I guess I should start by introducing myself... I am Rebecca, a happily married mother of four wonderful children. I am a homemaker, and planning on homeschooling all of my kids. I will begin homeschooling my oldest (my son who is five) in five days, and, as the name of my blog states, it is a leap of faith on my part.
I always wanted to be homeschooled as a child, but as my mother was single and working overnight shifts for most of my childhood, it just wasn't possible. Now that I have children of my own, I have thought it through, and I feel that homeschooling would be best for them. I can't see any downsides to it... They will be able to have a God-centered education, I will be able to teach them in whatever way best suits them, we can focus on subjects that interest them rather than working on a strict outline, we will be able to spend more time together than if they went to public or private schools, and it will save us money. There is also proof that homeschooled children tend to score higher on tests and learn faster because they can move at their own pace, and their teacher can work with what is best for their style of learning rather than what fits into certain time constraints.
I do have to admit, though, that I am rather nervous about all of this. No matter how much I want it, I just can't get past the nagging question in my head... "Can I do it?"
Will I be a successful teacher? Will I be able to teach my children to read and write, and how do I go about beginning? I would join a homeschooling group in my area, but most have meetings, and seeing as all of my children are five and under, it would be extremely difficult for me to make any of the meetings.
I have gotten my supplies together (my husband thinks I'm overdoing it, but I just tell him that he doesn't understand). I have gone crazy buying books on eBay (I think I have bought about 80 total), bought an immense amount of art supplies, stocked up on writing paper and pencils, and printed out a large amount of worksheets (one per subject per day). I don't have the finances to buy certain types of supplies, so I have made them instead. I made a calendar on posterboard (printed out the months, days of the week, and numbers up to 31, drew squares on the posterboard, and bought sticky tack to hold all of the information on). I also went into the paint computer program and made my own wall hangings for the letter, number, shape, and color of the week along with a "What is the weather like today?" wall hanging. I have drawers and a desk... I believe that I am all stocked up.
My only fear now is the first few days... Making sure that I can handle it all and be productive in it. My son is begging to learn; He's actually asking me every day when we start school. I have been singing the ABC song with the kids, as well as "Ten Little Indians" and "Five Little Speckled Frogs". The two oldest (four and five) know "Ten Little Indians" by heart, and near know "Five Little Speckled Frogs"... Those will translate into counting from 1 to 10 and subtracting by 1 from 5 to 0 later on.
My blog will be about our journey in homeschool... The trials and errors, success stories, ideas we have come up with (crafts, field trips, learning tips, and more). I will try to update at least a few times a week, but may struggle at first as I learn to balance homemaking and homeschooling.
"Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
No comments:
Post a Comment