A challenging conversation...

Last week I faced my first 'disapproving' conversation as a homeschooling mother (of one), from a family member.

I did not respond well, at all, sad to say. Indeed I did not respond at all, I reacted.

And as a result I have been stewing for a few days, and am learning some really hard lessons.

This homeschooling journey is different, and goes against what is considered normal for many people, but especially the older generation. I think my friends and colleagues, and those people that live in the same town as me can understand it more, because it is all around us here - it is a viable and somewhat common, if not popular educational choice for our children.

But for an older generation...I need to have grace. And I have been challenged: In disagreements, others are entitled to their opinion, which does not need to affect me. That takes some maturity!

Secondly, the challenge is to guard the relationship from fracturing during this period of seeing things differently. I've been reading a book on Bono from U2 recently, and with all his Aid work he comments that you don't always have to see eye to eye to get along. Truth.

Isn't this always the hard part? Responding with love, not reacting with anger, hurt or even spite....

Grace and Love.

Food for thought huh?

Homeschool Helps

King Arthur and I are having a blast having just learnt about Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

What follows is a list of sites we have loved on the the internet - many of which have an interactive element and are just plain fun, even if your kids aren't learning about this stuff.

Hope you find it useful!

http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/preload.htm - this is the Birmingham Museum site - King Arthur enjoyed the printable activities and dressing up the Roman soldier!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ - love the BBC and the input they give to children's education. This site is just great - again, King Arthur loves doing the archaeological dig for Roman Artifacts
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/reticulum/quizes/makeit.htm - we're hoping to make some food from ancient recipes here!

And I got a little carried away on Egypt!

A whole unit of work -

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/ancient_egypt.htm

Love these coloring in pages -

http://www.hellokids.com/r_190/coloring/geography-coloring-pages/egypt-coloring-pages/

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/ancient_egypt_coloring_pages.htm

A great site with basic elementary style info on heiroglyphics

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/writing.htm

A site with a great many links on Ancient Egypt

http://www.neferchichi.com/

Great site with all the heiroglyphics linked to our alphabet with templates

http://www.kidzone.ws/cultures/egypt/hieroglyph.htm

http://www.ngkids.co.uk/cool_stories/1036/hieroglyphics_uncovered

excellent lapbook for slightly older children

http://site.knowledgeboxcentral.com/Products/packages/ancient_egypt_pkg.pdf

A great general sharing site – Homeschol Share, but specifically some stuff on Egypt

http://files.homeschoolshare.com/docs54478/country_shutter/africa/egypt%20shutterfold.pdf

 Egyptian Craft ideas: make a pyramid -

http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/crafts/Pyramid.htm

Mazes - 

http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes/Shape_Mazes/Mummy-Maze.html

http://www.amazeingart.com/img/mazes/egyptian-cat-maze.pdf

Enjoy!

Homeschool - Truth or Dare?

It is 6am on a Saturday morning, and I am not in bed, and I am not on the road, but sitting on my new couch (yipee!) writing.

I am not in bed because some strange voice over the wall woke me up - just weird. And sometimes, when I'm awake, I'm awake. No going back to sleep for me.

I am not on the road as Braveheart desperately wanted a sleep in, and my foot problem has taken a few steps back. Cutting the shoes did nothing. The pain has diminished on the balls of my feet, but those inserts made the rest of the shoe too small which caused the sides of my feet to be in agony! However, I am now the very VERY grateful owner of a pair of Body Geometry cycling shoes, and again, have met an amazing cycling shoe specialist. I am eagerly yet nervously anticipating a ride, as this investment had better work....

These weeks are passing in a blur and it's just no good blogging in my head (thanks M for my nudge :)).

Homeschool. This journey we have embarked on is going to change me more than anything else, I suspect. So far, I have realized that it is time to re-prioritize things. For example, being the task focused, product vs process, achievement orientated person I am, I am realizing that all of that must come second to my relationship with my children. Inverting that order almost seems unnatural to me, but it is the path of life. It is more important to honor, respect and develop a relationship with each of my children than it is for me to get somewhere on time, or be able to tick off all that we have done in a day.

