My Journey to The Sweet Spot

     Last year was my first year as a homeschooling mom. My kids had been in public school (my oldest from 1st to 5th grade) and we had a great public school experience. Wonderful teachers, fabulous school friends. My son would be heading to middle school and my daughter into 3rd grade. That year I had been on the PTA board and spent lots of time at their school, but very little time actually with my kids. Our evenings were a tangle of homework and have-tos. And I felt like we were all getting the worst scraps of each other left from busy and over-scheduled days. We pondered over middle school and what would be best for my son. Our house was on the market and were not sure which school district we would land in. My son was accepted at a nearby charter school and we were excited. And then, I just wasn't. I had no peace about it. My intuition said "Nope". At first I thought it was just me being a worrier, my own head. I prayed for wisdom. 
      On awards day, my son received a cumulative award for maintaining an A average for all of elementary school. As we filed into the cafeteria and took our seats, the principal of the charter middle school where my son was accepted sat down next to us. His son was also at our school. There were several kids receiving the same award as my son. When they stood, the charter school principal leaned over to me and said "Well, tell your son he better enjoy this award, because next year is going to be a different ballgame." I said with a smile, "Ha, yes I am sure it will be more rigorous." Then he began to talk about the homework, the competition, the stress and expectations that next year would bring. And I thought, this is no coincidence. There is a reason for this encounter. And I prayed some more. I thought about my son, his personality and how he internalized stress. I thought about our move and having 2 kids at 2 new schools. I thought about how my daughter worships her brother and how hard it would be for her to start a new school in a new place and not have him there. 
     Then suddenly, a thought: "You could homeschool Aimee, then it would not matter where you moved. YOU could decide what matters in your childrens' educations. You could decide what is important. You know them better than anyone apart from God and you can do this."
      And just like that, there was a HUGE pivot in our family. And we are such the better for it. So what does Our homeschool look like? For us it looks like books and chaos most days. Like messes, laughter and tears, like walks in the afternoon and trampoline breaks. Like me in my sweatpants, sometimes all day. It looks like not comparing our goals to others. It often looks like not caring what others think. It looks like surrender and drawing near. And did I say messes?? If I learned one thing last year in my pioneer year as a homeschool mom it was this:

 All that I set out to do in our homeschool flows from this hope: 

That we were made in the image of God.  

That our family was knit together for a purpose.  

That He has created an incredible world for us to learn about with enthusiasm and in grace for as long as He allows.  

I'd love to hear about your journey to homeschooling! 

Aimee