A couple passages from a book that I wanted to share....

I am reading this book right now called "Homeschooling - Take a Deep Breath, You Can Do This". It is a great book and is written by a Mom who home schooled her kids for many years. There is a chapter in it called, "The Good Stuff Most People Won't Tell You". It lists about fifteen wonderful things about homeschooling. One of them really stood out to me and I wanted to post some it for whoever is interested.

"Your children will grow up knowing you better than their traditionally schooled friends know their parents

We always know best those we spend the most meaningful time with. When my children were traditionally schooled, they had a very long bus ride in each direction. By the time they got home, rested, and did their homework and chores, there was barely time to play, much less have family quality time.... My children spent more time in school than they did at home with me doing what I wanted them to do each day.
I began to see that their teachers had more influence over their values and ideas than I did. Since I was responsible for the way they turned out, I was concerned. By the time my children came home from school, they were tired. They had been with other people all day long and just wanted time alone. They didn't want to think or have serious discussions. I began to feel I was losing control of our relationship simply because we didn't have any time together.
As your children get older they will begin to develop different ideas that don't always match your own and they will spend more time away from you. This is natural and healthy. However, removing your influence from your child too soon can be dangerous. The popular view is that children should develop their own beliefs, and this is true...eventually. However, a child needs some sort of foundation for the building of beliefs to be placed upon. ..... The best way to give a child values is to spend time with him and to let him see how you live your life. You act in a way that reflects what you believe, you talk to him about things that matter and you tell him about you, your life, and your choices. Your child will know you better because he has spent meaningful time with you, learning, serving and growing together. This builds a family that can last forever. That's a benefit that makes every minute worthwhile."

One more thing that I came across in this book was something that somebody once told me when they found out I was going to homeschool. They said that Brenna needed to experience the "real world" and deal with bullies and all that classic 'kid stuff'. Well I don't think this would have stood out if that had not been told to me and I just wanted to share this too.

"People will try to tell you that learning to cope with bullies is just part of life. So is teasing or name-calling. Think carefully about your adult life before accepting that. Do you intentionally put yourself into situations where you will be abused? When you are an adult, there are laws that protect you from being picked on in the workforce or anywhere else. Adults aren't supposed to take it - only children are. Does that make sense?"

Ok, I guess that's enough for one post. haha! I just think this book is great and wanted to share some things. Thanks.