Secondly, my teaching background is not necessarily an advantage. It is TOO easy for me to recreate school at home, and forget that homeschooling is more about the HOME in schooling. So it's just as important for King Arthur to bake with me, or be exposed to the drudgery of chores or the monotony of errands as it is for him to do seat work, etc. I need to relax a lot more, and allow for inspiration to over take me. Being handed a curriculum that is spelled out for me, rather than a framework where I have to make individual lessons also means I can be lazy, and see Sonlight's way of doing it as something to achieve, rather than allow my natural bent to take over. I've just started tutoring again (?!), and find myself able to make those lessons inspiring and creative, whereas King Arthur's are pretty mundane. I'm learning to see his education as something fluid, not set in stone.

I am spread thin. Getting Aragorn and Belle to school is the most stressful part of my day. The round trip takes me about 45 minutes, and then within about 3 hours I do it all again! And there are two things at work here:

• I feel the pressure to get King Arthur's work done when they are at school so that I can enjoy Aragorn and Belle when they return from school
• I have seen that I do not yet posses enough grace to have them at home with me. They've been sick this past week, and trying to do school with them at home is just ... frankly impossible. I know it was the exception and they were sick, and I am in sure in normal circumstances I would find a rhythm, I am sure I would learn, but right now, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God knew what he was doing - he's easing me into it, one child at a time!

OK. So that's me. Now onto King Arthur. He is doing so well, and is somewhat so content ( I say that because there are some grumbles about it being boring, or about having to do the same things every day (red flag to self - change something!!!!! Spice things up a bit!). Not once has he mentioned friends, or missing them, or wanting to be at school. Sure, I've organised a few play dates, and we have co-op, but he is happy. I can see him just soaking up all this time that he has with me.

reading to his brother and sister
(on the OLD couch!!!!!)

doing maths whilst baking
feel-good muffins

Singapore maths blocks

Ancient Egypt - lego pyramids and
Egyptian collars

Measuring weights on a homemade scale

Sonlight is delivering every one of its promises. He loves listening to the stories, and there are certain aspects (the doing parts) he loves more than others. His boredom with some of the phonics and Maths was because it was just too basic for him, so in his reading program I have jumped him ahead 10 weeks. The beauty of homeschooling - a tailor made education! I've yet to figure out exactly where to peg him in Maths without missing any foundational concepts, but again - such freedom. Were he in school, he would be so bored waiting for the rest of the children to catch up.

A friend calls them "A-ha" moments, and I love getting to be alongside him whilst he learns, watching that proverbial light bulb go on. I am enjoying my learning moments too, although they are a lot more challenging than I thought they would be!

Kids are awake - enjoy the weekend all!

Finding our Feet

This week has begun well. Aragorn began his adventure of the year this morning, and seems to be confidently ready for the newness of his school....

his initial pose

coaxing a smile out of him

King Arthur and I are figuring out what works, when to do it all, how to do it, and that overwhelming feeling from last week is firmly in check. I am confident that in a few months I will look back and laugh at this period, but for now, I am allowing myself to figure it out slowly! There are pockets of time I need to use wisely...

I must say that already I can see the power behind homeschooling: the endless time I now have with King Arthur. By that I mean the opportunity I have to speak into his life and to teach him  little nuggets of truth - time I would be hard pressed to find if he wasn't at home with me, (although I have no doubt that these moments can be made with effort if mainstreamed schooling is a choice).

And I will say this - although I found last week somewhat stressful trying to teach and have my little ones around, I also saw how powerful that time can be. There are endless opportunities to teach them to get on with one another, to share, to love, to honor each other. There are endless opportunities where I could see that my heart needed to change, times I saw how supremely selfish I was being, and how much I need Christ....but, on the other hand, it si so peaceful just having one child at home to teach!

Just an interesting observation for me who has one foot on either side of the fence!

Day One Done!

Here I am at the end of the day, with a dawning realization that anyone who homeschools is a saint!

We began with a really special time as a family, talking again to King Arthur about why we believe this is the right road for us to be on, and me sharing some things that God had laid on my heart for him - he responded so well, and again, was just SO eager to get started.

The reality? A day full of challenges. Firstly, trying to meet King Arthur's expectations. I'll need to examine what mine were/are. Secondly, juggling Aragorn and Belle. To you women who do this from scratch - well I take my hat off to you all! I am so glad I made up some play dough yesterday - Belle just got stuck in, and then ahem, I had to remove the play dough from the walls!

just so cute!

