August 1-7
It has been a crazy ride for us with decided how to Homeschool. To make a long story short, I had the kids all set up to school through K12. I just kept getting this unsettled and uneasy feeling about it. I was browsing around a facebook homeschooling discussion board and came across a poster who talked about how she "Unschools". I was curious and couldn't stop reading a bunch of these lady's posts about how they don't require their children, they inspire. How the younger years are for learning about character building and hard work and academics comes later when they are mentally and emotionally ready and passionate about learning. There are so many other aspects that I loved but those were the ones that caught my attention in the beginning.
I then quickly cancelled our K12 enrollment and placed our intent to Homeschool with the school district. And bought A Thomas Jefferson Education starter books! I also called up my sister in law and got her low down since she's been using the Tjed for years!!!
It was like a light bulb went off in my head. I knew that that was what I was looking for. We have started to implement a few changes in our home and they have been wonderful. Some I can't even describe they are so subtle.
We have noticed many changes in our lives even in this short time!
We have limited our TV watching. I have started to purge unnecessary toys and "junk" in the house. I still have a way long way to go but these initial changes have already been huge. The kids use their imaginations more! We talk as a family and discuss more. We share thoughts and ideas that I never even knew my kids were capable of thinking yet. We are still working on the hard work part but I think chores are always a step by step process.
We have started to utilize our library and it has been a wonderful thing! I can't believe we've lived here for 7 years and I've only taken the kids a couple times. Now we go almost every week and we are all enjoying the new world of books we've discovered!
I think the best change of all is one we should have been doing from the beginning. Our daily scripture study! We have been reading every morning at breakfast time. Now that life seems more simple and laid back we can truly take the time to discuss the scriptures and learn from them.
Boy this was a long post but I just want to be able to look back on this one day and remember just how I felt when we started this journey!
