After our first 6 weeks: Even though I was homeschooled myself and so the concept of teaching my kids probably was half as daunting as it might be for others embarking on this style of schooling, I was still not looking forward to the added load.
However:
1. After just the first week I noticed my eldest showering me with affection like I’d never seen before. I was filling up her quality time tank I didn’t realize was so empty.
2. I found myself not rushing the kids to bedtime anymore. I actually wanted to spend more time with them! Where before I stressed over what else to do with my kids for 3 hours until dad got home (after I’d exhausted everything I could think of) it’s exhausting managing 3 kids 4 years old and under.
However surprisingly homeschooling brought this flexible “school-time” card I could pull out whenever I started to feel the overwhelm! It’s funny I didn’t realize I needed more routine and structure in our family life since I already know I thrive in organization.
3. As a third culture kid I grew up in a life lived kind of on the front line of a lot of the worlds pressing issues. I had a friend who’s dad was beheaded by extremist Muslims and I had multiple wonderful Muslim friends. I translated for visiting dental teams providing dental work for families that lived in garbage dumps. I lived in a city during a terrorist attack that crippled the local economy for years (the bombs literally shook our house). I helped relocate bricks carefully scavenged by the poor to build homes on top of garbage to the other side of the dump because developers were turning their current homes into a golf course.
Having this kind of a life makes it hard to appreciate the seemingly trivial things in life.
So the greatest gift homeschooling and especially tutoring other kids this first year has given me is an appreciation for the wonder in the small things. That childlike wonder of discovering something for the first time. Relearning the almost impossible feat of how planets stay in perfect orbits sustaining life! It’s amazing!!!
What is a seemingly small wonder in this world you can think of that frequently gets overlooked?
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