The only THING I want out of my life… is a better life for my kids.
Is it too cliché?
Well it is true.
I want to homeschool my kids
I want to unschool my kids
I want to TEACH MY CHILDREN to the best of my ability and hope that others can HELP ME do that along the way… because I may have a masters in Science (marine biology science) but I really can NOT help them “get” history or math further than algebra….. (calculus was a seriously tough class for me in college… perhaps it was the horrid teacher but still… I just couldn’t pass it to save my life)…
I want my children to LEARN ART. To learn MUSIC. OMG to learn HONESTY and DIGNITY. To learn how IMPORTANT it is to WORK and to be PROUD of your work and not just do it for a “SCORE” on a test.
I want to bring them up with the values that were taught to children 50 years ago.
I want to teach them how to garden. How to hunt. How to COOK GOOD FOOD.
How to recognize JUNK food and food that is worth NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE.
I get upset. Slightly. When I see people so unaware of these things that mean so much to me.
I know others “get it” like I do… but I have yet to fit into a community that embraces such “liberal” lifestyle as the one I envision.
I want my kids to grow up with books. With libraries. With EDCUATED adults. With ART. With MUSIC. (Have I made my point with art/music yet) —- Teach them with back yard fires late summer nights and field trips to museums to learn about more things that I can’t GIVE THEM sitting at home looking on the computer.
My now 6, 5, and (almost) 3 year olds are at a very clear age where they are being aware of what education is (the other two) and they actually APPERCIATE what I do with them at home and they ENJOY the “homeschooling” that we do at home. I make it into a game usually.. or it’s part of a reward system that I explain to them (do this worksheet and MAKE SURE YOU “get it” before you can go “veg out” in front of the TV for 30 minutes).
My kids are surrounded by school. I have people ASK ME wherever I go “do you homeschool them” because I stop everyone in their every day adventures to TEACH MY KIDS and if those other people don’t like it then so be it… go to another line (at the store) or fine another playground (where we are comparing trees loudly).
I make my kids count out pennies, dimes, quarters, etc. I make my kids figure out the time on the clock at the bank. I make my kids “spell the word PLANE” when they’re playing a game … then QUIZ THEM… “What’s the “other Plain” the kind of plain yogurt” and then they spell both versions…..
I make my kids sit still and work on a math worksheet of 100 math problems when I have to wait at the Verizon store to get a new phone. I make my kids do their flash cards (of their sight words) before they get out of the car every single day before school or before we go to the playground.
I soooooooooooooooooooooooo WISH nothing more than to just HOMESCHOOL THEM full time.
but this chaos in life has lead me to a place where the only thing I can do is take every single day and make the most of it and still teach them what I can while being stressed to my max and uncertain of the future.
This chaos in life has lead me to teach them about CULTURE and SOCIETY that I could never teach them back in a TINY TINY TINY town in upstate New York… They have learned first hand what it means to be “rich” and “poor” … what it means to be “Mexican” or “inheritance money” or “welfare” and I have (TRIED) to instill in them that we are still ALL THE SAME under it all.. under all the labels…
They have friends from different countries. They have friends from different states. They are making connections and seeing faces that are dissimilar to their own (which they would NOT have gotten in upstate NY in the cycle of chaos that we were living in for the past 8 years).
I hope for nothing but the best.
I hope for all good things.
I am still forgiving and willing to look past it all.
I am ready to help build a foundation for my kids that they will never 100% be able to understand but I know at this moment I have the drive and it stays the same in me throughout it all.
I just have to keep moving forward. One day at a time. One foot in front of another.
One small hurdle at a time.
success.
We will make it.
I know it.
🙂
Love you guys.
CAC (2014 is going to be great… let’s just keep thinking positive)
Love, Mom (Mama)
Compass Adventures 