2012, What a year!

Dear Sabrina Banana,

Hi baby. It's been so long since I last wrote you a letter here on this blog. I have been busy...we have been busy together. 2012 had been such an adventure for us hasn't it? So much has happened and I feel like you have matured in so many ways.

We started homeschooling in 2012 and to be honest I approached this with much apprehension and doubt. You have always been shy. It seemed counter-intuitive to pull you out of a traditional school where you would have regular and day-to-day interaction with people your age. So many people tried to stop me, but we talked about it and God is really leading me towards homeschooling and I had to follow him. Boy, am I glad I did.

The development and growth you have shown is astounding to me. There is no way it was because of me, you are growing so beautifully all by God's grace. You learned fractions, time, money, adding, subtracting, energy, simple machines and so many other things but those aren't the things I'm most proud off. What I'm proud off are the moments when you say "Mom, I feel shy but I want to try and talk to her", or "Mom, I want to be a Christian. How can I become one?", or "Mom, I love popcorn so much but not as much as I love God". Those are the moments when I feel like God is blessing me in what I'm doing with you.

I am so proud of you honey.

Love ya,

Momma

Teacher Mommy

Dear Sabrina Banana,

We have been homeschooling for around 2 months now and it has been a breeze so far. I am loving every single moment of it and you seem to be adjusting well. I thought everything was going well until you started reacting to my corrections a little negatively. I don't normally shout at you, in fact, I very rarely do. Yet somehow you feel somewhat affected. One time, I asked you to write all the letters from A-Z. I looked at your work and said "Great, you're done. Now let's look at the letters. Tell me which letter you think you can improve". You started to cry and say "You don't like my work".

I said we should take a break. I asked for a break not because you needed it but because I did. I wasn't expecting that reaction. I realized that despite everything going well you are still adjusting to our new roles. From mother-daughter to teacher-student. I realized that I unknowingly coddled you with too many compliments and now it's harder for you to receive feedback from me.

We're working on this. We're slowly processing things and doing things better (I think). The beauty about this is that I know, that you know, just how loved you are and with that as our foundation, I know this glitch won't affect you much.

I realize now that we'll go through more of these issues through our homeschooling journey but I know it will be worth it so I say...bring it on.

Love ya,

Momma

Homeschooling Adventures

To the people who read this blog, specifically those who are emailing me and asking me to share homeschooling stories, I'm sorry but I really meant for this blog to be for my daughter, if I have anything noteworthy to share, I'd probably post it on my personal blog: Liv at Home

I hope you understand.