had to make budget adjustments and sacrifice certain hobbies and other nice amenities we had come to enjoy.<\/li>\n
  2. We like to travel, and with the perk of my husband being able to work from anywhere, adhering to a school schedule would limit the flexibility to travel.<\/li>\n
  3. Really, how much could I mess up our kids in PreK?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    And thus began our journey into homeschool…<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    We were living in Washington state at the time. \u00a0Currently, each state has their own requirements for homeschooling. \u00a0In Washington, you need to be “certified” to homeschool. This means accomplishing one of four requirements:<\/div>\n
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    1. complete 45 credits in college<\/li>\n
    2. meet with the school superintendent and have them approve you<\/li>\n
    3. meet regularly with a teacher and have them approve your lesson plans<\/li>\n
    4. take a college sanctioned homeschool course<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Even though I had the college credits, I did not feel any more qualified to be a homeschool mom. \u00a0So, I started looking into the homeschool courses. \u00a0Many of them were over a few weekends. \u00a0I kept wondering if there was an online course I could take at home. \u00a0It just seemed ironic that I would have to go somewhere else to learn how to teach at home. \u00a0I found a website called,Homeschool Oasis<\/a>\u00a0by Barb Shelton. \u00a0This site is full, full, full of incredible articles about homeschooling. \u00a0She also had a homeschool course available, approved by a Bible college in Kelso, WA., that met the requirements for certification in Washington state. \u00a0It was something that I could do at home and there was no time limit to complete it. \u00a0Music to this mom’s ears…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      I received a syllabus and HUGE book list to read. \u00a0The title of the course was “A Season of Re-Education and Renewing of the Mind”. \u00a0Going into the course, I thought all I wanted was that magic formula that homeschooled my kids into Harvard. \u00a0But, God used Barb to share what He taught her; what His plans were for her and for others that have ears to hear Him. \u00a0I immersed in a season of truly re-educating and renewing my mind.<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Here are the main principles I learned and have tried to apply in my heart and our homeschool:<\/div>\n
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      (Most of what I am going to share with you can be found in the books that I have listed at the end. \u00a0I strongly encourage you to read these books and ask the Holy Spirit to help build your homeschool with these books (and the Bible) as foundation).<\/div>\n
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      1. \u00a0Let go of “School at Home” as the only way to teach\u00a0<\/b>. \u00a0I first thought that I needed to copy the only educational model I knew; the public school classroom. \u00a0I thought I needed a dedicated room, desks, chairs, chalkboard, maps, you get the idea. \u00a0I thought I needed specific times for each subject. \u00a0(Some might do this, and it works well for you. \u00a0That’s great! \u00a0There is nothing wrong with doing this. \u00a0But, this is not the only way to teach our kids, as I discovered.)<\/div>\n
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      I learned that before a parent launches into setting up curriculum for their child, dedicate a season for themselves and allow God to transform their ideas of education. \u00a0I also learned that real learning varies along community, cultural, and class lines, place to place, and era to era. \u00a0Learning does not need to be confined to the classroom.<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Approach curriculum with an “a la carte’ mentality; not ‘buffet.’ \u00a0Don’t try to cover it all. \u00a0Schools don’t. (Think about those thick textbooks. \u00a0We read assigned chapters, but not the whole thing…)<\/div>\n
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      2. Dispel Myths. \u00a0<\/b>I used to think that I was not qualified to teach my child… that it was not my role…that I did not want to mess up my kids.<\/div>\n
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      Then, I read the book ‘Home Education Myths<\/b>‘ by Karl Reed. \u00a0Here are my personal points of impact:<\/div>\n
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