The Mom Pledge

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1. "I am a proud Mommy Blogger. I will conduct myself with integrity in all my blogging activities. I can lead by example." What does integrity mean to you?

Answer:  Having a moral standard and adhering to it no matter the cost.

I began blogging after our first year of homeschooling.  It was amazing how many homeschoolers were looking for advice and help.  I started a series of posts, and was humbled by the number of visitors who came to read them.  Not being an expert, it was wonderful to have others comment and share on my posts.  I was learning from them too.  But I felt conflicted with my choice of curriculum.

We were using secular curriculum, and although I had been adjusting it to our beliefs, my son and I knew we had to make a change.  He no longer was excited about the work.  There was constant discussion about the correctness of the principles that conflicted with our Christian teaching.  In an effort to gain integrity in our homeschool I began searching for a faith-based curriculum.

Since then I have seen my readership decline, but I'm ok with that.  What I'm not ok with is my inability to find a niche again.  There has been an increase in spiritual awareness on my part, and my posts and the visitors to my blog reflect that change.  This awareness has created a feeling of disconnection from my homeschool focus.

As far as our homeschool curriculum, I've been privileged to win quite a bit of free curriculum, I've researched different methods, I've read hundreds of reviews, and I've tried many of the recommendations made by my blogging friends.  One example is TimezAttack.   I thought this was an answer to prayer, but after ten minutes my son was frustrated and in tears.  After trying many other outstanding resources and failing I came to one conclusion, what works for so many just won't work for my son.

Our homeschool curriculum is a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  We use a mix of new and classical texts, and a hands-on, old fashioned, somewhat Charlotte Mason approach.  Of course this has created more work for me, and there are times when I feel like we're on an island.

I'm also realizing this method requires an extended commitment that quite frankly scares me. It's like when you get engaged or pregnant, for a split second you feel overwhelmed and question whether you're truly prepared.  Or when you're about to make a major business or life decision and it dawns on you that failure could happen.  Standing strong in your convictions and decisions...

That's what integrity means to me!