Starts and Finishes

Well, I've gone and done it again... started something, and then not finished it. In this case, I guess you could say I've done it again, twice. Once with this blog (for which I had such high hopes before I suddenly and completely abandoned it), and once with home schooling.

You see, this year we had our last first day of home schooling. At least, for a while. Next year our whole family (ma, pa, and the younguns) will be packing up and moving to Guatemala to do mission work. My husband will be helping at a Bible College, and I will be volunteering as a teacher at a Christian school. Our daughters will attend there as well.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty full. You see, I've had to eat a lot of crow (as the expression goes), and plenty of my own words. Yep - our new school will follow Common Core, use standardized testing three times per year, and follow the regular track that public schools use. Oy... God has a great sense of humor, doesn't He!? :)

I can't say that I'm totally convinced some of those things are what's absolutely best academically for each my own children, but I am totally convinced that God is smarter, bigger, and wiser than I'll ever be. And, if He says this the right path, then He's probably right. And by 'probably' I mean 'totally.'

So, we're doing our very best to squeeze every last ounce of home schooling fun out of our last year as home schoolers (i.e. - we still start late, school in our pajamas, and embrace flexibility at every turn). But, we are also trying to prepare for the educational experiences that are just around the corner, as well (switching to a public school curriculum in some areas, being more standards based, and doing testing twice a year). 

Here's to a year of starts and finishes - sometimes with both being present in the same moment. I'm hoping to start doing better about keeping this blog up. You know, before we finish being able to write credibly about home schooling. <sigh> Starts and finishes.... What a year it's going to be! :)