Why do I do what I do...

My oldest daughter just turned 5 and even though she is still one year away from entering Kindergarten, I have started homeschooling her this year and my 3 year old son when he is up for it. Why am I homeschooling? Is it because I don't believe in the public school system? NO! I am actually a teacher, I have my Bachelors in education with a double major in ECC & Elementary. I know there are many great public schools out there, I know there are many GREAT teachers out there and I know because God is watching over my children that they would do just fine in the public schools. I am homeschooling because God told me to. Will I homeschool each year? I don't know. I really feel like we are to look at our options each year and see what the best plan is for our kids. Each child is different and each child learns differently. I want my children to succeed and for that to happen I know that I need to be open to what the Lord is saying to me about my kids and where they are to go to school and that may change each year. So for this year, the Lord has told me to start to homeschool my kids, so that is what I am doing. 

Now that I knew the Lord had called me to homeschool I also needed Him to tell me how to homeschool. Yes, I am a teacher and I should know what I am doing, right? WRONG!!! I tried to take what I had learned in college and homeschool my kids and it was downright stressing me out! I felt like I was not getting anywhere with them and all of us ended up so frustrated. But I knew God had called me to this, so now what...Well during one of my morning quiet times I went before the Lord and said I don't know what to do, this is not working for me or my kids. The Lord spoke to me and said "School can be fun, it doesn't need to be all work. Make it enjoyable, but also a learning experience. Keep it simple! Don't stress! Homeschooling doesn't have to look like school. Make it your own. Don't look to others for approval only mine. Do what I have called you to." 

Let me tell you after hearing this it was like a huge weight had been lifted off. Instead of trying to write my own curriculum (like they made us do in college) I ordered up some books, printed off some papers from the internet and made some simple, achievable goals. Let me tell you, I am not stressing out or getting frustrated and even better my kids seem to be really enjoying it and learning something. 

Once the Lord has called us to something He will provide us with the tools to do it. Why is it we seem to hear the Lord's calling and then take off running thinking we can do it on our own? Since He has called us to it, don't you think we are going to need His help! I wish I would just learn to say "Ok Lord, you want me to do this, you need to help me"? Life would be so much easier, instead of trying it on our own first. Sometimes we just feel that we know what we are doing, we have the "training" or the task is simple. But I have learned no matter how much training how simple the task seems it will be so much easier if we ask God to equip us to do the work He has called us to. We are not designed to walk through life alone; we need Him in every aspect of life!!!

Now my little bragging moment :)

I started school mid-September with my 5 year old daughter, Addison and my 3 year old son, Lucas. We don't do school every day and we only do it for about 60-90 minutes. My first goal for my son was to recognize all the letters in the alphabet, so I made him some flash cards. The first time we did the flash cards he could recognize 8 letters and now it is mid-October and he now recognizes 24 letters. Addison has been working on the sounds of the letters and putting them together. About 2 weeks ago she read her first word CAT! I was so excited and it is such a wonderful feeling when they get it and understand what you have been teaching them. 

So this is why I homeschool my 2 oldest children