Barn Full Of Blessings: A New School Year

It's upon us once again...a brand new school year. We normally hold off until after Labor Day to start our lessons back up, but the girls have been begging me to start back, so we did, a whole 3 weeks early. We are heading into our 10th year homeschooling and our second year without Tess, whom finished her home education early.

This year we're breaking away from our normal course of study and delving into a year long unit study about the pioneers, based on The Little House On The Prairie series. Of course we are sticking with our normal math, reading, and phonics curriculum so we stay on track in the basics. The girls are excited to delve into their pioneer studies, living out many of the things we will be reading about. Sarah is sticking with her normal course of study, but is enjoying joining in with us in some of our daily activities and special projects.

We love homeschooling our girls and all the blessings God rains down on our family through it. We begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer, and scripture, along with a short devotion that teaches character traits pleasing to God. It's my favorite time of each day, having my daughters gathered around the table, learning more about God's love and grace. Then we proceed with our lessons. As I read our daily chapters from the Little House books, the girls work on their handwriting and spelling assignments. It works beautifully. We proceed with out lessons and activities pertaining to our unit study then take a short break. After getting the wiggles worked out while I make a snack, we return to our lessons. I've learned that by having a snack available for the girls to munch on while we work on some of our tougher subjects like math and reading/phonics, it helps to keep them more willing to stay on task. Since Gracie and Hannah are in different levels in these subjects, I find it works best to have one working on math while I work on reading with the other. Believe it or not, our school days usually run smoothly.

I can honestly say I was created to be a homeschooling mom and our family was created for the lifestyle it affords. I just can't imagine sending my girls off each day for other people to teach and mold their character. We feel God called our family home so that we can truly raise our children for His Kingdom Glory. Yes, academics are important, but not nearly as important as our daughters hearts and their eternal lives. Is this lifestyle right for everyone? Nope; and I don't think poorly of the educational choices others make for their families - each family is unique and therefore what's right for each is going to be unique as well. Do all homeschool families educate at home for the same deeply held faith convictions we hold? No; again, everyone has their own reasons for the choices they make. I just hope that we can continue to enjoy the freedom in this great country to make the best decisions for our families, especially when those decisions go against the "mainstream norm".