All articles are presented to stimulate thought and assist Christian families in homeschooling their children. Articles may or may not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the management of HomeschoolChristian.com.
How We Started Homeschooling
Stories by HomeschoolChristian.com Participants
The following brief stories give an idea of the many reasons that people homeschool their children! Whether for academic, social, or religious reasons, homeschooling brings families closer together. It's not always easy, and we aren't perfect, but we know we are doing what is best for our children.
Lorinda: My son, Joe, asked me to teach him to read the day after his fourth birthday. The older three kids were in school and I had never heard of homeschooling. I found a book at the library to teach him phonics, spent three weeks and he was reading Dr. Suess's One Fish, Two Fish. I still figured he'd go to school, but I continued to look for preschool type things to do at home with him and his three year old sister.
One day in a book store I happened to see John Holt's Teach Your Own. That began my search on homeschooling in earnest. The only other thing I found was the Moores. My husband and I were able to hear both Holt and the Moores in person and my husband was the one who felt this would be better for the younger kids than school. I never intended to homeschool past about fourth grade, but my oldest, who has asthma, was having trouble staying in school long enough to learn anything. He'd go and a few hours later I'd get a call to pick him up as he couldn't breathe. He'd be home for a day or two and go back and we'd repeat the same cycle. The teachers (He was junior high at this time.) would send notes saying he was behind and not doing his work. I'd ask for them to send it home, but district policy was not to send work home unless they were out for three or more days! Aaarrgghh! We finally got our chiropractor to sign him out and the district sent a teacher an hour a day. I saw what she was doing and knew I could do as well as she did. We moved the next year and I simply didn't put him back in school. Joe, who started the whole thing, is now 23, so I've been homeschooling for nineteen years now.
Ruth: We had thought about homeschooling before our daughter started kindergarten, but my husband and I were not married at that time (long story) and he thought it would be best for her to be in public school with other kids since I worked nights and he worked days. She attended public school for three years and then a Christian school opened in our area so we decided to give it a try. For the first two years it was great. She had good teachers and academically was far ahead of her public school friends. The last two years at the Christian school were a nightmare. She begged us to homeschool her. In June of this year, my husband's job transferred him to another part of the state. Public school was our only option, and that was really not an option when we started to investigate the public school system here. So...here we are having school on Saturday and loving it. My daughter's disposition and attitude are so much better and my son is learning more than I ever imagined. Thank God for a homeschooling option.
Becky: My father taught in public high schools in California and one of my sisters taught at a public high school in Massachusetts. Seeing what they went through and hearing the stories about what went on daily among students, administrators and teachers as well as talking to a co-worker who had home schooled her son in the early 1980's opened a door of possibility. I started researching it when my oldest was probably two years old and I liked what I was learning about it. I have also taught Sunday school classes and swimming lessons and enjoyed teaching. It seemed like a perfect fit. There was much prayer because I had to be in this for the long haul and I prefer short-term projects!!!! The clincher was a comment made by a parent at an ISP activity day (I was there visiting and checking out the program) who asked if my daughters were in school yet. I told her that they weren't, and that we would be starting next year. Her reply was that I was lucky to be starting out homeschooling without the girls having gone to public school!
Kim G.: We'd been planning to homeschool since our son was born. My best friend homeschooled her children, and I loved hearing her tell about the things they were doing. Well, as the time got closer for our son to begin kindergarten, I started waffling on the idea of homeschooling. He is a highly social kid, and I thought that maybe he'd do better in a schoolroom rather than being home.
We actually registered him for kindergarten, went to the open house, met his teachers for the next fall (This was in the spring.), and rode the big school bus. Exactly one week later, the shootings at Columbine happened. It was a real wake-up call to me that I did NOT want my son "out there" where I had no control over what he was doing and whom he was with.
We dis-enrolled him from the kindergarten registration, and we've never looked back. He's been homeschooled ever since, and we're well into our second grade year now.
