There is a MK teacher here in our city. She's been living here for about the last 18 years or so. She's taught most all of the MKs who have come and gone over the years. She loves to teach. But in the last year or so her role with her organization (it's a different one than ours) has changed quite a bit and she has different responsibilities now that keep her from teaching full-time. But she misses teaching. So a few months ago we were talking about my and the boys' struggles with homeschooling and she wondered if there might be a way for her to help us.
We decided to wait until the new year for a variety of reasons. I really prayed about the situation. That God would show us both the perfect solution. She was very limited in the time she could contribute, but I was okay with that because any time she invested in us would be a huge help to me. We had talked about her taking one subject one day a week.
When we finally met to brainstorm ideas, I asked her what she had been feeling lead to do. She said History or Science. Those are both areas of strength for her and she could easily teach both boys at the same time in either of those subjects without too much worry about grade level.
Can I tell you how perfect that was????
Those are the EXACT two subjects that I am the weakest in! GO GOD!!!!
AND those are the two subjects that I had pretty much put to the wayside for this year. I have barely been keeping my head above water and months ago decided that if we could keep the basics going this first year, we would be doing good.
So we decided on History. And today was their first day. I rode bikes over to her house with them and dropped them off. She rode her bike with them back home. They had a blast! She is planning to do a unit study at first with them on the history of the country we are living in. We are all pretty excited about that! They didn't do any history today, but had a get-to-know-each-other kind of day. They love her school room. It's an actual school room with individual desks, reading corners, game corners, library. And they said they like having a "real" teacher. Bless their hearts. I know they love me. But it's hard on them not having a real teacher, or a school to go to, or friends to play with at recess (ones that can understand them and be understood by them). They loved their school in TN. They miss everything about the "school" experience there. And that makes it even harder to focus on the necessities that we must tackle in our school days here.
Some other MKs will be arriving back to our city tomorrow and next month. They are boys. And they are around our kids' ages. We are very excited about that. They will most likely join the boys at Ms. Chris' school in the coming days for history/geography. So I am hopeful this is the beginning of new and good things for our school experience here. Won't you please keep praying with me about these things?
Today they brought home a poem they had each written about themselves. I thought you might enjoy them almost as much as I did.
Luke
Swimmer, spunky, calm, active
Lover of coffee and chocolate
Who feels HOT
Who needs to go outside more often
Who gives bread to the ducks
Who fears snakes
Who would like to go to Mt. Rushmore
Resident of KK, G (abbreviated with initials by me)
Schroder
Matthew
Daring, skillful, fast, humorous
Lover of coffee and sports
Who feels lonely with no other kids, hot, sweaty, and confused
Who needs X-box 360, to play less video games, to do soccer
Who gives rice to the beggars, light to dark
Who fears snakes, an angry Pa, scorpions, and sharks
Who would like to go to the Bahamas, go to Ecuador, and be a pro soccer player
Resident of KK, G (abbreviated with initials by me)
Schroder
*** Singing and declaring....from West Africa to Western Europe! *** Psalms 96:2-3 ***
3 comments:
When God first led us to homeschooling, Jared was starting third grade. I felt like I was taking him away from so much. I had loved school and NEVER thought I would home school. It was soooo hard the first semester. It took a while for him to think I could REALLY teach him. I didn't do it the way his teachers did it!! UGH! I heard that over and over. Arounds January or February, we were sitting at the table one morning and the bus went by. I said, "Jared, do you wish you were on the bus?" He said, "Sometimes, but if I was, I couldn't do this." And then he got up and gave me a big hug! I think I had tears! It was from then on that I started seeing the relationship really grow with us. There was a trust that had gone away a little since he had gone to school. He started talking to me more about personal stuff and feelings. Jared was such a follower at school. He was always trying to be what everyone else wanted him to be. The teachers always thought he was smart and confident so they would call on him in class to answer questions and he would panic! He had started having anxiety problems. Once we got to Feb. I started seeing a new Jared. I remember his VBS teacher that summer commenting on what a differet child he was compared to him having him in VBS the year before. HE said he's so much more outgoing:) Jared is now an incredible leader and his faith teaches me new things everyday.
I have loved having co-ops and tutorials to help with teaching and giving them (and me) a day off from home. But, although I doubted sooooo often, if I was doing the right thing, I NOW see that God called me to homeschool Jared. HE is 19, and loves the Lord. He says that he doesn't think he would be the person he is if he hadn't homeschooled. wow. Maci has gone to school for 2 years and was homecoming court, volleyball captain, 4.0 both years. SHe asked to come home this year and go back to graduate next year. Now she's not sure she wants to go back. WE're praying about it. Molly doens't want to go. I'm not sure what is best for them yet, but I KNOW that Jared was where he was supposed to be. I know it's hard at times. I know you don't really have much of a choice right now. I do want you to know though, that your relationship with your boys and their relationship with the LOrd, will flourish. Hang in there. When God calls us to something, it's not always comfortable. Oh how I'm learning. But, He is always glorified through our following His steps. I'm so happy you found a teacher to help. For science, you can go on nature walks and look up stuff you find on the internet. We dissected crickets and snakes that we caught and looked up body parts. We called it science and they thought they LOVED science for the longest time. THen they hit highschool and had to hit the hard stuff and decided it wasn't so great. The neat thing is they always tested well in science UNTIL THEN!!! :) I'll be praying for you, my friend. Sorry so long, but I hope I somehow encouraged you. You're amazing! shawnah
so glad God sent some help for you! Go God!! :)
What an awesome answer to prayer!!
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