Thursday 15 February 2007

A Little Help From My Friends...

Yesterday I was sitting around a table with six other homelearning moms, chatting about all kinds of things besides our kids. Towards the end of the afternoon, and again that evening, I was thinking about how important this weekly gathering is to me, and to my ability to nurture my children. I really cannot overemphasis just how vital I believe this connection to other homelearning families to be. Not only does it give my children and I a sense of community, a feeling of inclusion, it gives me a place to ask and answer questions, to share ideas and resources, to talk about the good and the not-so-good things going on in our lives and our world. It gives us a place to complain if we have hit a rough spot in our homelearning journey, without the fear that the person we are complaining to will be thinking that the solution would be to just put the children in school. It is a very good feeling to be surrounded by people who understand what you are doing and why, even though their reasons for learning at home may be very different from yours.
Sometimes I wonder how different this journey would be for my family if I didn't have these people in my life and I just cannot imagine it, it has made a huge difference in my life over the last seven years. It isn't that I couldn't do it, I consider myself a very strong and independent individual, it is just that it is so much better, much richer and fuller with all these wonderful people surrounding me. So, I would encourage any families new to homelearning to seek out support groups, or any mothers who are feeling alone, misunderstood or unsupported to get in touch with other homelearning mothers. The women in our group are all very different, we all have very different ideas on how our children will learn best but I think we all come away from our get-together feeling more whole and filled-up, more connected, and I think this feeling is passed on directly to our children. I know that this is how it works in my family and so I thank-you, all of you, I am so glad to have you in our lives.

4 comments:

Nicola said...

Thank for saying this, Heather. I totally agree. My sanity has been saved by being part of this wonderful group of homelearners.

Anonymous said...

Heather, I agree with you. It is easier having others to laugh with about our warped thoughts and frustrations, as well as our joys and truiumphs. We not only get encouragement from each other about homeschooling our children, but about our goals and fulfillment as women too.
When my older children were learning at home, I did not have this kind of support. You are right, it was doable but much harder. It made me strong as an individual, but thanks to the group, I am now learning to interact with people of different ages and life views and more importantly, how to share burdens that are too heavy to bare alone.
Thanks for helping me realize this.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this post Heather. It is so true. I have been missing the group so much and have been craving the support that comes from being at the weekly gatherings. Between sickness and pregnancy, we haven't been out much and I miss you all!
xo Jacqueline

Heather said...

You're welcome Jorie and thank you so much for having us all over. We always have such a great time at your place. It was so good to see you.
Jacqueline, I was so glad to hear from Nicola that aside from the flu and cold bug you are doing well. I look forward to seeing you for a good chat, feels like it has been ages.
Thanks for the comments ladies, and so glad to "see' you here.