Third challenge? Honoring King Arthur's heart - he didn't want anyone else to listen/look/do  'his' homeschooling books (despite me trying to explain they were for us a family!). Aragorn has just been gorgeous and as warmed my heart. All he wanted to do this morning when we started was pass all the books to King Arthur, and then watch him do homeschooling! Lucky for me, I remembered I had an old math activity book at his level, which I pulled out. And all Aragorn's done all day is Maths!

Challenge Number 4 - where does King Arthur fit in exactly? With some things, King Arthur is much more advanced than this program (like with his letter recognition) but will need a slower pace else where (like handwriting!). Despite his enthusiasm of the day, at dinner he said his day had been boring {cringe}, so there's certainly room for improvement and space for us both to grow. O Lord!

I selected just three four things to do today, and made a ladder, each rung representing one of the subjects we can cover. I let him choose the order of what we did today which was interesting too.

We also interspersed the day with fun - a picnic walk mid morning (complete with brain food!), jumping on the trampoline and an afternoon tea party, that Belle hosted for us - loved watching her use a tea pot!

As I sign off, I'm trying to hang on tightly to my 'feelings'of yesterday, and look forward to us all finding our rhythm and pace in this journey....

Tomorrow's the Day!

This is the conversation I overheard as I walked down the passage tonight as the boys were settling in their beds.

King Arthur: I'm so excited. Tomorrow is my special day!
Aragorn: Why? Is it because of homeschooling?
KA: Yes. I can't wait. I'm so excited I'm going to do homeschooling as soon as I wake up.
A: Oh. (clearly a bit puzzled by his brother's enthusiasm)
KA: EC (a friend of his) has already started school, and I've had to wait. But tomorrow's the day! I don't think I can sleep...

And then the conversation degenerated! But I cannot tell you what a gift overhearing that conversation was to me, just to know how much enthusiasm is in my little boy's heart. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have made the right choice for him.

The beginning of this journey has been interesting for me. Last week I was convinced that my children would all start school tomorrow, the 19th of January. But on Monday, I made some calls and realised that Belle only starts on Thursday, and Aragorn next week Monday (24th)! And this after I'd been counting down the days with King Arthur in "sleeps to go".  I knew I could not deny him another few days, it would break him. His natural curiosity is full blown and he is more than ready to actually LEARN something. Madly i had to re-shuffle my expectations of the week, and the way in which I had envisaged starting teaching him.

But true to form, whilst spinning this evening God spoke: I really believe this is the best way forward now, because I see that this staggered start is great - each of them gets a special day to start their journeys this year - and we will pray and bless them on their INDIVIDUAL respective mornings. And Elijah gets to start this journey with his siblings around so that he doesn't notice the huge shift to having no class mates. Each way I look at it, I see His hand and this is perfect.

And I'm choosing to see me not being as prepared as I wanted to as part of his Hand in this as well - I need to relax!!!

Our Box Day

As we near the end of this year and look ahead to prepare for the new seasons in the year to come, I recognize what a privilege it is for us to be able to choose the curriculum we want King Arthur to follow. And I deeply appreciate that choice, and the circumstances that have allowed us to do that.

So it has been a week of great anticipation - we ordered Sonlight, and started tracking the movement of our order. What amazed me was a few things - first, how incredible the customer service was - literally - I had replies within 24 hours from knowledgeable people who could walk me through things step by step, and the boxes arrived before I had even finished plotting it on the map! King Arthur, Aragorn and Belle all dived into the boxes, and their joy and delight was just wonderful. 

The kids had fun with everything -
the boxes, the wrapping, the stuff!
(excuse the expressions, I think they were
singing a song whilst pretending to
be presents!)

I had this profound sense of peace, which I found so wodnerfully reassuring. Obviously with King Arthur being at a nursery school, and all his friends going into grade one, there's a lot of school talk: uniforms, new classes, teachers etc. And over the last few weeks as I've listened to this I have questioned - what is wrong with me that none of this excites me (mainstream school), non of it makes me want it for my children? So this Box Day, this great sense of peace, affirms for me that this, this path less traveled, this is the path for me to take. 

And we are all looking forward to it.

Thank you Lord. For the privilege and the opportunity.

Have you future-proofed your child?

