Cieslak's Homeschool-journey
It's all about the fun, the craziness, the things we learn and our thoughts!!!
Today kept us very busy as we were setting up our History timeline as well as continuing our learning about the Solar System. It took a lot of time to get it all done, but we did it and are very happy with the results. We love our little classroom because it is beginning to look more and more like a schoolroom. :)
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Life takes some interesting and serious turns sometimes. We don't just walk on a flat line, but go up and down and all over the place. At times it takes us to places we never thought going, nor did we ever wanted to go in such a direction.
I am definitely talking about that last part because if you would have asked me 1 1/2 years ago if I would ever consider homeschooling, I would have declared you insane and mentally disturbed. ;) I can say that because when I first started thinking about it, I thought that way about myself. Over many months I fought with myself, thinking I am absolutely crazy for even considering it, but I just couldn't get rid of that thought. It kept coming back no matter how much I pushed it away from me, and eventually I gave in. I still couldn't believe I was actually going to do something like that, but I felt very strongly about it and figured if Heavenly Father wanted me to homeschool my kids, it had to be for a reason and He would help me somehow through it. It took also a while before my husband was supportive of it because he too didn't think it to be a good idea at first. I didn't even blame him because I was still unsure myself at that time. As I was researching and preparing for such an psycho adventure, I learned really quickly how much help and resources were out there already. It seemed to be a good time to start since my kids had already learned the most time-consuming and challenging things in public school and so now we can learn and grow together. I spend many hours on the Internet, putting together files of links and information with regards to homeschooling. I met and talked with friends who were homeschooling already, and those friends added me to Facebook homeschool groups which is a huge help since I can ask questions, share my fears and joy and everyone there knows exactly what I am going through. It is scary to do something so drastic, yet when you feel it is the right thing, you just have to listen to that feeling and trust that Heavenly Father is guiding you. When I finally made that decision I didn't think it would be right to start right away, but that I would start homeschooling the new school year. I didn't want to pull my kids out of school in the middle of the semester and so we waited and prepared. During those few months, something happened that made the decision so much easier. My husband got a new job, working as a civilian for the Army and we would move to Germany for a few years. As if the thought of starting homeschooling wasn't crazy enough, now we were moving from one continent to another on top of that. ;) I strongly believe that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. :D Suddenly however, the thought of homeschooling made more sense and I knew this would be a great opportunity to take advantage of this move because it opened teaching to many different possibilities. Europe is amazing for traveling and so our kids can learn about other countries, cultures and history of different things firsthand by experiencing it live. What a great way to make education more fun. And here we are: living in Germany, spending time with family and traveling. We already visited part of Switzerland and drove through Austria and Lichtenstein. Today was our big first day: Homeschooling! It was scary and exciting for me, yet it turned out rather well. We are easing our way into this, but we all had fun learning about the Solar System and the boys used an online math curriculum to continue their math studies. (I am not the biggest fan of that subject, and so it is a good thing, that there are other ways.) ;) Homeschooling will be a journey and adventure for sure, but I trust that this is the right thing to do and I know that I can do anything as long as I rely on the Lord. Day 1 of homeschooling was a success in many ways and I am grateful I get to experience something completely different with my children. |
AuthorI am a sarcastic German-born American citizen who loves life and enjoys writing. I am a mother of two boys and we are now experiencing the freakiest adventure of our lives. Archives
November 2017
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