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.
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