Being a classroom teacher I never expected to homeschool my children. It was definitely not on my radar when our first son was born. As the first day of kindergarten approached we had a few friends who were either doing this thing or looking into it. I started researching information to help them make a good decision when we caught wind that our district was switching to full day kindergarten. We did not think that was a great fit for our oldest, so we figured we could do Kindergarten at home.I had a few friends with preschoolers and young for kindergarten age children so we formed a mini-co-op and shared the teaching and planning of field trips and themes. We had so much fun.
As we were heading to the end of the school year, my husband was called into full time ministry as a youth pastor. We moved to a new community and were living a new schedule of life with many evening commitments on my husband’s part. After reading some about other countries not starting formal education until later, and finding a co-op in the nearby college town, we began our “formal” homeschool journey. We were a year by year family until we reached middle school and realized that what we had was good, and worked very well for our family. We were on our second move and church, and the unity and connection homeschooling provided for us was a tremendous blessing.
We also were next to a small Christian School that allowed homeschoolers to play on their sports teams and the state we were in allowed kids to try out for the public school teams. The freedom it allowed us was such a blessing. We moved again which was super hard for all of us but I feel like the homeschool aspect allowed something to be stable in our life. The kids still wanted to continue this journey even into high school. They were able to take some dual credit classes and we created some classes based on their interests.
Then I blinked and that ride was over. I has no idea of all the unexpected blessings that would come from that choice we made as a family. It was super hard at times, but we all learned and grew from it. I am so thankful for getting to really know my kids and enjoy them for so long. My boys are so different from each other, I am not sure they would have the same friendship if we had taken a different path. I am thankful for all the walks, field trips, vacations, friends, experiences, laughs, and learning we were able to share as a family. We did not start that journey with noble ideals or long term plans, but by God’s grace He gave us that gift. Our boys are some of our very favorite people to hang out with. I am so thankful for this unexpected blessing.
Inkblot Life 