Our Homeschool Journey

When I decided to homeschool, Becca was starting 4 yr old preschool at our church. And it was not something I EVER thought I'd do. Not really in my realm of thinking. I knew some people who homeschooled. They were actually some of my favorite people. And I thought, "well good for you, but I'll never do that." Famous last words, right?

But the subject just kept coming up. The year before, when I was pregnant with Hayes, I was in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). The majority of my small group were homeschool moms. And I didn't really like BSF (don't judge me, BSFers. It just wasn't for me) But I stuck it out, all the while wondering "why am I here?" Now I know the Lord was just preparing me.

After much prayer and seeking advice, I talked to my husband about it. I knew he didn't have a negative attitude about homeschooling at all. But I also knew we had never even considered it so this might be a shock. And not surprisingly he was his typical rational self. "Let's look into it and talk about it some more." When he found out all the praying I'd been doing and confirmation I'd already gotten, he said, "well, if the Lord is telling you to do this, we'll do it."

The next step was telling our parents. Honestly, I wasn't that worried about telling mine. I knew they knew some homeschoolers and had a positive view of it. I also knew that even if they didn't think it was a great idea, they would support us totally. I found a book called You're Going to do What?! by Laurajean Downs. It's a book by a grandmother of homeschoolers to grandparents of homeschoolers, explaining the ins and outs. I took that to my parents when I talked to them about it. They asked lots of questions and were very interested and in the end said they would help us and support us in any way they could. They were also very relieved to not have their grandchild in the public school system where we live. (us too!)

I left it up to Daniel to tell his parents. Let me preface this by saying that EVERYBODY besides us in his family, including both sisters-in-law, work or have worked in the public education system. (with the exception of 1 brother) That's big right there. He had to go to his hometown for work one week and stayed at his parents'. Perfect opportunity to talk to them! And while they were not terribly excited about it at first, they have been very supportive. To the extent of helping Becca with school when we were out of town on a few occasions. We are so blessed!

And now here we are, finishing up our 2nd year of homeschooling and loving it more and more every day. AND I just went to our state homeschool conference and bought some cool stuff for next year! I'm excited! Becca just THINKS we're finished until August. haha!

Next post will be some misconceptions I've noticed about homeschooling. Things people have said to me or assumed about us. I'm sure they are things that most of my fellow homeschoolers have experienced as well. Stay tuned!!