I have had a superb day with close friends who came over for a birthday tea - about 12 ladies, many of whom had their children with them and the house just absorbed them - I am again, need I say it, supremely thankful!


This came to my inbox a few days ago on an e-loop I'm on. I found it a fascninating read - the future will truly be unlike anything we know...read on!

The times they are a changin’” never before has the title of this Bob Dylan classic been more relevant. Baby Boomers, those born between 1945 and 1964 have witnessed some truly amazing shifts in the world. They watched the dawning of the internet age, they saw the amazing star trek gadget called the personal communication device (cell phone) materialise, and computers that used to take up an entire room can now fit into the palm of their hands.

Generation X’ers (those born between 1964 and 1980) can hop on a plane as easily as a bus, play high definition games on their laptop computers against opponents on the other side of the world. They can view news as it happens instantly via satellite transmissions, and those same satellites can get us from A to B via a GPS - a tool previously reserved for the military.They are now employed in jobs that did not even exist in 1964.

According to Nikki Bush, co-author with Dr Graeme Codrington of best-selling parenting book, Future-proof Your Child, it is anticipated that our children will have had 10 – 14 jobs by the age of 38!  “It is a future we can’t even imagine and we are going to have to bring up our children to be incredibly resilient in the face of change, and who love learning, they will quite literally be learning on the job.”

Children are going to have to ramp up their creativity as innovation will be the life-blood of companies in the future.  With much more automation of jobs coming down the line, our children must be able to do that which computers can’t – utilize creativity and imagination.

Bush explains that entire new industries will become mainstream when our children reach the world of work sometime between 2020 and 2030 including robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space travel and nano-technology, to name just a few.

Commenting on the impact of the global economic recession, Bush says that if there is one thing that has been highlighted, it is that a job no longer equals security.  Companies can no longer promise you a job or an income based on your commitment and loyalty, because they can’t guarantee employment. Everything today boils down to economics.

We need a generation of children with a huge entrepreneurial mindset because many of them will be self-employed.  Understand that EMS (Economic and Management Sciences) is now a very important subject in the curriculum.  Support it as essential and not just a “soft subject”.  The global trend is to downsize head offices and to outsource or micro-source, in other words, to buy in the skills or talent required for particular projects for a limited period of time, and not necessarily to employ the person who has them.  Automation is also another trend that will replace people in the workplace.

Bush says, ‘being an entrepreneur demands a very different skill set to being employed precisely because there are no guarantees and because you are the master of your own destiny.  The message for anyone who is still employed is that everyone today is at risk, we all need to be able to reinvent or re-engineer ourselves at will, in order to remain current and employable (as an employee or an external consultant or service provider).  You need to be constantly building your brand wherever you find yourself. ‘

By encouraging your children to build their own unique brands, whether they are employed or self-employed, you will be ensuring that your children learn the lesson that they will be their own teachers.

Because we don’t know for sure exactly what jobs are coming down the line we need to future-proof our children so that they are ready for whatever life throws at them. Bush believes that children will need more than just grades to thrive in the future; they will need X-factors for success:

• Creativity,

• resilience,

• a love of learning,

• relating to others, and

• self-knowledge.

So what does this mean in financial terms? Well there is one more shocking prediction to digest, it is estimated that the chances of a child born in 2000 living to the age of 130 are 50%. This means that if we stick with old paradigms they will retire at 65 and have another 55 years to fund in retirement. So in effect we are trying to educate our children to prepare for their futures 65 years from now. This is inconceivable given the speed at which the world is changing. For the first time in history we have no clue how to prepare for the future because the future has no guidelines.

Risk products like dread disease, medical aids and disability will become even more important as job security dwindles and life expectancy increases. The only solution is to keep your finger on the pulse of change, you are back in the school room with the best of the best and you need to keep up. Those of us who just ‘let life happen’ will be in a fight for survival. 

Now more than ever we need to learn how the world of money works and instill healthy savings habits in our children. Who knows, by the time they reach retirement age (perhaps at age 110) the worlds governments may have got a whole lot smarter and will have developed an economic system that takes care of the aging population in comfort. Who knows? As it stands, we don’t, all we can do is embrace the challenge and enjoy the ride!

By Lindi Dlamini, Executive, Retail Operations for Liberty Life

Dinosaur Debate and Other Things....

