All Signs Point to Yes

After much thought, prayer, and over a year of going back and forth, we have finally decided to home school. I am super excited but also a little scared on how it's all going to work out. However, I know quite a few people who home school as well, and they have been more than willing to let me "pick their brain". This decision, I feel, is so practical for us as a family. As our family has grown, I have become more and more anxiety ridden with the thoughts of sending our children to public school. I do not want to be so over-booked with school, sports, girl/boy scouts, choir, church activities, etc. that there is no time for family. I want to be able to still eat dinner together every night at the dinner table, have daily devotional time to God, have bedtime prayer, and just the privilege of spending time with one another, all together, like families should. I don't want the real purpose of our lives to get lost in the fact that we have filled our plate too full with the things that really don't matter anyway. I like the fact that I have some control over what we do and where we go, and my children won't be caught up in the trap of having to play every sport or do every school activity.

Here are my main reasons for homeschooling:
1. I am a little greedy when it comes to my children. I love being there when the light comes on and they learn something new. I want to be the one responsible for teaching my children to read, write, etc. Plus I like the flexability of home schooling.
2. I am trying to create a simple life for my children. The world is so materialistic and I don't want my children feeling like worldly objects are more important than God's love. This is another thing I feel like I can control to a certain extent because there will not be constant peer pressure to have the latest, greatest thing.
3. We can do Christian curriculum and start our school day with a prayer. I feel one of the faults with public schooling is that there is no prayer anymore. Another plus would be that I can nurture my children's God given talents and gifts.

I am not saying the Home schooling is better than public schooling, I think it is just going to be a better fit for my family. I really pray that I will do well with it and, in return, it will work out the way I think it will. I really feel like God has been compelling my husband and I to make this decison for our family, and I know when we start this new thing in our lives, God will be right there, calming my fears and helping me along the way.