My friend looked at me sideways and repeated what I had said to her, “you’re going to home school?” “Yes,” I responded hesitantly “we have decided to home school.” It’s the same reaction almost everyone around us has when I tell them we are homeschooling. Most people don’t understand why we would choose to teach our children at home and to be perfectly honest with you, ten years ago I would have given the same response. I knew nothing about home schooling, but I had a lot of ideas about how “weird” it was.
Despite my lack of knowledge about the topic the Lord continually put the idea in to my heart. One day, as I stood in my kitchen preparing lunch, I turned on the radio to a local christian station that I listened to often. The conversation that day was about homeschooling. It was in that moment that I realized it was the path that God was putting before us. I spoke to the Lord out loud in my kitchen and said, “I hear you, Lord, and I am willing, but you have to tell Jared.” Jared is my husband and I was unsure how he would feel about it, I wanted the Lord to prepare him for the journey just as he was preparing me. That evening Jared came home and said he wanted to tell me about something he had been considering. Yep, you guessed it, he had been considering homeschooling. God confirmed this was His plan for us.
I was completely overwhelmed at first. I have been walking with the Lord long enough to know that where He guides, He provides and this was no different. He put a lot of people in my path to encourage me and educate me. I spent a ton of time researching curriculum and reading home schooling blogs. I quickly fell in love with the idea of home schooling.
Why it works. There is nothing more freeing to me than to be able to live life on my own schedule. We are not bound to a school calendar, teacher’s assignments and due dates, or even a daily 8-3 school schedule. Our lives are very flexible and my children learn 365 days a year. (Yours do too.) We just have to make sure that includes at least 180 days of things like reading and math. I love seeing my children stop in the middle of the day to play with a sibling, read to the baby or just take a brief ride on their bike. They often eat lunch together outside and take afternoon breaks to do their chores. These things keep their bodies active so their minds can focus on their school subjects. Movement in the midst of learning has proven to help them be incredibly productive.
Why I love it. I love being involved in everything my children learn. I choose what is important and what we can leave behind. I choose how much time they spend on math and how much time they spend in their bibles. I can also choose to stop the whole day for a bit of downtime if things aren’t going as planned. Sometimes a 20 minute rest can save a whole day.
Why I continue year after year. The Bible teaches in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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 on 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 door frames of your houses and on your gates.” I take these verses quite literally. I believe it is my first responsibility to make sure my children know the Lord. Homeschooling is more than just an educational choice, it’s a lifestyle. And for us the foundation of our school is rooted in these five verses. Everyday I have the opportunity to enrich every lesson with the love of Jesus. I know that there are some days I could do this better but I am thankful that every day is a new opportunity.
This certainly isn’t how I thought my life would turn out but I wouldn’t want it any other way.