My Calling to Homeschool

Apr 28, 2022 | Family & Home, Homeschool

I know for many families the decision to homeschool is a difficult one. In the U.S, roughly 3.3% of school-aged children are homeschooled. According to the U.S Census Bureau, this number has only recently increased due to the global pandemic. It certainly requires commitment, both of your time and your energy. But for me, it was the path that God laid at my feet! While His guidance has often asked me to sacrifice, this is one area that I feel He truly provided a step that was easy to take.

My Background in Education

Some of you may not know this, but before meeting my husband I was in the process of pursuing a career in education. My coursework and experience in college was focused on Early Childhood Education, allowing me to work in the public school system as both a substitute teacher and a standardized test specialist. It was a future I was highly invested in and excited to grow into, but something even more wonderful happened… God placed my beautiful life partner before me and gave me a new calling.

Separation Anxiety

Admittedly, the transition from pursuing education and deciding to educate my own children wasn’t a clear one. In the early days of our marriage Demario and I had once joked about me homeschooling our children, but at the time it seemed like a very foreign concept. I only started truly considering the idea once my first child was about 10 months old. I found I was getting some severe separation anxiety. Call me over-protective, but we tried 3 schools in less than 3 months, and I just didn’t feel comfortable being apart from my baby girl. It was then I realized that perhaps God was calling me home!

Making the Transition

It took a little bit to create a plan of action, but I began setting up learning stations around the playroom and spent time daily on educationally stimulating tasks. It was a system that worked for us until my firstborn was about 3 years old. Around then we began integrating a few days a week into preschool to help her socialize, but I never felt truly satisfied having her educated outside our home. I decided to trust God and homeschool her full time and I haven’t looked back since!

 

Take God’s Cue

He does not put things in our path that we cannot take on (1 Corinthians 10:13). If you are considering homeschooling your child(ren) I will suggest you first pray over this calling. Ask God if this is what he has set before you and once you receive confirmation research an online curriculum within your home state to help you get started. My experience homeschooling has reminded me that His wisdom united a passion I had early on with a family life that was new to me. He provided the opportunity to put the tools I had at hand to use. God gave me new purpose, vision, and boldness to enact something I had never seen modeled before.

Over the years, with 5 children, I have certainly re-evaluated my homeschooling methods, even applied for schools at times, but He is always there to remind me that my course of action is the one He designed. He has granted me my dreams: I get to spend unlimited time with my kids, I get to nurture them as whole children, and I have flexibility in my schedule, discipline, and curriculum.  I am thankful everyday that I answered His call, trusted his wisdom, and made home the center of my children’s education!

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