King Arthur returned from school yesterday regaling me with tales of dinosaurs and meteors and the beginning of the Earth...and I sighed. He attends a little "Christian" nursery school, but I was just struck....being labelled Christian doesn't mean that the teachers hold a Biblical world view, a correct theology or a sound doctrine at all. School allows them to be exposed to such varied world views. On the upside I get to teach King Arthur how to challenge this, and how to learn to discern. On the downside, its double the amount of work to correct what I believe has been incorrectly taught.

A few months ago I would have been unable to really enter into a debate on the subject. I personally had never been able to explain how dinosaurs fitted into Genesis, or where they were placed in Creation, until I stumbled across this website, which blew my mind. I simply typed in dinosaurs and it gave me an extensive list of articles to read. I downloaded one of the pdf files and read it avidly.

One of the points made that fascinated me was this - did you know the word 'dinosaur' only came into existence in the late 1800's? Until then, dragons were referred to in cultures all over the world. Even the Bible refers to dragons. Dragons were dinosaurs! (now I love that because I am a romantic at heart and love the stories of knights slaying dragons etc). But see the thing is, they didn't all die out before the flood, nor when ice ages were supposed to have occurred, nor when meteorites hit the earth etc. They were around a little over 150 years ago, and that makes sense to me, because I cannot subscribe to the belief that the world is millions of years old. I have loved this site, loved the questions I've been able to search and the answers I'm uncovering. They also have some wonderful magazines that don't seem too bad in terms of subscription costs if you're interested.

I am becoming more convinced that as Chrisitians in the world today we need to have answers, we need to care, and that this is what churches should be teaching  - correct ideologies about who we are, how we got here, and the truths we should know to deflect the flaming arrows sent by the enemy - take down deceptive thinking and hollow philosophies.

This is the Bombadier beetle - it has twin exhaust pipes at its tail,
and fires boiling hot noxious gases at its predators.
 Got me thinking about fire breathing dragons!
A pretty neat God huh?

On other fronts - some bullet points!

• Our potential future landlady is putting a few spanners in the works re rent, and how she expects us to look after her home. She asked me to water some plants - in spite of my recent success in the veggie garden front, I am notoriously well known for killing plants. It's true. I kid you not. And we were desperately keen to repaint the boys room, (and repaint on leaving) but she's VERY reluctant. Don't think she's ever had tenants before. We've already given notice, but now I'm just not sure where home will be!
• Braveheart shot his first live action advert on Monday night, so the kids didn't see him for 36 hours. Aragorn lost the plot. He loves his dad so much, that when our normal routine is disturbed, it unsettles him greatly. Not sure if it's a middle child thing. Got me thinking about all those people who have recently lost their husbands... and my heart just aches for them, and their little people. O God.
• Aragorn stayed home from school today (a little because he had a cough, a lot because he just seems strung out from school. I do this often, give them days off - it affirms them, centers them. Looking forward to the time when they're at home always!), and this is what we did - and I loved the pace and freedom of the morning:

Thanks to Homeschool Creations, a few crafts with lower case 'd' and capital T!

a tea party with his sister - this amused them for over one
 and a half hours. Water and kids, the simplest things!

• And for good measure, these are our alphabet crafts (capital C) from the weekend (Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations amazes me! See my sidebar for links)

I'm trying to let Aragorn be creative...
not demand that his looks anything like mine
- a real challenge for my type A personality!

• This is another great site I've found, from an intellectual Christian man whose books I'm looking forward to using one day - although note he's left the ministry now as it sems to be going off the rails a bit. His books are still sound, and some of his other articles just get my brain churning.

Rightio then! Till another day!

Quick Dinner

Today is a 'park day' for the homeschooling community in our area, and I have offered to organize some games for the kids today - should be relatively amusing considering they range in age from 3 weeks to 10! 

So, as we will probably get home quite late and somewhat hungry, this is one of my standard quick fix meals (that may very well offend some purists, but here goes anyway!). 

This is the original recipe:

1 packet brown onion soup

1 packet cream of mushroom or chicken soup

1 litre box mango juice

6-8 chicken breasts

Sprinkle the soup packets over chicken in a large rectangular  dish, pour juice over and bake till cooked! Serve with rice and salad.

