Over the years of homeschooling, I found a love developing for American History. I'm not sure why it didn't appeal to me while I was in school (could it be that my 11th grade American History teacher literally stood outside his door every class talking to the football coach while he had us on an assignment?), but as I think back, English and Art was where my mind was.
Homeschooling allows a more in depth approach to learning and the freedom to take bunny trails with focusing a few weeks on a particular aspect (ie; "Let's read more about Abraham Lincoln."). I found that learning beyond the text book approach, along with learning the true, documented facts of history and not the biased, politically correct approach (often based on a living Constitution which means we rearrange the foundation to fit our current thinking), offers a foundation that is solid and can be built upon. No matter what our kids do in life, I think it's important that they value their heritage (which almost always means someone's sacrifice), but also, they become men and women of good character, not solely thinking of themselves, but the greater whole of society. Reading about men and women who were models of this courage and fortitude will help stabilize society and defy the cultural trends that weaken a nation.
That said, it wasn't long before my dream was to visit Washington, DC.
Two years ago was my first flight since 1979 when my daughter and I visited friends in Florida. We had a connecting flight in DC and we landed at Reagan National, I looked out the window and I saw the Capitol! It was amazing.
Long story short, after 23 years, my two youngest boys and I are leaving on Sunday to go to DC! We will stay with a friend who lives there. What better way to begin school this year?
If you are a mom who doesn't get out much because you are busy serving your family, keep on keeping on. Outside of planned family vacations every 4 years or so, I pretty much didn't do anything else. Now, at 53 years old, a whole new world has recently opened up to me that I didn't know was coming and quite honestly, didn't have my sights on (aka "I can't wait til this is over so I can do something for me). Writing, traveling, and getting some "breathing space" has been feeling very nice!
*edit: I have to clarify that in the last paragraph when I wrote "aka I can't wait til this is over so I can do something for me", please understand that my intention was to say that I didn't think like that.
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