Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Anticipating the Butterfly


Meet my daughter whose name means
Beautiful Anointed one who is a gift of the Lord

On this blog she is known as Miss J.  We received confirmation of our pregnancy two days after Christmas 18 years ago.  We had a wonderful pregnancy.  Our journey to finding Miss J's name was an interesting one. I was pregnant with two of my friends and we lived in a rural farming community. We had a name chosen for a girl during our first pregnancy it was Sarah J******.  Paul had been praying that we have a daughter and we looked forward to calling her Princess.

Five months into our pregnancy my friend birthed a beautiful daughter and called her - Sarah.  At the time we were living in a rural community. Normally when you live in a rural community it's for a life time and I felt we needed to choose a new name for a girl because if our daughters were going to be in the same class I did not want them to have the same names.  After much prayer and name book searching we found a new name.  Jessica Anne.  Three months later my second friend birthed her first born and named her - Jessica Anne.  We were surprised.  We still felt we wanted a unique name for our baby if it was a daughter.

Four weeks later we were still searching for a name when I went into labour at four am. We had not settled on a name. As I laboured we searched for a name.  Paul read out names and we discussed them. One of the things I really wanted in names for our children was that they would be a blessing every time we spoke to our children. An hour before her birth we settled on her names.

Anticipation
One of the things we do as parents when we are pregnant is we have this deep sense of expectation and anticipation for our children. We dream of a life of possibility. When I began homeschooling there was an added sense of anticipation of what we would do in the high school years

One of the things I did not expect was how quickly things change. One moment I thought we had another three years of home schooling followed by a few years of tertiary education and the next it all changed.  An opportunity came up for Miss J to attend college at 15 and study towards her Cert III in Children's Services.  Miss J graduated in January last year. Has since worked full time and moved out of home six months ago.

The teen years hold so many possibilities for us and for our children.

Hold on lightly
Today Susan's words spoke to my heart -
Perhaps the hardest part is 
letting them be, 
letting them become, 
and releasing them to God’s Will. 
Come what may.

This is the hardest part of all Mom's in their journeys as Mothers.

I would like to encourage you mom's with little ones enjoy each moment time is short.  To you Mom's of middle year children treasure the exploring, the moment you have now is fleeting.

To you Mom's of the teen look at these years with the anticipation of seeing His perfect plan for your child unfold, hold on lightly and release them to find who the Father has made them to be. They are created in His image and not the image of your dreams.


And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. Philippians 1:6

May you be blessed as you step back and anticipate seeing the fullness of His plan unfold before you for your children.

Blessings
Chareen




During the month of May I would like to introduce each of my children to you.


--ooOoo--

Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
May is Ichthyosis Awareness Month. I will be partaking in a month long blog hop in honor of Peter and other children with Ichthyosis. Release the butterflies is more than about children with a rare skin disorder it's about each and every one of our children.

Susan will be having a weekly link up.  Please join me in celebrating each and every child and just how special they truly are.

Here is Susan's Schedule
Links will be added here as the posts go live.
Release the Butterflies Posts:
  1. Wednesday, May 8, 2013
  2. Susan  Embrace the Wild Child, Release the Butterflies
    Nicole Releasing the Butterflies. Turtle...
    Lisa All the Same and Yet Different
  3. Wednesday, May 15, 2013
    Susan Giving the Butterfly Time to Emerge
    Nicole Releasing the Butterflies. Bug...
  4. Wednesday, May 22, 2013
    Susan Hold Onto Your Butterflies, but not too tightly
  5. Wednesday, May 29, 2013
    Susan
Giveaways
  1. Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids Bundle (ends 5/12)
  2. Character Trails, a Review and Giveaway! (ends 5/19)
  3. My Memories Suite Bundle Giveaway! (ends 5/26)
  4. Monday, May 27, 2013
Freebies
  1. Thursday, May 9, 2013
    Preschool Butterfly Printables Pack
  2. Thursday, May 16, 2013
    FREE Math Mystery E-book for Primary Grades
    Free Two-Sided, Full-Color Addition and Subtraction Cards!
  3. Thursday, May 23, 2013

30 % Discount at Confessions of a Homeschooler


Erica from over a Confessions of a Homeschooler is having a 30 % off everything in her store sale till Friday.