Now I have used all kinds of chicken cuts - pieces (drumsticks and thighs), breasts on the bone (this is the most economical - I then take the chicken off the bone once it's cooled down and then it's like a casserole) and skinless breasts (these cook fast like this).

I prefer the cream of chicken as the rest of my family is adverse to mushrooms, and I once made it with apricot juice which didn't work so well! I also add a chopped onion to begin with, and to make it stretch I use beans and carrots (thinly sliced) covering the casserole dish. Works like a charm and it's never failed! So this dish has already been cooked (it's lunchtime now) and the salad can be made ahead too. Then while the kids are bathing later, I'll cook the rice - and voila - dinner is served!

What are your quick never fail meals?

ps -I've also replaced the juice with water in tough times, and it still works!

Great Links

I've found a new site, an awesome one filled with FREE lapbooks, readers etc. Just thought I'd share it with you!

I have one week left with this rugby book and then I'm home free! Looking forward to really planning my year next year when Elijah comes home - woo hoo!

I'm also in the middle of finishing Belle's room. I spent the weekend sewing - it's true, couldn't actually tell you when I last sewed anything. But it was surprisingly easy once I got started again....will keep you in suspense, but will share soon!

Another titbit!

I wanted to share this great day we had with such a simple idea - a perfect day for holidays or anytime you just need to feel like a kid again!

Tuesday rolled around and I made a point of staying at home to 'regroup' so to speak. I labelled it as a 'Topsy Turvy' Day from the moment Braveheart left for work, and we really got into the swing of things!

So...we had pudding (ice cream and meringues) for breakfast under the table, the boys wore their pyjamas the whole day (I tried and lasted until about 11!), traditional tea time at the usual fruit time (doughnuts replaced a fruit feast as a treat); they had breakfast for lunch (cereal), and lunch for dinner (tuna and sweetcorn burgers). We somehow skipped dinner! And when I gave them their meals I tried to remember to use different containers - like a cup for their doughnut and tea in a bowl etc.

 I tried to suggest bath time mid afternoon, but they were having none of it! and they also really struggled not having their usual tea time mid afternoon (they are comforted greatly by the routine of tea and a biscuit!)...but they loved wearing their day clothes after their bed time!

I think this will become a regular holiday feature in our home...will keep you posted as to how it evolves - ideas welcome!

Titbits from this week

Well, sadly I might be writing posts without photos for a while, as it appears Braveheart's Mac has given up the ghost which is somewhat concerning for me, as all our photos are on it! (Don't ask why in all this time I haven't learnt to back them up, in spite of this happening to my computer a while back, but we'll just smile sweetly and hope those gifted men at data retrieval can work their magic!)

So, for this post, I ask you to use your imagination and picture what I'm going to describe!

On Monday, I ran a small craft morning for a couple of friends and their homeschooled children. I chose the letter 'P' (largely inspired by Jolanthe), and 

• we made a parrot out of the letter 'p': we stuck feathers along the spine of the 'p', and a beak on the curve, complete with an eye.
• I had asked each child to also bring their favourite puzzle, and the kids then all shared their puzzles
• Then we had a break to eat some popcorn (sadly I could not come up with an appropriate juice, but as I write this - pineapple juice would have been brilliant!)
• They then played
• We used coloured paper clips to make a recurring pattern and then hooked them together to make a necklace (even the boys wore these!)
• Lastly we sang a little rhyme to remember the sound the letter makes and then we walked to the nearby playground for good measure!

It went off quite well, although if I'm honest it began with less than stellar behavior from my tribe (mental note to self - don't take them to gym only to return home just when new guests are arriving!). However, that's behind us now - onwards!

p.s. the best phonics DVD I have come across is this Leap Frog one. Braveheart

is a talented animator, and he cannot fault the animation or concepts in this dvd
 - a worthy investment indeed!

Myth #4 - No time!

 “Where would I find the time?” Sure, it requires a sacrifice of time. It means I won't have mornings to myself to do coffee with the girls, or go shopping etc. But I'm trying to look at what I will gain instead of what I will lose. I will be building a long lasting relationship with my children that I believe will last generations. I look forward to incorporating them into the running of the house, teaching them how to be responsible etc. (and just as an aside. It's amazing just who does the actual teaching – in some families, Mom and dad share it equally, in some, granny has specific tasks etc. And in some families, they are able to run their own businesses whilst homeschooling too!)

