This is probably a good starting place, yes? Okay. About me. Hmmmmmm. Well, I’ve been married to the best man on the planet for almost 12 years. I’ve been a parent for just over 9 of those years. We have two sets of twin boys. Yes, you read that right. The older boys are 9 and the younger boys are 4. In order to protect the innocent (from blackmail when they’re older and easily embarrassed by stories their ol’ mom tells about them) I’ve come up with an alias for each boy. For the record, they each were very pleased by the new handle.
So, the 9yos are hereby known as The Mercenary and TechnoBoy. The 4yos are The Manager and Captain Earthquake. Future posts will certainly bear out the validity of the names.
Oh, whoops. I was telling about me. Well, there’s another fact for you….I’m easily distracted.
I’ve been home schooling for 4 years now. The older boys are just finishing the 3rd grade. The younger ones are working on their pre-school lessons. I am giving the older ones the summer off, but plan to continue working with the younger ones (it’s a very low-intensity plan) year round for a while yet. It’s easy for new students to lose what they’ve learned over long breaks, so I’m not planning any. We play games, read stories, you know. All the normal stuff. I just keep trying to sneak in learning without them noticing.
In addition to the parenting theme, one of the big topics on this blog is going to be the home schooling, specifically because it hasn’t been easy. I haven’t really run across any other home schooling mom who was willing to say that they struggle with it.
So this is me, saying my name is Amy and I have often struggled with home schooling. And there have been times when I’ve considered quitting. Problem is, I’m just too stubborn to actually do it. I’ve looked online for other moms saying it was hard, and either find platitudes or nothing. More on that in upcoming posts, I promise.
What else do we need to know about me? Well, I love to play with fabric and my sewing machine. I do the books for our church and for another local non-profit organization. I sing with the church praise team, and well enough to not frighten people too much. I enjoy organizing things, especially when I gt the chance to take something that’s totally trashed and make it into a helpful usable space. I have all sorts of interesting health conditions that we’ll talk about over time. I love to make people laugh with my writing.
Well, that’s the nutshell version.
Earnest Parenting: advice for parents of developing children.
I can almost guarantee you that when I homeschool our kids, Lord willing, I will struggle every day with it. And I know a homeschooling mom, and she struggles with it, too. You are definitely not alone.
🙂 Perhaps I should have said that no one online admits to struggling with home schooling. I know of a few moms who’ve struggled and eventually quit, including my sister (and she was the one who got me to consider home schooling in the first place. I was a public school teacher).
When I ask about it in person, one in maybe ten women will say it’s hard. The rest just give you a blank look or don’t answer; which can ummmm, impact your self-esteem. If you search for sites that mention home schooling and frustration or struggling or quitting, there’s precious little on the topic. My theory is that people who have difficulty either quit or suffer in silence. With all the legal battles that went on to establish home schooling and the continuing negative attitudes from mainstream media and public school organizations I can see where folks are reluctant to say anything to make it look bad. I’d like to make this a place where frustrated home schoolers can come and get support, ideas, and encouragement to keep going.
I really do believe we’ll get to a point of enjoying our days on a regular basis. It’s gotten better every year as the boys have matured and I’ve figured out what’s worked.
Shoot, now I’m all excited for you to have kids and get started! Lol.
What I’ve found is interesting is, we have a relative who has homeschooled her kids for years. She always talks very highly of it and how wonderful it is … but whenever I talk to the kids, they ALWAYS say they hate, it’s a waste of time, they never learn anything, etc.
Kinda makes me wonder …