heartofdakota.com

Hello All,

I know this is not a curriculum question, but I just love the biblical perspective on this board. I know I will recv. sound wisdom!

Have any of you ever felt that your home needed a time of scaling back on homeschooling for the purpose of working on other issues at home (sorry for the run-on!)? We really believe the Lord is leading us in this direction. There are other areas of our life that have gone unattended for too long. I am still learning how to balance homeschooling with life! To be brutally honest, my husband and I agree that our marriage needs work. Our home needs work. Other matters need the attention that I normally give to homeschooling. If the Lord is truly leading us to this, my plan is to only do math with the kids and nothing else...for however long we are supposed to have a "break."

Have any of you been through this?? Can you share about it?? It has been difficult for me to accept this!

Thank you!
Liz

Well, I haven't been in exactly the same situation, but earlier this year we scaled back to just math and reading for about 6 weeks while I finished up morning sickness... My kids re-adapted to full school just fine. I added back our history first, and then a couple of days later the science with it, and then the other boxes by the next week.

To your situation, though, IMO home schooling is about way more than just academics! Our homes and families should be top proirity, and by making this tough decision, that's the message you're going to be sending to your kiddos! Hat's off to you! I'm betting that those other things will fall into place way faster when you're not stretched so thin with a school schedule.

First off...
Will be praying for you and your husband...and that God's hand and will be your direction and healing.

Follow God's leading on the matter, putting the priority for marriage is wise, you need your partner in the decisions of your life, but always keep Him first.
My husband and I did face a time that we had to put many aspects of our lives on hold and focus on our marriage. We ended up putting dd in public school for a few months (not the best choice, but it was something that helped us realize that we really needed each other and our family together).

Academically go half pace or with the plan you've had in mind...

I understand completely about the house issue..we are struggling to make repairs on a limited income and limited time. So during the month of Dec. dd will focus only on math and language arts, as the meat of CTC (history and science) will have been completed by the end of Nov. We will pick up our regular schedule after the holidays. This will leave me with more time to focus on cleaning, and helping my husband with repairs to the home.

Again, I will be praying for you and your family...

Just wanted to say that I also agree this is very legitimate. I have done it before where we scale back to only HOD and Bible and even skip math and LA. I have done it where we have taken a season and done nothing but Bible. I have cut out extras just because we needed a firm routine.This year I gave up our chronological study of the Bible for an in depth study on James. I feel really committed to the chronological reading of the Bible together but I felt that God was showing me that we (and I heavily include "I" in that statement of "we") needed James. I felt we really needed it and I make that our first priority and let everything else fall where it may. God has always blessed putting the important things first. Biblically your marriage comes first. We also have some heavy family issues right now and that comes first for us. I will go half speed with HOD if I need to and take breaks as we need. Structure is a high need and so for us we will not leave HOD completely out. But if I felt like God was blessing time in the Bible and that was translating into our life I would completely go with that for however long I felt no matter what it seemed the consequence of that would be. I feel really led to continue with HOD and God has made that so crystal clear for us so many times that more than likely we are more inclined to slow down than to stop. But everyone one is different and God has very different things for all of us. I would pray and ask God to give clear direction then go with what your discernment is telling you completely guilt free. God is so good with these kinds of things. I have seen him really multiply our time to allow for things like this. Praying you will find the perfect call for you and your family now.

Dear Liz,
God is so good to make His will known to us when we ask Him. His Word clearly says that if we pray for wisdom He will give it. (James 1) My prayer for you and your husband is that He will grant you the wisdom to know what is best as you diligently seek Him. It sounds like He is already directing your path!

As to your question, yes. There have been seasons in our lives when we have decided that our homeschooling was not going to include the "academics." Personally, as a former public school teacher, I had a difficult time letting the academics go...but, God clearly directed us that we needed to school our children other ways for a short time. Listening to God and being sensitive to His voice are so important while we travel our homeschool journey. No two families are alike.

And, time invested in building a strong marriage will result in a healthier, happier home. And, a stronger home to school your kids.

Praying the Lord's blessings and peace upon you and your family. May He work out any difficulties in your marriage for His glory!

Yes! to the original post. I've scaled back and worked only on learning how to do chores, and in another season we worked only on the basics. We've had a rotation of doing science with the basics for 6 weeks and then history with the basics for 6 weeks. It all works. Balance is the operative word. And what balance is to you, maybe totally different to someone else - it's not necessarily 50/50.

Thank you all for the encouragement!! It has been a difficult thing to accept right now. But we must do what God is leading us to. I am hoping that this will be a time of refreshment and growth in our home and marriage.

Thanks again,
Liz

Are you using HOD already? How many years have you homeschooled?

I wasn not using HOD last year with both of my children (just my youngest) and I had a really tough year. While my marriage is better than ever, I was overwhelmed in school and it was taking all day long. I did take the time off that I needed, got through the year, and then felt God leading me back to HOD for my oldest. I have to say that this year has been the most peaceful and precious year yet. I do not question what my kids are learning. Our days are usually finished by 1:30 at the latest. That gives me time for the other things that I always felt never got done. HOD has been such a God-send for our family!

I will pray that you find what you are looking for and that you can give yourself permission to take the time you need to get things back on track in your life. God bless!

Tree House Academy,

This is only our 2nd year of homeschooling and I am exhausted!! We are using DITHOR and Preparing Hearts (we took a break from Preparing to do some interest led unit studies). I will do LHFHG sometime next year with ds4.
Our children are dd10, ds8, ds4, and ds23mnths. HOD definitely makes homeschooling very "doable"....

I certainly do not mean this as a "pity-party", but I do not have much support from my husband (as wonderful as he is) and that has really added to my feeling over-burdened. He is a full time firefighter for the city we live in, and he is also a sales/estimator for a local construction company. I am thankful for his hard work!! He is the hardest working man I know but just not home much. My point....I am flying solo on the running of the home/disciplining the kids/etc, etc! It has always been this way, but it is really causing us to question whether or not I can keep homeschooling. I know it is not easy for anyone, but when the majority of your days seem stress-filled and exhausting something is wrong!! The problem may very well be me and my own character that God is trying to do a work in. All I know is that many days I run out of steam before the day is over....I don't want our home to be like that!!

We need the Lord to show us what to do.

I want our home and homeschool to be a place of joy and abundance, not a place of "want" and discouragement.
I definitely KNOW that we MUST go back to using ONLY HOD! My words in July were.."Preparing Hearts makes our homeschool possible!" High prep materials overwhelm and discourage me (maybe thats just me).
Hope I haven't discouraged anyone with this! Thank you for letting me be honest. I appreciate you all.

Liz