We homeschoolers love to point out the academic progress of our kids, and how high they score on academic tests. Since we have an easy time pinpointing their areas of genius, we love to revel in them finding their callings at an early age. These accomplishments definitely make homeschooling worth the struggle… and there is struggle involved. It is the little moments, however that make all the work of homeschooling well worth it.
I think it was a moment with my son’s Sunday school teacher that helped me know for a fact that I was on the right track. We were alone in my car, as she is also a family friend, and she said, “I thought you were crazy for homeschooling”. I looked at her curiously waiting for the rest. She told me how one homeschooling family she knew was doing a poor job and thought all homeschoolers were the same. (How many times have we heard that?). She went on to say that my family proved her assumptions wrong. At the time, my son was the youngest kid in her Sunday school class. He was also her best reader. She said he was the only child that could read from the bible without making it seem painful and boring. Yes, that was a good moment.
My kids have a math teacher (yes, other than myself). She loves to talk to me about my kids. You would think they were the only kids in her class. She tells me how full of life my daughter is and plays back conversations she has with her word for word. You would think she were the wittiest kid in the world. She says she loves my son’s temperament and good manners. I try to brush her off out of embarrassment, but she insists that my kids are special, and wants me to know that we are doing a good job. Those are good moments too.
I think the best moments are when my 11-year-old daughter tries to get in my lap. Sounds weird doesn’t it. She is only 5 inches shorter than I am and her feet are almost as big as mine are. She has legs from here to forever. Still she walks up, plops down on my lap, and tells me she loves me. Last night I asked her how much longer I was going to keep getting these snuggles from her. She said, “Until I don’t fit anymore”. “Well, you fit just fine”, I said between labored breaths as she was crushing my ribcage. After she left, my 13-year-old son came to say goodnight and gave me a big long hug. These are very good moments because most preteens have begun to be distant from their parents, but homeschooling has kept us close.
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*Words a homeschooler Should Know