Homeschool

I wanted to share with you a few things about our home school in case you were interested. I know that other blogs and talking to friends have helped us create what plan works for us in our home.

Our home school name: Kingdom Kids Academy                                                          We are in South Carolina and our accountability group is SCAIHS. We are required to pick a name for our home school. We chose this name because we desire to see our children  have a Kingdom mentality. We desire that all they put their mind to will be for the benefit of the Kingdom of God and for the glory of God.

Why do we home school?                                                                                                            We home school because we desire for our children to learn from a Biblical Worldview. We desire to have a tight family unit. We want to also have time to train them in their gifts and talents so that they are ready and able to minister for the Lord in any way He desires to use them. With these reasons in mind, we knew that public school nor Christian school were an option for our family.

Will we always home school?                                                                                                        I LOVE homeschooling our children. My husband LOVES that I home school our children. It is a great fit for our family, but I cannot say for sure. (this sounds like it sort of contradicts the last point, but bear with me). The reason I say that is because my greatest desire is to obey God with every aspect of my life. In order to do that I cannot write my own story. HE has to write it. I learned a long time ago to never say never, because sometimes those are the very things you end up doing. I said I would NEVER home school until about year and a half before my daughter was to start school.

Is homeschooling hard?                                                                                                           YES, it is hard. We have really great days and we have some pretty tough days. BUT what in life isn't this way? Everybody has great days and tough days. I would trade nothing in the world for the days that I have with my children. It is often hard because there is very little time for me to breathe between wife, mommy, home, home school duties (not to mention, I am a children's minster). But I am joyful because I am in the middle of God's will for my life. I wouldn't be happy doing anything else! He is the One who breathes His strength into me each and every day.

**You may not home school and you are reading this post today, I want to encourage you: home school may not be an option for your family for many reasons. That is ok. You have to do what you feel is right for your family. My biggest challenge to ALL families, homeschooling or not: have a plan. I know you are tired of hearing it, but with no plan you really do not go anywhere. How will you help lead your family to Jesus? How do you plan to help them grow up to be disciples of Christ.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

~On Tuesday I will be talking a little more about vision.

 

 

 

Break Time

We are officially on the countdown until our home school break. I am excited for several reasons:

• We get a BREAK! I am in much need of a break and so are the kids. We are apart of Classical Conversations and we are in our last week before Christmas break as well. We will have a couple more weeks of music, but that is ok.


• I LOVE this time of year and I like to have time to help my children really focus on the meaning of Christmas. We will do many little fun outings and we will read Christmas books to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. We do our advent study during this time. We also do a countdown until Christ's birthday. We will also have a Birthday party for Jesus. Last year the children decided they wanted cookies and no cake. (I am ok with that because I never chose cakes for my birthday cake, I chose apple pie!)


• We have chosen to take a long break because this time of year can get busy and stressful. I desire for my family to make memories and peaceful memories. NOT memories where mama was running around all crazy. Well~ that last part still happens, but not as bad.

I will share with you what we do as a family through the Christmas holidays. We seem to do "a lot" of different things as we focus on Christ. I am sure you will think how in the world does she do all that?!? But we break it up through the day and since we are NOT doing school it is doable. And we do not always finish everything. We try our best, but we are human and not perfect ~ trying to be real here.

The things we do is an intentional effort to help my children stay focused on the real meaning of Christmas. It is hard for us adults. We love the sights and sounds of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, my children LOVE watching Hallmark movies with Santa. We do not do Santa in our home ~ that's a story for another time. Nothing against Santa ~ we just choose to focus on Christ. This helps to keep us as a family intentional about the holiday. I feel that with so many voices screaming at us to focus on gifts and Santa, we have to be intentional or we will get lost in the fun part and really never focus on the real reason for the season.

Disclaimer: We still leave out cookies and milk for Santa. My daughter knows it's mama and daddy, but it's fun for us and them. AND I do have pictures of my children with Santa each year (unless we just couldn't get them to sit in his lap). We will continue to do that until they do not want to.

My challenge to you as you are approaching the holiday season: How will you be intentional this Christmas season? Do you have a plan? Give yourself a break: doing something is better than nothing. You do not have to do it all. Ask God to direct you to the resources He wants you to use this Christmas season in your home.

*I forgot to mention: Our home school break starts Friday and we will resume a few days after the New Year, depending on what day Daddy goes back to work. We did start in June.