Rollin' Along

I just read my friend Jane-Holly's blog about homeschooling, and was inspired to mirror it with some thoughts of my own.

Snapper and I have completed Day 3 of homeschooling. After 3 short days of experience and observation, I feel compelled to preach a small sermon on the benefits of home education. By now you've figured out that I like lists...might even be a compulsive list maker. Hee hee! So my little sermon will come in the form of a Top 5 list.

Top Five Benefits of Homeschooling (Why I think this homeschooling thing may become a permanent fixture for our family)

5. When Matt and I were teachers, we spent much of our day in transitions. It frequently took 10 minutes to transition from one subject to another, 10 minutes to get everyone lined up and down for recess, P.E., computer, lunch, etc. Then another 10 minutes to get back up to class and settled in. There were bathroom breaks. And time spent disciplining children. Wasted moments, and lots of them. There is very little time wasted at home. Because of this, we are finished with school before noon, leaving Snapper the whole afternoon in which to just be a kid!

4. We have complete flexibility with our school schedule. Last night I didn't sleep well, so we slept in a bit this morning and started school a little bit later in the day. We are hoping to travel to California some time in the next 3-6 months. Because we're flexible, we can go whenever we want.

3. We have unlimited opportunity for creativity in our teaching. If Snapper is especially fascinated with a subject, we can research it thoroughly, and create learning activities that will be customized to her unique learning style.

2. We can move at Snapper's pace. We don't have to do every problem on every worksheet, ot even every worksheet! If she has a solid understanding, we can move on and not have to wait for the rest of the class. If she's struggling with an area, we will camp on it until she get it.

1. We can (and do) run everything we teach Snapper through the filter of God's Word. That doesn't mean we skip over contoversial issues. On the contrary, we boldly discuss those issues and teach Whitney to apply God's truth to each situation she encounters.

Our first three days have been wonderful. Yesterday Snapper decided that she loves Math! She joyfully completed a whole week's worth of math lessons because she wanted to! And we spent 2 hours on the couch reading together. Even 2 hours was not enough for her. We will be back on the couch reading again this afternoon. She draws and crochets while I read to her. I am getting to recreate for Snapper one of my most cherished memories of my own childhood. Last night at the dinner table, Snapperdeclared to me, "Mommy, I love being homschooled!"

Music to this Mommy's ears!