From My Homeschool Mama Heart to Yours…

I know this won’t be a popular post, but….

….the relief I felt seeing kids going back to school this week, while 3 of my 4 stayed home – eager and excited to start our homeschool year – was IMMENSE.

My oldest is a high school SENIOR and each morning when he leaves for school (which has only been 2 days so far… he has e-learning the rest of the week because of tropical storm Debby), I stand at the front door and pray over him (same as I did last school year). I pray for protection from any harm, protection from temptation and bad influences, and that he will pay attention and actually learn, and be a light for others! This prayer helps me shake off the anxiety that comes with sending him off to school. This year, he only has two classes, so he’s back home around 11:15am (which is around the same time we are finishing up our homeschooling, so this allows us to spend the rest of the day being a family).

Sometimes I start to type out our story of why we ultimately chose to homeschool 3/4 of our kids, then I find myself deleting it because I don’t want to offend anyone. Which is ridiculous, because as someone who does not get offended by much at all (it really does take a LOT to get me upset) my family and I have been grossly offended by the public school system over the past several years. And I do not place blame on the teachers per say… they are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. A vast majority of them are amazing humans who have a heart and a gift for teaching and really pour everything they have into their students. THOSE teachers are not why we decided to homeschool. I love, admire and respect those teachers immensely. And let me just add that I grew up in the public school system (and come from a family of public school educators and administrators) and received an AMAZING education and had amazing experiences. So, I was always a fan of public school. But the world I’m raising my children in today is sadly so different than the world I grew up in.

There’s just so many things that led to our decision. I really felt God tugging on my mama heart for some time, but to be honest, I didn’t feel up for the challenge of schooling my kids and having that responsibility. I doubted my own abilities and didn’t want to “harm” my kids by being an inadequate teacher, plus, figuring out “how to” homeschool was really intimidating at first. It definitely felt more convenient to get them up and out the door in the morning. But the more I tried to justify keeping them in public school, the more God was like “Okay girl, if you aren’t going to respond to my gentle nudges, then I’m gonna have to rock your world a bit to wake you up!” And He did!

It was just one thing after another, and a particularly traumatic incident, that shook me to the point I could no longer ignore or deny that I needed to pull my kids out of the system and keep them at home.

I’m not sure why I sat down to type this… we get asked a lot why we homeschool, and I just sum it up to “it’s just what works best for our family,” however, part of me thinks that maybe I’m supposed to share our “why” more in depth because perhaps it could be helpful to another mama who is feeling a similar nudge (but it’s too much to type out, honestly, so maybe a video?). Homeschooling has been a blessing for us in BIG ways, but it’s definitely not as easy as some make it out to be. The good thing is that we aren’t doing it by our own strength. God doesn’t call the qualified…. He qualifies the called. Homeschooling is a calling. So, for any mama who feels this tug on your heart to keep your babies at home, but doubts your abilities… talk it over with God and follow His lead. If He calls you to it, He will equip you through it. But seriously, start this conversation with Him now, before He has to give you a gut-wrenching wakeup call like He did me.

Whether you homeschool already, are considering homeschooling, or send your kids to school… you are doing a WONDERFUL job, mama. There’s NO right or wrong way here. All families are different, and as parents, we have to do what is right for our kids, whatever that may be. I wish you and your children an extremely blessed school year ahead. When I pray for my kids, I pray for yours too and will continue to do so!

That’s all. It was on my heart and I felt I was supposed to share it. Not sure who this was meant for, but God does.