An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott

This book is not on the TJED list and I'm not sure why. I absolutely loved this book. I actually started reading it before I decided to start reading the classics. This book has so many moral lesson for people of all ages.

It's about a country girl that goes to stay with her friend's family in the city and is appalled by all the fashionable things they do. She realizes that this family is miserable despite all the riches they have. In the end, the old-fashioned, poor, country girl helps the family find true, lasting happiness even in the face of utter failure.

This book shines light on the ugliness of getting caught up in popularity, careless money habits, sibling relationships, neglectful parenting, and more. It is also a good example of finding joy in: simple things, service, selfless love, being an example of integrity when it isn't the popular thing to do and on and on and on.

This is a great book to start reading before young girls get caught up in fashion and popularity and teaches how to always be an example in every questionable situation. I learned a lot of new words from this book and will be reading it again and again and again. I can't wait to read it with my girls.

Entitlement Mentality

It seems to me that a commonality among young people, and even adults, is an entitlement mentality. I'm sure that I don't know all of the reasons why the younger generations of America possess this commonality, but one thing for sure is that they don't know how good they have it.

It has always been a dream of mine to take my kids on humanitarian trips around the world to show them how the rest of the world lives. I want them to see how good they have so that they don't get caught up in what everyone else has and what they don't have, the way that a lot of people today do.

I want them to serve people and do hard things. I want them to live in conditions that will make them stronger and appreciate a simple life.

Home Schooling our kids will allow us to travel more and take their studies with us or rearrange the time they spend studying. I know this is a big dream and it may take us a while to get there, but it is important to me. This is important to me because I believe that serving our fellow men moves us closer to spiritual exaltation, which is all that really matters, more than excessive financial accumulation or professional success would. The world would have us think that the latter is all that really matters.

Socialization

Whenever someone asks Kendi how old she is and they find out that she just turned five they always ask her if she'll be starting Kindergarten. I've had to train Kendi to tell them that she will be starting home school instead.

It's hard to think of all the things she will miss from Public School. Public School was actually a really good thing for me and I'm torn when I think about how much I liked it as a kid and that my kids won't have some of the same experiences. I have to remind myself about all the reasons why we've decided to home school our kids instead.

There are many reason's why we've decided to home school. I don't like to ruffle feathers, so when people think they need to tell me all reasons why I shouldn't home school I just listen and try to keep the conversation positive. It's hard not to offend people because by telling them why we want to home school is like saying we don't like what they are doing with their kids. I don't feel like people are doing wrong things by putting their kids in Public School it's just not the decision we've made. I'm still not 100% sure Home Schooling is going to work out for us and at some point our kids will be old enough to decide for themselves.

One of the first things that people often bring up is the lack of social interaction my kids will have. I have a myriad of answers for people who worry about socialization. First of all, I don't worry about what other people think. We only worry about what God thinks. If my kids become social misfits, I hope that it will be because they uphold their values instead of conforming to the poor standards that are becoming socially acceptable among young kids these days. Also, we are very involved in our religion and they have a very strong youth program. My kids will also be very involved in interacting with a variety of people, not just ones their age. I want them to be comfortable with the elderly and the disabled and be confident and respectful around adults.

I know that I can't completely protect my kids from the evils of this world, but I'd like to think that I did everything that I could to prepared them to stay "unspotted from the world." To be "in the world, but not of the world."