Myths #2 and #3

Myth #2 goes something like this: “Well, you can homeschool because you have an education degree.” True, but you'd be surprised as to how well planned some of the curriculum packages are out there – they literally spell out what you have to read, when and how.

And myth #3 involves the thinking that homeschooled children will never be able to attend a university (or other tertiary institution)?” You'd be surprised to learn that there is a growing propensity of universities seeking out homeschooled applicants as they have already fostered a love of learning and already know how to do their own research and generally know early on which career path they would like to follow. In fact, a number of Masters students at UCT are currently doing their theses on the great explosion in the homeschooling movement. And there are so many ways to home educate a child through high school you would be surprised.

Myth #1 - the 's' word

The most frequently asked, and the first one in my very own line of attack when I started meeting with real homechooling families, was the 's' word – socialization! These homeschooling moms are wacky, I thought. Their kids are going to grow up to isolated and introverted. Little did I realize how much research has been done on this exact front. Turns out, there are two ways someone is socialized – vertically, ie with their age group, and horizontally ie with people of different ages, older and younger. I find it amusing that at school we have largely accepted that it is right for our children to associate with 34 other children of the same age. But on the homeschooling front, because one has the time to link children with adult experts in the field of their passions, the kids socialize with all kinds of people. Fortunately for me I live in Cape Town's deep south, and in my valley there are many support groups, homeschooling co-ops, and many of the schools are open to homeschooled children being on their sports teams etc.


Another primary aspect that attracted me to look more into it was that with each homeschooling family I met, I was quite literally surprised at how pleasant their children were – I mean it - teenagers sat down and chatted with me - who has met teenagers that actually want to talk to adults??? They were respectful, gentle, and genuinely wanted to interact with me, an adult – I certainly wasn't like that as a teenager! And usually I would take my three in tow, and these children would engage with them, look after them, and allow me to have an in depth conversation with their mother – quite mind boggling really.

Black & White or Grey – Part II

Brennan Manning refers to it as the “Ragamuffin's Gospel” in his book by the same title. It's the grace that says so matter what you are, no matter what you've done, you are loved. And not because of ANYTHING you have done. That's the good news – no pressure people. No perfection needed. That's Christ's job. Just by accepting His love, and BEING you are loved, and accepted.

And now I get to my point. The point that for so long I have lived my life by black and white standards. The church has taught me this (the do's and don'ts, the ways to be approved/accepted), therefore 'this' becomes law. I have come to a place where I see the church is terrified of this gospel of grace – because it means they could possibly lose control of their congregations. This is the crunch - the only thing I should be doing is following Christ with my whole heart and allow him to lead me into what is right for me. Ruthless trust people. RUTHLESS TRUST. It's him and us. All the way to the grave and beyond. Just him and me.

Let me give you some examples, of black and white issues I still believe, and areas where there are shades of grey.

I believe there are shades of grey when it comes to schooling. I don't think mainstream school is for everyone, and neither to I believe homeschooling is right for everyone. I do believe that we should seek God as to what is right for each of our children. I'm choosing to start homeschooling one of mine, but I'm not yet sure about the other two. Right? Wrong? I'm completely at peace with it because I have saught (goodness what is the past tense of seek?)...and I know I can stand before God with a clear conscience.

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the other ones

1. It's more about home than school (homeschooling). How is it that we have come to a place where we accept that our children, over time, identity more and more with their peer group than with their families? How is it that we accept that other adults get to influence our children with their thoughts and worldviews because they spend more time with them in their waking hours. I want my children near me in their formative years, where I can influence (yes I did say that) and shelter them (yes, I even said that). There's enough time for them to face the world. 
2. I want a better quality of life – for my children and for myself if I'm honest. Watching my friends rushing from here to there all day every day seems like school is a junior rat race, which quite frankly, if I'm given the choice I simply don't want to be a part of it! Their kids are shattered by the end of a day, and not always pleasant to be around because they are just exhausted. I don't want someone else to get the best part of my kids day, and to have to be content with the dregs.
3. I want my kids to have a golden childhood and to enjoy their youth. I want to be able to do 'school' on rainy wet days and enjoy the days with sunshine. I remember having a golden childhood because I was allowed to be a child... before I became a teenager. In today's world, children are forced out of innocent childhood far too early for my liking, (because of society, but enhanced by school) and thrust into adulthood earlier and earlier. That time will come – but I will guard their chidhood carefully.
4. I believe I can give them a better, individually tailored education – my children can steam ahead when they want to, and I can go painstakingly slow whenever they need to. I can catch their passions early and fan them into flame.
5. I want to inspire my children with a lifelong love of learning and discovery, I want to be there for their Euraka! Moments.