I am currently using the following
I hope to use these in the future
Blessings
Chareen

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Homeschool Support


Last week we talked about home school Co-ops and what the benefits are for you the home educator this week we are sharing on Support groups.

Support Groups are fundamentally different to co-ops in that they are an informal get together's which can happen weekly, fortnightly or monthly. A support group can be two homeschool families that connect well or a group of mothers connecting on a regular basis.  Most meet together with their children and some meet without their children.

I really enjoyed this statement by Renee Gotcher from Next Generation Homeschool: "When you think about it, homeschool support group is a bit of an oxymoron: We choose to homeschool so that we can independently make decisions about our children’s education, and yet we inherently desire the support of others to inform, encourage and assist us."

Home school support groups are not about education they are about mentoring relationships.  It's for you the mom to access a supportive environment and for your children to know that there are other children out there being home educated.

Mentoring
A mentor facilitates personal and professional growth in an individual by sharing the knowledge and insights that have been learned through the years. - USC Mentor Program

"Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be." Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring 

Mentoring is a developmental partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else. We all have a need for insight that is outside of our normal life and educational experience. The power of mentoring is that it creates a one-of-a-kind opportunity for collaboration, goal achievement and problem-solving. “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” John C. Crosby (Mentor program)

Caution
While home school support groups offer a huge amount of encouragement and support on your home education journey they can also become a noose around your neck.  For years and years I was a part of two particular support groups and loved learning and growing with these families. I still miss them. What I did not do however was evaluate some of the choices that slowly seeped into the group.  It was not until years later when I moved away and was confronted with asking myself why I was doing some things (dress code, curriculum choices, etc) that I realized that I had taken on an unwritten 'law' from the group that was not healthy for my family.  Now I am part of several groups but I do so with caution and I constantly re-evaluate what I'm doing with who my family is. So when you are part of a network be sure to take a regular time of de-cluttering your mind and spirit and be sure that you remain true to who you are or you might find that who you are becomes lost in trying to fit in.  If you need to work at fitting in you are definitely a part of the wrong group.   

Benefits
Two Sisters by Renoir
There are many benefits in a joining a support group and I encourage you to find a group of like minded mothers. A good support network will be a place you can take a break, enjoy a relaxing cup of tea to recharge, ask questions and have access to real life help.
  • Seasoned Homeschoolers to receive encouragement from.
  • Encouragement
  • Social opportunity for Mom with like minded people
  • Help
  • Advice
  • Supportive environment
  • Care
  • Networking (knowing who to go to when you need assistance)
  • Contacts
  • Assistance
  • Solutions
  • Access to Information
  • Guidance
  • A place to connect with like minded Mom's

On the WWW
On Line Support
I appreciate that in today's culture we have limited time to invest in meeting together face to face and for many of us the only support we have access to is on the www. Here is a list of place to seek support on line.
I pray you find a group of like minded woman who will encourage, inspire and support you on your home education journey.  In the last five years I have been blessed with three beautiful woman who keep me accountable and are not afraid to ask the hard questions.  These woman pray for me and do not judge me.  I feel so blessed to have these three woman in my life and I give thanks to Christ for them every day.

Remember a mentor does not need to be someone older in chronological age just someone older on the journey with more experience and most importantly someone who is still willing to learn and grow and accept you and your family for who you are.

Do you have someone like this to help you ?  Remember A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

Blessings
Chareen

This week

 ---ooOoo---

Linking with
Teach Me Tuesdays Hip Homeschool Hop Button The Homeschool Village

Support image courtesy of Free Digital Photos Stuart Miles
Golden rope courtesy of Master isolated images 

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