Moving your family to another country isn't easy. Moving every few months or years can be grueling. Today on Home School Heartbeat, Michael Smith shares how military families cope.
Michael Smith:
Military personnel receive new assignments every few years, or even every year in some cases. This usually means that their families relocate with them.
Although moving is a challenge, most home schooling families in the military feel that teaching their children at home makes things easier. Many use the frequent moves to teach their children about the countries and cultures they visit.
Rebecca Garvey whose husband is an Army Chaplain says that when they left the United States her home schooling motto was 'We are going on a three-year field trip!'
The Garveys have found ways to meet the challenges of frequent relocation head on. But even more challenging are extended periods of separation. Tarita Bacon whose husband is a combat information systems officer on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier currently deployed in the Arabian Sea, says that she finds it difficult when her life partner is not here to help, enforce, and encourage.
Tarita grew up in a military family herself. She tries to use home schooling to make things as normal as possible for her children and says that she's found that they tend to take their cues from her. When Mom has a good attitude about life's trials, her children pick up on that.
Tomorrow we will talk about what you can do to help home schooling military families.
Being in a military family and home schooling your children presents unique challenges. The Home School Court Report recently profiled several military families and asked how they overcome the uncommon problems they face. Ask for your free copy when you contact us. Check us out online at homeschoolheartbeat.com. That's homeschoolheartbeat.com.
