Brittany is a young mom. She has the common frustrations, fears and failures. The kids act up. She wonders if she's having a positive impact. She gets upset (but no more than her husband). Brittany currently has two little girls who try her patience, pick their noses and get incredibly excited when the rat takes a piece of hot dog from their hands. It's a fairly typical young family.
I mean, you have a pet rat. Right? Right?
And like most young families, these girls are learning at home. They're learning how to get dressed, how to not talk with their mouths full, how to identify shapes and colors, as well as how to play well with their sister.
But the fear lingers: Are the kids learning anything?
Brittany is happy to announce that, yes, yes they are! In fact, after many... many... many admonitions to keep her mouth closed while chewing, Brittany has seen some considerable improvement in the three year old. Brittany was so excited, she told me about it on the phone today.
This is home education.
And home education works.
Children all over the world learn how to tie their shoes, scribble pictures, count, sing, recognize shapes, identify animals and plants, attach significance to dates and so much more!
...all at home.
And that is why homeschooling is such a great option. Homeschooling is merely a natural continuation of something every parent does with the children they care for.
I've said all this before. But today I'm seeing it play out in my own house.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father
Ariana, I'd be honored if you quoted/linked to me on your blog! <smile>
Thanks, Butter!
Se7en, there are absolutely those "other days" out there <smile>.
Heather, some people may think you're weird to feed the bats. I don't think so. I think it's cool! But, then again, we have a rat, so take it for what it's worth <smile>.
Thanks, Kim! It is nice to have those little reminders.
I agree, Mary Grace. <smile>
I like that, Deanna, "parenting is 'the toughest job you'll ever love.'" <smile> I don't doubt it for a minute. And we feel so blessed to have so many people praying for us and encouraging us! Thank you so much!
~Luke
So glad to hear things are going well with the girls. It's been said that parenting is "the toughest job you'll ever love." My own daughters are 13 and 9 now, and things have improved over the preschool years, but that alternating exasperation and exhilaration has to be one of the most difficult parts of parenting. The challenges change, but the up-and-down continues (especially if you end up with girls - grin!).
Anyway, please know there are people all over the country who are praying for you, for Brittany, and for the girls (as well as for their family).
You are exactly right about learning happening at home! the longer I homeschool, the more convinced I become that this is how God meant things to be. I hope you enjoy the learning adventure!
No rat, but we are in the process of looking for a snake for Logan. Atticus wants a rat, but having a rat and a snake as pets in the same house seems ... wrong. :-)
How excitng, truely, Luke!!!
I am so very happy to read this positive report!! How exciting that is!
No pet rat here, but we do have a guinea pig. And 6 cats at the moment (4 are kittens and are leaving). And 4 birds inside (finches) and not to mention we feed the outside birds and bats. Do bats make me weird? I mean, as normal as you & your rat?
I am so glad it's going better with your girls. There are days when I think my are absolutely brilliant and they are learning so much, and then there are other days!!!
And we don't have a rat (one we would like to share our hot dog with anyway). We don't do pets in general.
http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/09/13/pets-we-dont
That's wonderful, Luke!
I've been asked a lot on my blog why I decided to homeschool and this post pretty much sums it up!
I might use this part of your post:
"Homeschooling is merely a natural continuation of something every parent does with the children they care for."
When I do get around to blogging the story of how we started homeschooling. And of course I'll give you credit.
Brittany is an amazing woman to take care of those little girls and to care so much about the impact she's having on them :) Truly amazing.