We finished our study of WWII today. It's been such a fascinating study, and it's been such a painful study. There have days when I have been left feeling raw and vulnerable. I have learned more about our country and our world through homeschooling than I ever did in school. I will be honest and say that before this study the only things I knew about WWII were about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hitler, (with limited knowledge of the Holocaust) and Iwo Jima. These past few weeks have really opened my eyes and broken my heart.
Of course, I knew the horrors, but to see that reflected on my children's faces and through their eyes took it to a whole new level. I don't really hold anything back with my kids. Of course, I am sensitive to what they can handle, but I refuse to sugarcoat history for them. I refuse to let them grow up ignorant like I did. I refuse to dumb anything down for them. They have to know the truth. I'm okay with letting them see me cry and letting them cry with me. When my 9 year old looked at pictures of Jewish children being marched off to the gas chambers, and then looked at me with tears in her eyes, I prayed that she will never see such horrors in her lifetime. When my 6 year old said to me, "Mommy, I wish this war wasn't real!" I said to her that it was real, and it was horrible, and though there are still horrible people in this world, she is safe. While my 11 year old reads The Diary of Anne Frank and keeps asking how something so horrific could have been allowed to take place, I am proud that she asks questions and wants answers.
Homeschooling has educated ME. It has made me more honest, more knowledgeable, and more aware. Homeschooling has caused me to pray more, cry more, and laugh more. It has caused me to question things, dig deeper, and not automatically accept the canned answers we are often given. Homeschooling shows me every day that although we have come so far, we still have so far to go.
With love and blessings,
Nakia
