The Clean Out

Rebekah now has 2 degrees, Deborah has 1 and is married, Leah has a degree and is married, and Hannah will graduate college in December. Moriah will be a senior in high school in the fall, so my homeschooling days are basically over. Now it is finally time for the clean out of home school stuff.

I saved every paper, and I mean every paper, my girls wrote on during their years of homeschool. I am not just talking research type papers, I am talking daily work, tests, learning to write, rewrites, book reports, schedules, you name it-if they wrote on it, I saved it.

I have rather enjoyed it, to be honest.  Reliving those days through these papers I realized just how busy I really was then. I did a lot of work in those days! Teaching, planning, making up tests, grading papers, not to mention taking care of the ones not old enough for school. Then there was the housework, cooking, taking girls to gymnastics, or dance; the occasional field trips, doctors appointments (and with 5 children there were a lot of those). And I would even try to get some sewing done for days like Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, or just play clothes. No wonder I was always tired!

It has been interesting to look back and see how the girls improved over the years in their skills of writing,  not just the way the letters were formed, but the content of what they would have to say. A good amount of their work included their family. When they would have to write an original sentence, more than 50% of the time a family member was mentioned. You can also see their spiritual growth through their work. I guess I was teaching them more than I realized at the time.

Rebekah started mentioning being a nurse in the 4th grade. Now she is an RN.
Deborah mentioned doing interior design and being a mom teaching her own children. Now she does beautiful work on weddings, events, and even in her own home. She is raising my 2 granddaughters with love and discipline.
Leah started showing interest in dance around 4th or 5th grade. Now she has a dance degree and is teaching other little girls how to dance.
Hannah showed signs of being very meticulous in her work at an early age. She is that way to this day-everything must be perfect.
I have not come to Moriah's work passed 1st grade yet, but I am sure I will find some interesting insights when I do.

When I began to think about homeschooling my children 30 years ago, I did not stop to think about the fact that one day I would be finished with homeschooling. It has been a true education for me, as well as for my children. I know I have learned more teaching my own children than I ever learned in my school days. I am not sure if all of my girls enjoyed their days in home school, but they knew that was the way we chose to educate them and there was no other option. It was our way of life; everything centered around our home school. Now they will have to make that important decision concerning the education of their children. My prayer for them is that they prayerfully consider all their options and make wise decisions. The education of our children is so important. These days safety and morality are becoming bigger issues in the educational arena that parents must constantly be on guard.

After I finish going through all the paper work of school, I will move on to books. Oh, that is going to really be difficult. Something in me has an extremely hard time getting rid of a book, even if it was seatwork! And then there's the mountain of books for a particular curriculum or unit study. This is going to be hard! I have thought about keeping all those hundreds of books and being a lending library!

Well, I will get through this and move on to the next phase of what life has in store for me. If I could pass on any piece of wisdom I have gained through this experience, it is to enjoy each and every day to the fullest. It is so very true that time flies. The passed 20 years were full of everything imaginable, but now they are memories. Children grow up fast; one day they are your precious little baby, and the next they are graduating high school. I would also advise parents to not always be looking for the next phase of their child's development. It will happen; enjoy the phase they are in now!

On to the next box!