Encouragement for Homeschooling Moms aka "The Ringmasters"

This little gem was nestled in my inbox this morning waiting to be cracked open. I don't regret it. It's a wonderful article written by a woman who homeschooled five kids. Encouragement is always meant to be passed on, especially when it goes out to all the exceptional women out there not only raising their kids but educating them as well. My hats off to you my friends...my ringmasters.

Ringmaster
by Sarah Bensen
I'm not the sort who leaps without looking. So I researched home schooling for years before actually making the jump. Then, the August before I became an official home school mom, I confidently drew up a list of goals- academic, social, spiritual - three neat pages carefully handwritten. It's a sweet document, earnest, idealistic...and utterly hilarious. I knew I was about to assume primary responsibility for my children's education. What I emphatically didn't know is that I was about to join a circus.

The homeschool mom is a master juggler. The first year started out innocuously enough, curled on the couch with my kindergartner working slowly through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons The title should have given me pause. One hundred lessons are a lot for a five year old and the last eighty or so are not all that easy.

But we persevered, and once reading was conquered, I threw in spelling, addition, a baby, grammar, (What exactly is a preposition?), science experiments, long division, , another couple of babies, fractions, English composition (I get prepositions now!), the Civil War, music lessons, algebra, and one last baby. Watch the balls fly: logarithms, enthalpy, forty-nine insane comma rules, and Western Civ. Soon I'm studying Grapes of Wrath with the oldest, and, yes, a tattered 100 Easy Lessons with the little one. My head spins with curriculum decisions, lesson plans and record-keeping necessary to produce a meaningful high school transcript. Now a pile of housework, social obligations, dentist appointments, and, oh yeah, I almost forgot - I've got a husband, too! I'm really juggling now. Watch me teach one, two, three, four, five with a nutritious dinner on the table promptly at six.

The homeschool mom is a tight rope pro. Precariously, I balance my crazy schedule - head up, keep moving, never look down. I tend towards permissiveness, but during school hours I must demand excellence. If I'm too rigid, I rob my children of spontaneous learning opportunities that are a huge part of the reason I home school to start with. But neither do I serve their interests by permitting sloppy, incomplete or late schoolwork. I must balance the needs of the younger children with those of the older, taking as much care with phonics and elementary math as I do with British Literature and Drivers' Ed. Finally, I've learned that I must balance my family's needs with my own. Some spectacular emotional tumbles into the net over the years have taught me that lunch with a friend, morning devotions, an hour at the piano, even a relaxing bubble bath help to maintain equilibrium.

The home school mom is an expert lion tamer. I've stared down my large hairy felines. As a rule I enjoy the academic challenges, though, I admit that chemistry and precalculus occasionally seem like a bad idea. Relatives who think the kids should be in school don't much ruffle me. I've had to choose between getting organized and getting eaten. I sport a few puncture wounds, but mostly I'm organized. The fiery-eyed fanged beast that clouds my thinking and weakens my knees is intimidation. What if I inadvertently skip some skill vital to my children's future? What if they blow the SAT? What if they can't handle college? What if years down the road, they regret their weird education? If I don't keep a firm grip on my courage and face this lion square on, the responsibility for my children's education overwhelms me.

Don't let this tragic clown act fool you; secretly I love being a home school mom. The hours are horrendous, the pay stinks but the benefits are exceptional. I get to learn cool stuff every day. I spend a small fortune on fabulous books. My teenagers still want me to read to them out loud. I'm a million times more self-motivated, self-disciplined, and self-confident than I used to be. My kids are a delight to hang out with.

Recently my daughter, a college freshman, told me, "Mom, I love the education you gave me. I know so many things others kids my age don't. And I don't know stuff the other kids do." Intrigued, I asked her to explain. "I haven't watched as much TV. I don't get some of the school slang. I've never been to a dance or joined a clique. But I know way more about history, politics, and religion than my friends at school. You gave me a global perspective. I feel like I can learn anything." Once in a while, a home school mom is a trapeze artist sailing through the big tent, exhilarated by applause from the audience that means the most.

Christianity for the Simple Minded

The other day I was browsing through my favorite websites when I came across yet another rebuttal from N.T. Wright written for John Piper. Apparently, there is a dispute with these two that resembles the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State University. When one writes a book, the other writes a rebuttal. Then another book and another rebuttal. So here I was reading this N.T. Wright article when I realized I needed a dictionary in order to make it through the first paragraph! After reaching for the nearest dictionary (which I had to fight two public school educators for at a teacher's store outlet BTW) I started thumbing through. By the second paragraph, my brain blew up. I actually felt the pressure build up, watched the steam billow forth from my eardrums than POP! it exploded. I backtracked out of the article laid my head in my hands and realized I am way too simple to read complicated stuff like this. So how easy would it be for me to be deceived?
Later James came home from work and I told him about the mess in my head that was once my brain and the cause for said disaster. He explained to me in layman's terms what is going on between Mr. Wright and Mr. Piper and the basic points of the article. I breathed a sigh of relief. Wow, thanks to My God that my husband gets it!
What a man! I'm telling you. And I know many women out there are probably a lot more biblically sophisticated than this fool that writes before you but a special prayer I am sending out to our husbands as our headships and our protectors. I have always been easily swayed so having an anchor as my partner is incredibly crucial.
Remember Eve was the one deceived in the Garden of Eden as were the women of Antioch in Acts 13:50-52 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
it was the prominent women who were stirred first, then the chief men which I am ASSUMING were their husbands. Seriously ladies, we do hold great power as the wives of our husbands. We hold their ear more than their own mothers. As a result of the abusive deception of these women, the city was cursed by the shaking of the dust off of the Apostles feet and the blessings were sent elsewhere. How sad is this? Sigh. What a total segway on the part of this blogger, my apologies but a complete revealing FOR ME that as a simple minded Christian it is imperative that I seek the counsel of my husband in all that I learn as he does with me in order to fully equip ourselves with the armor of God for His glory in all that we do.
Fallen.
Simple.
Sinful fool.
Blowing my brains over N.T. Wright articles.
Just crazy.

Maintenance

Hello,
To the three readers I MIGHT still have, this site is going to be under maintenance until I can figure out how to reorganize it so it is more reader/user efficient. Hopefully, this can all be done fairly quickly.

Thank you so much for your patience!