It's because, although I write well, I tend to think very
uncharitable thoughts often, for which I am constantly praying for God to uproot.
I have a very sardonic sense of humour.
And, to be honest, people seem more impressed with my photos than my conversation.
But as an exception I'll share a few thoughts with you, just so I can claim to actually
be some sort of traditional blogger and not just a PHOTO(a)STER. (that's photo poster,
I enjoy inventing words).
I LOVE homeschoolers. I love homeschooling, well the concept anyway, seeing as
I have no structured homeschooling experience.
Which brings me to a point:
All of us who have children homeschool-
Some part time, some full time.
And each of us at some time, homeschooled full time.
See each minute of the day we spend with our children, we are teaching them.
How to see the world. How to approach it, and the people in it.
How to behave, how to react, how to cope and how to survive.
At the moment I am an (almost) full time homeschooler, leave 2 half days on a
Monday and Wednesday.
Here are some facts for ya.
I prefer Annie interacting with homeschooled kids. They tend to be a lot gentler,
a lot more accepting, a lot more willing to share, and I know they aren't going
to come out with a GREAT new word (hint: rhymes with duck.), nor are they going
to give Annabel any major revelations about the facts of life.
Homeschooling mum's aren't judgmental (though I may be from the looks of this blog so far). They don't discriminate against age, or race, or economic status, or
relationship status for that matter. Their kids actually act their age- there's no
15 year olds walking around in a 10 year old's body so to speak.
Although homeschoolers conversations, and interrelations may be extraordinarily
mature for their age- it's a true maturity- not a WORLDLINESS- they don't
necessarily know more about the world than they should. They just have more
perspective and more center in the world they do know.
They certainly don't look cheap in their dress, and they are usually courteous
and respectful towards their peers, their younger counterparts and those older than them (including their parents). And as for the common belief that homeschoolers
don't know how to socialise- they socialise more fluently and with more age diversity than any mainstream schoolers I've met. They are also INCREDIBLY educated,
bright, and motivated to learn, something I wish I had a bit of. Their reading,
comprehension, general knowledge, arithmetic and geography equivalencies are usually
years beyond your mainstreamed peers- so that totally screws up the argument of
kids not being able to learn and focus in the home...
And it's not just the childrens dress, intelligence, social skills, innocence and mannerisms either.
I hate the idea of sending Annabel to school in 3 or so years for six and a half
hours, five days a week- and I don't get to see her! I want to be the one there as she achieves academic milestones. I want to be the one there when she falls off the playground
equipment and needs x-rays (not be called by the school to come pick her up after the fact).
Did I mention I love homeschooling?
Annabel is already benefiting from staying home with me-
She knows the following body parts:
nose fingers
eyes arm
ears hair
mouth belly button
arm hand
foot leg
bottom toes
When you ask her how old she is, she'll reply "Two" verbally and give the peace sign without missing a beat.
According to her Child Health nurse (after viewing my list and hearing Annabel's conversations with me recorded on my iPhone) she has approximately double the
vocabulary that is standard for her development at this age- apparently she's
not meant to be putting sentences together yet- but she goes up to the nurse with
a book yesterday and says, "Read to me. You do it."
She's identifying colours and can sing Twinkle Twinkle with better pitch than I can with all my years of choir. She knows about 6 songs off by heart- comprehensibly.
She can count to ten.
She knows that significant people in her life can have two names,
eg: Daddy/Richie. Mummy/Stephi....and if she can't get our attention will call
us by our christian name.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg in her developmental ability.
And this isn't a brag either.
I'm not trying to tell you what an amazing teacher I am.
How much effort I put in to educating her.
Or how much better a parent I am.
Because I don't actively teach her.
I don't try half as hard as I should to challenge her developmentally.
And I'm not half the parent that my friends with children are,
whether they're at home, school, or daycare.
All I'm saying is this is what she knows simply by having me AROUND.
Accompanying me wherever I go.
Imagine where she'd be at if I actually scheduled a 'teaching' hour into her day.
The homeschooling benefits are endless.
The work necessary to homeschool is too.
In this day it is increasingly more difficult to stay home with your family-
To live on a single income, and be paying off mortgages and everything else.
Society also makes it difficult...the art of homemaking has been shamed into
a corner- and there is a race to see who can sooner make it back into the workforce after childbirth- and how early you can get the baby into childcare.
I need to also add a clause into this blogpost to say that I have beautiful
friends who mainstream school, one's who use our much needed and necessary
childcare centers, one's who have nannies, and one's who don't need to make
these difficult and often heart rending decisions yet. Their children are beautiful to Annabel- they are practising Catholics- and their children tend to keep a little
of the homeschool spirit in them- I don't love homeschool kids playing with Annabel more than playing with yours, it is more to do with Annabel playing with children
of the secular world. At everyday playgroups and playgrounds etc. Catholic women have been amazing to me regardless of whether they educate at home or not. I cannot
say the same about many of the women in the general society- in shops, at parks, in Chadstone....I've had more than my share of curious and judging stares to accompany the snide comments from our OPEN and TOLERANT society.
LASTLY....HAPPY FEAST DAY BEAUTIFUL PADRE PIO! What an incredible Saint. A faithful, courageous, unabashed, humble, and willing servant to God in life,
and a truly INCREDIBLE intercessor for us in death.
"Pray, Hope, & Don't Worry!"
KEEP PRAYING.
LOVE GOD.
LOVE LIFE.
LOVE YOUR KIDS.
LOVE FROM US.
Post Script: Photos have no association with the blog topic- whatever the blog
topic was- it's a bit all over the place. The photos were taken yesterday at
our very close family friends house. It was their mothers'/grandmothers' 90th birthday...she's the closest thing I've known to a grandmother.
No comments:
Post a Comment