Friday, November 2, 2012

Homeschool Thanks Days #1 and #2

On Facebook, I am writing my personal list of things I am thankful for. On here though I thought I would write what I am thankful for specific to homeschooling. Of course this may sometimes involve my family life because it is a big part of our family life, but there are so many things I am thankful for just in that part of my life that it's worth its own list.

Day #1

Yesterday when I was trying to think of some emotional and lofty thing that I was thankful for to dd to the obligatory post on the first day of November the first thing that popped into my head was the library. I know that sounds strange and I did end up talking about how thankful I am for my husband which of course is absolutely true, but our local library has been essential in our homeschooling journey so far. Beyond the basics of read alouds and readers for my daughter, I have also been able to access materials for almost every topic that I've covered so far this year. Our library also has a small section devoted to homeschool resources that can be taken out for as long as they are needed. Books Plus Kits have also provided hours of education and entertainment. These are essentially large upright suitcases on wheels packed full of books and hands on activities related to a certain subject or concept. So far we have used and enjoyed: Weather, Time and Measurement, Dinosaurs, Family Fun, Early Literacy,and Life Science. Each one comes with so many opportunities to learn and have fun! Our library also offers lots of different children activities. So far this year we haven't been able to participate in many because of scheduling conflicts, but we have made Happy Tales twice and it has been a great experience for our daughter. Happy Tales is an hour long activity ran once a week where trained therapy dogs come to the library and children are able to read to them. This has been of immeasurable worth to my daughter as a new reader and a child with a stutter. She has grown so much with the chance to read to a non judgemental, non correcting ear. I am so thankful for this opportunity and have sang the praises of this program to many. We go to our local library at least once a week and I can't say enough how thankful I am for it!

Day #2

So this brings me to what I am thankful for today, speciafically to do with homeschooling. I am simply thankful for the chance, opportunity, and ability to homeschool. I live in New York state and it is not considered one of the easiest states to homeschool in. I knew this going in, but after reading the requirements I knew that it was very doable and that as long as I did what was required of the state I would be fine. I was working full time when my husband and I decided to homeschool, so there was also the fact that we would be losing an income to contend with. God provides! We have had to cut things out and make some decisions, but it has all been worth it to be able to do waht we feel is best for our daughter's education and our family as a whole. I'm not going to say that I'm the best teacher or that I even feel capable some days because that simply wouldn't be true. I do, however feel blessed to be able to be responsible for what my daughter is learning and to know everything that she is being exposed to. She was in public school for two years and while I can't say that there was any single thing that made we say, "we need to get her out of there!" there were a lot of little things that bothered me along with the nagging conviction from God that my husband and I both had since before our daughter was born to homeschool that convinced us we were making the right decision. So, the fact that we have the choice to educate at home, we felt lead to make the choice, and I feel capable of following through with that choice (with God's strength and guidance) is why I am thankful today :)