It feels so surreal that Friday next week we will wake up back in the capital. I can't believe this chapter of our lives is closing rapidly and it makes me feel all sentimental. So I thought I'd share some of my realities to ward off the sentimental!
A year ago, Dylan was attending the local Pre School but for various reasons we weren't always too happy with him going. And as the year progressed and Dylan started wanting to stay home instead of going we decided to take the plunge and give homeschooling a try (as much as you can homeSCHOOL Pre School! :)).
Now I must confess that I have always harbored a huge prejudice towards homeschooling and thought it was just plain weird. In Germany it is illegal to homeschool your child and if a child repeatedly fails to appear in school the police will actually show up at your front door and escort said child to class. So homeschooling was foreign to me until I met various citizens of the USA who had been homeschooled. And when I discovered huge gaps (or at least they seemed like huge gaps to me) in their general knowledge I assumed (being all wise and knowledgeable) that this was due to them not attending a 'normal' school and missing out on all the wisdom real teachers should have imparted on them (or is it to them?).
Anyways, to make a long story short, I thought homeschooling resulted in awkward, uneducated and ill adjusted individuals who had been raised in a Christian bubble and knew nothing of the world (because of course all homeschoolers are Christians, or so I thought).
But then we were faced with the decision what to do about schooling (albeit a bit sooner than I had anticipated) and homeschooling quickly turned out to be the best solution. And so I dived into researching different options and curricula and finally settled on Sonlight.
When we arrived in Germany the boxes and books were waiting for us and so our own homeschooling journey began.
Since then I have had a change of heart and attitude and been confronted with my own prejudices and most importantly pride - being proud of our education system (which I am realizing is not so great after all) and of being well - educated (how do you measure that anyway?). And I have discovered that essentially I have harbored a secret unadmitted fascination with homeschooling that I tried to cover (Why?).
Thinking back on the people I know who were homeschooled I have come to see that they are not ill - adjusted, weird adults who live in a Christian bubble but fantastic individuals who are firmly rooted and secure in their own identity. They may be different but they are not afraid to admit that.
I enjoy this special time with Dylan immensely. It's amazing to watch him learn and discover and to be a part of it all, not just an observer. I love knowing what story he is reenacting or what book he is talking about, love being able to integrate teaching and learning into every aspect of our daily life. And I love being the one who is spending the most time with him each day. I never really understood how vulnerable kids are at this age and how much they soak up everything around them until we had kids. Now it makes so much sense to me to have them home at this stage in their lives, to be the ones influencing them and passing on values, thus giving them a firm foundation on which to develop and grow as an individual. I hope that these years will help to give all three boys a deep understanding of how much they are loved, not just by us but by our Father and that this will contribute to a sense of worth and self - esteem that will remain unfazed by whatever life throws at them. I pray that they will grow to be caring, passionate, different, unique individuals who know who they are and who rejoice in being different.
And so our journey of learning continues!
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