This month Marriage Monday (today on a Tuesday) asks us to consider how kids change the dynamics of marriage. There are four choices of topics to choose from, and I have chosen to discuss:
Public, Private, or Homeschool? Why our Decision Works for Us
We actually made the decision to homeschool long before we had children, and it was largely a reaction to some bad school experiences friends were having with their children.
Then we moved to England, to an area that was overflowing with good schools. Then we had children. And in spite of the abundance of education opportunities around us, we still chose to homeschool. Why? Because it is the only thing that really works for our family and lifestyle.
German works long hours. Often he does not get home until after eight. If the girls were in a school setting, they would never have a meal with him during the week. I would have to feed them and get them to bed so that they could be up and ready for school the next morning. As it is, we can have a late bedtime and sleep late and still get all of school accomplished.
Likewise, German often travels with work. I love being able to say "You're going to London? We'll come to" and throw a few books into a bag and off we go. I do not have to convince a teacher somewhere that they are getting as much out of traveling with their daddy and seeing new things as they would in a classroom. We study a painting that is housed in London, we go see the painting. We talk about how castles are constructed, we go see the castle. Studying Ancient Egypt, let's go to the British Museum. All of these things have been experienced whilst daddy was in meetings at work. The advantages of seeing things first-hand is immense. But more important is the opportunity to share that time with their dad and not have so many gaps of time when he is away from home.
Our most important reason for homeschooling here has been that we know with the nature of German's job he will move fairly frequently. It was totally unusual for us to be in the same place for so long. Home education means that the girls' education will remain consistent no matter where in the world we end up. I cannot promise them consistency in house, friends, church or much of anything else. Consistency of education I can offer.
So I do. And that is why it works for us. Our chosen lifestyle, chosen before we married and graciously given to us by God, does not lend itself to being tied to a brick-and-mortar school schedule. We are thankful that God affords us the opportunity to teach the girls in such a way that we can live our life to the fullest and live it together.
Visit E-Mom at chrysaliscom.blogspot.com for more insights on children and marriage.
7 comments:
This is a wonderful example of home schooling excellence! How wonderful to have the option as well as the means to expose your children the way you have! You've shown that even though education is crucial, family is MORE important! Kudos to you and your hubby!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving some encouragement over at my MM offering!
Connie
I love your reasons. I chose to homeschool for many of those same reasons, and it has been a blessing to our family. (Although we do have some days that I question our decision! Sigh - a poor reflection on my patience). My oldest daughter would have been going off to kindergarten right after her baby sister was born, and I wanted my kids to know each other better than that, so we began homeschooling and have continued on. We've done lots of trips with my husband during the middle of the year and have had the flexibility we've needed to work through so many family illnesses, etc.
Thanks for sharing here. Great job!
Very honest post. I appreciate your reason for doing this style of education. I am so thankful for such great stuff out there to help with home schooling. We are pretty sure it will be in our future once we are involved in full time ministry because of traveling and schedules and such. I think it was great that you did this to make this so much better for everyone at home.
This is marvellous MiPa... I shall pass on your thoughts the next time I run into a Mom who is stressed by their lack of family life due to her husband's frequent travel. (I'm sure you're an excellent teacher.)
Actually, inwardly, I'm sighing with relief. Our SIL hopes to end up in the Navy, which means lots of travel. Our daughter is quite open to homeschooling, and it certainly makes sense for them.
As always, thanks for joining us for Marriage Monday today.
(((Hugs))) e-Mom ღ
Your homeschooling experience sounds wonderful - It is what learning should be like! I live in England too, and I'm so pleased to hear that it is possible to home school here - I thought the bureaucracy and education authorities would make it very difficult, if not impossible! My son is at a wonderful sixth form college now, but two of the high schools he attended had such bad problems with bullying I'm convinced it affected his education - and these were schools in "good" areas! I hope more folks here consider home schooling in the future. Thank you for sharing a very encouraging post!
MP,
I absolutely loved reading this. This is absolutely the BEST situation and I adore you for seeing the benefit of working within your husband's hours and travel... And, taking advantage of that travel.
You are a beautiful mom and your girls are too. Hugs.
LOVE how you've worked this out to be a family. Beautiful.
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