Luanne R.: Even before I had children of my own I began to hear my friends complain that their kindergartners were learning new vocabulary from the high schoolers on the school bus, and seeing the attitudes of the older elementary age children and was concerned about the lack of supervision and intervention on the part of the authorities in these situations.
About that time one of the parenting-type magazines (I've forgotten which) published an article on homeschooling. As a good public school student I had never even imagined that such a thing could exist, but I began to look into it. The only objection I heard from those I brought it up with was the 'socialization' issue. Because of my own experience as the victim of this kind of socialization, I saw that as a benefit of keeping my kids away from that influence and had no concern about their ability to make friends other ways. These were all decisions that were made about two years before my first child was born, so none of mine have ever been to public school.
Angela, CA: I really can't remember exactly why we started looking into homeschool. But it was when my oldest was around one year old. She is now four. We have been back and forth on the decision to homeschool since then. But the main reason we decided to go with homeschool was because we were seeing first graders coming home with homework. I had read that schools were making recesses shorter and lunches shorter so they could squeeze in more academics. We didn't like all day kindergarten. We just felt that little ones don't have time to be kids now. We also knew they would get a better education at home. And all the outside influences didn't look appealing. And, to top it off, we know four families personally that homeschool. (One is my cousin.) And I was homeschooled for three years so I had an idea of what it was like. So, a lot has gone into our decision. But the straw was school's trying to "squeeze" more academics in with the little ones.
Reise: Teaching for five years (before I had children) in a Christian school did it for me. I realized how much time was wasted everyday. AND that as a teacher I would be giving the "best" of myself to someone else's child while missing the fun of seeing my own dear children's accomplishments. Some days are VERY hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!! I am soooo grateful that God has allowed homeschool to be a part of our lives.
Kara: I was an education major and was required to "observe" in several schools. What I saw in those schools and what I was taught in class (cradle to grave control) convinced me I did not want my future children in the government school systems. God led me to a wonderful Christian man who also wanted his children homeschooled. One of the first questions he ever asked me was "How do you feel about homeschooling?" We were married a year later and had our first child almost four years after our marriage. Another reason I feel led to homeschool is that my children are miracle babies. My first child was born seven years after two doctors told me I would be unable to have children. (Both told me independent from one another that I had to have children by the age of sixteen if I wanted children, due to problems.) I couldn't imagine turning my wonderful gifts from God over to someone else for the better part of their lives. We will be starting our "official" homeschooling next year. Our Father is so faithful and so wonderful!
Tammy: I started homeschooling to protect my son from the public school and their desire to drug him to "control" his activity. My youngest son is borderline ADHD, according to the public school, but to me and our family doctor he is just an intelligent, healthy, active boy. My son was very bored at school; the subjects weren't taught in a way to engage him, and some were downright confusing in the "new and improved" curriculum. (The teachers even admitted they didn't understand it, but were "teaching" it anyway.)
I started homeschooling to get my son out of an environment in the public school that was causing him emotional upheaval on an almost daily basis. Just about every day he came home from public school just about in tears because someone had taunted him, punched him or been outright cruel to him in some other way, while the teachers and aides did nothing. (A lot of these incidents happened in the presence of adults.) Even when we addressed the issues to the counselors and principal, nothing was done except a "Kids will be kids" attitude.
Once we began homeschooling I decided that homeschooling was bringing more to us then just protection for my son. We were getting much closer to God by studying His word together. I was also re-learning a lot of things I had forgotten through the years. I saw my son's attitude and behavior become much more loving (not that it wasn't already, but it was much more consistent without daily abuse from public school.) We also found we could do much more hands-on in science and field trips and really dig into subjects. My son was finally actually showing excitement about some subjects, and asked for extra work and projects!
There are so many more reasons I could just go on and on. I believe that this is how God meant for me to raise my youngest son, by teaching one-on-one. The best thing is that we have become a much closer family since starting homeschooling, closer to each other and closer to God.
