Okay, so I am gonna get a little personal for a second. I feel like this post is for someone and I pray it will encourage readers who may be struggling in their personal or homeschool journey. Please bare with me as I bring this post to point.
One of the greatest things about homeschooling that I appreciate tremendously is flexibility. The flexibility to do homeschool anywhere and at anytime of day.
If you have followed me in the past or read some of my back posts then you may already know that over the past three to four years of our homeschool we have had to change up our agenda drastically. I was very brief and limited on the details I shared. Our family had to make some huge changes. Some were good and some were not so good. I had to step away from blogging and even my Fb page to work around full-time care giving for one of our family members as well as care for my own family and continue to school. Of course we have other family members in the area but no one offered or wanted to step up and help. This particular family member was and is a handful and no one wanted to be around her let alone wanted any responsibility caring for her.
The changes that needed to be made certainly were not easy and at times they became very challenging. Finding balance in that busy of a schedule is not easy and in fact it is very painful, completely stressful and exhausting. At times I felt like I was an energizer battery that just kept going and could not stop. There are times during the last four years that I don't remember and it is very painful when my kids bring those times up because I missed out or I simply can not remember those times because I was in utter exhaustion. Burn out was coming but I just did not know when?
Before I go any further I feel I should explain a little more but brief to show you how my last four years have been and to clarify why this family member was and is such a handful. This away you do not think I am the worlds meanest person. :) -- side note: I actually started to journal some things on an other blog that I aim to let post publicly down the road.
At any rate this particular family member much or her life had everything handed to her on a silver platter. After a devastating situation occurred she decided to deliberately and carelessly let her health spiral downwards. Her mental state went from adult like to child-like rapidly in under a year time frame. Suicide was thought of daily and on several occasions it was believed attempted. When local family members were asked to help they quickly declined. When family members at a distance (states away) were notified and asked to help they more or less were in disbelief about the situation and made accusations that my family and I were lying or flat out crazy. I admit because of the way we were treated I did begin feeling like I was crazy.
Thankfully local friends of the family, church pastors, neighboring residents who knew my far away family and even the doctors finally stepped up to my defense and some family members began to see a glimpse of the real picture. But it was just a little glimpse. There were still ones that refused to accept or believe what was going on. It happened to be that one of the ones in disbelief was the only living sibling of this family member and I needed them involved.
After four years of constant hospital trips and two of them years going in every two to three months, two near death incidents, verbal abuse from family members, constant fighting and then one day out doing my last bit of Christmas shopping being ask to do a wellness check, my middle daughter being with me at the check and finding this family member on the floor I had enough. Burn out was here and I was fuming angry. I am too nice and it often shows. When people see others who are nice and extremely caring they tend to become a magnet to that nice person and eventually learn to take advantage of them for as long as they can. This is especially true when it is in the family. I found this out the hard way. So be warned! It took awhile but six months ago I hit my point. I had enough of this situation and enough of my families verbal abuse. How dare them steal my time from my own family and even more so my kids. After much prayer and a peace in coming to my decision, I stepped back forcing this family member to step up and own her responsibility in her own health. On top of that my stepping back forced the sibling to step in and own more of their responsibility to their sibling. After a recent health scare that prompted the call for a wellness check finally this family member is being placed in long-term care.
Now you see where I have been for the last four years. As the new year arrived I began sensing a shift in our seasons. I felt like it meant the seasons were finally about to change. The never ending constant storms were finally coming to an end and there was a feeling of peace.
What about homeschooling? WELL! Thank God that is the beautiful part. With all the chaos we had, thank goodness homeschool was flexible with our day and our agenda. Even though we were not always in the books drilling lessons we were still able to get in other kinds of schooling. Some times my kids were home doing online schooling with schoolhouseteachers.com and other times we carried our lessons in to the doctors office for the countless appointments we had to take our family member to. Most of the time school was on the move.I created my own lesson(s) or we allowed for unschooling days. We had a lot of on-the-go and hands on learning which in my opinion sometimes is the best kind of learning. My kids learned every day life lessons and experienced them with out a books direction. Books are fantastic on so many levels. We can learn a lot through books. But not everything can be or should be learned in a book. There will always be some who disagree and that is fine. I base my opinions and belief on life experiences of my own and years of teaching children. Education is limitless and comes in all forms of learning. Not only are books our classroom, the world is our classroom and we all get to experience it over being locked in a classroom setting countless hours daily, weekly. Make sense? The flexibility in homeschooling is endless and I am grateful for that because of what we experienced over the last four years.
My husband and I are constantly complimented on how grown up our children are, how smart and respectful they are. I credit much of that to their up bringing but I also credit homeschooiling. Now that we are in a new year our season is shifting and new adventures and life lessons are coming our way. The last four years have been rough but they have challenged us and taught each one of us a life lesson. I am excited to see where this year takes our family and I think we all look forward to new homeschooling adventures both in the books and in the world of adventure and learning.
