Updated Summer 2016:
We are still homeschooling. Since the original post back in 2008, Christina has graduated and gone on to own her own business while staying home with her two children of her own.
Sarah is now 18 and graduated this May, after struggling in some areas with special needs like ADHD and severe spelling struggles.
Anne Mary is 14 and graduated high school as well this year. She is currently attending Boyce, taking community college classes and is spending time building upon the areas where she is gifted, particularly with music. She just started her blog, Notes of All Types.
When we began our home schooling journey, we did not intend to home school at all. I had only three children at the time: Christina in 6th grade, Sarah (Age 2.5) and Anne Mary (10 months). I also babysat a little boy in the daytime hours (8 months). I had my hands pretty full. About two weeks into the school year we withdrew Christina from school with the intention to enroll her somewhere else. We did not know how difficult it was to switch schools midweek until we tried it. Fortunately, the baby I babysat had a sweet mother who was also a school teacher. She suggested I homeschool while I figure out a solution. She loaned me several public school books to get us through while we made a decision.
Weeks went by quickly and we started actually enjoying homeschooling. At first, I was terrified that I was doing something illegal because I withdrew her with no notice and had no “real” school for her to attend. As I researched the laws and made sure I was following them, our homeschool began to take shape. We quickly learned Christina’s strengths, weaknesses, areas of great potential, and where growth was needed. We were able to adjust our school work and assignments just for her. It was like she had a private tutor all the time.
We also enjoyed the luxury and freedom of having no school dictate our evenings to us. Gone were the evenings spent watching her write spelling words 25 times each because the class had talked too much. Evening plans were the plans we made. They were not forced to change or adjust to squeeze our family time in around home work and early bedtimes. We stopped having to conform to the obscenely early wake-up times required by the school schedule. A sick child was no longer a tragedy. I did not worry about missed tests, late papers, or unreasonable teachers.
Also gone was my sense of security, of knowing that my daughter’s education was somehow “just going to happen.” I needed to prepare her for the future. That meant we wanted her to have the ability to graduate and go to college, to be prepared for homemaking and mothering (she now blogs about her family life over at Youthful Homemaker), and being a godly wife. We wanted her to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The longer we homeschooled, the more convinced we became that it was perfect for our family.
As each additional child has grown to the age of schooling, we have continued to see the blessings. We can tailor their time to help them deepen strengths, address weaknesses, grow in confidence and wisdom and grace. We have seen Christina succeed in all kinds of work environments. She has had countless volunteer opportunities, and won public recognition. She has been on four mission trips, traveled independently both domestically and abroad, and been a delight to those for whom she has worked. She is currently taking college entrance exams and finishing her senior year of High School.
Sarah, now in 4th grade has excelled in all her subjects and blesses our family continually with her willingness to help and to see problems and find solutions, independent of our influence. She has time to spend reading God’s word daily, and often has unique and precious insights during family Bible time.
Anne Mary is in 2nd grade and has excelled in the areas of Bible study and Memory work. She breezes through math and spelling, and often has time on her hands to just play make-believe and be a delight.
David (age 2) gets a lot of attention and love from everyone. He is surrounded by his doting sisters all the time and will undoubtedly want to join in school soon, just like his sisters before him.
We started home schooling under stress, but we keep home schooling because we are blessed. We have such a terrific family. We love this natural, rhythmic lifestyle that we could never capture while sending our kids off for others to teach, influence and train. We love the flexibility. We love the unquestionable quality of their learning. We love their ability to get along in any situation, with people of all ages. We love taking family vacations when we choose. We love using our “off-days” to have a grandparent day or family organization day. We love nurturing our children and watching them grow. We love knowing them, protecting them from harm and negative influences. We love watching with wonder as they go through each major learning milestone. We love having them beside us as we impress God’s words upon their hearts.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
We pray your family is blessed today! Happy Homemaking!
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