By Elizabeth L. Hamilton
Perseverance is a character trait – a character trait of ants, rams, and snails?
Did you ever watch an ant carry a large cookie crumb to some far away nest? Maybe you commented on the ant’s heavy load, but did you think about her perseverance?
I don’t know about your kids, but mine just seem to go wild in December. Their energy level just never drops, they are filled with what we in Pennsylvania Dutch country call “Schnick Schnutz”. No idea what it means nor if it is spelled correctly but it is used to communicate “mischief,” or “silliness.”
And that is what we have going on in our family right now.
You know, there are JOYS of homeschooling and there are the “joys” (tongue in cheek) of homeschooling. We have our good days and our bad days. But at the end of each year, or perhaps sometime during the summer, homeschoolers evaluate whether they will do it again next year.
And many of them do. Why? Because the JOYS of homeschooling always outweigh the “joys”.
Did you know that nearly one million members of our military are parents?
This means that there are at least one million children in our country who face the uncertainty that comes with having a mom or dad away at war. And there are countless men and women in our country today who face the challenges of single parenting combined with the worry of whether their loved one will make it home from active duty.
Combine that with those who find themselves transferred often and moving from place to place and it is clear that our military families are constantly sacrificing for our country. Time, certainty, watching their children grow and learn, the arms of their husband or wife . . . these are just a few of the many things they sacrifice on a daily basis.
I couldn’t keep myself from sharing this awesome advice from veteran homeschooler and Bridgeway Homeschool Academy Advisor, Annette Faust.
Do you sometimes feel that there are just not enough hours in the day? Do you roll out of bed at the crack of dawn, fall back into bed long after the entire neighborhood has gone off to sleep and still feel like you need a few more hours to get everything accomplished that you set out to do? Read More.
“Hard Work Beats Talent”
These words of wisdom were delivered to my daughters’ soccer team by their soccer coach this weekend just before they headed out on the field to their championship game.
What about socialization? Don’t homeschoolers miss out on socialization?
I hear that question so many times. Many times it comes from a parent considering homeschooling who has had to field that question over and over again; other times it comes from those who just don’t understand homeschooling at all. Read More
Do you have one of those kids who just does not like to read the directions? He or she would much rather just get down to
the work of math or English, etc. than take the time to read the directions first? If he or she is like most kids, this means that you end up with mistakes that must be fixed, answers that are totally off the wall or academic struggles.
We have fought this battle with one of our kids who just hates to take the time to read the instructions first. Instead, she will set out to do the work that she thinks they want. In fact, there are many occasions where she doesn’t even review the sample problems. Before she knows it she has completed an entire assignment incorrectly or she hits a problem that she cannot do and we discover that once again she forgot to read the instructions . . .
A reader recently asked me how to handle acting as both mother and teacher. How do you wear both hats? How do you switch back and forth between both roles?
My answer: you don’t.
Homeschoolers, please be aware that our freedoms are at risk. I know there are those who disagree with me; in fact, many get very frustrated with me when I speak this way. But here is another case where a homeschooling mother lost her RIGHT to homeschool because a judge decided that the child’s “religious beliefs are a bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews . . .”
