You know those “fork in the road” moments that we all have? Sometimes they feel as though they are much more “permanent” than they really are…’cause we actually CAN turn around, go back and go the other route, can’t we?
But most of the time, when it’s one of those moments, it doesn’t seem like we’re weighing the options with the mentality of “Well, if it doesn’t work out, I can just retrace my steps, and take the other road!”…at least for me. When I hit one of those moments, I pretty well feel as though I’m making a permanent choice. Maybe that’s because so far, I’ve been very satisfied with the directions I chose at those crucial moments.
Choosing homeschooling was definitely one of those “moments”.
I have never, for even one second, looked back at that night we decided to pull her out of the private school she attended for Pre-K 4 (and four short days of Kindergarten) and thought “Wow….I wish I’d chosen the other road”.
Not only have I never thought that, I have spent the last five years feeling blessed almost daily that God took the time to take me down that path a tiny bit at a time. Little by little, He prepared me for this journey.
When He first planted the seed, I just sorta brushed it away.
I should know better than to do that with Him.
Because for the next couple of years, each time He gently pushed me towards it, it was a little bit stronger each time.
I began to think of it as a possibility. That just MAYBE I could do it. That just MAYBE I wouldn’t fail my daughter. That just MAYBE I wouldn’t turn into a complete basket case from it all.
I was right.
Not just a little. A LOT.
Not only CAN I do it, I believe I am doing it well. Not only am I NOT failing my daughter, she is exceling and thriving beyond my wildest dreams. And not only am I NOT a basket case, I am enjoying this more than I ever imagined.
I never thought of this as a “go back and turn around if it doesn’t work” choice. When I committed, I knew it was for the long haul. I knew that we would be learning together all the way to the end. I had studied enough to know if was not only possible, but that if my reasons for doing it in the first place were true, accurate and God given, then there would BE no turning back. There would be nothing that would change the “why” behind it.
Homeschooling is hands down, one of the absolute coolest things I’ve ever done in my lifetime. Next to knowing God, marrying my husband and giving birth to our only child, no other choice I’ve made has given me so many blessings.
Being there with her when she was five and able to pick up any book we had and make her way though it (understanding it all was another story, but boy, could she read!!). Choosing curriculum and topics that I knew would feed her soul and her mind and her love of learning. Finding other adults in the homeschool world of “outside classes” that I now consider to be extremely vital mentors in her life. Getting to spend mornings cuddling with her while reading when the school buses were coming to pick up the other kids in the neighborhood. Making healthy lunches for her at home. Letting her sleep longer than usual if she was extra tired. Having P.E. be swimming laps with her best friend in the morning at our Natatorium. Reading Bible stories to her and talking about what God wants her to learn from them. Meeting some of the absolute coolest ladies and families EVER and joining them on this homeschool journey. Taking Fridays off to eat lunch with Grandma, go to plays, have play dates, or go swimming.
Or deciding at the last minute to skip Wednesday classes so that we could go pay our respects to the retiring space shuttle “Endeavour”. WITH some best friends. And get to go out on the tarmac, close enough to feel the hot air from the engine of the shuttle when it landed.
Yep, those are the things that this road we’re traveling called “homeschooling” has given us.
And I wouldn’t go back to that fork in the road for a second.
Ellen is the homeschooling mom of 1 sweet girl, age 9. She and her husband are native Texans, and currently make their home in the Houston area. They homeschool using a mostly Classical, and a somewhat eclectic mix.