So where ever you are at in your homeschool journey if you are considering homeschool, just starting or you're a few years in to your schooling and struggling. I hope that this post encourages you a little to keep at it. Don't give up when life takes over. Life happens and there is nothing we can do to stop that. We can embrace all it brings and learn from the lessons that are placed in our path. If you need to pause for a short or long break, pause and take a break. If you need to change up your schooling or agenda, change it up. Stand back, take a deep breath and begin with a look at your agenda, curriculum or school day. Evaluate what things are working for you and your family and what things are not working then start from there to rework your homeschool. Tweaking will always be a part of homeschool and life challenges will always interfere in your day. I truly hope by sharing my experience in this long post that those of you reading are encouraged in some way that will help you either in your own life or in your homeschool journey.
- Blessings -
One of the greatest things about homeschooling that I appreciate tremendously is flexibility. The flexibility to do homeschool anywhere and at anytime of day.
If you have followed me in the past or read some of my back posts then you may already know that over the past three to four years of our homeschool we have had to change up our agenda drastically. I was very brief and limited on the details I shared. Our family had to make some huge changes. Some were good and some were not so good. I had to step away from blogging and even my Fb page to work around full-time care giving for one of our family members as well as care for my own family and continue to school. Of course we have other family members in the area but no one offered or wanted to step up and help. This particular family member was and is a handful and no one wanted to be around her let alone wanted any responsibility caring for her.
The changes that needed to be made certainly were not easy and at times they became very challenging. Finding balance in that busy of a schedule is not easy and in fact it is very painful, completely stressful and exhausting. At times I felt like I was an energizer battery that just kept going and could not stop. There are times during the last four years that I don't remember and it is very painful when my kids bring those times up because I missed out or I simply can not remember those times because I was in utter exhaustion. Burn out was coming but I just did not know when?
Before I go any further I feel I should explain a little more but brief to show you how my last four years have been and to clarify why this family member was and is such a handful. This away you do not think I am the worlds meanest person. :) -- side note: I actually started to journal some things on an other blog that I aim to let post publicly down the road.
At any rate this particular family member much or her life had everything handed to her on a silver platter. After a devastating situation occurred she decided to deliberately and carelessly let her health spiral downwards. Her mental state went from adult like to child-like rapidly in under a year time frame. Suicide was thought of daily and on several occasions it was believed attempted. When local family members were asked to help they quickly declined. When family members at a distance (states away) were notified and asked to help they more or less were in disbelief about the situation and made accusations that my family and I were lying or flat out crazy. I admit because of the way we were treated I did begin feeling like I was crazy.
Thankfully local friends of the family, church pastors, neighboring residents who knew my far away family and even the doctors finally stepped up to my defense and some family members began to see a glimpse of the real picture. But it was just a little glimpse. There were still ones that refused to accept or believe what was going on. It happened to be that one of the ones in disbelief was the only living sibling of this family member and I needed them involved.
After four years of constant hospital trips and two of them years going in every two to three months, two near death incidents, verbal abuse from family members, constant fighting and then one day out doing my last bit of Christmas shopping being ask to do a wellness check, my middle daughter being with me at the check and finding this family member on the floor I had enough. Burn out was here and I was fuming angry. I am too nice and it often shows. When people see others who are nice and extremely caring they tend to become a magnet to that nice person and eventually learn to take advantage of them for as long as they can. This is especially true when it is in the family. I found this out the hard way. So be warned! It took awhile but six months ago I hit my point. I had enough of this situation and enough of my families verbal abuse. How dare them steal my time from my own family and even more so my kids. After much prayer and a peace in coming to my decision, I stepped back forcing this family member to step up and own her responsibility in her own health. On top of that my stepping back forced the sibling to step in and own more of their responsibility to their sibling. After a recent health scare that prompted the call for a wellness check finally this family member is being placed in long-term care.
Now you see where I have been for the last four years. As the new year arrived I began sensing a shift in our seasons. I felt like it meant the seasons were finally about to change. The never ending constant storms were finally coming to an end and there was a feeling of peace.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)
What about homeschooling? WELL! Thank God that is the beautiful part. With all the chaos we had, thank goodness homeschool was flexible with our day and our agenda. Even though we were not always in the books drilling lessons we were still able to get in other kinds of schooling. Some times my kids were home doing online schooling with schoolhouseteachers.com and other times we carried our lessons in to the doctors office for the countless appointments we had to take our family member to. Most of the time school was on the move.I created my own lesson(s) or we allowed for unschooling days. We had a lot of on-the-go and hands on learning which in my opinion sometimes is the best kind of learning. My kids learned every day life lessons and experienced them with out a books direction. Books are fantastic on so many levels. We can learn a lot through books. But not everything can be or should be learned in a book. There will always be some who disagree and that is fine. I base my opinions and belief on life experiences of my own and years of teaching children. Education is limitless and comes in all forms of learning. Not only are books our classroom, the world is our classroom and we all get to experience it over being locked in a classroom setting countless hours daily, weekly. Make sense? The flexibility in homeschooling is endless and I am grateful for that because of what we experienced over the last four years.
My husband and I are constantly complimented on how grown up our children are, how smart and respectful they are. I credit much of that to their up bringing but I also credit homeschooiling. Now that we are in a new year our season is shifting and new adventures and life lessons are coming our way. The last four years have been rough but they have challenged us and taught each one of us a life lesson. I am excited to see where this year takes our family and I think we all look forward to new homeschooling adventures both in the books and in the world of adventure and learning.
So where ever you are at in your homeschool journey
- Blessings -
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