| I am a homeschool mother of 4 boys ranging in ages from 7-17. I've been homeschooling for about 10 years now.
Our homeschool experience was enriched when we lived in Scotland and England as missionaries for over 3 years. We visited many parts of the UK, including Ireland and Northern Ireland and Spain. The kids adjusted very well and learned much about public transport, new currency, new culture, new social structure and more. We really miss the Fish 'n Chips, the McVities Caramel Digestives and walking in the City Centre on Market Day.
My youngest was barely 2 when we moved there and he is still missing the UK. It's all he remembers. He even told his friend in the USA that he was 'English' and that he is 'from England'. He asks on a regular basis when we're going back 'home' to the UK and that he misses flying.
I have used Abeka and Saxon until this year when I switched to Sonlight. It is wonderful for a family of multiple children because it unites us all in the same subject matter. We're all loving it. My kids get all excited when I say that it's 'Creative Writing Time'. Especially when it's free writing day. I never thought I'd see the day that boys got excited about Creative Writing. I use 'Writing from the Heart', by Daniel and Christine Kirk.
One reason I homeschool is because I didn't want to file my kids out the door every morning for someone else to rear and influence in wrong ways. We enjoy each other and would miss each other terribly. We, as parents, have such a huge responsibility to instill character and morals into our children as well as academics.
I was always open to any way to educate and actually put my first child into first grade because I had just had my 3rd son and felt I needed help. It was a rather negative experience. It was a private school and he got into a class with a new teacher....a former 6th grade, accelerated student teacher...who expected 1st graders to act like 6th graders. The parents complained all year and the teacher didn't return the next year. My son was too scared to ask to go to the bathroom and one day when I picked him up he got into the car and started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he had urinated in his seat in the classroom. The teacher made a habit of not recognizing the raised hands and had also intimidated them into being mature. I asked him if the teacher knew that it had happened. He said that the teacher didn't know and that he had just moved his seat around in the chair and his sweats soaked up the urine. Of course, that broke my heart and I was glad when he was back home in an encouraging environment.
I know that this is not the 'normal' way things go in school, but it encouraged me in my homeschooling decision. I love it most days and other days I feel like I'm a total failure who is ruining her children's destinies. Since returning to the states I've been focusing more on the children and shoring up any weak points. You have to admit, the education of your children is a pretty heavy responsibility to carry. I pray that I carry it well with God's help and launch them into their destiny well.
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