Little victories, big encouragement
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: FAQ; Parenting on 1 Sep 2009.
[DT: Homeschool may not always be the first choice for families. Fear and anxiety are common. In this final post – the fifth in a series that began on 18 August – a homeschooling mother shares her own tentative feelings and the little victories that made her journey worthwhile.]
THIS FATHER’S POST REMINDED ME a lot of the feelings I had when we first decided to homeschool two of our five children. I prayed and cried, wondering if I was doing the right thing, not sure if I wanted to take on the difficult task of working with my two boys, wondering if I would be stunting their future. In their case, the school was unable and unwilling to work with us to meet their needs. All we wanted to do was hold them back a grade (they are twins), but the school was inflexible.
Now 4 months later, I felt it was the best decision we made, especially for them. Yes it is hard, and it is not convenient. But one of the boys who never showed any desire to read or write now cares that words are spelled correctly – a small thing but a huge victory to us, showing that he is learning to be interested in language. Once the desire is there, the other elements will fall into place.
The boys no longer cry when I correct their mistakes. If I told them their answer was not correct either verbally or in their schoolwork, they use to emotionally fall apart and say I was calling them stupid. It broke my heart for them to think that.
It has been a hard road building back their self esteem, and we are not through yet. But these little victories, the changes in attitude and for them to regain their eagerness to learn and be curious is worth every rough moment we have had.
Our original plans had been to incorporate them back into their former school after 1-2 years but I wonder if they would lose more than they would gain. It is in God’s hands and I trust that we will know what to do when the time is right. My thanks to all of you as I have read your comments and I too gained hope and encouragement from them.
Sincerely,
Juli
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