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ABC's of Homeschooling - N is for ...

I am a week behind still. Last week we were VBSing at 2 churches and had lots of fun. Now we are back to the routine of life.


Last's week letter was N. I had a hard time coming up with a word but I settled on Norm or Normative because when you are homeschooling you tend to deviate from the norm.

Norm:      1) way of behaving that are considered normal, usual or expected

2)  Official standard or level of achievement that one is expected to reach or conform to.

It goes without saying that our kids need to learn to behave in a way that is appropriate, respectful and expected given certain situations (we are not raising barbarians). So, what I would like to focus the attention to is the second definition.

One characteristic of homeschooling is precisely not necessarily conforming to the accepted standard. We, as christian homeschoolers especially,  should have a higher standard. We should have more meaningful standards than acing a test (although we do want that too). Every family has its own set of standards beyond knowing basic Math, English etc... and the blessing of homeschooling is being able to focus on these without the peer pressure or the pressure of society at large.

As homeschoolers we have the freedom of moving at our children's pace and that often means not conforming to a certain level for a particular stage or age, and that is ok because we have the end goal in mind. The road to that end may take us through twists and turns but the important thing is knowing where you are going.

I remember when my kids where younger they never liked coloring, still don't. Any preschooler, in general, loves coloring and they definitely did not fit the norm as far as that was concerned, but it was ok. If they were not big on coloring, they loved spelling then (not so much now).

What I want to say  is that it is really fine if your kids are different and are not at the level of everybody else. Know what it is you are trying to achieve with your kids, and work at it diligently, letting God do His work in both your life and your kids'.

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