We have some big (Big BIG) news in the Smith household!
No, we're not having another baby (although adding another wonderful *little* arrow to add to our quiver is always a welcome and real possibility around here!)
However, we are *hopefully* adding some... larger... arrows (*hopefully* soon!!)
Yes, our family has started on the exciting journey of adoption!
We have been praying for quite some time about how God would have us participate in caring for children who need a family (be it financial, prayer, helping another family, etc), and, now that we are settled in our new northern home, we really feel that God is calling us to adopt through the foster system.
Pretty exciting, eh?
Right now we are pursing a direct adoption from foster care--meaning we are going to apply for a specific set of children that are close to or already legally free and ready to be adopted-- and we are wanting to be approved for an older (pre-teen/teen) sibling set. We are going this route instead of going through foster care first because we really feel it will be easier on our children not to have *possible* siblings coming in and out of the home and not knowing who will stay and who will go. We want them to be able to start forming sibling relationships and embrace them as their family right away! It will also be a little easier (God willing) to have children placed with us through direct adoption than foster care because of our family size. It is important to us to continue our conviction of leaving our family size totally in God's hands and this is a more realistic possibility doing direct adoption.
As of right now we really feel God is asking us to open our home to a set of pre-teen or teen siblings. As most of your know, we do have a weakness for teenagers (Call us crazy, we do love 'em!) We do not know who specifically that will be yet--although I personally have a preference for a set of teen sisters that I have been praying for :) I have been warned that they will probably be adopted by the time our background checks and homestudy have cleared--- which I will be fine with, but still... I'm a little partial to them :)
Right now we are in the very beginning stages--- we are currently doing a required training course called "Because They Waited" and gathering all the things we will need to complete our homestudy.
I know this is going to be a spiritually trying and challenging journey but I feel such peace and excitement about the whole thing. I cannot wait to see which souls God is going to entrust to our family and bless us with!
As always, we appreciate your prayers! I, personally, am praying that we will be able to bless everyone we come in contact with during this process and really "shine our lights," and that this process goes smoothly and QUICKLY! I am also praying that any pre-conceived notions and prejudices people might have about larger families with small children will be dispelled once they get to know us, as we have been warned that sometimes workers are hesitant to place children with families that already have "a lot" (4 is a lot??) of kids. I know our God is bigger than "the system" and that with His help things will go exactly as they are meant to!!
I'm sure we will be doing some sort of fundraising as there are extra things we are going to need to bring older children into our home--- beds, furniture, and a larger vehicle, to name a few! Keep an eye on this blog and my FB page for updates on how you can help, if you feel so led!!
In any case, I know God is guiding this process and my overwhelming emotion is excitement to get moving and meet whoever it is that God will bring into our lives!
Thanks for reading :)
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The Homeschool Debate. Or, "Teachers, We Love You."
There are countless -- I'm going to say upwards of 10,000, but hey, I'm guessing-- blog posts about Homeschool. The why, the how, the stats on how great it is and how great public school isn't.
This is not one of those posts. (Ok, maybe it kinda is. But not really)
This is a post that is, in a way, an ode to school teachers.
And a declaration of peace, from me, a homeschooling Mommy, to the teachers of the world.
I think that sometimes we homeschooling parents come off as very anti-teacher. Which, if I may speak for the majority of us, we are not (or we shouldn't be!!)
I commend, applaud, and wish I could award school teachers--- and especially public school teachers. I do not believe (and maybe this is idealistic of me, but I don't think it is) that ANYONE goes into the profession of teaching with anything other than a true servant's heart. Do some teachers turn "bad?" Sure. So do some Pastors. And some Police Officers. And some Firemen. But no one enters into the profession of teaching with dreams of lots of time off and plenty of expendable income that comes after a nice, slow season's work in a perfect little classroom. Maybe there is the idealistic dream that one or two of their students will turn out to be something truly great--- curing cancer or bringing about world peace--- and bring them a bit of celebrity and glory. But that's a pretty awesome goal, isn't it? I know there are teachers out there who are just plain no longer good at their jobs, or have stopped caring, or are now just trying to make it to retirement. I do not think that any of them started out with these expectations.
And I want to say, right here and right now, that I DO NOT think I can do a teacher's job better than they can. That seems to be a very common accusation when people find out a parent is homeschooling.
"What, do you think you can teach better than a person who was trained in college and has been doing it for 20 years can?"
My answer is No... and Yes... and No.
All things being equal, I *know* I cannot teach better than a professional teacher. If I was given a classroom full of 30 (35... 40) kids, some of whom (who? whom?) don't speak English, some of whom have parents that could not care less what their kids do all day as long as they're in free childcare, some of whom are waaay below grade level... I would fail. Miserably and quickly. If I was given (what I think is) a ridiculous curriculum, with ridiculous standards to live up to, under a ridiculous bureaucracy, with a ridiculous time frame... I would fail.
