What have we been up to since I last blogged?? Well, what haven't we been up to is more the question! Teda finished 1st grade, Dane finished half day kindergarten, all kinds of birthdays I've missed blogging about, we had a fantastic summer filled with weekly trips to Wet N Wild, Sunday dinners with my side of the family, summer movies at Harkins on Fridays with my mom, sisters, and nephew, play dates with my sister Sarah and nephew Dallas, cheer and karate lessons, swimming in several different pools as a family and with friends, enjoying our new home church (Cornerstone) and great friends there, trips to the library (I've finally developed a system, sort of, to keep us from losing books and returning them late--- after paying a hefty fine... "how do you sleep at night?" was the line I was quoting in my head when I relized it was $1 a DAY for each dvd returned late. And here I was letting the kids go nuts on the movies... and yeah, so we learned our lesson the hard way there....anyways), swimming and naps (and jellybeans!) at my grandparents- affectionately referred to as Great Great and Great Grandpa by our kiddos, a FANTASTIC trip to Washington to visit some of our best friends (and kids stayed with family- so it was just Zach and I... need I say more?? AMAZING and much needed time!), Zach and I celebrated 10 years of marriage- yea!, and just enjoying life as a family. It's been a great summer, and it's now come to an end... and it's time for school!
School... what to do, where should we send them? was our big question. Zach is not at Joy this year as a teacher, which was totally our decision and it was one we felt God led us to (more on that later or our journey this summer of Zach searching for a job), so we needed to figure something else out as far as where to send the kids for school.
We'd tossed the idea of homeschooling around several times in the past few years, but each time coming to the conclusion that we aren't going to for one reason or another. And in my heart and to a few close friends, I'd shared that if we ever were lead away from Joy, then I would more strongly consider homsechooling. So here we were, faced with what to do.
We have several friends who do homeschool, and their experience has been awesome. It has ups and downs, of course, but so does everything else! Last month, there was a homeschool convention at the Phoenix Convention Center, and there was a pre-conference that was free, entitled "So, you're considering homeschooling?" A couple friends of ours were going, so we decided to check it out.
I just have to tell you that while Zach and I sat in the convention center, listening to the speakers, it just resonated deep inside our souls! Really! The words that spoke to me, were that this is about discipling your kids, it's about developing their character, don't stress, they will learn all that they need to learn- and more!, not as much wasted time on "busy work", if they understand a math concept, they don't need to do 50 problems of it- have them do 10 and call it good, average time it takes to get daily work done is about 2 1/2 hours, and more about character development.
Character development in our kids and teaching them to have a heart for Christ are biggies for Zach and I. We knew when hearing all this that homeschooling wouldn't "save" them or keep them from tough times or from making wrong choices. As a matter of fact, they said that while we were there.
We aren't afraid of public schools or anything of the sort. It's not about protecting them from the "outside world"...We just love the idea of having them home while they're young so we can help them develop an understanding of life, how to deal with all types of situations as they come up, learn together as a family, have the option to go on vacation when we want rather than when the school has days off, for our kids to learn to work together on a daily basis, to be a team, to glean from one another as they learn new things, to become better encouragers of one another and others, to be able to learn about the things that are interesting to them, to have the time (since they won't be at school 8 hours a day) and for me to have the sanity to have them participate in some kind of sport and some kind of art (music, instrument, drama, etc), for us to be home and enjoy being home, for our kids to learn the responsibilities of taking care of a home, and maybe even grow a garden in our backyard!
So we decided that we would do it. And that was a scary choice for me because it now meant that I'm responsible for our kids' education... yikes! I battle thoughts like, you're not smart enough, who are you kidding? you can't do this, you don't know what you're doing, this isn't going to work, what will people think of you (that's a biggie for me because I tend to be such a people pleaser), this is crazy, you're just "playing" school and they're not really learning anything. But I know these are all lies, and honestly, Satan would want nothing more than for me to believe them and even embrace them as truth. So I totally refuse to believe those things!
It's official! Here's our new "schoolroom"... converted from our family room just off the kitchen. :)
I know my kids better than anyone in this world. I know what makes them tick, what motivates them, what frustrates them, how to reach them- and I mean really reach them, how to encourage them in a way that reaches their heart, I know their fears, their dreams.... and God has given me all that I need to be my kids teacher!
