Relaxing into home education

One of the things I am learning to enjoy about home education now is: I feel FREE!!!

A conversation with a friend the other day made me realize just how blessed we are as home educators.  We have the freedoms to decide what is right for our children, and be the designers of their education.  This is a life changing phenomenon for our kids.  They are "stuck" with the results of our home education system.  So...I want it to be a truly relaxing and beautiful process for us.  I want it to be inviting, adventurous, and fun.

The more I write about homeschooling, the more I become completely aware of how little I knew just a few short years, even months, ago about the real core of education.  All of these years I've homeschooled, I have been searching for the one "key" or "secret" to homeschooling success.

I have come to a very abrupt and powerful conclusion that there is no true secret...but if there was...it would be that we parents should RELAX.  Our kids' minds and hearts will grow and mature with time, plenty of patience from us, and a relaxed and enriching atmosphere.  They also just need a set of teacher-parents who understand them and provide for them the materials and resources they need (along with some guidance).

It is really not that difficult.

And I think now that I am a few weeks into developing the Start Homeschooling Easy site, that is what my focus will be: delivering content that helps homeschoolers (myself included) begin to homeschooling with a relaxed mindset and a confident attitude. 


***update, January 2012- I no longer keep up the Start Homeschooling Easy website.  Most of the information that was there is now located here on this blog***

Wow, do I look forward to this academic school year.  Why?  Because I am no longer afraid, unsure, uncertain.  Sure, I don't know everything there is to know about curriculum choices, but I don't feel that same kind of uncertainty I felt in the beginning when attempting to find just the right math book.  Now I understand that it's about the kids...what do they need?  Really need? Not just what do I THINK they need.

Being this intimately involved in my children's education also helps me to appreciate God more.  I see how that He has created us so intelligently.  We were designed to grow in intellect and emotional maturity.  I love watching my oldest daughter bloom into a beautiful and wise little 8 year old.  I adore watching my 2 year old's sweet and vibrant personality unfold as her voracious appetite for learning increases triple-fold with each passing week.  I LOVE that I cant keep up with my kids!  It means they are learning, enjoying life, and loving every bit of it.

And it makes me...this natural homeschooling mama...very, very happy.