So you think you want to homeschool?

It seems like yesterday I was speaking with mothers (whose age I have now reached) and asking them how to take on this task of homeschooling. I felt completely unprepared, unqualified, and incapable of educating my children. However one wise woman told me that my lack of confidence was a good thing, perhaps the greatest thing I had going for me. You see as long as I felt unable, then I would trust in God to get the job done, I'd pray more for the Lord's wisdom because I would be terrified to trust my own. Thus began my homeschooling journey.

Now that I have a teen, tween, toddler, babies, and a few in between, I realize that I have probably learned more along this journey than my children. I have learned that my Heavenly Father is a much more gracious and patient parent than I am, and that my children are much more intelligent than me. I have learned that it's never the academics of homeschooling that makes you want to cash out and enroll them in school, it's the laundry. Finally I've learned that you have to be mom first and foremost and that teacher is a hat you put on. If you try to take the home out of homeschool by taking an institutionalized approach to your children you will crash and burn, and it won't be pretty. Here's a few tips to get you started:

First, identify your goals. The is one of those answers based on the honor system, what are you true goals for homeschooling? Do you want to homeschool so that your children can score higher than all the public school students on the tests? If so, I advise against homeschooling, you see homeschooling students do score higher due to the individualized, loving, one on one education they receive, but if that's your goal, it's idolatry. Trust me on this one, if you make your children your idol and homeschool your act of worship you will cause them to crumble under the pressure. Perhaps your like me and started homeschooling because you can't afford christian school, reluctant homeschooling is mediocre homeschooling. I wish I could rewind the clock and have those first few years back and give those precious children my all, but I can't. But I can share with you my goals for homeschooling. Several years ago I scribbled them down on a scrap of paper and stuck it in my bible, it reads: "That my children would come to a saving knowledge of Christ at the earliest opportunity, that they would learn to read, understand, and apply to Word of God to their lives, and that they would learn to conform unto His image, not mine or the worlds'". Those are my goals, and I schedule my days around those goals, and not standardized tests."

Secondly bit of advice, if you were trained as an educator, that puts you at a disadvantage not an advantage. Before you get angry, let me tell you that I am a music teacher, I was trained to teach based on the typical industry school model. That model won't fly in homeschooling, you can be a mom who happens to teach your children amid the ebb and flow of running a household, or you can be a headmistress of your own academy that "provokes your children to wrath!" (Ephesians 6: 4). Understanding this principle will save you and your children enormous heartache and it will affect your curriculum choices also. If you are mothering a large family you probably already realize that you need some subjects to be taught in a broader "one room school house" type format, unless you have worked out an arrangement with God to have more hours in your day than is in mine!

Thirdly, don't get hung up on the curricula! Curriculum in important, vastly, gravely, and essentially important. However I have heard many people say they can't "afford" to homeschool. You can, as a matter of fact go to google books and you can download pdfs of McGuffey Electric Readers, there are six readers in all and each are available on google free ebooks.  A Primary Arithmetic as well as Intellectual Arithmetic, and several others. Harvey's Grammar and Composition, Eclectic Science Series (three in all) and impressive Nature Book, Parables on Nature, A Manual for History and Geography, and even Latin Primers! Check out my blog on Penmanship using the Shorter Catechism also. It may not be new and exciting, but you could for the price of a few reams of paper and some ink, homeschool your children through sixth grade using free books! In case your wondering about the validity of these curriculum's, realize that they stop at sixth grade because the average sixth grader in the late 1800's early 1900's was better educated than today's public school senior! Add a library card and a few great websites with freebies like Donna Young's,  and Charlotte Mason's Book of Centuries to shore up your history study. Spice things up with a some great science experiments from sites like The Science of Cooking, and hooray! You have a few years on your planner without much money at all.

A few weeks ago someone asked me if I could only have five things to homeshool with what would I choose. Amazing in only took me about 30 seconds to decide what I would consider the essentials. An Inductive Study Bible with Maps, The McGuffey Reader Set, Harvey's Grammar and Composition, Practical Arithmetic, and Noah Websters 1828 Edition dictionary, which isn't your average dictionary you could teach Latin and Greek roots from this as well as several lessons in morality. If I could squeeze Mystery of History into my overhead luggage I would do so in a heartbeat.  While I am blessed to have some resources at my disposal to purchase other curriculum I believe that with the Lord's blessing you can homeschool for almost nothing.

That last sentence is the clincher, with the Lord's blessing, that's the crux of it all. The Lord is the Father of all wisdom and He gives it liberally to all who seek it, James 1:5. If done to the glory of God, for the fulfillment of His commands to train our children day and night, as we walk through our lives (Deuteronomy 6:7 and 11:19), God will bless our efforts and effect His will. Strong homeschools are natural by-products of strong families, and the Lord is the builder and sustainer of both!

Penmaship on Purpose

One of the great difficulties of being a homeschooling mom, is...well..., the fact that you are the mom! You are spiritually and emotionally invested in these children, they are more than a job or part time commitment. As a christian you also realize that scripture gives you clear direction about training up your children and redeeming every moment of the day to use for this purpose. We are also directed not to "provoke our children to wrath" (Ephesians 6). As a child, little irritated me more than handwriting practice. It always seemed to be filled with dreary useless drivel. I felt like a robot mechanically reproducing page after page of silly sentences. I have found a few good penmanship programs, like "A Reason for Writing" and "Classically Cursive", however these workbooks can get quite pricey and they still lacked the depth I was looking for.

One day my husband asked me to find a way to work the Shorter Catechism into our school curricula, my initial thought was how in the world will I find time to teach one more thing! As I tried to wrap my sleep deprived brain around the Chief's idea I had an epiphany! Not really as grand glorious as an epiphany, but rather a logical plan, my children would write the Shorter Catechism! In keeping with our classical education ideology they would do it three times over as well, once in manuscript as young children, then in cursive, and finishing up in advanced cursive! Not only was this purposeful penmanship practice that served a kingdom minded goal, it was going to save us some serious cash! I printed out the entire Shorter Catechism for free offline, then found some handwriting paper from Donna Young. I was even able to snag a cool picture from wikipedia for the cover of my binder, along with a brief historical synopsis.

I divided my binder into three sections based on manuscript, cursive, and advanced cursive. I then used my quintessential red pen to write out the individual questions and answers from the Shorter Catechism for each skill level, and placed it in a sheet protector within the binder. The fabulous part is that I am writing the Shorter Catechism myself three times over, which frankly I could use both the spiritual and the penmanship practice! Secondly it's yet another subject we can do with "the one room school house approach" which is my preferred method of educating our children. It working out splendidly in the Via Academy, the Chief is happy, and my precious blessings have penmanship on purpose.