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Friday, May 27, 2016

The Journey to Homeschooling

A few years ago God pressed upon my heart the importance of raising our children in the faith.  It was so immense that I couldn't say "no".  Some of the verses God kept popping into my head included:


"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
- Romans 12:2

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." - 1 John 2:15

You're probably wondering how this relates to homeschooling, right? Well, I was following the flow of life, doing what everybody else was doing when I began to notice parents competing with each other. Importance was placed on who had the better job, who had the smarter kids, who's kids were in the most sports or activities, who takes the most vacations, who had the nicer house, and so on.  Being humble didn't exist where I lived.  I realized that the material things of this world were consuming those around me.  

There it was.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that this world isn't the end all, be all.  This world is temporary and we should be living every second, the best we can, with our intent focused on our eternity...our Heavenly home.  

When this "realization" came, I retreated.  I didn't know what else to do.  Then my neighbor told me about a private school nearby.  I toured it, loved it and knew what needed to happen next.  I enrolled the kids and found a part time job to help pay for tuition.  Since I'm a convert, the goal was to learn more about the faith WITH my children, however, even a part time job can put a damper on things. The kids were learning and blossoming but I still felt a disconnect, I didn't like just shipping them off and picking them up 7 hours later.  

When I enrolled the kids in the private school, the secretary told me most families went to a particular parish in Ann Arbor.  We decided to see what it was like and ended up loving the parish and are now members.  Within a month, I met a homeschooling mother of 10 who told me about the homeschool program at the church.  Over the next two years, I had gotten to know more and more homeschooling families there, the community was supportive and vast.   I remember telling that particular mother of 10 at coffee and donuts how I actually envied her, and that I could NEVER homeschool!

God has a sense of humor.

Needless to say, this is the journey He led us on.  Two years at the private school was a stop along the path in order to get to our next station in life, homeschooling.  Without the private school, I wouldn't have met the homeschool community.  Where He leads me, I will follow.

I've spent the last few months researching the co-op at our parish and various Catholic curricula.  I'm still undecided.  Since the kids are 9 & 11, I feel pressured to get it right the first time around, there's not much room for error. 

More to come on our curriculum selection soon! 

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