| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
| about the book |
| The Homeschool Diner's Guide to Homeschooling Basics Family Matters A Thank You Letter to Mom by Leslie Spitler, copyright 2006 Okay, it takes a bit of courage for me to share this, but I think it says something about the choices that parents are faced with today, as well as in the past. We really are fortunate to have the opportunity to home educate and to have so many resources to draw upon. For generations, people either didn't have another option, or didn't know that they had an option. I’d like to share excerpts from a spontaneous "from the heart" letter I wrote to my number one homeschooling advocate: My 80 year old mother. My mother has always thought "outside the box" --mostly because she had to. I hope that sharing my gratitude toward my mother's "after-schooling" efforts with me (over 20 years ago!) will be encouraging to other homeschoolers. Here's some of what I said to her after she told me she wished she had a teacher like me when she was growing up: Mom, It's funny that you say you wish you had a teacher like me when you were in school. You are a teacher like me! I get my "thinking outside of the box" from you. Sometimes I get my "make it fit into the box" from you. So much of how I interact with the kids comes either directly from you or from what the other kids say they have learned from you. The creativity in teaching comes from you, too. If one approach isn't working, I try something else. You used to beg me to try a different approach, but I was bent on doing what the teachers wanted me to do. I also learned from Dad [my dad passed away a little over a year ago] and the other kids. I either learned directly from them, or by being an observer-- an advantage of being “the youngest”. Think of the countless learning opportunities you exposed me to: church, summer camps, music camp, girl scouts, choir, band, singing lessons, piano lessons, Germany, college and stories about your young life (to name a few). Thank you! I didn't only have one "school" experience. You taught me to engage in a lifestyle of learning. Then there are my work experiences. I have a wealth of educational experiences to draw upon because of you, Dad, and the rest of the family. You saw that the education system I was in was less than good and you certainly had reservations about the quality of people within that system -- students and teachers alike. You couldn't afford to send me to a private school and if homeschooling was an option, not any knew about it then. But you exposed me to every opportunity you could swing. I think it saved my life in many ways. You exposed me to a variety of people that I wouldn't have met without your foresight. Those experiences gave me hope when high school got to be an awful experience. Those experiences helped me to finish, knowing that I could make choices for myself and not based on the social landscape of my high school. I can never thank you enough. I can "give back" by doing my best to pass that "lifestyle of learning" on to your grandchildren to the best of my ability. Home educating the kids may not earn fame and fortune, but it is so much better than that. The kids aren't the only ones learning. I'm not trying to be mushy. I really mean this. I'm crying right now because I am so thankful to even have the opportunity to say thank you! You home-taught me too (sometimes in spite of the school systems discouragement to do so). I'm so blessed to have had so much time with you. I loved our walks, I loved when you would come to school to have lunch with me. It helped me get through those tough days. I loved window shopping with you. I loved camping with you and Dad. I loved studying with you until all hours of the night. I loved our conversations about everything and nothing (I still do!). Even though some faulty thinking got the best of me for a few years, you provided a foundation for me to fall back on, and I have. You gave me the tools to create a foundation for my little family. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I love you, Mom! Leslie |