Our Decision to Homeschool

Anyone who has been following this blog will know that I have said yes to God's call to homeschool my children.

 

It had always been an idea that my husband and I were considering.  You know, before actually having kids. 

 

Our daughter was born in 2010, and our son was born in 2011, so they are now 3 1/2 and 1 3/4 respectively.  This means that we had to decide if we were going to do preschool.

 

Well, it really does seem like the thing to do.  Or does it?  I had this inner battle going for a very long time.  And then those little voices had me questioning if I really was the best person to teach my little ones.

 

But then, aren't parents supposed to be the primary teachers anyways?  They learn so much just from watching us each and every day.  So without even realizing it, I was already their primary teacher.  And I ccould certainly teach them their ABC's, basic math, etc.

 

And then I found God's Little Explorers online.  It was all so nicely laid out that I felt it was certainly worth a shot.  You had the choice of either the free program, or pay $10 (on sale) to get the fancier download.  The upside of the $10 download was that it would also print all at once.  And I was supporting her efforts to help children in another country!

 

Once that decision was bought and paid for, it all seemed to just fall into place.  I found the little desks for about $10 each.  I got the hutch to put the supplies in for free, it just needed a little elbow grease.  I happened into a free filing cabinet.  Our Dollarama and local thrift stores have filled in the rest (with a little help from Grandma's).  A little ingenuity, and we have our very own classroom. 

 

It seemed as though every time a doubt started to creep in, I would be blessed with another little something that I had been thinking would make things easier.

 

I love to do crafts, and so have spent my summer searching for and dreaming up enough activities to last a lifetime.  Or at least the first school year I hope!

 

We had decided to homeschool just before we found out that our school district is downsizing, closing two of the four schools we have within city limits.  This means that at one school alone, there are 54 children registered for Kindergarten.  There isn't enough room inside the school for them, and so they will be outside in the portables. 

 

This is not what I envisioned for my children when I thought their school experience. 

 

And so, with God's blessings it seems, we will begin our journey.