Morning Meeting

Anytime I mention that we home school, I almost always get asked.... "Why?" Although sometimes the question comes out like this:  

"Why?!"

more often than not, it's just an honest inquisition. So what road did we turn on to to lead us to this point? Well, there was definitely not one single road that led us to this destination, but a series of twists and turns and curves along the way. 

I had actually wanted to home school for quite some time- since my oldest was in 3rd or 4th grade.. but there were just too many hurdles at that point- some I built and placed myself... others were put in place by the people around me. My son, my husband, relatives, employment and a myriad of other reasons kept me from following my gut instinct. But as time went on, the feeling grew stronger and more insistent. 

The first major intersection I crossed in my journey was my last pregnancy. I was so sick that I honestly felt near death for months at a time. (I'm so sorry if any of you can relate!) I basically laid on the couch for months at a time and if anybody even bumped me I'd throw up. Somehow life went on around me. The kids were able to survive, but I deeply regretted missing so much. I wasn't able to get up and play with them, take them places or even cuddle. When the pregnancy was over and I was finally feeling more like myself I was keenly aware of how much time I was missing out on every time they got on that school bus. I missed them terribly! To compound the feeling, just days after the baby was born my oldest moved out...

That went way too fast...

It made me realize how much we take time for granted. I felt like the majority of his life was spent away from me while he was sitting with strange teachers and bus drivers. And when he was home, at least 50% of the time was soaked up with homework and fights over grades. There was so much that I missed! Every time I looked at my sweet little baby- I had visions of her moving out too. I felt like I wanted to freeze time and hold onto every.. single.. moment... 

I feel incredibly humbled and blessed to be a mother. “Children” we are told, “are a heritage of the Lord;” [Psalm 127:3.] I was feeling the full weight of my stewardship over these precious little ones. I felt that there is such an important message to be taught... and I have little time to teach it. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to teach what I want them to learn. I wanted to teach them to have faith in the Lord. I wanted them to understand God's love for them. Yet, they had more hours of the day with a teacher who didn't know them- in a school where God is not allowed- than with me....  

^{So I made a list. I listed all the goals I have in being a mother. Grades... didn't even make the cut. One of my biggest regrets in life was spending so much time worrying about somebody else's standards for my son. I felt strongly that my children's education should be between them, the Lord, and their parents. For us, sending them away to school was just not going to work. So I dove in- headfirst- with little research, hardly any planning, and no experience. We are one year into our journey and I am more in love with being a mom every day. I love having them home with me. They love being home with me. And I feel like not only are they learning math and reading... but more importantly they are learning about God and family.} 

^{I am excited for a new "school year" to start. I have so many ideas and so much fun planned. The last few weeks I have been working on their morning meeting assignments that we work on around the family table. (We have a "meeting" every morning where we do a few math practice problems, some copy work, some scripture study, and a moment of gratitude.) This year I am adding something new to the mix. Instead of just scripture study, I am adding secret little messages of encouragement and direction. My kids LOVE puzzles and clues so I'm sure they will love finding the hidden message in the scriptures every week. Click on the picture to see the entire document.}