Pam: I wanted my kids to have more "fun" thing to do.... the projects and assignments my children were getting in school were so boring and uninspiring. The things I thought up for my kids really motivated them. I grew tired of driving back and forth to school as well as spending what precious time I had with my kids doing these lame projects. Finally we just looked at the money we were spending on private school (Christian, through our church) and decided that it would be better spent somewhere else (like food!)
The advantages of school: daily fellowship with friends, field trips, etc., have all been counter-balanced by the things we do together. My kids have always disliked school field trips and really enjoyed going with me, so that was a slam dunk. Instead of daily fellowship with their best friends they have more limited contact, but they make excellent use of their time together.
We started school today and the kids were very motivated and had a great time -- even with math and grammar! So I must be doing something right.
Carli3: I never thought I'd be a homeschooler and I'll admit, I am guilty of judging it without knowing what it was about. I even said once, "OH, I don't agree with that! They're stuck in the house all day and get no socialization..." I didn't say this to a mother, thank God, just to my husband, but even he, who hadn't considered it before was a little put off by my remarks.
But the Lord began working on my heart as I contemplated (while my daughter was three and a half) the idea of her going on a school bus. I remember feeling a lot of anxiety about that. When daughter was four years old, we found our home church here in Washington and I met a good number of families that homeschooled. Slowly but surely, God put the right people in my path and I began asking questions. While my daughter was attending an SDA preschool, I had this unsettled feeling about her being in that school even though they didn't teach the doctrine. And then, all I can say is, it hit me smack in the face one day that I was being called to homeschool my kids and that was that. I have never looked back and am so thankful for listening to God's voice. I've had my setbacks since then but we're really in a good rhythm now and all's good!
Tammy in MI: Seven years in the public school brought us to this path. Always wanted to give it a try, but fell for the socialization trap. Now I wish we'd have started it in Kindergarten. Boy, we'd be through that first years hurdle way back then and now that the kids are older it would be "old hat." God called us here. We were finally obedient to that call. Praise Him!
LisaIsBlessed: I never thought I'd homeschool. I was a teacher and my mom was a teacher and my sister was a teacher - well you get the idea!! The Lord called me to teach my kids when my oldest was four. This was ten years ago when not too many people openly homeschooled. I started reading and researching and trying to understand all about this homeschooling stuff.
I finally decided to go to a homeschooling meeting and check it out. What a blessing those ladies were. So friendly and welcoming to me. Then one day I met the leader's kids. They were high school age, and she had always homeschooled them. I was amazed and impressed by the relationship the kids had with their mom. You see, I taught high school and saw how most kids related to their parents. This was so different and so great. She told me that one of the reasons that she homeschooled was because she wanted her kids' lives to revolve around family and not revolve around their peers. Wow! This really hit home with me. And that was ten years ago.
God called me to homeschool and then put the people in my path to help me and encourage me. Has it been all wonderful since then, of course not, but I know this is where God wants me to be.
Gina in GA: While my hubby and I were dating I met several families in his church that homeschooled. I had never even heard of it and I was eighteen! We married a few months after I turned nineteen and found out we were expecting on our first anniversary. Before she was born we discussed many areas of parenting. We decided how we would feed her, how we would discipline, etc. The day she was born I looked at her precious face and knew I never wanted to "send her away." I started asking families in the church (his that we both then attended), about homeschooling. I knew right away it was for us. We attended our first curriculum fair when she was six months old. We've been every year since and she is now eight with a six year old sister.
I've only had second thoughts once, and it wasn't a school stress, it was income. I thought for about two days about going back to work so we could have more "stuff". It was an ignorant thought and it only took thinking about putting them on a bus or in a room full of germ-toting kids with more knowledge of worldly things than heart knowledge to make me realize that we really didn't need a new car or a new house or even more money for bills. Things are often tight but we are making it fine and my kids know they are safe and loved! The journey continues..
