A few nights ago, at the dinner table, Mr. Stannix and I had another conversation about homeschooling vs. the school system. Growing up, I was home schooled for almost half of my schooling career. I loved the fact that in my elementary years I was at home with my Mum and family learning and growing and taking part in different opportunities that were presented to me outside of an elementary classroom on a farm. Life couldn't have been any better! I did my school in the morning and got to live life to its fullest all afternoon. We played on our jungle gym, fed chickens, learned about life, and laughed the afternoon away on the swings or making mud pies.
On Sunday, we had a lesson in Relief Society from a talk titled "Let There Be Light!" by Elder Quentin L. Cook. We discussed pros and cons of homeschooling our children as well as our belief in the school system and our communities. We basically came to the conclusion that, like Elder Cook says, "we should be a source of light in protecting our communities."
Mr. Stannix has always supported me in my aspirations to home school our children. My biggest reason for wanting to is not that I don't believe in our school system (because I attended public school and enjoyed it), but more because I want our kids to be able to be kids. I want them to be able to enjoy life at a young age instead of being in a classroom for six hours a day. We talked about how important it is for us to believe in the school system and to believe that there is still good in the world. And if we support our school system, our kids could be that light in helping to protect our community.
At the end of our conversation, Mr. Stannix and I agreed that our kids would always know that we strongly believe in the school system. We want them to be successful and to pursue a secondary education. We want them to delight in knowledge and to work hard.
Just before the conversation was finished, I had to clarify with Mr. Stannix that he was still okay with me homeschooling for part if not all of their elementary years (of course he was). For some reason, my eyes started getting all watery. I re-explained that the only reason I wanted to home school our children is so that they could enjoy being kids. It's such a short time. I wanted them home so that I could teach them and love them and instill in them a value for family relationships and a love for their Savior. I explained that I couldn't imagine Camilla as a five year old being away from me for so long in a day and that I wanted her home, safe with me, for at least a little while (at this point I was crying). I think that when Camilla does go off to school, I will be crying my eyes out! For some reason, I like my children close by where I can hug and kiss them whenever I please and watch them grow and change. I couldn't imagine anyone else doing that for me.
Mr. Stannix agreed with me and came around the table and embraced me in a big hug and said, "That's what I love about you". And I'm glad he does. So, for as long as I can, I am going to enjoy every new word, every new discovery, every expression of love, every giggle, every bedtime story, every spiritual moment, and everything else that may come our way until our children enter the big world on their own!
2 comments:
Beautiful post Addie, you will do terrific at homeschooling. Actually I was hoping we would both be in the ward long enough to do joy school together with our girls (have you heard of it?).
Have totally heard of it! That would be fun!
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