School

I just have to share a couple of triumphs.
My oldest started homeschooling after one year of school. When I started working with him I realized that although he had been very obedient and memorized his math facts, he had no idea what it meant. He didn't even understand what a number really was. We have worked and worked with him for 3 years. Math has been a struggle and he does not like it. I decided to take a chance and bet that if I gave him enough time to mature and get ready for math that one day he would just pick it up and we could fly through. That was a great theory at first, but as each year passed, I became more and more concerned that he was still not ready. We got further and further behind in math, but I stuck to my shaking belief with much fear and prayer.

Well, we just started the fourth grade with him. He started the math book that should have been for second grade. He has been doing great and flying through the chapters (he finished 7 in 3 weeks) and can finally understand how to manipulate the numbers without using his fingers. I have been so proud of him. At dinner last night he asked for 3 extra worksheets for fun and said that math is now his favorite subject. I can not explain the joy this brings to my heart! I am excited to see how the theory of waiting for readiness really does work.

We have also had a readiness triumph with my youngest. Due to many processing and eyesight problems, reading has not been a great subject for him, or writing, either. This year starts 2nd grade for him and he has been producing beautiful, tear-free, handwriting (and asking for cursive lessons!) and has picked up his reading to the point he loves his chapter books. So many of his eye issues have resolved with age and many of his processing problems have been overcome by allowing him to teach himself using the wonderful, wacky brain God gave him.

Years before we started homeschooling a hippy friend of mine gave me a book called Better Late Than Early that I flipped through but totally disagreed with...Fast forward 6 years, when God made it clear that we would be homeschooling, like it or not, I pulled the book back out. This time the word rang true deep in my heart. I had always felt that tradition schools were limited in their ability to minister to the wonderful, quirky, differences that we all are created with. While these differences are essential for life on earth, they are really hard to teach. This books basically says that all humans are different and learn at different times. It suggests waiting until each child is ready to embrace the topic. Well, even though I totally agreed that it was a great theory, I still did not embrace it as my own. But after 6 months of tears, yelling, and a growing dislike for school (by all of us!) I decided that I didn't have any choice. I was beating a dead horse to try and force something they could not comprehend. I could force obedience, but I couldn't force understanding. Plus, our main goal for our schooling is to develop a love for learning, which was not happening. So I let go, I told God that I would lay down my plans and ideals and trust that He would lead me and them in this learning adventure.

I am just so happy to see this new fruit! Thanks for sharing it with me.