Jenileigh 9/11 brought us to homeschool. My daughters were in the sixth grade and Kindergarten. My mom called and told me to turn on the T.V. I watched in horror and wondered if we were under attack, was this the beginning of a War, would I be able to get to my children? Should I go and get them or leave them? I battled and battled those thoughts all day.
Finally I decided to leave them. I thought to myself that were safe and didn't need to miss their school work and after all I didn't want to over react. I could have the afternoon to figure out how to explain what had happened to them and keep them from being worried and afraid.
That is not what happened. In all actuality they stopped school here that day. They pulled T.V.'s into the classrooms and my kids watched the replays having worldly discussion on what the teachers thought was happening. When my kids got off the bus that day it was in fear and tears. I was so angry and horrified. I called the school board office to complain that they did not have my permission to allow my children to watch T.V. during class time. Their reply was, "Yes you did, you gave us all the permission we needed when you signed them into the public school system."
I began studying and realized in essence I had given part of my guardianship over to the public school system without realizing it. That is NOT Biblical. I went into prayer for the next few months. I started volunteering in my daughter's classes and popping in unannounced. I am not even going into the things the Lord allowed me to see going on while parents were at work thinking their children were being taken care of. I live in a small town and the elementary school is in my backyard. My daughter was the third generation there and I knew most all of the teachers. One of my daughter's teachers was a Sunday School Teacher. From the outside all looks like it is the perfect place. The outside was very deceiving.
The Lord led us to bring our children out mid-year that December 2001. It has not always been easy but the one thing we keep standing on is that we know that what we are doing is right in the eyes of God. No looking back. I did have to repent for what I had allowed my oldest daughter to endure. As I grew I realized that there had been signs all along but I had chosen to ignore them. I am so glad that we are where we now. The Lord is good and faithful. He has brought us out of much.
Marcelyn: Long before we homeschooled my son was in first grade and the class was going to watch the space shuttle go into space since it was the one with the teacher on it. Then the space shuttle exploded and the day was spent dealing with questions that the kids had, talking about the people being in heaven, that some of them were probably okay, and then later that afternoon going into discussions about death. Not as traumatic as 9/11 for sure but it did affect my son in a great way. He was full of questions that he would not have had and he was terribly confused by all the odd answers he had been given from a big question/answer time they had.
Brigit: My husband was homeschooled so when we had children he just assumed I would homeschool them. I had never heard of homeschooling before and knew I just couldn't do it. I have a very short temper and little patience with my children. Anyway, because of circumstances, my mother-in-law homeschooled my oldest for first grade. That went horrid only because my mother-in-law got a bit too attached to my daughter. From then on out the kids went to public school. When my oldest got to Middle School, I just couldn't feed her to the wolves. I kept her home and the rest of the kids went to public school. Then my second daughter kept coming home with homework and she didn't know how to do it. When I had an appointment with her teacher, I asked her why my daughter didn't know how to do the work. She said "Well, I have so many special needs kids in my class that I don't have time to answer her questions. I knew that you homeschooled so I figured you could teach her at home."
That was the last day she attended public school. Then it just became easier to keep them all at home. I question my choice every day but my husband will NOT let the kids back in public school. So, good or bad, we homeschool. I worry that they are not getting a good education.
Rose: Our children were hard won and came in our tenth and eleventh year of marriage. We knew before the first one was born that we wanted full responsibility and to maintain accountability on how they would be raised. The thought of sending them to an institution for the vast majority of their childhood raised chills. I began reading and researching before our son arrived and by the time we had to start submitting reports, we had already been schooling for a long time. It has been a wonderful journey so far.
Having said that, I did cave in to doubts, burn out and guilt this past September. We enrolled them in the local private Catholic school. My son was very unhappy. My daughter loved the social aspect but was not challenged academically. We brought them back home December. We now expect to homeschool through high school. It was a great and valuable learning experience, but I am so glad to have them home. We remodeled the dark and dated office into a bright and beautiful school room. They liked their desks and using a chalkboard at school. I ordered desks and chairs for them, and painted a chalkboard on the wall.
