First day of pre-school at home in September 2016
It has been about a year since we started homeschooling Aaron. My initial reasons for wanting to do it when he was still a little toddler have now disappeared. That is for another time, and another blog post in itself. Let's just say it was rooted in a lot of the wrong reasons. But thankfully, a dear friend and sister helped me work through those reasons, and I was able to give it to God.
Anyway, last year, when we loosely started doing it for pre-school because we had to pull him out of the current school he was attending when I needed to take my maternity leave sooner than expected for health reasons. Financially, we decided not to enroll him in one closer to where we lived and gave homeschooling a shot.
He absolutely LOVED it and totally THRIVED.
When we knew Kindergarten was approaching, Alan and I had to decide what we were going to do. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to continue on with Homeschooling.
"The grass is only greener where God wants you."
The flexibility was awesome. Not having to be somewhere at a certain time and beat the traffic was SUPER convenient. It also helped my health issues since the commutes often flared different ones up. Being able to teach and learn in our pajamas when we wanted was pretty cool. And we were able to teach whatever style we wanted. We could nurture his strengths, while giving him one on one time with his weaknesses. We were able to spend time together. Aaron loved it! It was a better fit for us in our current season, and Aaron was thriving in it.
But don, don, donnnn....then came baby girl. Having a newborn plus homeschooling was TOUGH. To be honest, I barely had time to do much each day, and was glad the summer was soon approaching. (Yes, homeschoolers sometimes follow the regular calendar year too if they want!) I told myself I should try to see how homeschooling would be like with Annabelle, and let me tell you, it was not cute.
It was either non-existent, OR I would constantly be frustrated or nagging at Aaron. I felt HORRIBLE (and still do)! Since baby girl wasn't sleeping well, it also trickled into EVERYTHING else, not just with Aaron. So I would often get second thoughts: Maybe we should enroll him. Maybe it'll be better for him. Maybe it'll be better for ME.
There it was. I was trying to find what worked FOR ME versus asking GOD what it is He wanted FROM me and OF me. The truth is, enrolling him in a public school MAY take away some of the things I was struggling with, but it comes with its own set of new challenges as well.
We often think the grass is greener on the other side...whether it's our marriages/relationships, our jobs, our kids, our housing situation, and in this case, our schooling situation. But friends, the grass is only greener wherever it is God wants you. Wherever that may be, take the time to plant and water there. It won't always be easy, and you may continue to question whether you can do it or should do it, but being where He wants you to be will be the only thing that gives you true peace and satisfaction in the long run, even with the pain, struggles and all.
As for Aaron's schooling situation now, we are constantly asking God what He wants us to do each day, asking for grace and giving that grace to ourselves when we fail, and continuing to find the groove that works for us. He is loving the programs he is in (feel free to email me if you have questions!) and we can't wait to see how God will use them to bring us closer together as a family, closer to our communities, but more importantly, closer to Him.
And just to clarify, this is NOT a strictly pro-homeschooling post; I know it's not for everyone. It's also not an anti-public school post or belief. I attended public school for my whole K-12 and my undergraduate, so I am a big supporter of it. What I advocate for is doing what is best for YOUR family and what it is GOD wants you to do. Every year, our hope and plan is to take it up with Him what it is He wants for our kids.
"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." -Proverbs 16:9
Lots of Love,
Phoebe Grace
PS- If you are wondering if you should homeschool, you can take this short quiz. After thinking, discussing and praying about it, if you decide to move forward, you can also see what style you are closest to here.
PPS - Since many of you have asked me where we got some of our materials from when we started his Pre-K years, we got the Tagalog poster, flashcards, and cd here. We also got a book that has both English and Tagalog words in ABC's here. (Thanks to my friend Nic for that one!) We got his classroom calendar kit here, daily schedule here, and other products, such as Spanish posters from their store front as well. The Dollar Tree was another great resource of workbooks, especially in the beginning of the school year!
This is what our school area looked like in September 2016. It has since evolved and has WAY more stuff than shown above, and sometimes not in a good way...lol