For the Sake of Books

 Homeschooling for many years leads to an accumulation of materials. Bins, baskets, and carts overflowing with math manipulatives and art supplies. Junk drawers with buttons, knobs, and bits of string. Stacks of egg cartons, empty produce containers, and rinsed out milk cartons on the refrigerator. And not to mention the books! Five full shelves stand testament to my love affair with the written word. My memory space is limited and the usefulness of technology at times lapses, but books! 

Books hold pages upon pages of knowledgeable language that speaks to us timelessly and indefinitely. Rattling our brain cells around in a quiet, still type of way that only reading from the physical page can afford. The smell of a book whether old or new is as comforting as the scent of fresh earth after a rain to me.

So, how can I decide what to keep and what to sell? Which ones to give away and which to toss out? I am too sentimental about them, I admit. I pick one up, that my children have well outgrown, and memories rush up to greet me of reading this story to them when they were small enough to fit in my lap. Tears well up, and I quickly dry my eyes. 

"It's ok. It is a good thing for the children to have outgrown these stories," I console myself, "just put them back on the shelf. They will keep for another special child, a grandchild perhaps."

Other days I chide myself for being so bound to earthly objects. Even some days find reason with giving a few away to a family with younger children. Only to be found out by my children a month later, when my teenagers, upon some whim, happen to try to hunt that certain title down to no avail.

"Mom, where is Harold and the Purple Crayon? Where is Ferdinand? What have you done with them?" my children interrogate me!

"Oh, you know we haven't had a need for them for quite awhile now, so I found them a new home where they will get some use," I reply as a smile erupts on my face from my warmed heart. 

They remember, too, when they were small enough to fit in my lap and the tender memories we made reading books.

Online School and Homeschooling Are Not The Same

I have had the opportunity to chat with a number of parents lately about their experiences with online schooling and how this has influenced them to think that they would not be able to homeschool their children. These conversations are usually brief, but I would like to share my thoughts on this topic as a mother of 5 and a homeschooler of 17 years. 

At one point in our homeschooling journey, I was seeking help with my fourth grader and seventh grader. I felt overwhelmed by the number of subjects I needed to teach. It was not working for us to teach them together. They both had their own strengths and weaknesses, interests and passions. Let alone their very different learning styles! So, I enrolled them in the online program offered by the public school system thinking this would simplify our school days. Our then seventh grader, who was much more self directed, had no problem. However, our fourth grader needed me to sit by and re teach every lesson to him. This may not seem a problem since I was already teaching him everyday, but now I had to assimilate what the state wanted him to learn and then break it down for him in a way he could understand, all the while not feeling confident that all of this content was material that I wanted to teach him. Of course, math and reading were pretty straight forward, but when we got into social studies and I suddenly found myself as part of a propaganda campaign to convince fourth graders that illegal immigration was wonderful and the only people who disagree are grumpy old men. This was 6 weeks into the school year. Needless to say we dropped the program, and I went back to preparing lessons based on curricula that I had previously purchased. Today, both of these children have graduated from our homeschool and are productive members of our free society. The then seventh grader is an artist and works in the culinary field, and the then fourth grader is now a full time musician and sound engineer. 

I share all of this to say to parents, Yes, you can homeschool! In fact, you will do a better job than the public school system in most cases. When you commit to home educating your child, all of your goals and desires are re aligned to ensure that your child receives the best that you can give to him or her. For some, this may be a public school education, but for many parents, there is a drive and desire to give their child something more than the system can provide. I encourage every parent to weigh their options and to not be afraid. There are many of us who have walked this path before you, and we are here to help.