Homeschool Resource Guide

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

The 2005 NCHE conference is now history. While our pocketbooks are somewhat lighter, we are all encouraged, loaded down with new curriculum and enthusiastic about the coming year. How do we go from the high-mountaintop experience of the conference down to the rubber-meets-the-road reality of daily homeschool life?

Realize that there is no perfect homeschool family. Often, as new (or not so new!) homeschoolers, we are tempted to look at others, particularly speakers at homeschool conferences, and place them on a pedestal, considering them the experts. Then we live our lives trying to emulate them and feeling defeated when we fail. Let us encourage you to use what you learned at the conference by gleaning ideas, tips, etc., about how to homeschool, but allowing God to help you apply them to your home. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” If God has called you to homeschool, please remember that He will enable you as well! Just strive to be obedient to whatever God shows you is best for your family.

Focus on discipleship not academics. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Or, put another way: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3. It is so easy to get focused on academics, from looking at curriculum to just getting in a mode of getting-it-done everyday. Let's face it, academic achievement is much more measurable than character development. However, our children’s character development is vastly more important. At the end of our lives, we won’t be wishing we had done another math or grammar lesson, but perhaps, we will wish we had spent more time training our children in character. Be willing to stop a lesson or veer from an intended lesson when the Lord leads. We can be driven to get through the schedule and miss some valuable discipling opportunities. If you struggle, too, continue refocusing and keep discipleship your priority. Remember Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Allow God to help you plan your child’s school. Don’t rely on having the newest or best curriculum, or even the ones from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 Picks! Take this advice from a homeschool mom recovering from curriculum-buying disorder (aka, a curriculum junkie!). God wants us to be practical and do all we know to do to organize, become informed and prepare for the coming school year. However, God loves and wants His best for your children and ours, even more than we do. If we will absolutely surrender to Him, He will give us insight about what He has planned for each of our children. He is faithful to supply so that they will lack nothing. Allow Him to orchestrate the days of your lives, to lead you to specific curriculum, to provide extra activities. God has taught us through both good and bad situations: difficulties such as moves and miscarriages, provision of opportunities such as music lessons, living in a foreign country for a summer, Spanish lessons, mission trips and apprenticeships. He will do the same for your family, and it will all be uniquely tailored to your situation. God always does more than we can ask or imagine when we follow His leading in planning school!

Recognize what homeschooling can do for you. God showed us long ago that homeschooling wasn’t just about educating our children. It is definitely a faith walk and one of the most rewarding things we have ever done. God is using the daily life of homeschooling as a tool to shape us to be more like Him. As much as He cares about our children, He also cares about us, the parents of these children. The daily possibility of rubbing each other the wrong way provides many opportunities to live out what we have learned from God’s Word. Luke 6:40 says “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” The homeschooling lifestyle forces us to realize our desperate need for Him each day and the importance of spending time with Him in His Word and prayer. We hope you, too, will recognize God’s greater purposes in leading you to homeschool.

We hope that our thoughts have encouraged and reminded you (and us!) of things we probably already know, but need to remember anew. Isaiah 58:11-12 is our prayer for your homeschool year: “The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Overcoming Obstacles while Homeschooling

For many of us there are valleys and mountains in our homeschool journey. Because I have recently overcome many obstacles, I hope my thoughts minister to someone else who may be going through the valley right now.

It seems that our family has been tried and tested quite a bit this past year. Through it all, we have managed to keep up with our homeschooling. When we had our year-end testing, I was pleased to see that the children had grown academically in spite of our circumstances. More importantly, I can see that they have grown spiritually.

How did we manage to stay on track with school while overcoming obstacles? The easiest answer is through our faith in God and His mercy and grace that are shown to us daily. When we, as parents, receive God’s blessings, they trickle down through us to our homeschool.

Next to faith in God, my biggest asset would be my supportive husband. My husband will come in from a long day at work and cook dinner, if necessary. When I have had a particularly bad day (and there have been many lately), he is always there for me to encourage me. He helps me see the big picture. For us the big picture is raising godly children, which requires godly teaching and training on our parts. Those are two parts of parenting that take a lot of time and energy.

We have seen some fruits of our labor in the area of character training. Our two oldest children will do extra things not asked of them when life is chaotic. Most recently, when we have dealt with a lot of medical issues, the two older children have pitched in where needed to get daily and weekly chores done. They have happily helped to take care of their youngest sibling.

We use the unit study approach to our homeschooling for a variety of reasons, but one of the main reasons is its usefulness as a vehicle for character training. The unit study approach has helped our family develop very strong bonds with one another as a result of being together all the time.

Flexibility

Since the birth of our children, I have had to add a new word to my vocabulary—flexibility. This virtue is very important in balancing my day-to-day life and school. Things crop up all the time that interrupt our schedule, and I have had to learn to incorporate schedule changes on a moment’s notice.

A prime example of this type of interruption happened a year and a half ago. I went to take my morning shower while the children got dressed and started chores. They have been told to not interrupt my shower unless I needed to take someone to the emergency room. I had no sooner stepped into the shower than there was a loud banging on the bathroom door. Our five-year-old had jumped from the top bunk onto a double bed, then bounced and hit the headboard with his mouth. Rushing out of the shower, I saw that he had cuts inside and outside of his lip. I dropped everything to take him to get stitches. Our oldest child watched the other boys while we were gone. We were eventually sent home with a boy with a very fat lip and lots of stitches. I don’t think much school work was done that day, but we worked together as a team to take care of the immediate need.

