As this calendar year comes to a close while we are in the midst of 9th, 7/8th, and 1st grades, I am reminded how thankful I am to homeschool. Our family has been wonderfully impacted by the opportunity to sit around our table each day to tackle the task of learning. Some seasons of this journey have been really perilous, and I’ve often questioned whether we were doing the right thing for our kids. Then there have been other seasons where I knew we were right where we needed to be for the moment, and I was reassured that we were doing just fine.
I am thankful for homeschooling because I am provided a front row seat to my children’s learning. I have been the one to help sound out words for the bazillionth time and finally heard her read it for herself. What a victory! I am there to watch connections between scientific vocabulary and Latin suddenly click. I get to see interests in unexpected topics develop and skills in fine arts sharpen. I am thankful for the best seat in the house.
I am thankful for homeschooling because, at times, I have become the student. When my children become better at something than me or can recall a term or algebra formula faster than I can, I am honored to learn from them. There have been topics in the past (and will certainly have more in the future) when I haven’t understood it all from the get-go. I have to dig in and learn right alongside the kids. My excitement isn’t always shared, but I have loads of fun relearning something I had forgotten. I am thankful my kids get to teach me.
I am thankful for homeschooling because it has caused our family to be knitted together very tightly. They might fool people sometimes, but they truly are best friends. They spend most of their lives together and miss one another when one goes somewhere. Sometimes, after we’ve sent them to bed, I wonder what types of conversations occur once I go downstairs. I am thankful they have one another.
I am thankful for homeschooling because, in a strange way, I am given the opportunity to indulge back into a childhood I didn’t have. My husband and I have traded some potential income and weekly work hours to provide this lifestyle for our children. I used to think that they were the only ones benefitting from this trade, which we were glad to provide. But recently, I have come to realize that I am also receiving a gift most do not. As I learn alongside my kids and spend time in the homeschool world, I am, in a strange way, reparenting myself. I am thankful we have this time together.
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother to three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.lindsaybanton.com.