Classical Conversations cc Cycle 1 LATIN

Sometimes, I catch the local school bus stopping at the corner of my street.  I can’t say that there hasn’t been a time {or two} that I have day dreamt that my darlings were on that very bus.  That instead of being with me all day making messes with paper and glue, they would be doing that in their very own class rooms. 

Homeschooling is a very hard choice, and not one that may be right for everyone.  It is a decision that I would not want to push on anyone else.  The main reason for my writing this is because of the questions...like, How will your kids get into college?  Can they possibly make it in the “real” world, or are they social awkward? …and the list goes on.

Since I decided to start offering printables, videos and such on karatootie, I thought I would address my families journey in homeschool.  Believe me, before making the decision for my own darlings, I was never a believer in homeschooling.  I had the same questions.

Why homeschool then?  Well, it was actually quite an easy decision for us to make, because it was through God.  He instructed us to follow this path.  I always tell people that I heard God speak to me 3 years ago, but not in the clouds dividing and sun beams surrounding a deep voice sort of way.  More of a heart talk, a deep soulful feeling that I couldn’t ignore.  When God spoke to my family it was during a hard time in many American’s lives, and we were certainly not excluded.  My husband’s business was one of the first hit by the economy’s fall and his job had already been demoted.  We were struggling financially, trying to make ends meet.  He called me into his office one morning and told me that we may need to put our son in school and daughter in daycare.  I would be going to work outside of our home.  We both agreed that before either of us made a decision, we would pray about it, and put it into God’s hands.

Have you ever heard of coincidences?  Yeah me too, but in this case, it was quite the opposite of that.  In my heart, it was DIVINE intervention. In my heart, God spoke to my family, He spoke to me.  My husband and I decided to put it fully into God’s hands.  (maybe one or two of you can relate here) That, is a very HARD thing to do.  To let go, completely.  Being that I am already getting so personal here, I will add that I like to get things done.  If I see a better way of doing something, I give it a go.  If there is a problem, I want a solution, a good solution, and fast.  To me, putting something into God’s hands is painfully difficult.  I know this is my all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God that created the world in 6 days….but me wait for him? Arg, I am SO stubborn!  I am competitive!  I am impatient!  We gave it over to God.  I gave it over to Him completely, and trusted in His decision which ever it may be.  Within our timeline, to the day, we received a call that my husband’s company was expanding and he was moving back up.  I must stress that the rest of the economy was still in ruins.  To be candidly honest, when I agreed to put the matter into God’s hands, I was very sure that I would be enrolling the kids in school and day care very soon.  I envisioned my kids riding the bus everyday.  But God had a different vision.  I think that he had a vision of my darlings with me.  With me teaching them about Him.

Am I the right person to be trusted with these darlings?  Me? I mess up.  I lose my temper. What if I can’t do the quadratic equation any more?  I don’t always have a clean house….and the list goes on.  The thing is that although I may not always understand God’s plans, I do believe in them.  I pray daily that he equips me with knowledge, understanding and patience to handle my darlings.  He has.  He has taken that burden from my shoulders and has allowed me to enjoy them.  I get to enjoy seeing Miss L light up as she is learning how to read.  When I see her smile after tackling a new word that she has never seen before.  I smile, and my heart warms.  When I hear Mr D spouting off his memorization work, my heart is filled….I am so thankful.

Am I hard on them? Yes, at times I am.  I know their potential, so I push them to do their best.  We don’t move on to a new subject if we don’t fully understand the one at hand.  That’s where Classical Conversations fits in.  For those that don’t know, it’s a co-op that meets once a week (or you can do it at home) and has a very intellectually stimulating and challenging curriculum.  It fits us.  It allows us to be very hands on and although the material is demanding at times, my darlings don’t notice, because they are having fun while learning.  So, it’s a win, win.

Then there’s the fun stuff.  I get to play with my kids at the park.  We go for midday bike rides and picnics.  We get to visit museums and libraries all the time.  Guess what, if we want to visit Governor’s mansion, or see how a library works, we do! So those messes that I mentioned earlier?  Well truth be told, I really enjoyed making them.

See, I am like every other mom, I want my darlings to be masters, not like He-Man or anything, but I want them to be knowledgeable.  I want them to be social butterflies, A + students, sports heroes, defenders of the innocent, the first picked at sports, beautiful and handsome, well versed biblically, multilingual, musicians, artists…well you know, PERFECT!  Well, we still far from that, but we will continue to trust God.  In His timing, His knowledge, and His vision for us.

If you are thinking of homeschooling, I would encourage you to check out a cc community, or maybe another co-op in your area.  If there are any question I can answer, I will do my best.  Again, I understand that homeschooling is not for everyone, so please keep comments respectful.

For now, I will leave you with some fun Latin noun cases! A video featuring the lovely Miss L and the accompanying printable...ENJOY!

ipsa scientia potestas est!

(Knowledge itself is power)

(click to print)