{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"\u0416\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0456 \u041f\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0456\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0457 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u043e\u043b\u0456\u043d\u0438 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0434\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0448\u043d\u044c\u043e\u0457 \u043e\u0441\u0432\u0456\u0442\u0438","provider_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/uk","author_name":"Spencer Mason","author_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/uk\/author\/spencer-mason\/","title":"Reflections of a Reluctantly Retired Homeschool Mom - North Carolinians for Home Education","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"XlQnDtFMPz\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/uk\/reflections-of-a-reluctantly-retired-homeschool-mom\/\">\u0420\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0443\u043c\u0438 \u043c\u0430\u043c\u0438, \u044f\u043a\u0430 \u043d\u0435\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0447\u0435 \u043f\u0456\u0448\u043b\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u043f\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0456\u044e \u0437 \u0434\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0448\u043d\u044c\u043e\u0457 \u0448\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0438<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/uk\/reflections-of-a-reluctantly-retired-homeschool-mom\/embed\/#?secret=XlQnDtFMPz\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Reflections of a Reluctantly Retired Homeschool Mom&#8221; &#8212; North Carolinians for Home Education\" data-secret=\"XlQnDtFMPz\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/image-for-cindys-article-1000.jpg","thumbnail_width":1000,"thumbnail_height":412,"description":"[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_3,1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.6.6&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;] 13 May 2015 There I was, two years after my youngest had graduated from high school, walking through the annual NCHE book fair. This was the third NCHE conference that I\u2019d attended with no one to buy for and nowhere to apply my new knowledge from all the wonderful workshops. What torture! Walking through the book fair, wishing that this and that had been available years ago, I painfully remembered all the materials that I had sold at used book fairs\u2014unused. Most of them, I didn\u2019t consciously choose not to use, we just never got around to them. This past spring, at her college awards ceremony, my daughter received the award for best public speaker. When she called to tell me about the award, I remembered an incident she had recounted to me a year earlier, the first time her speech teacher heard her deliver a speech. \u201cYou obviously have spoken in public before,\u201d she said. \u201cI was homeschooled,\u201d my daughter replied. \u201cMy mother made me do\u00a0everything.\u201d Thinking that my daughter was communicating to her teacher how pleased she was that her mother had ensured she received such a well-rounded education, my peacock feathers began to unfold. \u201cI take that as a compliment,\u201d I told her. \u201cForestry, Mom? Why did we do\u00a0forestry?\u201d My feathers were now unfolded, and I became conscious of the fact that I was only a monochrome peahen. This is the same child who, when a co-worker realized she had been homeschooled, was drilled on every imaginable subject. She impressed him with her knowledge until he asked her to name the three branches of government. Her response was, \u201cWill you give me multiple-choice?\u201d I began to feel less like a peahen and more like a dodo. How can someone who can pace to determine accurately that she is sixty-six feet from a tree, hold a Biltmore Stick at arm\u2019s length and calculate the number of board feet of that tree not know the three branches of government? Gaps? Oh yes, we have gaps. Huge ones. Occasionally someone will ask what I wish I had done differently during my homeschooling years and what I\u2019m glad I did. Incidents like the above make me seriously reflect on that question, and careful reflection has caused me to believe that I have misunderstood the question! I\u2019ve been adding words to the question that aren\u2019t there. I thought the question was actually, \u201cWhat different choices would you make concerning curriculum and activities?\u201d If that is the question, then I have to carefully consider the truth that every choice to do something is a choice not to do something else. I can\u2019t think of anything that we did that I would leave out (except maybe forestry). I also have to consider the truth that our kids did great in college because there weren\u2019t important gaps (considering the three branches aspect, I\u2019m probably losing credibility with you right now), and they were able to fill in any gaps that needed to be filled (she now knows the three branches). Therefore, I still can\u2019t think of anything that I would change. When pondering our homeschool experience I am continually amazed at what God has done with my children in spite of me. I\u2019m amazed at the \u201cwrong\u201d decisions that I have made concerning curriculum and activities that God has caused to work together for good. I\u2019m amazed at His sovereignty in the \u201chappenstances\u201d of their childhood and adolescent days that I had never considered, much less planned, that have been integral parts of the development of their characters and their callings. Obviously, God had something bigger planned than I could see. So, if I was originally correct and the question is actually, \u201cWhat different choices would you make concerning curriculum and activities?\u201d I\u2019d have to answer, \u201cProbably none.\u201d If, however, I can take the question \u201cWhat would you do differently?\u201d at face value, then my answer would be, \u201cI\u2019d examine my motives for each choice more carefully.\u201d I would ask myself, \u201cAm I doing this out of selfish ambition or foolish pride?\u201d That can translate into \u201cAm I doing this because\u00a0everyone\u00a0assumes that this is something\u00a0everyone\u00a0needs? Am I doing this to be like all those \u201cperfect homeschoolers\u201d that I hear about each year at conference? Am I doing this because I don\u2019t want to disappoint so-and-so? Am I doing this based on what my friends will think of me?\u201d I would also frequently ask myself the same question to evaluate continuing in an activity or program. I have learned that most of the time, it is harder to make the decision to stop something than to decide to start it. If I had asked myself all of these questions when making decisions, maybe I would have made the exact same decisions, but my stress level would have decreased and my relationship with the Lord would have increased. Just think what a difference that would have made in my kids\u2019 lives! Still, I\u2019m convinced that God was right there directing my every decision for His glory and the good of my children despite my lack of introspection. I\u2019m just waiting to see how He\u2019ll use the Biltmore Stick. &nbsp; \u00a0 \u00a0 Cindy Townsend wrote this article in 2004, a couple of years after her youngest graduated from homeschool. She and her husband, Jeff, are former NCHE board members who homeschooled their two children through high school. The kids are now grown, happily married and well adjusted, having been providentially protected from her ignorance, misjudgments and regretted selfishness.\u00a0 [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_sidebar area=&#8221;et_pb_widget_area_18&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;GREENHOUSE Sidebar&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.6.6&#8243; global_module=&#8221;19006&#8243;] &nbsp; [\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]"}