A Home of Learning

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a homeschool retreat focused on using homeschool as a way to build a Christ-centered home. The retreat was for homeschooling mamas who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and who want to be a force for good in their families and in the world. It was a wonderful two days and I'm grateful for David for taking care of the kids so I could attend - and grateful for my Lucy-love who came with me and was the sweetest, most well-behaved baby in all the land. 

Homeschooling is hard, you know? Not in the ways that you think it will be. Teaching math, language arts, science, etc... takes balance to fit it all in - but it's not the really soul-wrenching kind of hard. The hardest part of homeschooling is knowing that you've taken the weight of education upon your own shoulders and that you're responsible for teaching the most important things. What things are those? I don't think that the most important things will be found in a math or a science textbook. It's not in the spelling words or the journal essays. The most important work is done in the heart. It's in the relationships, the confidence being built, and the exposure to faith, prayer, and the spirit. 

I saw an example of someone's reaction to the thought that "you can't have your kids live in a bubble" where it explained that homeschool isn't a bubble, it's a greenhouse. 

A bubble stifles growth and blocks out nutrients. A greenhouse provides an environment for cultivation.
Children’s hearts need to be “greenhoused” before they’re ready to be transplanted out into the world. We release when their roots are deep and they are mature enough to withstand the storms, not beforehand.
While they're still under our protection, we take the responsibility for engaging them in learning about different cultures, ideologies and values. They should only know worldly teachings enough that they will be inoculated against them.
It's neither parenting out of fear or legalism, nor going to the opposite extreme of being too permissive.
No, our kids shouldn't grow up in a bubble. But they shouldn't be left exposed to the harsh outside elements, either.
The greenhouse of our home has all the right conditions for those young seeds to grow and flourish.

I love this explanation. It's not out of fear. It's out of love. It's about protecting and allowing deep, healthy growth to take place in a way that will be long-lasting and focused on the right things. I've often said that I have a Homeschooling Heart - that's why I chose to homeschool. I like to have my children close to me, to help teach them, to have the time, space, structure to help them learn and grow - and more particularly to learn and grow in areas that are the very most important. 

Here are some screenshots of a few of the takeaways from the conference: 

I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the idea of starting another year of homeschool because I didn't prep as much as I was hoping to before Lucy was born. I'm so glad that I got to go to this retreat to help stoke the homeschooling flames and to remind myself of WHY I am choosing to walk this path. It may not be the path we always walk. But I will never regret the time spent cultivating love, goodness, and learning in my home.