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the general school one

It's hard to actually know where to start.

• Hours of school (and here I refer directly to Junior school) - for a Grade 1 to be at school from 8am to 2 pm is lunacy – if you are telling me that you need all that time to instruct my children, then explain to me why you still need to send them home with homework every day? To reinforce a concept? Really? That can't be done in class? (or is the real issue the size of the classes hampers this individual attention?) And then why is time given to them so they can watch TV? Or do 'busy work' whilst a teacher marks other things/prepares something?

• I have a real issue with homework – Children are being sent home with increasing amounts of homework earlier and earlier. Why is there not enough time during class to teach this all? The endless projects, reading, etc. Either something is fundamentally wrong with teaching styles/methods, or there is too much required in the syllabus to cram into a short time. Homework is necessary evil because of the large sizes of classes in school today. This leads to incredible pressure on very young children. Something has to give...and I'm not willing to let it be my child's life.

• Class size: How can a teacher adequately monitor the progress of 35 children in a class? And here I speak from personal experience. Even at a high school level I could not help those that were falling behind...I simply had to let them go or refer them to remedial teachers for help. I focused on the core group of students, and tended to always aim to extend them and my students with higher capabilities. At junior school with fundamental building blocks of learning taking place all the time, this is even more critical.

• Different learning styles can seldom be accounted for, not only in the way in which learning takes place, but also with regard to the difference between boys and girls. (However a school in our local community does account for this, and very well I might add.)

• Starting ages of schools – without taking into regard the different developmental paces, schools, decided by the government, can start anything from 4-7 years across the globe. Who said that this was the best age to start teaching them? Has anyone ever queried the connection between the growing problems with literacy these days and the early age we're forcing their brains to make connections? And why is it that boys struggle so much – did anyone ever stop to think perhaps it would be better to start them later than earlier?

• I have a problem with the stripping of innocence - how children in today's world have little or no time to be children, to play and have fun – indeed, grade 4 (age 10) children are taught about anal sex...because the state says it is a good idea. How can it possible help a child so young to know such details? I don't want the innocence of my children shattered before they need to know just because some politician has adopted some liberal world view. I'm simply not ready to handing over my child's education to the State and have them taught only what the state tells me is relevant. (Just a teeny nursery school example – we're very strict with what we allow our children to watch, and how much time they can spend in front of the TV. So imagine my surprise when King Arthur came home from school telling me all the ins and outs of the Ben 10 – a show he had only watched once with us. He could name all the aliens etc – and purely from what his friends had told him in the playground – imagine what else he could learn in a few years time!)

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the system one

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

Abraham Lincoln

How powerful is that thought? What are the goals of the state designed curriculum? I'm really thankful that we do live in Africa, and that the South African education system is far better than the American, (and by the way the patriot in me wants to acknowledge that Zimbabwe ranks higher than SA being linked to CIE), but still!

Kelly Crawford, quoting Johan Wesley: 

“Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together.”

I can’t help but wonder if people called Wesley divisive or extremist for making the aforementioned comments. Perhaps not. Perhaps they simply said, “That may be right for you, but it’s not what the Lord told us to do.”

Here's another thought provoking one from Van Til:

“Non-Christian education puts the child in a vacuum…. The result is that child dies. Christian education alone really nurtures personality because it alone gives the child air and food…. Modern educational philosophy gruesomely insults our God and our Christ. How, then, do you expect to build anything positively Christian or theistic upon a foundation which is the negation of Christianity and theism?…. No teaching of any sort is possible except in Christian schools.                                      

“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”

G. K. Chesterton

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

                                                                          Ronald Reagan

And let me once again state, that I know of two incredibly powerful families who function as God designed families to function, even though they send their children to a public school. They are shining beacons of light in an otherwise dark environment. It can be done....if you know that God has called and therefore equipped you to it.