And, reversely, if that same teacher was given a welcoming "classroom" (a home-like setting, maybe) with only one (or three, or eight) kids to teach, and got to spend lengthy, quality time getting to know those children and their personalities and their histories, and was able to choose curriculum based on those children's strengths and weaknesses and learning styles, and was able to work on a schedule that worked best for everyone... they would soar. And, to be traitorous to the "No one can teach my child better than I can," under *these* circumstances, they most certainly would do it better than I can. Their training and education in teaching methods and learning styles and... well, let's be honest, I don't really know what else they cover when getting a teacher's certification... would allow them to thrive and perform better than I could.
But, let's be honest.
All things are not equal.
Even Mrs. Michelle Duggar has a classroom size smaller than the average US Elementary School Classroom (20.3, in case you're wondering. And I'm going out on a limb and saying a few really low outliers are throwing that off. Just look at the numbers for most CA Public Schools--- closer to 30!). Teachers are using a generalized "common" curriculum. There is little to no wiggle room for teacher or student personality, learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Classrooms are cold, crowded places with few supplies and even fewer of the learning tools that all the education classes in college teach are really necessary to "foster" learning.
So I guess my answer is... Could I do a teacher's job better than they could? No. But can they teach my child, given the current educational circumstances, better than I can? No again. That doesn't mean I hate them or think they're doing a horrible job--- If I haven't made it clear enough, I honestly believe public school teachers are HEROS in today's society. Let's all hold hands and sing Kombaya (?? "I can't believe you're going to teach your kids and you can't even SPELL") and realize that we (as homeschool parents) and teachers are working for the same goal.
We are not at war.
Give peace a chance! (Sorry, I really couldn't help it)
Beka Out.
This is a post that is, in a way, an ode to school teachers.
And a declaration of peace, from me, a homeschooling Mommy, to the teachers of the world.
I think that sometimes we homeschooling parents come off as very anti-teacher. Which, if I may speak for the majority of us, we are not (or we shouldn't be!!)
I commend, applaud, and wish I could award school teachers--- and especially public school teachers. I do not believe (and maybe this is idealistic of me, but I don't think it is) that ANYONE goes into the profession of teaching with anything other than a true servant's heart. Do some teachers turn "bad?" Sure. So do some Pastors. And some Police Officers. And some Firemen. But no one enters into the profession of teaching with dreams of lots of time off and plenty of expendable income that comes after a nice, slow season's work in a perfect little classroom. Maybe there is the idealistic dream that one or two of their students will turn out to be something truly great--- curing cancer or bringing about world peace--- and bring them a bit of celebrity and glory. But that's a pretty awesome goal, isn't it? I know there are teachers out there who are just plain no longer good at their jobs, or have stopped caring, or are now just trying to make it to retirement. I do not think that any of them started out with these expectations.
And I want to say, right here and right now, that I DO NOT think I can do a teacher's job better than they can. That seems to be a very common accusation when people find out a parent is homeschooling.
"What, do you think you can teach better than a person who was trained in college and has been doing it for 20 years can?"
My answer is No... and Yes... and No.
All things being equal, I *know* I cannot teach better than a professional teacher. If I was given a classroom full of 30 (35... 40) kids, some of whom (who? whom?) don't speak English, some of whom have parents that could not care less what their kids do all day as long as they're in free childcare, some of whom are waaay below grade level... I would fail. Miserably and quickly. If I was given (what I think is) a ridiculous curriculum, with ridiculous standards to live up to, under a ridiculous bureaucracy, with a ridiculous time frame... I would fail.
And, reversely, if that same teacher was given a welcoming "classroom" (a home-like setting, maybe) with only one (or three, or eight) kids to teach, and got to spend lengthy, quality time getting to know those children and their personalities and their histories, and was able to choose curriculum based on those children's strengths and weaknesses and learning styles, and was able to work on a schedule that worked best for everyone... they would soar. And, to be traitorous to the "No one can teach my child better than I can," under *these* circumstances, they most certainly would do it better than I can. Their training and education in teaching methods and learning styles and... well, let's be honest, I don't really know what else they cover when getting a teacher's certification... would allow them to thrive and perform better than I could.
But, let's be honest.
All things are not equal.
Even Mrs. Michelle Duggar has a classroom size smaller than the average US Elementary School Classroom (20.3, in case you're wondering. And I'm going out on a limb and saying a few really low outliers are throwing that off. Just look at the numbers for most CA Public Schools--- closer to 30!). Teachers are using a generalized "common" curriculum. There is little to no wiggle room for teacher or student personality, learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Classrooms are cold, crowded places with few supplies and even fewer of the learning tools that all the education classes in college teach are really necessary to "foster" learning.
So I guess my answer is... Could I do a teacher's job better than they could? No. But can they teach my child, given the current educational circumstances, better than I can? No again. That doesn't mean I hate them or think they're doing a horrible job--- If I haven't made it clear enough, I honestly believe public school teachers are HEROS in today's society. Let's all hold hands and sing Kombaya (?? "I can't believe you're going to teach your kids and you can't even SPELL") and realize that we (as homeschool parents) and teachers are working for the same goal.
We are not at war.
Give peace a chance! (Sorry, I really couldn't help it)
Beka Out.
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