Sparks into flames

My lack of energy has slowed down our schooling a lot, but Nevy seems to be pressing on. I think I may have accidentally bribed her to learn how to read. And I’m OK with that. She has been talking about going to school with the big kids and sitting in a classroom and all that jazz. So, I thought it might be time to sign up with the homeschool group that we have been visiting, and get her involved in the group’s classes. So, I told Nevy that she could take a class in the fall if she learned how to read over the summer. Well, we have been working on reading the Progressive Phonics books (along with her “fun” books), and her phonics skills had yet to develop, till she had some motivation. The day before yesterday, she sounded out words on her own for the first time. And my cup overflows! I had to keep myself from jumping out of my skin to celebrate! She is so proud of herself too.

So, we took a trip to the library this week and celebrated by getting a fun detective book (Nate the Great) and a book about our solar system (The Solar System, A TRUE Book) because she loves outer space. And Aidan finally picked out his first library book. We got information about the summer reading program, and started getting pumped about all of the stories that she is going to be able to read and fun activities going on at the library this summer. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

While I went to my midwife appointment yesterday, a friend of the family (Sunita) came to play with Nevaeh. They went to the park adjacent to our new church building and she made fast friends with a boy there and invited him to church. She got a little bit frustrated while learning the rules to “Red light Green light” but Sunita said that she seemed to overcome this easily enough after a little pep talk. Sunita also beamed about the ray of sunshine Nevy was for a couple of other children, when she bent down to tie her new friend’s shoe for him, and when she was playing and singing songs about Jesus with no shame at all.

Aidan and I were able to have a good time at my midwife appointment. It was nice to have some one on one time with him. He seemed to really enjoy it too. He babbled and babbled and just had a fun time playing and flirting with everyone. He really enjoyed being able to walk and hold my hand instead of riding in the stroller (that’s what I normally do when Nev is with us). He is becoming such a big boy! And he’s such a good big boy at that!

Sometimes I worry about the choices I have made (I suppose like every parent). I worry about Nevy resenting me for not allowing her to attend public school for various reasons. I also worry about my teaching skills and often wonder if she is missing out on anything because of the type of education that I am giving her. We can’t afford fancy curricula, and so most of the material that I present is patch worked together by myself. But then my worries are calmed when I get the feedback on days like yesterday. It really meant a lot to hear the stories from just a simple visit to the playground. Hearing those stories seemed to calm the worries that I tend to dwell on too often by showing me how Nevy is benefiting from school at home. And the moment she realized that she could read was monumental. She gained a new confidence in herself, and I gained a new confidence in myself. I realized at this moment that we CAN do this. This homeschool thing may work out after all. And sharing moments like that with her make it all worth it.