She has Finished!

I spent the day finishing Jasmine's transcript.  How is it possible that I have another daughter that is graduating our homeschool?  And yet, she has completed all her work. 

A change comes over a child that is finished with high school.  Suddenly she is not the little girl that she was.  She has studied and poured herself into learning.  She has plans and dreams in her heart, and if they have been put there by God, there is no turning back. 

Jasmine is proof to me that homeschooling is the best way to educate a child.  Years in public school had left her demeaned and devastated.  She had gone to a tutor for years just to maintain decent grades.  Saddled with an IEP, she didn't feel that she would ever accomplish much.  

There were some ups and downs the first couple of years after she began homeschooling. It took time.  It took time to get the public school mentality out of her head.  It took time for her to learn how she truly learns, and not always think off all the ways she struggles to learn.  It was a surprise to both of us when we discovered she had a photographic memory.  It took time to relax and just embark on a journey of learning, to give up the one of cramming a bunch of random facts and lessons into her short term memory for a test. 

She didn't have a whole lot of faith in herself.  And truthfully, many doubt her even today.  People are often quick to point out faults that they perceive might be there because just being happy that someone has done well is too difficult.  Surely the public school system didn't fail this child, right?  Well, it did, but homeschooling brought her back to life. 

Yes, Jasmine learns differently.  She is very visual.  However, too many people still believe that if a child learns differently than they aren't as intelligent as if they learn the way the public schools teach.  WRONG!  And some think that test scores are the end all and be all, but that is rubbish.  My only regret is that I wasn't able to pull her from the public school sooner so she might have been spared some of the feelings of being inferior because she learned differently.  

Learning differently is not a bad thing. Without those who learn differently and see the world a bit differently, this would be a boring world of clones, sheep.  Visual learners need to see, not just listen or read boring texts.  

Jasmine is graduating with a high GPA.  She read roughly 116 books (if I counted them all).  She worked hard every day for four years.  Her father and I are very proud of her.  

Best of all, Jasmine loves the Lord.  She leaves in a couple months for a several month long missions trip.  She is a light, positive and happy. We know God has great plans for her.  My job wasn't to stuff her head with a bunch of facts.  My job was to show her she can learn anything God wants her to learn, and to teach her about Him.  Our foundation was in Scripture.  His love walked is through the last four years.