A New School Year

My goodness! I didn't realize it had been so long since my last entry. I guess I should put "blog time" on my schedule to make sure it gets updated regularly.

Well, a new school year began for The Learners' School on August 31. We are using My Father's World Curriculum. It is wonderful. I can see us sticking with this curriculum for a while. It is heavy on Scripture, reading and history. I love the science books that are used...most of them are Usborne Books. From a teaching standpoint, everything is laid out nicely and it is easy to prepare for and follow the lessons. This year we are doing 2 different grade levels for Ryan and Zachary. Next year I will be able to teach one curriculum to them, minus math and grammar. They will do math and grammar on their own level.

Ryan is doing the 1st grade curriculum, which is probably a little easy for him. It is heavy on phonics and beginning reading while Ryan is a wonderful reader. I chose not to move him to another grade or curriculum because I really like the Bible content. Not only is he learning Scripture, he will learn Bible history, as well. The Science is wonderful for him - very hands on! Right now we are using a math workbook with him but he is zooming right through. We'll have to think of something else. I am teaching him the same history and science that Zachary learns. He gets double science but he is OK with that.

Zachary is doing the 2nd/3rd grade curriculum. It is for students who don't have an older sibling and who haven't done any other My Father's World lessons. He loves it. He is having a great time learning how our country was started. He enjoys the science classes. He is learning Scripture, too, and is making a poster with The Names of Jesus. He is finishing up his 2nd grade Singapore Math and Bob Jones English. He should be on to 3rd grade in both of those by January. He just started spelling and thinks it is great. He learns Bible and Science from Ryan's curriculum. I want to make sure both are learning as much as they can.

School has been hard for me this year. I have come close to quitting more than once - and we are only on week 5!! In fact, I got so frustrated that I sorted out all of our homeschool stuff in preparation to sell it or give it away. Some days it just seems as if the boys are working so hard against me that it just isn't worth the heartache. Then I remember why I homeschool and how much I love to see my boys learn. We set our curriculum aside for a couple of days and worked only on our basics. We had a fresh start last week. Things are better.

This leads me to: Why does the Parrott family homeschool? I may have posted about this before but I think it needs repeating. Although the curriculum and the circumstances may change, the real reason does not. It comes down to this: The Parrott family homeschools because we believe God is calling us to homeschool. We believe (we=myself and my husband) the best place to educate children is in the home. We can teach the values we believe. We can weave God into our lessons. We can cater to our boys' different learning styles. We don't have to worry about an agenda that we don't believe in being pushed onto our children.

Homeschooling started for us when Zachary was denied services for his sensory/autism issues in the public school district where we lived when he was 4. We were told to put him into kindergarten and once he *failed* there, steps would be taken to get him the appropriate help. Zachary had barely mastered using the toilet at this time. He could not stand loud noises, changes in routine or socks. He could not dress himeslf without help. He had no coordination, could not use scissors or eating utensils. Although he was a bright and curious child, I knew something was "off" with his development. I went home in tears, vowing not to send my child to public school. Fortunately, God had led our family to a church that was full of homeschooling families. I learned from them what homeschooling could look like and decided to try it for Zachary. We started in kindergarten and haven't had any (many? LOL) regrets.

We have been met with much opposition regarding homeschooling. Zachary has Asperger's Syndrome. I have had doctors, therapists and other parents tell me I am doing him a disservice by educating him at school. Why? Lack of opportunity for SOCIALIZATION. People mistakenly believe that the only place a child can get SOCIALIZATION is at school. People also believe that homeschoolers are locked into their houses, 24/7. No. Our children have plenty of opportunities for social activities with other children - sometimes we have to pick and choose or we would never get school done. And here is something else...google SOCIALIZATION and see what comes up. If you don't want that for your country, why on earth would you want that for your child?

Some people have asked why not private Christian school. Well, two reasons. First of all, we don't feel that God is leading us to place our children in private Christian school. The second, we can't afford private Christian school. Yes, Ryan (and now Joshua) attended a private Christian kindergarten. However, there is a big difference between $300/mo and over $15,000/yr. If we feel we need to put our children into a school setting, we will do what we can to make sure they are in the best environment possible. That may be Christian school. We would do what we needed to do to put them there.

No, I am not anti-public school nor anti-public school teacher. I don't like the limits placed upon teachers in regard to their teaching. I don't like the "requirements" necessary for Zachary to receive help in public school. I don't like the hoops that a parent would have to go through to make sure the school district is providing all of the services they are required to provide BY LAW. I realize that public school is not perfect. Neither is homeschooling. However, for our family it is certainly the better alternative.

I am not sure if we will be able to homeschool forever. I am hoping that all 3 of our boys will graduate from The Learners' School and go on to college. I don't know what the future holds; only God knows that. We will continue to listen to Him and His guidance. We know that He holds us closely and wants good things for us. We know that in ALL things He is there, even when it means we are not comfortable.

Micah 6:8
Jeremaiah 29:11