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I have been doing Bigger and 1/2 speed with my girls, with much success. This week, we had a couple of bad days with my 2 1/2 year old (expected). I mentioned this to my husband and he has now decided that we should 'wait a year' to homeschool and send the girls back to public school. I had SUCH a peace about homeschooling and we were enjoying ourselves so far! My husband was on board with all of this -- obviously because he let me buy the books, etc and re-do our basement family room for a school room! I don't know what is happening or what I should do or say. Please pray for clarity for our family and for me to be obedient to the Lord AND to my husband, no matter what happens. I really, really don't want to send our girls back to that school and they don't want to go. I'm so very confused! Thanks in advance for your prayers!
Stephanie

Oh I am so sorry. Will definitely pray for you. This is very hard. Maybe you could ask your husband for a period of time to keep trying and pray before a decision is made. The first few months of ps tends to be review anyway you would be fine waiting a bit. Meanwhile I know some ladies that have little ones and hs have great ideas on how to combine raising a toddler with hsing. It can be done and it can be a blessing. Praying for your family!

Stephanie,

I will pray for you and your husband! I know what you mean about being obedient to the Lord AND your husband. Even though my dh was the one to first bring up homeschooling in our family, he only wanted me to homeschool my ds & dd for Kindergarten and then send them to ps! After I began researching and praying about homeschool I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do. (And not just for Kindergarten!) Anyway, I held my breath all year last year waiting for my husband to change his mind and let me homeschool my ds for "1st grade" this year! After much prayer and a lot of SILENCE from me, my dh did give me permission. I am already planning to homeschool for many years yet I still wait for the next year to see what my dh says!

I will pray that the Lord will soften your dh's heart or reassure his heart whatever the case may be! Hang in there and trust God!

Something I have learned is to NOT share with my dh about the bad days. I know that sounds terrible, but when he comes home, he doesn't want to hear about all the terrible things that happened in the day. It would be like you going to pick your child up at school and the teacher telling you how terrible she was all day long. I think it is good to discuss issues with your dh when they are things you need insight or help on - things you can't do alone, but I also think that, in being a Godly wife, we sometimes have to shoulder the burdens of our day, lean on the Lord for help and clarity, and show dh the joys that are sometimes hidden in the struggles.

My prayers are with you and your family!

Tree House Academy wrote:Something I have learned is to NOT share with my dh about the bad days. I know that sounds terrible, but when he comes home, he doesn't want to hear about all the terrible things that happened in the day. It would be like you going to pick your child up at school and the teacher telling you how terrible she was all day long. I think it is good to discuss issues with your dh when they are things you need insight or help on. I think that in being a Godly wife, we sometimes have to shoulder the burdens of our day, lean on the Lord for help and clarity, and show dh the joys that are sometimes hidden in the struggles.

My prayers are with you and your family!

SO WELL SAID!! I was actually thinking the same thing, but I just couldn't put it in the right words! I agree!

hugs and prayers

i agree with a previous post. you are the one with your children all day and see the GOOD with the bad. your husband doesn't have to know all the "bad"moments. it may take a little time to tweak your schedule. their may be some rough days. i have an 18 month old as well as a preschooler and Kindergartner. Sometimes we have to "adjust" our schedule. It all works out and we can usually stay pretty well to our tasks. Praying for you. I know there is no other place I would want my kids going to school than here at home and I am blessed to have my husband agree. Hang in there

I've already prayed for you, and I understand your situation all too well. My dh was not completely on board when we began homeschooling, and wasn't for awhile. He needed to be shown the good in homeschooling, because he'd already determined what could go wrong. You may have hit a chord when you confessed the troubles of the day with your dh. I agree with Rebecca - I too have learned the hard way not to share the bad times with dh. Otherwise, that is his impression of how the whole day went (and he imagines every day goes that way ). I felt (and still feel) called by God to homeschool our dc, to bring them up to know God well, and to do so by making Him a part of each day's school (hence the choosing of HOD).

