Removing The Teacher Hat.

Yesterday, I shut my books and removed my teacher hat. I am finished with home schooling. Twenty Five years and it was all over in a blink of an eye. Peter kept asking, " Mom, what are you going to do?" I think it was harder on him. It was rather anti-climatic. Just the sound of the closing of a book. When I started, I only did it for one year. I never meant to like it nor did I expect for it to change me. Some things I learned looking back were simple.

1. Teach to the students strengths. A boy is never going to sit very long. So do a little school and then let them climb trees, and run and make bows and arrows and build adobe bricks and make movies and play with Legos.

2. Teaching at home means, the house is never going to be perfect, laundry is going to pile up and next to buying books, the food bill just keeps growing because kids at home eat three meals a day with snacks. All day.

3. Never compare yourself to others. Teaching at home is going to be what fits your style and your personality. To compare yourself is like shooting yourself in the foot. What works for someone who had two kids isn't going to work if you have six. If you have boys and your friend has girls you will go crazy because girls like to sit and boys like to climb. Or at least it was in my house.

4. We took lots of camping trips. Because we could get the kids away by themselves. We could hike and explore and at night when everyone was in sleeping bags we could talk.

5. Talking. There were some days when all we did at school was talk. It is still that way. Listening and talking is very important. I think sometime more important than the curriculum I  used

.Teaching at home meant long hours with children. Date night was the most important day of the week to me.
It is easy to forget your marriage when you are busy with young children. After our sixth was born, we hit that wall. We both had been going off in our own directions and we had grown apart without realizing we had. I woke up one day and knew that my life was in shambles, my husband would rather work than be home and I wanted to be a good wife and a good mother and teacher. I was none of them. I began my journey back by getting on my knees begging God to change me. We hired a babysitter who came once a week, and we began dating. We fell in love all over again and thankfully, putting my marriage before kids and homeschooling was the best decision I ever made. Home schooling made me see that I couldn't teach without God first, or without my husband and marriage next and then teaching became so much easier. The kids became more secure and life began to work.

I don't know what new doors God will open for me. I feel like a person just learning to walk. I will take one step at a time and I will look around at the scenery for awhile. But like every thing else I am sure it will be quite a ride full of surprises all along the path. Today, begins my summer vacation.

Thank you for coming along,
~Kim~