Homeschool Blog

"To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 4:7b).

Prioritizing my workload as a homeschooling parent was difficult because everything seemed urgent. The baby needed to be bathed and fed, the clothes needed to be washed, the meals needed to be kept on schedule, and daily school lessons needed to be completed. Too many days I felt like Peter robbing Paul, as I juggled each of these activities. Anything that could be put off until tomorrow usually was, including grading school papers, quizzes, and tests....

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"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path" (Psalm 142:3a).

We should have never started out on our three-hour trip home after attending my oldest daughter's college graduation. The further we traveled, the lower the visibility became from the blinding snow. Eventually, we couldn't see the road at all. Since turning back was just as far as traveling to the next town, we continued down the road. The close homeschooling relationship between my husband and son was soon to be tested. Sticking his head out the passenger window to see the white line on the road's edge, my son started giving directions to my husband and said, "Move a little left" or "Move a little right." For the next hour, my husband put his total faith in my son's navigation and literally drove blind in the raging blizzard....

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"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship" (Acts 2:42a).

For several months I had noticed my teenage son's reluctance to go to church. Thinking we would leave him behind, he was always the last one to wake up on Sunday morning and painstakingly took his time in getting ready. After he had caused the entire family to be late for church several Sundays in a row, I knew I needed to speak with him about his actions. The next day during our homeschool devotions, we discussed the topic of worship, and my son blurted out, "I don't need to go to church to worship God. I can worship Him at home just as well as at church!"...

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"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).

I was on my daily walk and trying to organize my thoughts for a long homeschooling day. I stopped to observe the sunrise in the spring sky and noticed a large flock of geese heading north. Captivated by the sight, I laid down on the ground to watch their movements. Watching them fly in their traditional V shape, I observed the lead goose as he dropped back to find a new spot in the formation. The goose that had been directly behind him assumed the lead, and the entire group continued flying. Twice more, I saw the same process take place before the flock was completely out of sight....

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We never had a mascot for our homeschool, and my children never knew the excitement of school pep rallies. However, what we lacked in school spirit for team sports was made up by the Holy Spirit in Christian ministry. As we reached out to others, the presence and power of the Lord filled us to accomplish His will. Being used by the Lord and seeing His mighty power displayed was much more exciting than any football, baseball, or basketball game....

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Self-pity is a common temptation faced by many homeschooling parents. After all, we have such a heavy burden to bear, right? If the daily duties of homeschooling are not enough, we also face ridicule and a lack of appreciation for the hard work of teaching our children. Our martyr syndrome assumes we're the only ones who really care about our children's education. Foolishly we say, "No one else sacrifices or suffers for what they believe like we do." Sadly, we actually believe these lies from Satan and sink into homeschooling despair because of them....

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"Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart" (Psalm 26:2).

When my four children reached long division in their math curriculum, several weeks of resistance and conflict resulted during our homeschooling days. The painstaking process seemed unending and laborious to my high-tech children. "Mom, why do we have to do this by hand?" they cried. "Why can't we just figure this out on the calculator?" Taking the time and effort to show their work on every quiz and test in division was even more agonizing. To them, the quick and easy method of using the calculator's brain instead of their own seemed the best answer to solving math computations....

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Do you realize how many homeschooling lessons can be learned from gardening? From biology to Bible, gardening provided our family more opportunities to learn truths than any other activity. Such was the case the year my son prepared to win the grand champion purple ribbon at the county fair with his homegrown vegetables....

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"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him" (Proverbs 18:13).

I learned an important homeschooling secret after many years of teaching — it's more important to ask the right questions than it is to give the right answers. Too many times I piled tons of information on my children that was neither of interest or necessary. My "be prepared" teaching philosophy, which attempted to include every detail on a subject, was burning out my children's love of learning. Clearly, one carefully worded question sparked my children's interest far more than providing all the answers....

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What labels have been placed on your children because they homeschool? During our years of homeschooling, my children faced innuendos that ranged from mental retardation to religious fanatic. Today, the media still portrays homeschoolers as naive, unfashionably dressed nerds. Even though studies prove the contrary, public educators also insist that homeschoolers are deprived of proper socialization. Why does the word "homeschooling" bring out such nastiness in people?...

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