So, I decided to be positive with dh in every way I could about homeschooling. If he called and asked how the day was going, it was always going superbly. Isn't that fake, you ask? No! It was going superbly because in my mind, my worst day at home was still better than their best day at ps would have been. I hung the dc's work on the fridge, and at supper at night I had them tell about what they'd hung on the fridge. I worked my tail off to be sure that our dc were doing well - I got them reading and writing early, and I had them read and write for my dh then - either reading a short excerpt of a book to him before bed, or writing a note for him. When it was time to share Bible verses they'd memorized, I had them call him at work to say them to him (this was a positive thing - my dh loves to hear from them during the day). I also made sure not to fall down on the cooking and cleaning since that is extremely important to my dh. My dh often asked if they'd been outside and how long - ding, ding, ding - I realized this was a big deal to him. So, I scheduled school to start early and finish by lunch. Then, when dh would call I could say the dc had worked hard all morning at school, and had the rest of the day to be outside and play, or work on tearing apart a 3 wheeler, playing with the dogs, or whatever dh desired them to be doing. (I think this was what my dh truly desired as a child, so it gives him great pleasure to know they have time for this.) I also made it clear he could take the dc on an outing at the drop of a hat - want to take them fishing? Great - we'll make that school day up another day. Need their help picking up sticks before you mow? Sure, we'll work around that. This is very appealing to my dh too.

The best things I did was pray, pray, pray for God to change his heart - and He did - over many years. He can do that for you too. I'd explain to your dh things are going great overall - you just had a few bad moments that are easily fixed. Tell him you just needed a little time to adjust and now you are 100% sure this is going to work! Then, make your plan to be show him how great homeschooing is and pray like the dickens. We'll be praying too!

In Christ,
Julie

I'll be praying for you and your dh! I know all to well what you are going through. I admire your commitment to be obedient to your husband even when it's difficult, for in doing this you are being obedient to the Lord. I have bookmarked this thread because there has been a lot of advice that I needed as well.

Leah

Hi,

I will be praying for you as well. I have thought about you several times ever since I read this thread last night. How difficult this situation must feel for you right now. Keep being obedient to God. That will win over your husband in the end. And in times like these it might sound silly, but I like to say, "Chin up!!!!" Hang in there. I will be checking back on this thread if you want to keep us updated!! "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it." I Thes. 5:24.

Prayers,

Liz
dh of 11yrs.
dd9, ds7, ds3, ds7months

Stephanie,

I will say a prayer for you and for your family too. I know that homeschooling with little ones, especially in the toddler stage, can be difficult. But, whenever I am asked how I can possibly homeschool with a baby or a toddler in the house, I always respond that it is SO MUCH easier than having 30 kids vying for my attention in the classroom at one time (like I did when I was a public school teacher).

I also agree with the ladies that I have had to work to focus on the positive when my husband first walks through the door. I learned this from my older sister (who has 7 children). She told me that one year her husband thought she was having a terrible year homeschooling when she actually thought all was going well. She said she realized that his entire perception of her day was based on the five-minute run-down she gave him of everything that was falling apart at 5:15 when he walked through the door. I realized at that point that I do the same thing. By the time it is supper time, I have forgotten the joys of the morning and lunch and am usually dealing with supper preparation, messes, and a cranky toddler or baby who has just woken from a nap.

All of this to say that now I do try to file away in my mind throughout the day a few great moments that I can share with my hubby when he walks through the door (so he gets a fuller picture of our day based on something other than the last few hours).

Blessings,
Carrie

I, too, agree with all the previous posts about sharing the positive with your husband. I also think that men, by nature, are fixers. They want to offer a solution for a problem ,and he probably think he is helping out with a solution to a stated problem.


Patti

Thank you so much for all of your wisdom and insight! It is bringing tears to my eyes to read all of your responses - thank you for taking the time! As soon as those negative words were out of my mouth, I KNEW I had done the wrong thing to complain. Sometimes my mouth works before my brain does! Praise God - we've decided to go on with our homeschooling plans! My husband even finished painting our school room over the weekend, and moved the girls' desks down there. Now the next step is telling our parents... I plan to spend a lot of time in prayer for that situation. I'm so glad and thankful that we can lift each other up in prayer. Awesome!! Thanks again, ladies!
Stephanie

How wonderful! I am so happy for you. Praying you have a blessed year! Maybe you can have a little play center for the little one in there that is sort of enclosed. I did that when I was hsing with a baby and it worked well. Anyway praising God with you!

Praise the Lord! I have been wondering what became of your situation. I'm so glad that hubby had a change of heart. What's funny is when I read about you worrying about telling your folks I went looking for a post that I read about this subject. When I found it I realized it was yours. So, go back to that post and reread those encouraging words and pray! Here's the link so you don't have to go digging. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4486 BTW, that post was very helpful to me a couple weeks ago when I read it, thanking the Lord that wasn't an issue for me, then on vacation I got blindsided by my Granny of all people! I was able to answer confidently that, "No, I don't think they are missing out and Yes, I think they are getting a good education, and (most importantly) what the schools are teaching these days just doesn't line up with our family's beliefs." You can do it!

Leah