The Write Stuff

When I was a junior in high school, I decided then and there that I wanted to be an English teacher when I grew up. I was taking American Lit at the time and I had an amazing teacher. That year I learned that not only did I have a love for reading and writing, but I had a talent. When I was in college, taking all of my education classes and my "how to teach writing in public schools" classes, I never imagined that the best teaching I would do would be at home with my kids. Back then I never thought that my education in English and teaching would be best served with my own kids and not in a classroom. When I think about the different paths I took back then in high school and in college, I can see now that everything was planned out for a reason. These talents of mine, this love I have for reading and writing weren't just an accident. I got them for a reason, for my kids. When Trevor was in 4th grade and struggling in school it was in reading and writing. When I brought him home to work with him, I used what I had learned in college and being an English teacher and I taught him how to write. He is a wonderful writer. He is funny and thoughtful, his words come out organized and interesting. When we started homeschooling this year, I knew Colin would be my biggest challenge. The first time he wrote something for me this year, I cried after I read it. I cried after I read the second and third things he wrote for me. I felt unprepared for how far behind he was and I felt like I wasn't qualified to teach him what he needed to know. But my husband reminded me that I went to school for teaching and specifically for teaching writing. So I started to think back to what I knew, to what I had learned. I did research on dyslexia and how to teach kids with learning disabilities how to write. I'm not a special ed expert and I only took one of those classes in college, but I knew I could figure it out. And this week, after starting a new writing program with Colin, one I pieced together from things I have done before and new things I have just learned, I feel like we are on the right track. When he wrote his 8 sentence paragraph his week, after I read it I cried. This time, instead of all of the mistakes, I saw all of the progress he's made and the new confidence he has in his abilities. And that was when I finally realized that my education and my joy for reading and writing didn't come because I was meant to be an English teacher, but because I was meant to be a homeschool mom.