Deb McTexas: We had talked about homeschooling from time to time, but never pulled the trigger. An opportunity to move to Belgium pushed us over the edge. Since dh is a pilot, he had an interesting schedule for Europe flying. He would work for two weeks, then have two weeks off, work for three weeks, then two weeks off. I kept looking at that schedule and a map of Europe....without being locked into a "school" schedule we could do a lot of traveling in those off weeks. For example, Brussels is a forty-five minute drive to the German border...Aachen, Koln, and more. A three hour drive puts you into the outskirts of Paris! An hour and a half and Amsterdam is at your finger tips. See what I mean?
So, we decided to homeschool. Our oldest was an unhappy student in public school anyway and we always heard 'very, very' in front of 'expensive' when we asked about international schools. We knew that dumping this boy into a French speaking class to learn algebra and biology wouldn't be fair. When we started, he was going into the ninth grade. The little guy was going into third grade. Living in Belgium was one big adventure every day. But our first real homeschool adventure was spending two weeks on a unit study on the Vikings. THEN we drove to Norway. Lots of Viking museums, boating on a fjord, etc. Very, very cool. We visited over fourteen countries in our time in Europe.
We studied ancient history while living in Belgium because we had wonderful access to museums, exhibits, cathedrals, and ruins. Roman and medieval history were particularly fun. We studied Rome from Pompeii to Hadrian's Wall and many points in between. Amazing for this little gal from Texas. After a short period, we moved back home. By then, homeschooling was a lifestyle for us. And here we are today. One son graduated, with the 'little' guy to graduate within the next couple of years. Amazing.
Rachel in TX: My husband and I felt strongly that if the superintendent of our small public school was still there when the child I was pregnant with was school age, we would homeschool or send our children to the Christian school his nephews attended, twenty-five miles away. You see, I was nineteen when I had my first child and the man who was the principal in my high school was promoted to superintendent after I graduated. He lived down the street from us. He was rude and hateful, was horrible to me the whole time I was in high school. Soon our first child was five, and the day she turned five I spent all afternoon on the phone with my sister-in-law. She is a great source of Godly encouragement for me. She explained to me that I could teach my children everything they needed to know in the time it would take to get them ready for school and drive them to her Christian school.
Homeschoolers began showing up every where, on TV, at my garage sales, etc. even before our oldest was born. I received great advice from experienced homeschoolers in our small town. Unfortunately, the Gothard incident left our family out in the cold with the other homeschoolers in our town. I couldn't stand the isolation and sent my daughter to first grade. We hated it so she was home until she was a sophomore. She now goes to the above mentioned Christian school.
I truly believe that if we were able to live somewhere where my children could have fellowship, they would be homeschooled through high school. It pains me that my son is in public school over my objections. My husband now sees it may have been wrong to send him but what can you do, he is a junior and the Bible speaks clearly about not causing bitterness in your children. We made a deal with him that if we didn't find him a baseball team to play on, he could go to school. We did not go back on our word. I still have two at home, a seventh grader and a third grader. I have no idea what will happen day by day, but I do know the One who does.
JoJo: Seven years ago, we moved into a rental home where the owners were homeschoolers. My husband heard the mom talking about it. When it came time for us to begin talking about paying the year's tuition for private school, my husband proposed we look into homeschooling. The private school numbers were dwindling as she got into the higher grades and there was a girl who was the class bully. Kelsey was mostly reading during the day as she waited for the other kids to finish their work. I took a month to look into it and reported back to my husband that I wanted to homeschool her. He said..."Wait a minute! I just said look into it!" We agreed to take it a year at a time and never looked back.
