Bates Family Blog - (Home)School Is In Session

Hello friends!
I hope everyone is having a great week! Currently, I’m sending you all greetings from The Bahamas!

In tonight’s episode, you saw how nervous this mama was watching one of her babies land a plane. I was such a nervous wreck that the thought of ever flying with Nathan wasn’t something I was up to volunteering for! Since the filming of the show though, let me tell you how far I’ve come! In order for Nathan to complete his pilot training, he needed quite a bit of additional flying time, so a long trip to somewhere in the world seemed inevitable. The boys started thinking (and dreaming) and since Lawson’s birthday is coming up, they got this grand idea to celebrate with a trip to The Bahamas. It all seemed like a win-win except Gil had a previously scheduled commitment preventing him from going, which of course, leaves only me. As scared as I was, I wasn’t about to send my boys off without their mama! I’m happy to say we made it safely and we’re having a wonderful time making memories that will last forever! Keep us in your prayers for the return flight home! :)

Tonight’s show gave everyone a look into our homeschool life. We get so many questions from family, friends and fans on the topic, I thought I’d try and expand on it a little…

For us, homeschooling is one of the most rewarding choices we have ever made. Gil and I both went to public school and to college and, through the opportunities we were given, we learned to highly value education. When we became parents, we started looking into all the options pertaining to the education of our kids. The more we explored, the clearer it became that homeschooling was the best choice for our family. For starters, homeschooling supports our family’s faith. Secondly, we liked the idea of having the freedom to personally evaluate the curriculum choices and make decisions based on each child’s individual learning style. For us, those benefits are enormous because our 19 children are so individually unique. I learned quickly that teaching methods that appealed to one’s learning style put another one to sleep! When that happened, I applied a different method and just like that, the sleepy child became miraculously attentive! As a homeschooling parent, I can watch, study, and diagnose my child’s strengths, weaknesses, fears, tendencies, attitudes, etc.. I can also observe what motivates them, what helps them succeed and adjust as needed.

There are many misconceptions about homeschooling. One huge misconception is that homeschoolers won’t be prepared for life, but the truth is that it has just the opposite effect. It has absolutely helped us prepare our children to face the world. Let me explain… if you take a tender, young plant and put it in the harsh winter environment, it will likely die. If you put the tender, young plant in a greenhouse and nurture it until it becomes strong, you can then transplant it outside, and even amidst the winter storms, it will be strong enough to survive. As our children began to mature, we saw this metaphor come to life and we encouraged them to pursue opportunities to serve their community because they had the sturdy roots to thrive! Homeschooling is not the best option for every family but it certainly was (and still is) for the Bates!

It’s fun to see that we’re already getting comments from tonight’s show! Thank you all so much for watching. Ya’ll are truly the best. Our heart’s prayer is that each episode encourages those who watch. Send us your comments, your questions or even your prayer requests here!

Love,

Kelly Jo


Other blogs you might like:
* Recaps: Life lessons
* Nathan learning to fly photos