Ask homeschool parents the question, “Why do you homeschool?” and you’ll get a lot of different answers. Sometimes they are standard, but other times they include reasons I’ve never thought of before. One story in particular stood out to me.
Meet Deborah, a mom who homeschooled all four of her kids through the elementary grades. Her homeschool journey, like that of most homeschool parents, was filled with challenges and triumphs, but what holds true is the constant presence of God’s grace. I’ll let her take it from here.
“My husband and I met at college in South Carolina. Our plan after graduation was for my husband to assist in a church in Maine or one of the other New England states. Realizing there might be no good Christian school in the area, we decided to begin homeschooling our children.
“Plans changed. I was diagnosed with colon cancer, so that put things on hold. The Lord was merciful. The summer of my five-year cancer-free mark, we took a survey trip to New England. We camped in central Maine and traveled from there to different areas. We came home excited about the possibilities.
“But God closed doors, and we never made it to New England. My husband was diagnosed with ALS. You don’t always see the ‘whys,’ but at that time I saw why we needed to stay in South Carolina—to continue homeschooling during his illness and to be near our family as well as our wonderful church family.
“The kids were a great comfort and help throughout his illness. God extended our time together as a family. Homeschooling helped us all grow through the experience. My husband passed away two and a half years later. We were able to build close relationships. I cherish those days—probably more than my kids did.”
Today Deborah’s children are grown and have been blessed with rewarding careers as a pilot, a missionary teacher, a business professional, and an artist. Deborah believes the Lord led her to homeschool because it allowed her to spend time with her family, to develop the unbreakable bonds she shares with her children today, and to build the eternal relationship they all share with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There’s a lot more to Deborah’s homeschool story. Each week for the next five weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the motivations that kept her going through those homeschooling years, many of them as a single parent.
We hope you’ll share some of your own reasons for homeschooling as well, to serve as a testimony of God’s wonderful grace and inspiration to other parents.
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for sharing your story. It’s been wonderful to hear so many parents talk about the ways that homeschooling has been a blessing for their family. The process really does build up lasting relationships with family members and with God. I’m also glad to hear that BJU Press materials have worked well for your family. As you said, part of our mission is to ensure that all lessons build upon a child’s understanding of the subject matter and scripture. Thanks for reading!
-Justin
My husband and I both went to Christian schools from kindergarten through college, but since we live in a rural NW OH communicate that choice was not an option for us. After going through some fertility issues for several years we decided to adopt. We had completed the adoption requirements and were just waiting to be picked when the Lord, through his grace, allowed me to get pregnant. We decided through these experiences that we would probably homeschool. As Caitlyn started to approach the age to start thinking about school we knew that we were not ready to give her over to the world as we felt that scripturally it was our responsibility to disciple our children and that to us also meant their schooling. We just finished our ninth year of homeschooling and I can truly say that it is a blessing. It is a lot of work with four kids: Caitlyn,14; Micah,11; Rachel,9; and Levi,8; but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Our kids are very close. I’ve had some of the sweetest and most nurturing conversations during school that I would have missed. Homeschooling also allows us to have family time every night since we don’t have to worry about homework or school activities pulling us here and there. Caitlyn will be entering 9th grade in the fall and the plan is for to graduate from homeschooling.
I can’t say enough of how much I like BJU curriculum. I love how it builds on the same concepts each year. I really like how it entwine the subjects together. I have learned a lot myself just from teaching my kids.
Hi Sandie,
I appreciate that you took the time to your story. I’m sure it was a blessing to our readers as it was certainly an encouragement to me. I’m very glad to hear that BJU Press materials worked well with your daughter. Our authors and teachers work hard to ensure that they appeal to as many learning styles as possible. Thanks for reading!
-Justin
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad to hear that your grandsons were able to receive a biblical-worldview education. Thanks for reading!
-Justin
I have taken 3 children through homeschooling. First was my son. We were stationed overseas in Germany (husband was active duty at the time and spent lots of time away from the family). My son was bullied. Bad. We couldn’t stop it. He has ADD and did not fit in with the other children. We made the decision to homeschool him. It was just him and me in those days. It was a learning experience but was a great time. When it came time to move back to the United States, we didn’t have to worry about schools. We just made sure we had his materials. We had kept my daughter in public schools. Following the move to Denver, CO, we decided to homeschool my daughter. She was in the 4th grade by that time. She was not excited about it. She is a social butterfly and missed the daily interactions. Homeschooling was not for her. We finished the year and she returned to public school. My job situation changed and I had to send my son back after 3 years of homeschooling. He tells me now (he is 33) that was the best part of his education was working with me. Now comes our youngest…she is FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder–includes autism, Asperger’s, ADD and delays) due to premature birth and a mother who was a meth addict. (We adopted this child when she was in kindergarten). It became apparent that public school was not for her. We were working with her at home as much as the school was. We made the decision to homeschool her. I had experience with ABeka and BJU materials. The BJU materials work very well for this child. We have a bedroom that we changed inot a classroom. She is now finishing 6th grade. We started with 2nd grade. We have our struggles but mostly because of FASD. With homeschooling, we can not do subjects when she has a bad day. She is now ice skating and we can take time away from the middle of the day to skate. My older two don’t live at home anymore, they have lives of their own now but the last one is still here and loves being homeschooled. The flexibility is great. The ability of having BJU helping me to teach and now having online teachers is wonderful. A given plus to all this is the Biblical Views of everything. It is in the stories for reading, science, math, English. It is a great plus for us. We alsways start our day with Bible Truths. The last two years she has been attending Confirmation Classes at our church and she is ahead of the rest of her class with Biblical understanding. All thanks to Bible Truths and BJU. Thank you.
Great post. Both writer and homeschooler are committed to a biblical-worldview education.
Our grandsons were schooled on BJU Press curriculum in a Christian school.
It has proved to be the anchor to hold them firm in today’s world.