Why we homeschool...
Why do you homeschool? Not that it's any of my business, but this has been the focus of my day...remembering why my husband and I decided that homeschooling was the best choice for our family.
In, out and in again...our journey has not always been smooth. The first time around (we have homeschooled from 1995 to the present, with an 18 month "break"), I took so much for granted. Two extremely difficult pregnancies and the extended recovery for each, muddled my perception.
Here are the lies I told myself:
"My children are not receiving the education they deserve."
(I put them in public school after having done very little for six months and they all entered at the top of their classes in the middle of the school year.)
"I'm not giving the younger children the focused attention they need."
(My children were not whiny, clingy, maladjusted, psychological basket cases...their mother was! A direct result due to a lack of confidence from the many lies I was telling myself)
"It would be so much easier to put them on the bus in the morning and let someone else do all of this."
(The biggest lie of all...it was so hard...like bottle-feeding versus nursing...time consuming, divisive to the family relationships, in other words, extremely difficult. And my children were sick, physically ill for the 18 month span of their return to public education.)
So how did it happen? Well, I forgot why I was homeschooling...
So here is my "memory jogger." It is the Sacred Heart Academy mission statement, which will be framed and hung in the classroom as a reminder for us all:
Mission Statement for Sacred Heart Academy
"Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
May God grant that we, as parent-educators remember:
We are raising saints as well as scholars.
Holiness, respect and a spirit of obedience are to be cultivated with loving patience.
Home is to be the peaceful harbor, the safe-haven of rest and refreshment, as our family travels the narrow path to sanctity.
With the goal of sanctity before us, by encouraging the intellectual and academic development of our scholars, we will provide the Church with fearless and intelligent “defenders of the Faith.”
There have been challenges during that past 3 years that have, from time to time, shook my confidence, but never my conviction that this is the best possible choice for our family.
I face this year, armed with a set of resolutions, a mission statement, a short list of needed texts and the sure knowledge that the graces given by our dear Lord, will more than equip my husband and I to face up to the challenge of home education.
A mission statement...if you don't have one, write one! You'll be glad you did.
Read more!
