Faith the size of a mustard seed

Welcome. If you have stumbled upon my page while looking for encouragement or practical advice relating to homeschooling, I hope you’ll stick around and check back in regularly and that I can be helpful to you. I am here writing for the beginners. For the parent that has been thrust into considering homeschooling for whatever reason and never thought they would embark upon this kind of journey. For the parent who is trying to take it ALL in and keep their head above water amidst the overwhelming sea of information and decision making that comes with making this kind of life change.

I won’t have all the answers, that’s for sure. I don’t even have tons of experience under my belt! I’ve only been doing this since 2018. But I suppose that’s why I have such a heart for beginners and can relate to that stage so much–because it wasn’t that long ago where I was in that same spot! So as I said, I definitely haven’t been doing this long, but I am going to be as authentic as possible in everything that I share with you about what has worked and hasn’t worked and why.

And I’m going to share with you in my posts why you are the best person on the planet for the job! If you’re anything like I was in the beginning (and even still now at times) you’re not buying that for a minute. Maybe you’re thinking you’re not educated enough or have forgotten too much of your education to homeschool your children. Maybe you think you’re not patient enough, not organized enough, not focused enough….not….ENOUGH. But the truth that I have been learning along the way is this: that is a big fat lie. And you’ve allowed yourself to be programmed to believe it for too long, so it may take some time to rewire that belief.

What does it take to start homeschooling? For me it was literally faith the size of a mustard seed. And a situation that was challenging enough to put me in a spot where I would even consider it as an option! Are you there? I get it. Let me be honest with you—I said I would never homeschool my children. A friend had mentioned it to me when my oldest child was in preschool and struggling with some things. I scoffed at the idea. I was fine with the early childhood stuff but there was no way I could teach them the foundations of their education. I couldn’t be responsible to teach them to read or write or learn math concepts—I didn’t even understand math concepts myself! I had forgotten all of those as soon as I passed the required tests in school!

No, I definitely wouldn’t homeschool my kids and mess up their education. Plus I needed the break that came with them being in public school. My kids were two years apart and non-stop, on-the-go boys and we were just finally reaching the stage where one of them was heading off to preschool! I was a little excited at the prospect of my youngest heading off a couple years down the road as well and having actual ALONE time!

Well, my situation, you know, the one that put me into the spot to even consider homeschool, came in the form of my kindergartner with special needs and an IEP, struggling so badly to fit into the public school box that he was being sent home a couple times a week. The teachers and special education staff simply didn’t know what to do with his struggles inside the classroom and they wouldn’t provide the full accommodations that were written into his IEP. It was frustrating and I didn’t feel comfortable sending a part of my heart off to a place where the people didn’t know what to do other than send him back home to his mama. I’d been wrestling with the thought of not sending him back at all for weeks as things got worse and worse at school. I knew that keeping him home would mean that his education would rest on my shoulders. There were only two doors. I kept looking for a third door, but it never showed up. God just gave me the two. The one I walked through required faith. All I could muster up was faith the size of a mustard seed, but if you know of this biblical parable, then you know that God says that is enough! I’d prayed and prayed and talked with my husband and church family a lot in those weeks. We decided to walk through the homeschooling door and we decided to homeschool our youngest child as well, who was 3 at the time.

It’s been two years now and we’ve come along way. The kids have learned to read and write and do math, oh my! And they’re quite good at it, I must say. And their mama is learning to break out of the public school education box that she grew up in. I’m learning to see education differently. It’s more about quality and less about test scores. And from that, I am seeing them absorb more and have more time to study what interests them. I hope you’ll come back to visit and read about our experiences and homeschooling in general. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve been learning with you. If you’re considering homeschooling or are new to it and feeling overwhelmed, please feel free to email me with any topics that you’d like insight on. Thanks for reading!