The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school... for public schoolers, that is. I actually enrolled Aidan in kindergarten at our local elementary school so that I could secure a morning kindergarten spot while we thought about it. I forgot to call to un-enroll him, and I was wondering today if his name was on a desk in a brightly colored classroom, and he never came... (actually probably not because we never turned in our vaccine exemption form, but that's another story.) I was sad for a moment because I personally really loved school and had good experiences there. And it was sad to think about missing out on the monumental first day of kindergarten with my son. But I was only sad for a moment, because I am really excited about what we can accomplish at home.

Every morning I get to sit on the couch with my children and memorize scripture with them. We are not in a hurry, because we don't have to be somewhere by 8:00 a.m. The other day, we were memorizing Psalm 86:5 which says, "The Lord is good and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindess to all who call upon Him." Aidan said, "Hey! That verse is like the other one I memorized!" and he went through Psalm 100 until he came to the last verse which says, "His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations." How exciting it is to see him hide God's word in his heart, and to make connections with the themes of the Bible. It would be harder to have the time for what is most important if we did public school. It's not impossible, and I'm certainly not saying that homeschooling is the only way, but for now I am glad to have the opportunity to have this time with my children.

While Aidan's spiritual development was certainly a big part of our decision, I think that homeschooling is also going to be an extremely sanctifying experience for me as I relate to my son who loves to dawdle, do things his own way, and challenge authority! I am going to be mom and teacher, in addition to cook, maid, financial coordinator, grocery shopper... but I digress... This is not going to be easy for either of us, but we didn't make the choice because it was going to be easy.

So here we go... in a few years we might be heading off to school, but for now, this is where the Lord has us!