Unmasked
I remember talking to a mom who was taking her daughter out of private preschool after one year. She was telling me all about how excited she was about homeschooling, how she couldn't think of anything better than spending all of that time with her child, and why would she want to continue to let anyone else raise her child and on and on. It was a hard sell, and I could tell she was selling herself on it as much as she was trying to sell me. We were doing the same thing - pulling E out after one year in favor of a free program - so I just said something like, "oh, really? right. well, we just didn't want to pay anymore."
I didn't have a good feeling about homeschooling after that conversation, and I've met plenty of other moms who have given me similar pitches. I don't appreciate those pitches. I like the ones where the moms hesitate for a minute and then say, "well, we love it, but..." Honesty, please.
So, lest anyone think I have it all together after the last couple of posts (ha!)...a list of things that "concern" me about this new venture, in no particular order.
1. Exercise. It's not so much an issue of how or when I will fit it in, but where will I find the discipline to fit it in? My track record here is not so good, it is far too easy to use the girls as an excuse already ... I know I need to build something into my daily schedule, but the challenge is coming up with something that excites and interests me AND gives me the workout that my body needs. And preferably, it would be free and involve some type of ball.
2. Patience, or, shall we say, Creative Parenting. I have a very strong willed child. She's not strong willed in the I'm-going-to-play-in-traffic-just-because-you-tell-me-not-to way, which is good. She's strong willed in the I-already-thought-of-that-and-in-fact-I'm-3-steps-ahead-of-you-and-don't-need-your-help-because-my-way-is-better kind of way. (I don't know where she gets that.) One of the reasons that we are homeschooling is to foster her learning style, which seems to be exploration and self-teaching. How will I learn to set aside my own goals and objectives and give her the freedom to figure things out on her own? But also, how will I get her to sit and finish her work with excellence when her brain has already completed it and she's ready to chase her next rabbit?
3. Skill level. So there's that child, but then there's the other one, who will be relying on me to teach her how to read. I know parents all over the world teach their kids to read, so I'm not worried about that...I just want her to love it. I'm not convinced I have the skills to teach her well enough so that she'll love it.
4. Stewardship of time and resources. It is already proving tough to make decisions about activities. We want to do PE, which takes up a full morning and a substantial amount of money. But we also want to do private or small group sports lessons - more time & money. There's piano, to which we are already fully committed, and dance, which is a passion for one of them. I have ideas in my head of Spanish and art classes. We are all enrolled in weekly Bible Study, and then there are the church activities. If part of the appeal of homeschooling was to jump off the hamster wheel for a bit, then we need to be disciplined about what we sign up for. But when you want to do everything, that's really hard.
5. My time. I don't need much of it, really. But there are some things that I would really like to get done. This is another discipline issue for me - how will I build this into my schedule and actually use it wisely? How do I prioritize the things I want or need to do and make sure that I am using the gifts I've been given? How do I keep from scheduling orthodontist appointments during "my time"?
I know these concerns aren't unique to me or our homeschooling experience, and believe me, there are plenty more. But I'm looking forward to posting about how God has removed all of them. Soon.
I didn't have a good feeling about homeschooling after that conversation, and I've met plenty of other moms who have given me similar pitches. I don't appreciate those pitches. I like the ones where the moms hesitate for a minute and then say, "well, we love it, but..." Honesty, please.
So, lest anyone think I have it all together after the last couple of posts (ha!)...a list of things that "concern" me about this new venture, in no particular order.
1. Exercise. It's not so much an issue of how or when I will fit it in, but where will I find the discipline to fit it in? My track record here is not so good, it is far too easy to use the girls as an excuse already ... I know I need to build something into my daily schedule, but the challenge is coming up with something that excites and interests me AND gives me the workout that my body needs. And preferably, it would be free and involve some type of ball.
2. Patience, or, shall we say, Creative Parenting. I have a very strong willed child. She's not strong willed in the I'm-going-to-play-in-traffic-just-because-you-tell-me-not-to way, which is good. She's strong willed in the I-already-thought-of-that-and-in-fact-I'm-3-steps-ahead-of-you-and-don't-need-your-help-because-my-way-is-better kind of way. (I don't know where she gets that.) One of the reasons that we are homeschooling is to foster her learning style, which seems to be exploration and self-teaching. How will I learn to set aside my own goals and objectives and give her the freedom to figure things out on her own? But also, how will I get her to sit and finish her work with excellence when her brain has already completed it and she's ready to chase her next rabbit?
3. Skill level. So there's that child, but then there's the other one, who will be relying on me to teach her how to read. I know parents all over the world teach their kids to read, so I'm not worried about that...I just want her to love it. I'm not convinced I have the skills to teach her well enough so that she'll love it.
4. Stewardship of time and resources. It is already proving tough to make decisions about activities. We want to do PE, which takes up a full morning and a substantial amount of money. But we also want to do private or small group sports lessons - more time & money. There's piano, to which we are already fully committed, and dance, which is a passion for one of them. I have ideas in my head of Spanish and art classes. We are all enrolled in weekly Bible Study, and then there are the church activities. If part of the appeal of homeschooling was to jump off the hamster wheel for a bit, then we need to be disciplined about what we sign up for. But when you want to do everything, that's really hard.
5. My time. I don't need much of it, really. But there are some things that I would really like to get done. This is another discipline issue for me - how will I build this into my schedule and actually use it wisely? How do I prioritize the things I want or need to do and make sure that I am using the gifts I've been given? How do I keep from scheduling orthodontist appointments during "my time"?
I know these concerns aren't unique to me or our homeschooling experience, and believe me, there are plenty more. But I'm looking forward to posting about how God has removed all of them. Soon.
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