There are also days when it is better to visit an ailing grandparent in the morning and come home and do school in the afternoon. And there are days when we do school work very early in the morning in order to do something later in the day.

We have also added three babies to our family since we started homeschooling. At one time, it was more productive to do school in the evening with Dad home. Does it matter what time of day we sit down to read and write and do math? No, not really. And if we miss a day or two, will it hinder them for the whole year? No. We are being flexible with our school in order to live our lives, and I have not seen any negative repercussions from doing that.

Creativity

Another way that we have overcome obstacles while homeschooling is through creativity. No, I am not talking the arts and crafts type of creativity, though that certainly has its place in our homeschool. I am talking about creatively covering the three R's on days when obstacles prevent doing actual bookwork.

What constitutes a math lesson? There are many hands-on ways to learn math. One of our favorite ways is baking. If we have errands and appointments that take us away from the house, we count things alongside the road. We review math facts. There are lots of ways to do math without using a book. We use math during shopping. My oldest child is learning how to calculate final prices when we see a percentage-off sale.

What constitutes a reading lesson? We read labels. We read road signs. We play I-Spy with the ABC's. We play license plate BINGO. For my little ones, just singing the ABC song is review for them. The older children can read maps and directions for me while I drive. We can also listen to great literature through books-on-tape.

What about writing? The children help me make a list for shopping and check items off the items while we shop. They take puzzle books along. The little ones like to take crayons and paper. If we are going to be outside, the children can do some nature journaling.

Creative substitutes abound when obstacles present themselves. You can truly do a lot on days when you just can't seem to get the books out.

Mercy and Grace

Another way we have overcome obstacles to our homeschool routine is by having mercy and grace as parents and teachers. There are days when it is best to put the bookwork aside and spend time building our family relationships. There are days when students and/or parents are out of sorts. Those are the days when it is best to take a field trip that we have been postponing. We may spend a day baking or doing arts and crafts. We may take a day to stay in our pj's and play games all day. Whatever the change in routine, I find ways to show sensitivity to the children’s needs and mercy and grace in modifying our schedule for that day. Our son, who had eye surgery, had a week of mercy and grace while he healed. He was not able to read well with the ointment I put in his eye four times per day, but I was able to read to him. He enjoyed lots of tender loving care from his siblings, too. During his recovery, I did end-of-grade testing with the older children, and then the next week, he was ready to start back on our regular schedule.

There are 365 days in a year, and in NC, we are required by law to do "school" nine calendar months. That leaves many days when we can have mercy and grace with our schedule.

Everyone has obstacles to overcome at times in their lives. We have found that homeschooling can be done in spite of obstacles, and we are thankful for the flexibility allowed by homeschooling!

Homeschooling Recommendations for Toddlers and Preschoolers

1. Read to your child daily, for at least half an hour. Break this into shorter time segments if attention spans are still short. Choose quality storybooks. Toddlers often land on one particular story that they want to hear over and over, which is great for them if you can stand the repetition!
2. Talk to your child throughout the day, while you are going about routine tasks. Listen attentively to your child, even if he or she is just jabbering, and respond.
3. Hug, kiss, cuddle, wrestle-play often during the day.
4. Let your child help you with household tasks when you can. Give your child simple chores that he or she can do on his own.
5. Encourage your child to explore by providing books, blocks, play dishes, washable markers and paper, a doll or stuffed animal, puzzles, etc. Interest is often renewed if toys are made available on a rotating basis. Too many toys, especially non-creative ones, just overwhelm a child and encourage greed.
6. The early years are an excellent time for memorization. Even at age two, children can learn to recite their parents’ names, their phone number, their address and Bible verses. Spend maybe five minutes a day learning something new or reviewing memory work.
7. Include music in your life. Sing to and with your child; listen to child-friendly or even classical CDs. Choosing Christian music is a wonderful way to emphasize your Christian values as well.
8. Keep the TV off. Numerous studies have shown that even the best videos may be harmful to your child, and that interactive play is always to be preferred. Make carefully chosen videos a rare treat, if offered at all. I know this is radical!
9. Limit sweets. Kids and adults alike are healthier and learn better if they have wholesome meals and nutritious snacks as a lifestyle. We've had a hard time getting to this point, but I'm glad we have.
10. If you want your child to learn a foreign language, start early. Studies show that younger children learn faster than high school aged teens. Of course, live interaction with a person speaking the language is best, but CDs also work fine. Ones that include music will heighten interest.
11. Don't worry about socialization. Children need to interact with Mama and Daddy. They really don't need all the pressures of a group of peers for many years to come. Socialize by serving others with your child (visiting an elderly relative, for example) and by inviting another family to your home for a meal or for a play date.
12. Most importantly, pray for (and with!) your child daily and teach the truths of the Christian faith as you go through the day and in special devotion times.
13. And of course, have fun! Enjoy these precious days with your child. Remind yourself on bad days that this time goes by so quickly, and savor it! Choose laughter!