Fall is my favorite season. I eagerly anticipate the shedding of unbearable temperatures and welcome the first hint of a cool breeze.
As the leaves dance to the ground, I recall fond memories of past autumn vacations—hiking in the Arkansas mountains, gazing in awe at golden Colorado aspens against a dark evergreen backdrop, and delighting in the everyday mist of England.
I think about football games, putting on that first sweater of the season, and gearing up for upcoming holidays. And, I also remember wonderful beginnings to 11 homeschooling years.
And so begins my walk down Homeshooling Memory Lane.
My three-year-old stood by my chair begging me to teach her to read. I hesitated, not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t want to push her beyond her developmental ability. With a child development background, I had strong opinions about the then-prevalent “better baby” movement, and I resisted pushing formal education too early.
When she changed her plea to, “Teach me to read the Bible like you and Daddy,” well, that was all the motivation I needed. So with the enthusiasm of a young mom and the intensity of a first-born, we began our homeschooling journey.
As a former public school teacher, I adopted many of the public school practices. I planned fun lessons and displayed exciting bulletin boards. We even rang a bell every morning. It didn’t take me long to “let go” of that method of schooling—just a few weeks of lunchtime with no cafeteria!
By the time my oldest was in kindergarten, I had two preschoolers and one on the way. My oldest completed three years of curriculum in one year, and she was blazing an academic trail. My preschoolers also did school with us everyday. I had attended umpteen homeschooling seminars and workshops and had accumulated a bulging library of homeschool curriculum and resources.
Then everything changed in one day. On the day my fourth baby was born, we discovered our four-year-old in the midst of severe seizures. And life became a struggle to survive. We began a seven-year lesson in trust and dependence on a God Who carried us. By His grace, we somehow covered the necessary academics while battling the unknown monster of epilepsy.
Before the disruption of epilepsy, we scheduled in the math, reading, writing, spelling, history, science, and of course, Bible and character studies. After the epilepsy, we squeezed in academics between God’s lessons of living faith.
My kids learned a new sensitivity to those with differences. They learned to hurt with those who hurt—when my daughter had to endure painful tests, my other kids ran to their piggy banks and thrust dollar bills in her hands and pockets as she left for the hospital.
And when they knew I had been up all night with a seizing child, they would fix meals and do laundry so I could take a nap. They learned to pray with genuine trust, recognizing that God was our strength, and that only He could make their sister well.
And then when we began the Johns Hopkins’ ketogenic diet treatment, the kids helped by taking up the household management while I learned to calculate rigid meal plans and measure foods to a tenth of a gram. My children were then eight, six, four, and two. We continued the diet for over four years when the doctor finally pronounced our sweet daughter cured of epilepsy.
Through our homeschooling years, we used prepared textbooks and workbooks, unit studies, enrichment classes, computer programs, teacher-prepared materials, and video and satellite courses. All the methods and experiences enriched our children’s education. But our kids have learned more through the non-academics of living with disability and the resulting dependence on God to solidly equip them for the realities of life.
Gloria Gaither describes fall as “God’s season of letting go.” Our family went through seasons of “letting go” as we lumbered through our homeschool years. We let go of the public school model, and we let go of many homeschool models we encountered along the way. We learned that God is the One Who defines our ministry and directs us in accomplishing His mission for our family.
Too many homeschoolers feel compelled to follow a schooling method dictated by some homeschooling expert. We feel trapped into letting other homeschoolers tell us what homeschooling is supposed to be. Wisdom searches or private school textbooks? Unit studies or computer classes? The classical approach or the unschooling approach? We feel guilty if we resort to using the dreaded workbooks, and we sink to an all-time low if we use video courses.
We’ve heard the comment, “Homeschooling is more than popping in a video.” You bet it is—that’s why we’ve used the videos. With video and satellite courses, we accomplished the academics, while focusing on the real lessons of faith-living. No longer absorbed by the distractions of biology and phonics, I felt free to be a mom, teaching the things that mattered most.
As one homeschooling mom said, “I’ve looked all through Proverbs 31, and I can’t find anything about teaching algebra to my kids!” Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, p.214) warns us, “Watch where you begin to debate and to put what you call duty in competition with your Lord’s commands.” The key is to let go of homeschooling expectations, and let God define your homeschooling ministry.
We also found that what worked for one season of our homeschooling sometimes became a burden in another season. We’ve learned to be sensitive to God’s direction for our family in the appropriate seasons of our lives. Our methods may change, while our focus remains the same: solid academics with an emphasis on character development and a lifestyle of obedience, faith, and learning.
Hebrews 12:1-2 challenges us: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”
What things does God want us to let go of this season? In our individual lives, families, and homeschools? What encumbrances are keeping our eyes diverted from Jesus? Has homeschooling become an encumbrance? Look to Him for the direction and changes, and be willing to accept something other than your current homeschooling methods. But most of all, fix your eyes on Jesus.
When I reflect on our 11-year homeschooling journey, I’m reminded of all the diversions and distractions along the way. I also remember all the things we’ve experienced and accomplished, and I feel a sense of satisfaction that we are experiencing sweet fruit as a result of God’s grace and years of effort.
We still struggle, there’s still work to be done, but I feel a peace that homeschooling works for us. Fall is a time of letting go and a time of harvesting. After bleak winters of perseverance and endurance, springtimes of planting, and summers of nurturing, we can enjoy the fruit we witness in our children’s lives during this season of homeschooling.
Adapted from an earlier article by Jayme Durant, October 2000.
