Having a full time job while homeschooling is not easy. I would say that again, it is not easy. I rely very much on prayers, encompassing the gift of teaching and learning. I can’t count how many times I would pray in a day. Even my last awake mind is still filled with prayers. This is not about praying for perfection but for strength to go through the day. Call it humbling times during my day that I can’t do it alone.
Zechariah 4:6. “Not by might, not by power, but my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.
I have also learned to say “no” to invitations without explaning why. Just because I’m already focused with many different roles: mom, wife, teacher, full-time job, and those tiny little tasks that comes with it.
First Character Challenge of the School Year
My 5th grader is a hands-on person. The online class video is keeping her bored. Those learning videos are actually cool to watch and I love watching them myself. I learned so much. But for her she would prefer a real teacher. She prefers a real game that she can play on. She is challenged more when she tries to beat somebody else in a learning game. Often that would be me, her dad, or her 3rd grade sister. Very competitive, huh. This year, I decided to teach some of her subjects.
The two of us are adjusting to this new routine. We wake up one and a half hour earlier than our usual waking hours. So that I can teach her some of her subjects before I start working.
Today is a tough one, our 5th day of school and a Friday. We were all adjusting to our new time routine. We were all tired and sleepy. In spite of that, I was trying to get through teaching her History and Geography. It is the last subject of the day and I’m down to my last 10 minutes of our class. I was talking and she was not listening! Her mind is already wondering somewhere. This sometimes comes to her when she’s fascinated with the concept she’s learning. So I let that pass.
I asked her to read a phrase and for some reason, she decided to shout it near my ears instead of just reading it. I felt disrespected at the point. All the tiredness just started to cave in. I stopped to teach. I told her that, “I hoped she appreciates that when she is already sleeping at night, I’m still up preparing for her lessons.” She should see it on the slides that I was preparing. Right there, I walked out of the classroom. That is one homeschool drama that I don’t remember doing before. But I thought she needs to learn that patience can run out. She also has to learn that she did something wrong.
A few hours later she apologizes and I have to tell her that I’m still processing what she has done. She should process it, too. Thinking the feeling of the other person she has wronged.
I forgave her after some processing. While I forgave her, she still needs to learn that there is a consequence of what she has done. Sometimes consequences (emphasis on the “s”).
I cancelled our trip to the butterfly farm, and all our weekend activities. I also said no to her best friend’s invite to attend a coding activity.
She learned a good lesson, I hope. That when we sin God will forgive us. People around us can forgive us. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have to suffer the consequences. There are things done that can’t be taken back. We have to go through it.
It happens!
Situation such as like these happens in homeschooling. I’m always asked by parents on how I could get my kids to listen. I keep telling them that they don’t listen all the time. It is not a perfect world of homeschooling. We have good days and not so-good days. Sometimes we have to cancel school, because all of us are not synch. Sometimes we have to give a lot of encouragement. Sometimes or most of the time, we have to assert independence and accountability. Sometimes or most of the time, we even have to “discipline” when not listening leads to actions that would qualify as disobedience. Today she learned more about the consequences of disobedience.
Yes, sometimes we want to quit homeschooling and sign them up in the nearest public school. But then prayer would set our minds at peace and go on. Love would prevail. If God has called us into this, He would see us through it.
The Learning Story 