I have found Brave Writer a terrific inspiration already! She had a weekend question that got my mind thinking, I figured… why not share it and see what other homeschooling moms and dads think!

What are you proud of from this year’s homeschool experience? (Could be a project, field trip, progress, subject area you tackled, discovery you or one of your kids made, your own performance as home educator… etc.)

And now for my list…

1. We moved from Canada to the US and managed to make it an adventure and learn things along the way.
2. Reading once a day 5 days a week took our twins from barely reading to nearly proficient.
3. Not only did the KIDS learn about the platypus but I learned plenty of new things as well.
4. We added in two more kids of differing grade levels into our schooling… for a total of THREE grade ranges!
5. We have sparked interest in learning more about things we come across randomly and run with it.
6. I have found multiple ways to spark interest… daily dinos with Emanuel, ABC’s with Trinity, the boys and their Wild Kratts.
7. We have proven to ourselves that we can learn things in every circumstance and situation.
8. We have started a process of building new memories in a new country that builds upon the memories and learning from the old. There is no decreasing of the importance but a comparison of uniqueness! Diversity!
9. ….

I am embarrassed to admit that this list took me DAYS to amass… It was really necessary to think on the year and come back to this question over time. I know we are learning and evolving as individuals, teachers and students, family… but sometimes the progress, the real achievements pass us by. I want to share a portion of a quote that I find really relevant to this list… to homeschooling and me… from Rachal Carman at Teach Them Diligently, SC (HisSunflower.com HERE)… (Thank you Apologia on Facebook HERE)

Women stop homeschooling because they can’t get it all done, the truth is none of us are getting it all done. We need to encourage each other to set limits to outside distractions and say no to those distractions. It’s okay if we don’t get it all done–all of us are not getting it all done…

It is really true… we worry worry worry that we don’t do it all, we forget our list of amazing things accomplished… we compare to the moms online who seem so professional and put together and lose sight of the fact that NO ONE does it all… NO ONE gets everything done, that is the glory of homeschooling, we can pick and choose, get ahead and catch up, focus and scatter… laugh and love and live with our learning 24/7.

Let’s pledge to support all parents in their various incarnations… homeschool or not we cannot do everything but we can do more and more with support and an open and ready heart. And I promise to come back to my list and see if I can remember even more and celebrate our accomplishments.

Learning from the little things in big ways!