What a day...

I know lots of moms out there use home school planners and such to keep everything organized in their heads, and their home school. I completely see the benefit of that especially if you are home schooling a large family. However, can I just share how wonderful it is to have a God-directed home school. Now just because one feels the prompting of God or the Holy Spirit while teaching their children certainly does not mean that there is no room for a planner in your day.

Maybe this post is more about state standards than planners, but at the beginning of this year, there was a prompting in my thoughts about what my 6 year old needed to cover. Sure, because I'm her teacher and mother, I'm instinctively aware of her strengths and weaknesses. However, I was prompted to focus on spelling.

What does all of this amount to? PROGRESS! It just feels good when you pay attention to your spirit while home schooling.

I know some moms who are so stressed out with keeping up with state standards and believe me, I am a standards-driven mom. I believe that it is my responsibility to make sure the girls know what they should know for their age-range. We as home schooling moms though, should not ever forget to allow room for our intuition or God's guidance (whichever term you feel most comfortable with) when it comes to the kids.

Today, I am over the moon at the progress that both of my girls have made. Chelsea made a 100 on her spelling test. This is a big deal because last week, she struggled hard to get them down, but we kept at it, and here we are. She's also become a master at skip counting her odd and even numbers. She said them today from 1 to 100. She's got her 5s and 10s down from last year, and she's a pro at adding 10 and counting by tens starting with any number.

Chelsea's choice for read-aloud today.

Madison finished her first research paper, and it was good! She researched and wrote about zebras. This was not some little 8 year old barely-three-paragraphs kind of research paper. This child has got to be writing on nearly a 5th grade level, using commas, semi-colons, hyphens, correct sentence structure, and content all so very effectively.

Madison's research paper...

Listen up home school moms out there, let's not take our accolades too soon, some of us have a long way to go, but let us stop, take a breath, and enjoy all of the little and big successes on this journey. We have been called to a most wonderful - some would say, the highest calling in the land - don't waste it by  focusing on your shortcomings and imperfections. Don't spend your year worrying over state standards. Take a breath and realize that you have more tools at your disposal than planners, schedules, and "how to home school" manuals.

You have your God-granted special gifts to raise and teach your children everything that they need to know in order to fulfill God's will for their lives.

Granted, it's no small task, but it has been given to you by the Creator of  the world and you CAN do it! You can enjoy it! You can succeed!

Don't throw out your planners. Don't negate state standards altogether. Listen to your heart. Heed your inclinations. Take a moment to just sit and watch your child and to think about him. Don't worry about what they do well, or don't do well. Just think about your child, and then listen to you heart. Sometimes this process can get you farther down the road than any manual, schedule or planner could.

Happy Home Schooling Moms!

Oh and don't forget to check out Moving Beyond the Page curriculum for gifted children!