Changing Course

A new direction, heading down another path. Following the map of my near future, navigated by God's grace. That would be teaching Geography.

geography

noun

1. the descriptive science dealing with the surface of the earth, its division into continents and countries, and the climate, plants, animals, natural resources, inhabitants, and industries of various divisions.
2. the physical features, esp. the surface features, of a region, area, or place

How did I get here? Well to make a long story a bit shorter... I homeschool my youngest kids or did, time is flying and one is nearing his AA transfer degree at the technical college and the other will be entering a program for qualified 16 yr. olds or 11th graders at the community college or the technical college next school year. I was their only teacher until they reached middle school age when they received some excellent supplementation in classes I felt they needed at a marvelous home school program ZLO or Zacchaeus Learning Opportunities.

I can't say enough about ZLO. The instructors are wonderful and "get" the home school mentality, my home school mentality. They teach to a high standard not determined by the public school but by the parents and ultimately Our Heavenly Father. This is a loving community of instructors and parents all working to give our children the excellence in education that the freedom from government-controlled education allows.

So off my soap box and on to the story. I had been involved with ZLO as parent support such as study hall monitor, and until recently bookkeeper and administrative assistant.  Preparing for my youngest to be moving on, I chose to pass those jobs onto another dedicated parent with younger children and a longer outlook at ZLO. During one of many parent/ instructor chats it was determined that now would be a good time to search out more instructors and add a wider variety of classes. One of the classes that both my boys took was Geography. It was a great class and they both learned so much and enjoyed it too. Disappointingly, the instructor had a change in plans and decided not to come back.

You know what is coming..

Yup, I had an Aha moment and realized that I could teach that class. I'm almost always surrounded by maps of all kinds and love knowing where and why events happen around the globe. The previous teacher passed on a wonderfully challenging curriculum that I will enjoy learning along with the students. I have so much support; I've been gifted tons of maps, several globes (when is one enough?) and great ideas from the other instructors at ZLO. I am so excited to get to know my students and will try to instill a curiosity in them to examine God's creation.

Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Psalm 25:4


So that is the direction I'll be headed this coming school year. Add these titles to my name - geography student/teacher/lover, tour guide, navigator, cartographer, trail guide, explorer, and Zacchaeus Learning Opportunities Instructor.

debi