The difference in Kelsey's education in a private Christian school that did allow her to get ahead in some things and homeschooling was enormous! She excelled in every area and thoroughly enjoyed many of her studies where as she found them boring in her old school. My son has always been homeschooled, but we are looking for ways to have him interact with other homeschoolers up here in the high desert. I have started a support group up here and have a few families so far. Life sure has changed for all of us and we have never been happier. Except when I think about my daughter (sixteen) leaving for college in a year and a half.
Briva: I guess the Lord had to show me how bad public school was first, because I thought it was okay. I got the confidence to homeschool from a library book, Borg Hendrickson's Home School: Taking the First Step and then her How to Write a Low Cost/No Cost Curriculum. The only homeschooler I had met before pulling my two older kids out of public school was my cousin. She homeschooled from the start. Our two sons are only 3 months apart, but the program she was using was too expensive for us. After reading that book I found out other options, then the school district held a homeschooling seminar! I got in touch with a local support group and went to my first curriculum convention. Our son did attend public school until the 9th grade and we finally pulled out our daughter for good after third grade, and our lil daughter has only homeschooled and God willing will never go to public school.
Sis: We were pioneers. We lived on top of a mountain with a little one room schoolhouse that my kids attended, with a CHRISTIAN teacher! I think that's even better than homeschooling in some ways! But, it only went through sixth grade. The next year, my oldest would be taking the bus down a snowy, narrow, mountain road thirty minutes down and thirty minutes back. That meant he'd be getting on the bus around 6 am and getting off close to 5 pm. AND go to JR HI - which I knew to be the roughest age at school. Fortunately, the Lord had us move that summer and at about the same time we found out that a sister church had a private Christian school (albeit an hour from us), but they said we could use the materials at home. That was A.C.E. or School of Tomorrow and so it began.
Lori in NY: We started in public school then pulled the boys out about two years ago. My youngest had been experiencing some very bad things on the bus. (REALLY BAD!) The final straw came when he came down with mono and missed a lot of school. Even though he had a doctor's note my son's teacher was insisting to the principal that my son needed to be in school and would get behind... etc, she definitely went waaaay too far in my humble opinon! Anyway, he did half days for a couple of months, so we were doing half a day of school at our house. I had to meet with his teacher about halfway through this time period. My son had completed a really big test and when I inquired as to how he did, her reply was something like "Oh, I think he may have passed." I was a little disturbed because he had studied hard and I was sure he knew the information. She made it sound like he was lucky to get a passing grade. Come to find out, he received a 103 on the exam!!! He aced the test and even got the bonus question right! It was then that it started to dawn on me that I could do this instead of sending him into the 'jungle'. (This is the child who cried every day for me not to send him to school! By the way - I really thought I was doing the right thing at the time keeping him in public school. I am sorry I made him endure it, though!) I had been praying about the school situation for about two years before God really convicted me. I was absolutely sure this is what he was calling me to do. My husband agreed to give it a try. Though I'm not sure he was convinced it was the answer. I have a cousin who has homeschooled her six children right from the start, so I knew about it. Their kids are some of the most well mannered, well behaved, kind children I have ever had the pleasure to know! They were definitely a positive influence! Initially, it never occurred to me that this was something that would be right for us! Now I can't imagine any other option! I thank God every morning for the his guidance and the opportunity to homeschool!
