Homeschooling was never on my radar. When our first child was about 15 months old, my husband graduated from college and we moved south to central Florida. We soon found a wonderful church where we became heavily involved. We loved it there! We were making close friends, I was serving in the children’s ministry, and together we took some of the marriage classes offered, to grow closer to God and to one another as a couple.
The church had a preschool and was also starting an elementary school. My ‘plan’ was to send my kids to preschool and elementary school there, and to eventually teach there myself. When my oldest was 3 years old, he entered the preschool program. My daughter was only 2 years younger and soon followed. By the time we had added our third child to the family, my son was entering kindergarten and we were wondering how we would afford private school for three children!
We decided to try public school. That lasted all of about 6 weeks, due to an illness in the family which required travel. My son was “missing too much school” and we were told he would fail the year if he missed more than 9 days in a semester. We decided to try homeschooling for the first time. Although it was going well, and I enjoyed teaching my children at home, it was not a permanent decision. By the beginning of the second semester, we had found a way to cut costs enough to swing tuition, and we re-enrolled our son and daughter in private school.
I began volunteering at the school because I wanted to be involved and be ‘in the know’ about school happenings. As my children learned and grew, we became ensconced in the school setting. We made great friends, participated in field trips, and generally enjoyed our time there. I missed my children, but kept busy with my baby and enjoyed our time together when they were home. As they each moved into their next grades, I found a sitter for my youngest and was able to spend even more time at the school. I was the ‘Friday Folder’ mom in my son’s 1st grade class. I saw what they were working on each week, listened to the teacher as she taught various lessons, and sometimes I graded papers. I even began walking with my son’s teacher some evenings because we lived near one another, and it was a great time of fellowship for me!
The end of the year came and went, and we were well into summer when there were rumblings about a temporary move. We were not sure if we should all move or if my husband should go alone, but eventually came to the decision to take everyone. Thus began our second, and very short, stint in the homeschooling world. With a 2nd grader, kindergartener, and 2.5 year old, I found it difficult to ‘do school’ and keep everyone happy. After 4 short weeks, I threw in the towel and put the kids in the neighborhood public school. Their time there ended up being very short as well, as the company shut down the program my husband was working on and our family headed back to Florida after just 9 weeks away!
Working My Plan
There were openings in the children’s grades, as well as an opening for a preschool teacher’s aide and an after-care worker, at the private school where our kids had been enrolled before. I accepted both. My dream to teach was about to come true! We began school just after Thanksgiving that year. My children were at the school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. I had found a daycare for my youngest son and I had also enrolled in college classes. I was preparing to get the teaching degree that I had always wanted.
We were all very busy and actually not very happy. My husband was the one to pick up my youngest from the sitter and he also often began dinner preparations. What a blessing he was! Still, that was not his role, it was mine. By February, I knew things weren’t working. We held a family meeting and decided that I would stick the year out with my teaching and classes but that the next year I would be done at 3 p.m. when my children were. I was thrilled with our plan, and I even had a real teaching job lined up for the following school year. I would teach 3 year olds from 8 to 12 and be able to pick up my kiddos at 3 p.m., just as I had promised!
Surrendering My Plan to God
Over the summer I continued to take classes and left my children in daycare. I still didn’t get it, and God began to whisper to me:
How do you feel about missing your son perform during his Christmas play, and for Mother’s Day? Shouldn’t you be teaching him?
He also brought to mind the verses from Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, and I wondered, how will I teach him if I am not with him?
We had also learned that our daughter had a vision problem and could not read, a requirement for the first grade environment. She would need more help than would be available. These two things caused me to consider homeschooling yet again.
It was a hard sell to my husband. I promised to stick out the entire year, even if I hated it. He hesitantly agreed. It was tough, but I knew that this time I had heard a clear call from God to do this. That is what made the difference! I have had to surrender some dreams, but answering the call to homeschool has given me new dreams, far and above anything I could have dreamed up on my own. We are entering our 8th year of homeschooling and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
Please be sure to join me again next week, when I will answer the question: What IS homeschooling, anyway?
Blessings,
Wendy
