:: only at home ::

: JMJ:: 


:: "Don't you ever get tired of staying home all the time??"  Even after almost twelve years of being home-educated, this question always catches me off guard. It also always makes me smile. Despite common fancy, I most certainly don't stay home all the time. ;) 

I find that being a "Cradle Catholic homeschooler" can make some societal abnormalities perfectly normal.  Doing school in the car on the way to virtually anywhere: normal. Family vacations during the off-season: normal. Incredulous cashiers on a weekday afternoon at Walmart accurately informed that we were on a "field trip": normal. 2-3 week breaks for Christmas and Easter: normal. Getting twice the academic work done in one day so as to have a free day in the next: not so normal, but certainly something to strive for. 

 I can not even begin to express my gratitude and love for this beautiful blessing of home-education. Every day I become more aware of the perfect ways that the Lord has shaped my own life and my sibling's lives through our parent's decision to home educate. I have grown in countless ways over the years under the patient guidance and education of my parents. Cooking class is experienced through meal planning, meal making, meal eating, and meal cleaning up. Mom taught (and teaches!) math as 'sit ups for the brain': painful and trying, but essential. Home ec is a course taken on Saturday mornings, when it is time for laundry and house cleaning. History never exists in text book alone, but it comes alive through historical fiction, movies, pictures, museums, and occasionally, visiting the actual place. Extra curricula's have been the piano, the violin, flute, viola, nature classes, tennis, orchestra, ballet, art classes... Religion class runs every day, almost all day: learning Church History and Baltimore Catechism on the way to Daily Mass; under covers, late at night, reading the lives of the Saints; listening to Relevant Radio on the way to almost every music lesson attended - only to name a few. Writing, reading, geography, social studies, science, philosophy, ethics, government ... somehow they all find their way into the daily life and rhythm. And every single day I am blessed to experience the beautiful normality of academics and practical living become one. 

 And so, with each and every day I learn a little more surrounded by the countless blessings that the Lord has given me ... Praise God! :: 
:: Graci Rose Stefania :: 

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