Tittle Tales

From the first day we watch our babies roll over, sit up, crawl, and then walk and go to full-on running, each day is filled with learning and new discoveries. It amazes us to see how fast our children learn and how exciting it is for them to accomplish these big hurdles in life. I could not help but think of all the wonderful children in this community starting school this week, maybe some for the first time. How nervous but excited at the same time they must be.
I am excited to see and hear of all the great and fun things the schools are going to be doing this year. I know a few children in the community and am excited to see them grow and excel in the things they will be taught by the wonderful teachers in the schools here in Water Valley.
I begin teaching my children after Labor Day each year, this way I am able to still somewhat keep the same calendar holidays as the public school system. In keeping in rhythm with the public school system’s calendar, my kids are able to also take off the same days from school as their friends who attend the public school.
I order my curriculum every February so I am able to read and plan as necessary to be ready to begin in September. This year should be fun with my days filled with teaching 5th grade to 3rd grade and then a little preschool on the side. This year will also entail science experiments in Zoology 2, Botany 2, several book reports and a nucleus made of candy. There is also the possibly of a few field trips with the co-op.
My husband and I decided to home school about nine years ago. As nervous as we were, we knew this was what we needed to do with our children. I love home schooling, granted we certainly have our very hard days.         But even so, each day is filled with learning from every source we have. It’s a decision we made based on many things we believe and have experienced in our lifetime.
One of the main reasons, we wanted our children to not just learn, but love to learn. Through the years teaching my children, through trial and error, I have learned they all learn very differently, so I had to teach myself to teach differently to each of them. You see, I am still learning also.
Even through teaching a self-learned, tactile child, a struggling reader with visual processing difficulties to a preschooler who cannot sit still for less than five minutes, I can say it is truly a blessing to be able to have the chance to teach them. I am honored to be able to learn through this unique opportunity.
I have always believed that home schooling is not for every family and I have several friends and family who home school and several who do not. I love learning techniques and having support from both, because they both have so much to offer and I know I still have so much to learn.
So whatever your choice in educating your children is, I hope you have a prosperous, fun filled and adventurous school year filled with memories of growth in loving to learn.