Today we are celebrating close family ties. You don't have to homeschool to get them, but it helps!
Let me tell you about one of our favorite aspects of home education: setting our own calendar! Because we are not tied to the local school's calendar year, we have the freedom to take a break whenever needed, or continue on to the end of the school year without as many breaks and have a longer summer.
Being able to set our own schedule has allowed us to build better family ties. We have vacationed in the off-season many times, and we can take a long weekend to go visit the cousins whenever the dads can get their schedules aligned. Our girls have spent a week at "hotel Grandma" more than once.
Not everyone is into homeschooling. That's ok too. What I want to focus on is the ability to choose. You as the parent need to choose the best educational situation for your children. We have chosen homeschooling and for us it has worked really well. It has given us the opportunity to live a learning lifestyle for the past 15 years. We have learned (and travelled) together. We've been to sporting events, art shows, botanical gardens, and Civil War battlefields. We've spent time visiting the cousins, and time in the woods by ourselves. Whatever your family relationship when you start homeschooling, it will be tested, tried, stretched, and refined over the years. It has been the very best difficult choice for us. It is often hard, usually tiring, but oh - so much fun!
Homeschooling builds strong families - because you're around each other so much. You cannot let issues fester, you are forced to deal with them, forgive each other, and move on.
Over the years I have heard this phrase way too many times, and it makes me sad, "I could never homeschool my kids, I couldn't stand to be around them that much." Oh, how much you have missed by not being around your children as they learn, grow, and explore. How much I have gained by being refined through this home education journey!
Think about the kind of relationship you wish you had with your children - homeschooling can let that happen. It has for us. Having time to pour into your children every day more than makes up for the times when we fall short of being a great parent. It gives us genuine relationship, and a chance to influence our children for their good.
Today I'm celebrating the close family ties we have made through homeschooling. What are you celebrating today?!
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