Joni writes:
I am a 25 year old wife, mother of a soon to be 2 year old tornado! Hubby and I have seriously been considering homeschooling before and ESPECIALLY after recent events… I have nervous/terrifed/happy/awesome feelings about it. I want my son to be able to have to ‘joys’ of school that I had, but the freedom of a flexible schedule and being able to move forward sooner than the norm. I love to teach him, but I am terrified that I won’t be able to handle it once he gets to the harder years (grades 9 and up?). I have so many mixed emotions, but I am pulled towards home-schooling.
From Heidi:
I gotta admit: when we began our journey of homeschooling, the very “idea” of homeschooling through high school terrified me, too. After all, it’s a big undertaking!
But here’s the thing. You’ve got nothing.but.time right now. Part of the beauty of being where you are in your parenting is that you don’t have to worry about high school. Or Jr. High. Or even 2nd grade. 🙂 You get to love on your little Tornado right now.
When the time comes, you will have what you need. I remember when our oldest was entering Jr. High. I panicked. I mean it. I was stressing over everything from math to grammar. Fortunately, a mom who had been where I was took the time to talk me down out of my tree.
Her advice? “Do the next thing.” Don’t let fear of the future keep you from enjoying the present. All you need to do is the next thing. So if you are teaching letters and sounds, the next thing is blending them. If you’re teaching your toddler colors, then the next thing is identifying objects by their color and so on.
The point is, enjoy where you are. Don’t worry. And by the way, homeschooling through high school was one of the best adventures we went on with our kids. It was worth it. When the times comes, you will be ready—and you’ll have what you need. Enjoy that toddler!
Just another thought, homeschooling doesn’t have to be forever. Like you said, don’t let “the future” ruin what you can do right now. I believe everyday spend at home teaching my children is beneficial to them, but if tomorrow something happened to my husband and I needed to head back to the workplace, God would take care of my kids in school too. I had the same feeling about nursing my kids. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I knew that everyday that I was able to was best for them, be it a day, a week, a month, or a full year (which I did!). So if at some point I need to enroll my children in school, I won’t feel badly, I’ll just be thankful for how far we were able to go.
You’re right, Stephanie. It’s about obedience. As long as we are walking in obedience, God gives the strength to go where He guides.