It's about time!
6 years ago
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Ben Here
This blog is about to get a little more interesting. I, Ben, am going to attempt to get more time to put in my two cents on the world here in the blog. I'm going to start figuring out how to put my pictures from the old BlackBerry and put them in here (getting them onto the computer is easy, getting the pictures onto the blog is a different story). We will see how well this goes.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Top 10 things I love about Homeschooling
1. SLEEPING IN!!! I love that we all get to sleep in. No HAVING to get up and get people out the door for us. It is SO nice. Poor Ben has to get up and out the door, but the rest of us can sleep in to our hearts content.
2. MINIMUM EXPOSURE to bullying (either side), swearing, drugs, sex, gangs, ect. So many of those things that our kids are being exposed to way too early in life.
3. THE "AHA" MOMENTS. Nothing is better than watching your child finally "click" with a concept and "get it!" Watching the light that goes on is a memorable experience.
4. RELIGION. I can talk up religion all I want. My kids learn scripture stories, memorize scriptures, learn primary song and hymns. We use morals from the scriptures all the time in school. I love that I can add it in to my heart's content.
5. PLENTY OF DOWN TIME AND FAMILY TIME. My kids school for less time than public schooled kids because they get one on one attention. They tend to finish quicker and thus have lots of time to be kids. They get to dig in the mud and play in the snow. They get to find bugs for pets and roll around in the leaves. I LOVE the extra downtime they get! We also get lots of family time. When Ben gets home from work the kids don't have to do homework, or music practice, ect. We get our evenings to ourselves to enjoy as we please.
6. LIFE SKILLS. I get to teach life skills to my kids consistently. They do chores, cooking, pet care, child care, ect all as part of a regular school day.
7. FAMILY UNITY. I love watching how close my children are growing to each other. Because they rely on each other for playmates so much of the time they are growing closer as the years go by rather than farther apart. Family is the central unit of God's plan. I hope to build a strong, close-knit one. Homeschooling is helping me accomplish this.
8. THE ABILITY TO THROW ALL PLANS OUT THE WINDOW. I love that I have the freedom to just throw all the plans out the window as needed/wanted. A sick child or mom can mean just snuggling up on the couch and reading that day. A spontaneous field trip or play date can mean rearranging of school to allow the kids a treat. Holidays and Birthdays can mean a free day to simply focus on the joy of the day. A snow storm can mean dropping the days work and heading out to go sledding while everyone else is in school. It's a wonderful freedom to have!
9. PUTTING FUN BACK INTO LEARNING. I love playing learning games with my kids. It's fun to pull out the board games and teach educational skills as well as good sportsmanship and turn taking. I love to pull out of my memory games I remember playing in school, like spelling basketball and being able to play them with the kids. We get to get creative and have fun learning about stuff.
10. ALL THE WONDERFUL FAMILIES I HAVE MET through homeschooling. I have met so many wonderful families!!! I have a whole new set of friends now. I love all my friends that I can talk about homeschooling and bounce ideas off of and get support and help from. So many wonderful people in my community homeschool. I am truly grateful for the oppportunity I've had to meet so many of these families.
Yes, we have our good days and bad days. Yes, some days I wonder WHY I am doing what I'm doing. BUT, I KNOW that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do for MY family at THIS time. I hope you all enjoyed reading about why I enjoy homeschooling, and a little bit of WHY I homeschool.
2. MINIMUM EXPOSURE to bullying (either side), swearing, drugs, sex, gangs, ect. So many of those things that our kids are being exposed to way too early in life.
3. THE "AHA" MOMENTS. Nothing is better than watching your child finally "click" with a concept and "get it!" Watching the light that goes on is a memorable experience.
4. RELIGION. I can talk up religion all I want. My kids learn scripture stories, memorize scriptures, learn primary song and hymns. We use morals from the scriptures all the time in school. I love that I can add it in to my heart's content.
5. PLENTY OF DOWN TIME AND FAMILY TIME. My kids school for less time than public schooled kids because they get one on one attention. They tend to finish quicker and thus have lots of time to be kids. They get to dig in the mud and play in the snow. They get to find bugs for pets and roll around in the leaves. I LOVE the extra downtime they get! We also get lots of family time. When Ben gets home from work the kids don't have to do homework, or music practice, ect. We get our evenings to ourselves to enjoy as we please.
6. LIFE SKILLS. I get to teach life skills to my kids consistently. They do chores, cooking, pet care, child care, ect all as part of a regular school day.
7. FAMILY UNITY. I love watching how close my children are growing to each other. Because they rely on each other for playmates so much of the time they are growing closer as the years go by rather than farther apart. Family is the central unit of God's plan. I hope to build a strong, close-knit one. Homeschooling is helping me accomplish this.
8. THE ABILITY TO THROW ALL PLANS OUT THE WINDOW. I love that I have the freedom to just throw all the plans out the window as needed/wanted. A sick child or mom can mean just snuggling up on the couch and reading that day. A spontaneous field trip or play date can mean rearranging of school to allow the kids a treat. Holidays and Birthdays can mean a free day to simply focus on the joy of the day. A snow storm can mean dropping the days work and heading out to go sledding while everyone else is in school. It's a wonderful freedom to have!
9. PUTTING FUN BACK INTO LEARNING. I love playing learning games with my kids. It's fun to pull out the board games and teach educational skills as well as good sportsmanship and turn taking. I love to pull out of my memory games I remember playing in school, like spelling basketball and being able to play them with the kids. We get to get creative and have fun learning about stuff.
10. ALL THE WONDERFUL FAMILIES I HAVE MET through homeschooling. I have met so many wonderful families!!! I have a whole new set of friends now. I love all my friends that I can talk about homeschooling and bounce ideas off of and get support and help from. So many wonderful people in my community homeschool. I am truly grateful for the oppportunity I've had to meet so many of these families.
Yes, we have our good days and bad days. Yes, some days I wonder WHY I am doing what I'm doing. BUT, I KNOW that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do for MY family at THIS time. I hope you all enjoyed reading about why I enjoy homeschooling, and a little bit of WHY I homeschool.
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