This was us on our first day of school :)
Last year during the school year, Teda complained of a tummy ache almost EVERY single day. I believe it was from stress- for many reasons I'm sure- being away from home from basically 7am to sometimes 5pm when Zach would bring her home with him. Then there was extra homework and reading, spelling tests and other tests to study for, Bible verses to learn, and any extra activities we had planned for the week- Bible study, etc, Zach and I would go to the gym and she'd go to childcare when I went- so that's more time away from home, what to wear, friend troubles- most of which happened on the playground when there wasn't a teacher around to help the girls work through issues, pressure of wanting to be the best in all that she did, to never get a "strike" for misbehaving, to be in her teachers' good graces, and all the racing and me saying over and over throughout the year "hurry up, we're going to be late, hurry up..." Explaining to the kids our plan for the day, and most of it included a LOT of driving time (especially for the little 2- Jett and Deklan lived in the van with me!)...
Anyways, all that to say that Teda does not complain of tummy aches anymore. I know for a fact she is more relaxed now and doesn't feel the pressure she felt before, yet she's still thriving in her studies. She's getting all her schoolwork done in about 2-2 1/2 hours a day, using a curriculum that is accredited, she's right where she's supposed to be- in all sense of the word! I feel that we're all right where we're supposed to be.
Dane and Jett are doing great with it too, and are learning a ton. I'm still figuring out how to best work with each of them, but it's a work in progress. They're getting much more one on one time for learning than they would at a school, so I feel good about that.
The several friends I have who homeschool have gotten together a few weeks back, and we planned our year of holiday parties and field trips- our kids are going to have a blast with all that we have planned. There were 14 of us moms there, and between us all, we have 42 kids! (That includes the babies too... all kids are 9 and under, so our kids have plenty of friends to play with, and we all live just a few miles within one another) We're going to be having a Back To School Kickoff Party, A Harvest Party where the kids can all dress up in their costumes, A Christmas Party, A Valentines Party, a field trip to the symphony, to the science center a few times to dissect a jellyfish, a frog, and to learn about the human body, a few plays, a field trip to the dairy farm, a field trip to the fire station, and I'm sure much more! So there are PLENTY of opportunities for our kids to get out and have an absolute blast. I'm excited about this because I can take Deklan with me to most of these. Last year I missed all Teda's field trips mostly for childcare reasons, and missed going with her. This year we can all experience these things together. I love that idea. Together!!
Now I know that a big concern with my family is how will I be able to last doing this homeschool thing without losing my mind? When will I get a break? They mostly seem to be worried about me and how I'm going to handle all this.
I think that's a fair concern. But to be honest, I have to say that last year with the taking kids to school, picking them up, Deklan to his therapies, the housework, the groceries, the laundry, making of dinners, making Teda's lunch and snacks the night before (seems like no big deal, but I did not enjoy that!), trying to be consistent at the gym, etc.... all that was SOOO stressful. And you know, to be quite honest, this is LESS stressful! Both things have their pros and cons, for sure. I'm just seeing the benefits of homeschooling to be outweighing the cons for our family. I know that it will be different for each family, and who knows- homeschooling may not always be what's best for us. And I'm fully free for that to be the case. But I know for now, this is by far what is best for us.
I also know that it's only the 3rd week of homeschooling, and that we will have great weeks and really rough weeks too... so I'm prepared as I can be for the hard times. At the same time rembering that there are hard things about any choice made. And just trying to find the joy in all of it. Because there's so much to find!
I told Zach last week while we were stretching at the gym one evening, that I couldn't believe how on top of our housework I was! He was so surprised to hear me say that that he started cracking up! Usually I'm saying things like, I'm SO behind, how can I ever get all this done, etc, I can't do this, etc. But here I am, homeschooling our kids, they're content and happy (if you asked them, I think they'd tell you they like it!), I'm getting our housework done and it doesn't feel overwhelming because I don't have SO many other places I HAVE to be, trips to the grocery store with all 4 kids aren't as stressful because I'm usually not rushed, and I can look at them as learning opportunities. For example, Jett do you see any "B" fruits around here? :) The kids amazingly enough, are more well behaved when we're out (probably because I'm not a basket case?), and we even can work a weekly trip to the library in our schedule.
I have a great friend who is teaming up with us, and she teaches a science lesson each week to the kids, and I teach a history lesson to her kids each week. So Thursday afternoons for 1 1/2 hours, I have her 2 kids who are good friends with our kids, and then Friday mornings for 1 1/2 hours, I take Teda, Dane and Jett over to her house. And that's been nice too!
Anyways, I know this has been a LOOOONNNNGGG post, but I know it's been forever since I've posted and lots of changes have been taking place in our family. So there you have it, the Shepherds are officially homsechooling. The Shepherd School Rocks! :)
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