How Homeschooling Allows Us to Foster Our Childrens’ Gifts
Soon we will enter our seventh year of homeschooling. It has been an amazing journey that we have never once looked back on.
This comes from a mama who was not so sure about her ability to homeschool when we first started all those years ago.
Obviously homeschooling allows us to be a part of all of our boys’ every day learning. We see each milestone as they hit them and we watch them grow in ways we never imagined. Those are all huge benefits of being your children’s teacher.
That said, one of the benefits that is near and dear to my heart is the fact that we get to foster their gifts by homeschooling. As homeschooling parents this is such a blessing to me!
How Homeschooling Allows us To Find Our Childs’ Gifts
By being the parent that manages their learning, I am able to gear their education towards their needs and towards their individual love and interests.
Anthony has just started his senior year of high school. (Yes, when most kids are wrapping up the last 90 days of school, our oldest at home is starting his senior year. We get to do this because it works for him and it works for our family. We follow our own schedule. This is not something we could do in public school.)
Anthony is very hands-on and the mechanical industry is something that is very intriguing to him. Not only is he embarking on World History and Worldview Studies with some British Literature, he also gets to work with his Dad in our family owned business. My husband is adamant that our boys all learn at least two trades. Anthony is learning about refrigeration part of the week and also learning about World History. At this age working on cars is also something that Anthony really loves to learn about. This means we give him opportunities to do things like help replace an engine in one of our work vehicles, change the oil and alternator on the family car, change the breaks on Grandpa’s car, etc.
We believe we are raising well rounded children who will be well equipped with life skills they can use to support themselves but also be thriving adults who have so much to offer society.
Luke is our son who has a passion for music. Neither my husband nor myself are musically inclined, but different artistic skills run on both sides of our families.
Luke struggled before becoming a teenager with anxiety and depression. One day he picked up a guitar and so much changed for him. While I had always longed for my boys to learn musical instrument, his passion and desire really came out of no where for us. Learning to play guitar became something he was very driven to learn and we encouraged and fostered his passion. Being that we homeschool we allow Luke to spend as much of his time in a day that he wants practicing and learning new music. As time has gone playing music in our home has become a way of life. People walk in the door and usually hear a guitar playing- acoustic or electric. And there is likely an amp in our living room- which I love.
Luke is also an avid reader. Between books and music his heart is so happy and as a mother that brings me so much joy. And Sonlight allows us to not only foster his love for music but also his love for reading since it is a literature based curriculum.
While Nick is very intrigued by US History and learning about the story of our country, he is a child who can teach himself anything.
Over the last few years he has taught himself how to create stop motion movies online. He created his own YouTube channel and loves making videos that tell a storyline using his huge collection of Legos that he has spent years building.
This is something he is so passionate about. I don’t have to ask him if he has made a new movie lately, he loves doing it and wakes up each day wanting to do it.
These are skills that will serve him well as he grows up and becomes an adult.
I believe homeschooling allows us to support and foster each of our children’s passions. As a mother, that is just beautiful to me.
I love seeing my boys learn traditional subjects like literature, math and science, but I also love seeing them pursue the life skills they love. These are the skills that are shaping them as they soon become adults.
Sonlight Offer ElectivesÂ
Sonlight offers homeschool curriculum and a great selection of electives that you children will love. Electives play a huge part in helping a child learn where their gifts are and I really encourage you to check out what they have to offer.
If you’re stuck and not sure what curriculum is best for your family, I encourage you to read more about why we have been using Sonlight for almost seven years!
As a mama who was scared to teach my boys to read, afraid I would fail them, frightened that I could never teach them complex techniques, I look back on our journey and just feel so proud of where my boys are today!