ABC Meme: iTouch

iTouch, iPod, iLove

ABC Meme: Homeschool

We'll now take a break from our regularly scheduled programming. No thesaurus today. I've been trying to put into words this new part of my identity. After an amazing emotional rollercoaster accompanied with some heavy doses of revelation, I'm now back down to earth and ready to talk.

Homeschooling has been on my mind ever since Chloe was of preschool age. I didn't send her to preschool when she was three because I wanted to do "Mommy School". I loved teaching. However, the idea of homeschool seemed crazy and self-sentencing. At the beginning of this year, I caught the teaching bug again. After talking it over with Scott, we decided that we would keep the girls at Bennion knowing how great their teachers were. However, as the year has gone by, Chloe seemed to get more and more frustrated. She's a quick learner and wasn't being challenged. When her behavior at home became unbearable because of her frustration, I knew I had to do something.

The quick fix would be to put Chloe over at Fox Hills (the Magnet School for Granite School District). If Chloe attended a different school, my goal of family unity seemed harder to achieve. I like to be involved over at the school, but two PTAs, two Valentine's Day Parties?! I didn't want to juggle my time and the attention of my children if I didn't have to. So, my next idea was to transfer over to Jordan School District and attend Westland Elementary (only a few blocks away). That way I could transfer both Chloe and Jess over to the same school and Chloe could attend the Accelerated Learning Program they have there. That plan didn't pan out because that school is at full capacity for Kindergarten this year. I was becoming very frustrated! I wanted to find a solution right for Chloe and for the rest of our family. I had been praying during these 3 weeks of decision making, relying on God to guide. But, as I was sitting in the Westland Elementary's parking lot, I started breaking down. I was so upset that there wasn't a place that fit our family's needs.

At that moment I thought again of homeschooling, my heart started pumping and my mind became clear. I called Scott at that moment, told him my frustrations. He said (with no coercing from me), "Maybe we should consider homeschooling." The Spirit was very strong at that moment. I felt overwhelmed and humbled. I knew this was the right decision for us. Conversations with educators, school leaders and family were hard for me to get through because the Spirit continued to confirm this decision. I was teary for the whole week of transitioning from public to home school. I knew my children would miss seeing their friends every day. I knew they would miss their sweet teachers. I knew they would miss riding the bus and feeling independent from mom. However, the pros still outweighed the cons.

I don't know if homeschooling is our long-term solution, but for the next 5 months, this is what we'll be doing. And after completing our third week, I am still so happy that we followed the Spirit. I won't lie to you, it is all consuming (as evidenced in the lack of blogging) and tries my patience and the patience of my children. But, knowing that the Lord guided us to this point, I know He will help us succeed.

ABC Meme: Goofy

Gotta giggle, guffaw & go gaga.