This winter has seemed unusually long, thanks to quite a few illnesses our family has endured lately. As a result, we have found ourselves impatiently awaiting spring.
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(Bookends: my first-born and my baby.)
Add to illness frigid temps and swirling snow and we are prompted regularly to seek the comfort and peace of home sweet home.
Since my long-standing vision for our homeschool has been to prioritize home and family above all else, it is not hard for us to remain content and busy at home for days on end.
A recent visitor to our home asked what made me want to homeschool.
The "on the fly" answer I gave her has been on my mind. I don't often get asked that question much anymore, since I've been homeschooling for so long. It's almost become who I am, in a way.
Simply put, I wanted to create a family culture where I could impart my values regularly, and talk about the Lord organically, while we "sit in our house, and walk by the way..." (Deuteronomy 6:6-8)
And I wanted to be the one to train their character, to work through their difficulties, and to watch their character flaws in order to correct appropriately. (Proverbs 22:6)
Every school year I've walked in obedience to the Lord in this, and He has blessed our humble efforts.
This year a fresh vision took root in my heart that has been budding...
I wish to impress upon my children a sense of loyalty and ministry to their own family first.
Jesus told his disciples to be witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and finally, to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Our immediate sphere of influence, our own people, should be prioritized first, before branching out to the rest of the world. It's tempting to think of our relationship with our family as unimportant compared to a lost and dying world, but it is not unimportant in God's eyes.
Your life ministry starts in your family!
On top of this, we have been plodding along with our Abeka curriculum. I've learned to keep lessons bright and brief, and that a little goes a long way.
Academics, for us, isn't rigorous or stressful.
Thanks to Abeka, diagramming prepositional phrases and making equivalent fractions are not taxing, since every lesson leading up to each subsequent year prepares us perfectly.
Staying faithful to a curriculum has been like moving along comfortable stepping stones, taking us on this educational journey one (very doable!) step at a time.
Homeschooling has not been burdensome, it's our way of life. (1 John 5:3) Each day has a flow, a rhythm that feels natural, snug and happy, yet accomplishes so much.
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I want to share three impactful books that have shaped my homeschool:
Charlotte Mason's Home Education taught me how to incorporate nature, nutritious foods, and strong habits into everyday life starting at a young age.
"The mother who take pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days."
Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery opened my eyes to the realization that with freedom comes great responsibility. Those who wish to break away from the commercial world or public school system to carve out a life for themselves at home should hear Mr. Washington's observations after the Emancipation:
"The great responsibility of being free, of having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for themselves and their children, seemed a more serious thing than they had expected to find it."
And lastly, Mother Culture by Karen Andreola helped me not to worry that my humble little homeschool doesn't measure up to what the regular schools are doing. We can trust God to bring fruit from what we can do, and that homestyle learning is unassuming but more than enough.
"A great many hidden saints, unknown to fame and fortune, are plodding along on the path to pleasing God. Not with fanfare, but with quiet dignity."
I wish all homeschool mothers would read these three excellent books. They blessed me, taught me, and helped make my homeschool what it is today.
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~ Courtney
