heartofdakota.com

Dear Ladies,

I mentioned on a recent thread that my husband and I believe that God is leading us to break from homeschooling for a short time. This is for the purpose of really focusing our energy on other areas of our home that God says He wants to "overhaul". We are excited to see what He is going to do!!! He has already begun a fresh work in my heart and our marriage. PTLord!!

God willing, we will restart our schooling the 1st or 2nd week of January. He has shown me of changes needed in our homeschool. Here have been the problems that have caused hschooling to be more difficult than intended:

1. Trying to "school" in a way that is just simply too much work for the mother. I tend to bite of more than I can chew, expect more than I can give. I pile on the projects, etc. and in turn end up overwhelmed and discouraged!!

2. Trying to combine my 2 oldest dc when it is just NOT a good fit for either of them (and me). They are only 2 years apart in age, but worlds apart academically and maturity level. They just don't mix together in any single way right now!! It has been like a battle to try and do so. My oldest, ddalmost 11, has just not been challenged enough because I have been trying to make it appropriate for her younger brother. She needs work that truly meets her where she is at. This is where HOD comes in!!

3. Allowing a place for doubt in my homeschooling. If I allow doubt to come in I have seen that I will "be like a wave of the sea..unstable in all my ways." I must plant my feet on the Lord and move FORWARD!!

This is where our NEW HOD plan comes in....I have been combing two oldest in Preparing Hearts. It is great but dsalmost9 just fits better into Bigger Hearts academically. My daughter, as I said, is ready for more of a challenge and (more importantly) to seperate from her little brother. So.....my dd almost 11 will be in CTC starting in January, and I will be putting my ds almost 9 in Bigger Hearts!! HOORAAAYYYYY!!!! Only HOD makes this possible. I am ready to fully accept HOD as written instead of trying to do it "my way" and giving myself a huge headache and panic attack !!

God is good. I am so thankful for the HOD ministry. My daughter is really excited about CTC. And I will be so happy to feel like I have a little bit of "life" back with "school" laid out for me in the guides!!

Sorry so long...hope this helps someone today!!

Thanking God,
Liz

Rejoicing in the peace and plan that the Lord has given you.

Liz,
What a great post! I just wanted to say that I have 2 daughters who are 9 and 11 and we did Preparing together last year. My oldest would get bored and quickly completed her work, while her younger sister still had plenty to do. Before the year was out, I had moved my 11 year old up to CTC and she was thrilled. She loved having her "own" work and guidebook and working at her own pace (not her sister's). Her sister felt some pressure lifted from her to hurry up and do something, so big sis didn't have to wait around. Both were much happier. I found it wasn't very difficult doing 2 separate guides, mostly b/c my 11 year old did pretty much everything (with a few exceptions) without my help. This year she is continuing in CTC at full speed, while my 9 year old started out in CTC at half-speed, til she got the hang of everything. They are many units apart at this stage, so we avoid fighting or comparing and all that. Blessings to you in your decision.
Brenda

Liz - I am really, truly, happy, happy, happy for you!!! Your post has such potential joy in it, and I think this break, and your HOD plan for each of your dc, are really going to work together to make this fresh start inspiring. I'm excited for you! That list you gave is so honest, and it is full of some pretty amazing reflections. I try to do this too, but I need to do it on a more regular basis, rather than waiting until it's totally obvious I need to change something about the way I'm going about things. This kind of stepping back and truly assessing what's going on can really make a difference in our ability to happily homeschool to the finish. This is kind of OT, but in the marriage realm, doing "The Love Dare" for my dh did wonders for me. I did it for my dh, and it taught me a lot about loving him. I wish he'd done it too, but I still learned so very much doing it on my own. I think if the 2 of you did it together, the results could be amazing. Even if just you did it though, I think it's well worth it too. Anyway - I'm celebrating this with you today, and praying for God to bless your endeavors mightily!

In Christ,
Julie

Liz,

Another wife and homeschooling Mom rejoicing with you! It sounds like you have some fresh energy in mind & spirit! Woohoo. I do hope and pray (I'll pray for you right now, Okay?! Praying done .) that these changes will breathe new life into your home and homeschool and marriage. I like how you referred to HOD as a ministry!

Katrina

Liz,

I'm so glad that you have a plan and have had a chance to regroup. Deciding whether to separate or combine your children is honestly a journey that each family must take, and that journey can look different for each family. I know that I had to come to a point in my homeschooling too where I realized that my older boys were going to need to be separated, both because of their ages and their personalities. It was such a foreign idea to me, as very few companies in homeschool circles discuss separating kiddos as an option, so I somehow felt like I would be doing it wrong and missing out if I separated my boys. For our family, it was just what was needed and actually made my homeschool days less stressful, as each child was being met on his own level.

However, had my boys been closer in age though and not so opposite in personalities, I believe I may have been more successful in combining them for some things. As it is, the wonderful part of HOD is that it will work either way. So, you can truly take the path that works best for your family. What is even better is that as your circumstances change from year to year, you can truly change whether you combine or not, depending on what is best for your family for that year.

Blessings,
Carrie

Ladies,

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I can't describe the peace my husband and I are experiencing right now. Especially about the changes to our homeschool through HOD!

Carrie--you are so right that homeschooling circles do not discuss seperating your children as an option. They all talk about "combine, combine, combine"! For months I have allowed myself to feel like a failure because my older two just do not fit that right now!! I have worried that I am doing us a disservice if they school seperately. I now know that it will only help us to seperate because that is what is needed. We will all benefit from doing what works for us!! HOD is one of the only places where a lot of the families have their children doing seperate guides. It has refreshed me that HOD and the ladies on this board view that as an acceptable way to homeschool!!

Thanks again, all!! Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Choosing joy,
Liz