Mary Jo in FL: I was backed into a wall so to speak. I had my kids in a Christian private school for a few years. I was not happy with the way things were going there. They had a scandal involving the principal and a male and female teenage student. One teacher got fired for inappropriate contact with a fifth grade student. My daughter got an "A" in math even though she didn't know what she was doing and my youngest was the teacher's pet, so he made "A's" all the time, even though all of his answers were wrong. My middle one was constantly being compared to my older one by his teacher, so his self esteem plummeted. Not to mention they raised the prices so high there was no way to pay it even in installments. So I took them all out for about a year. Well, they missed being with other kids, so they wanted to try public school and against my better judgement, I acquiesced. My oldest stuck it out for two months, my middle one for one semester, and my youngest for a whole year. They hated it as I knew they would. They have been home ever since and I can't say I don't have regrets sometimes. Ok, many times. Some days are really bad for me and for them. It is then I have to pray harder and understand that that is when He is trying to teach me through them. So, I feel that God backed me into a wall and no matter how often I feel like giving up and quitting, I know that His purpose and His will are what I need to be subservient to, not my own
Betty in Vegas: I suppose God led me here. I had actually lobbied for the rights of homeschoolers when I was serving in a conservative PAC here in my state, but I had not considered homeschooling for myself. I figured I could never do it--that my kids would never do work for me. Then my son began to just fail in school. He was passing the tests, and proved to be above grade level...but he refused to do daily work. It was a struggle. He was bored, they wouldn't give him work to stimulate him, and I pulled him out as a last resort. He's doing great now...and the other two boys asked to be pulled, too, so we did. I thought I'd "try" homeschooling as I had nothing to lose at that point and if I did fail, we'd mortgage the house and send him to a military type school or SOMETHING. Now, I hope to never put a child back in public school.
SoCalPam: I was encouraged by my husband. I had encountered homeschoolers all along, read about them, become intrigued -- but never stepped forward in faith. My older son's preschools were wonderful and I loved them, then when he went to elementary school we were able to utilize the Christian school that is attached to our church.
Enter son number two. His preschool experience was different because he's a very different child. As we began to prepare for kindergarten for him, number one son was in a second grade class with a teacher who was just going through the motions. It was clear that we (meaning ME) would have to make a decision, and fast. Hubby had been saying that homeschooling would be appropriate for a couple of years, so I finally decided to listen. Why is being a submissive wife so "easy" in the Bible and so hard in real life? Anyway, that's how we began, right at the semester break for number one son.
I have found that we have a tremendous amount of support in the community with classes, play groups, friends, etc. We don't have much support in our (huge) church -- it's a very worldly church in many ways as it ministers to that type of community. However, I get a lot of respect for homeschooling from the folks at church, which is very nice. Totally undeserved but nice.
When I broke it all down my reasons for homeschooling were so simple that it shocks me that I felt school would be an appropriate choice at all. I want God to be part of our day; I want the children to learn at rates that are appropriate for them; I want focused one-on-one education for my children; I want to raise children who are trained to think and reason, not parrot back the answers at the end of the chapter. So far all my wants have been met by God. It has really been a most blessed journey He's sent me on.
Stacy in TN: For me, I really thought I was too stupid to homeschool. I always looked at "teachers" as way more educated than myself, and said, "I could never teach." Looking back, I could kick myself. I was probably thinking about high school courses like chemistry, biology, and upper math. ANY person can teach with the proper book and materials. There are always tutors, too! I think homeschooling materials have come a long way! CD-ROMs, DVD's, videos, etc., are all excellent learning resources that people twenty years did not have.
Some people I knew in Indiana homeschooled their children, and I thought, "No way! I've been waiting for them to go to school so I can have free time." When I moved down here, I watched my neighbor homeschool, and as I "ran into" more and more people that did homeschool, the more I thought about it. My daughter and son did go to Kindergarten at the public school here, but I was very involved in their class. THe hardest part for me was convincing my daughter, who was in first grade at the time, that what she had to learn at home with me was the same "thing" that the public school kids were learning in her grade. When she finally saw the neighbors' homework and such, she realized I was telling her the truth.
I have purposely gone out of my way to make sure she and my son were and now involved in sports, dance, coop, theater, etc. Two years ago, I went crazy because our schedule became too much. This past school year has been better since I have cut out a few things. My son does not miss going to public school at all. He really enjoys being homeschooled. I think he becomes lazy sometimes because he doesn't think he needs to try that hard at some of his work, but that is a "work in progress." Also, several years ago, I found this board, which has been a real PLUS for me. The wealth of information, the fellowship, prayers, and meeting some of the ladies from this board, has been such a blessing!
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