It\u2019s that time of year again, the last week of school, where I feel the mental and physical exhaustion of an entire school year catch up to me.\u00a0 As I crawl across the finish line, I wonder if I have the strength and stamina to do it again next year (or ever!)\u00a0 In my mind I know that it\u2019s mere weeks until I start perusing curriculum sites and getting excited for the new year to begin, but for now I\u2019m thinking that sending them to school next year might be a welcome break.\u00a0 In the midst of questioning yet again whether or not I\u2019m actually ruining my children, I got the confirmation I really needed.<\/p>\n
A year ago this week, we moved to Texas.\u00a0 My sweet #3 was not so sweet any longer.\u00a0 He had spent his one and only year in public school (we thought we needed special ed help\u2026.we don\u2019t) and he had learned some new words, phrases and gestures that I know<\/i> didn\u2019t come from my house.\u00a0 ( I have a potty mouth, but even I don\u2019t say this kind of stuff.)\u00a0 It was significant enough that I worried about him as I sent him out to play in his new neighborhood.\u00a0 Reports came back to me of what he\u2019d said or done, and I would cringe.\u00a0 I spent a lot of time last June apologizing for him, and even more time lecturing<\/strike> discussing it with him.\u00a0 I mourned the gentle soul we had lost in one year of traditional schooling.<\/p>\n
It was yesterday, while talking to my neighbor, that I knew he had returned to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a different boy. Completely different\u201d She told me.\u00a0 \u201cLast year he was so angry, and so crude\u2026\u2026but the boy he is today would never think to say the things he did last summer.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the anger has come out of him.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it is.<\/p>\n
Homeschooling detractors often criticize us for \u201cbrainwashing\u201d our children.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never really been sure what they meant by that until now.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019d agree.\u00a0 It took an entire year to wash the ugliness out of his head that his public school peers and that one nasty teacher put into it.\u00a0 But here we are in June, the ugliness and anger are gone, and the boy we love has come back to us.<\/p>\n
Every year I wonder if I\u2019m ruining them by keeping them home.\u00a0 Every once in a while, I get the reassurance I so badly need.\u00a0 I\u2019m not ruining them at all.\u00a0 I\u2019m preserving the people God created them to be.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s that time of year again, the last week of school, where I feel the mental and physical exhaustion of an entire school year catch up to me.\u00a0 As I crawl across the finish line, I wonder if I have the strength and stamina to do it again next year (or ever!)\u00a0 In my mind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n