Do You Know A Homeschooling Family?

Chances are you know a homeschooling family personally or you know of one in your community.  I’m not sure what your opinion is, but there is an array of opinions going on about homeschoolers.

I homeschooled my two children in the 90’s when homeschooling wasn’t that cool.  There were many homeschooling families, but it was pretty much undercover.  We were very careful and many were fearful of being “turned in” by those that didn’t understand the concept.

Today, you see homeschooling children everywhere and are happily and freely blended into the community.

In 1999, it was reported that about 850,000 children were being homeschooled.  This number isn’t that accurate as a few states didn’t report due to it being illegal to homeschool in their particular state. In 2003 it was reported that there were 1.1 million students being homeschooled.  I just read a report that in 2016, 2.3 million children were being homeschooled and it is expected to rise even more over the next few years.

I’m excited to spend this week sharing ways to encourage the homeschool family that you know in your world, to stay strong and that you have their back.  If you don’t quiet understand or even agree with homeschooling, maybe this week you will look at it a little differently and realize that homeschooling families are just like you, they just decided to take the education of their children into their own hands instead of sending their children to the local school house.

Homeschooling is a commitment.  This commitment could be for a short season or for the entire twelve years.  Whatever the time frame is, it is hard work.  Homeschooling looks different in different families.  Not everyone does it the same.  When I began, there were so many different methods and styles of teaching.  I may have tried all of them.  I loved reading about families and how they educated their children.  When I would read a style that I thought would work with our family, I would try it.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.  We will talk about those methods this week.

Supporting and encouraging homeschool moms is one of my favorite things to do.  I look back on my 15 years of homeschooling and oh, how I would have loved to have had all the encouragement possible.  Just someone to say, “I’m praying for you, you are doing such a good job!”  My biggest encouragers were my husband and my mom.  I had a couple of friends who were my mentors and I knew I could talk to them about anything; even the words, “What am I doing?  I can’t do this!”  They would pick me back up and remind me why I was homeschooling and that yes, I could do it.  I had a few strikes against me as I have always had people in my life that their mission was to discourage me.  I would usually get their disapproval by their comments or their looks and even their questioning of my children.  But, alas, my children graduated from home education and both of them are doing extremely well and I might add…..they are extremely smart!  Not because of me, but because of their love of learning.  If anything that I would be thankful for…. and that would be that maybe I instilled in them to love learning.  I did my best to provide a safe and fun place to learn.  I loved those years and oh, how I wish I could go back with what I know now.  Instead, I will spend the rest of my life sharing what I learned and what I would do now if I were a homeschooling mom again.

My children survived homeschooling and are beautiful examples of our season of learning at home.

I’m very excited to share that at the end of the week, there will be a giveaway.  If you are a homeschooling mom, you will love this!  If you don’t homeschool, you may know someone that does and if you win, you can give it to them and you will be a huge blessing to that homeschool mom.  The Well Planned Gal will give a Well Planned Prayer Journal and a years subscription to the magazine, Family.  I have followed and subscribed to this magazine for years and love everything about it.  Click here to visit the site and you can see the other things that are offered.  I have a feeling that you will love everything the Well Planned Gal has to offer.

To be included in the drawing for this amazing giveaway, just leave a comment and share your thoughts on homeschooling or what you hope to learn this week on this subject!