Dear CHAP,
Thank you for your dedication to homeschoolers and homeschooling!
There have been many times I questioned if the next year would be my last year for homeschooling. I now no longer question; I only count down.
The reasons we homeschool are many: in public schools, the theory of evolution and the missing link are taught as fact, undermining the Christian faith by planting seeds of doubt. Abominations are taught as though they are good and beneficial. Public school has conditioned many to think that school is desks, books, and a teacher that lectures. Should I mention the endless boredom, hand-cramps, and the struggle to fit in (not to mention dodging bullets)?
Homeschooling can be field trips, hands-on learning, and a fruitful way of life…oh yes, and books, too!
I started homeschooling when my oldest reached “kindergarten age.” While he excelled at math to the point of boredom, he struggled greatly with reading, yet he loved the challenge of it. The summer before he entered third grade, our family dynamics changed when his younger brother was born. This new child was not well and needed lots of time and energy just to ensure that he was fed. I told my third grader he was going to have to go to public school. He suggested we hold “classes” while his brother was “fed”, so 3rd grade was taught in one hour blocks every three hours sitting by his brother’s bed on an enteral feeding. Eventually, he did indeed learn to read and has since graduated. His employer is pleased with him and is sending him to trade school.
With the exception of math, we teach the children as one class using curricula with scripted lessons. We also treat learning as a way of life. Whatever is taught in books, we seek ways to explore those concepts in real life. Conversely, there are things in life we observe that prompt us to read to learn more. We learn all the things that a student should learn and also what they are interested in. When we were learning about monocot and dicot plants, we were seeing living examples in the beautiful flowers that were in bloom at the hospital gardens. When learning about the body, we were seeing the four chambers of the heart and it’s valves on an echo cardiogram. How many students can say that? And no one was dozing in class.
If there are topics that do not agree with our faith, we take the time to discuss it. When a child does not master something, it is easy enough to jump back and revisit. I had a student that struggled with learning their times tables. We had to jump back six weeks and redo lessons. But all is well; he is now graduated and has even impressed his employer with his math skills!
We are not done with our homeschool journey; we have three students left. God has provided us the right people, resources, and insight at just the right times, and I am confident He will continue to provide. When God gives us a mission, He provides the skills necessary, as He did for Moses and many others.
{Exodus 4:12} Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. … {4:15} And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
{Deuteronomy 11:18} Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. {11:19} And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. {11:20} And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: {11:21} That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
Gratefully,
A Pennsylvania Homeschool Mom
