How the Teacher has been Blessed

It dawned on me the other day that I have never written a blog post about what the teacher (yours truly) has gotten out of this whole escapade called home schooling.   My husband and I definitely did not start this journey thinking about our own personal and spiritual growth, but looking back on the past 16 years (with SIX more to go!), I can definitely say that we are very different people now than when we started.  Of course, there were other factors, like being on a track of self education ourselves, but home schooling our children has definitely been instrumental in our lives. 

The most obvious benefit is that I have LEARNED SO MUCH!  For example, history was never interesting to me when I was student.  Kindergarten through a bachelor's degree in engineering, none of the history classes I took enthralled me much.  Then historical fiction, big picture ideas, and entertaining history books came into my life because I needed to teach someone else - and WOW!  Now I get it!  I will also point out that we chose to give our children a Christian point of view of history by teaching them to see God and His people working throughout history.  It isn't all pretty, but it's all important. 

Another blessing we have enjoyed is a concentrated time to pray and read the Bible with our children pretty much every day we have had "school".  It is the first thing we do when we start.  I will admit that the Bible we have typically used is a children's story Bible, but Catherine Vos does a great job with her version and we have been blessed by it.  We also incorporated Christian Apologetics into our curriculum.  With the older kids it was mainly science-based apologetics, but with our youngest (now 12) we have been studying a wider variety of topics related to evidence for the truth of the Bible.  I continue to learn SO MUCH!  And it's a blast.

The hardest part of home schooling is probably getting our children to do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it.  It requires a lot of prayer, diligence, and patience to be the parent and the teacher.  Ask any home school parent you know.  They'll tell you.  I have found so much help in seminars, podcasts, books, and mentoring with someone who has gone before me.  I firmly believe that my husband and I have grown as people and as parents as we had to rely on God for so much.  Ask any home school parent you meet and I believe they will all say that it is only by the grace of God that they have been able to home school.  Additionally, we have not only had to plan each step, we have also had to be constantly working on being good examples for our children.  When you home school, you definitely realize that everything you do and say is teaching your children something.  EVERYthing.

And in the end, we have been blessed immensely.  The extra time with our children and the results of pouring into them for all these years is a HUGE blessing as the older two venture off into the world.  For us, it wouldn't have been like this without the home schooling path.  Seeds that we have sown have bloomed and produced fruit we never could have imagined 16 years ago.  

Blessings, 

Heidi

 

For Reasons Unknown (to me)

No - I am not referring to the song by the band The Killers.  😮  (Not that I know this song.  I just looked it up because I thought I recognized this phrase.  In fact, I have not listened to it and I cannot recommend it in any way.  LOL)

I am currently reading Walking From East to West - God in the Shadows, the autobiography of the late great Ravi Zacharias.  I am only a few chapters in, but it is apparent that Ravi looked back on his life and was able to identify specific people and events that God worked through in order to guide his life even as Ravi himself was not walking with God.  

As a Christian, I believe God is always working in my life and in the lives of those around me even though we have all been given a free will to choose our thoughts and actions.  It is an extremely complicated concept to think that God knows every single relationship and event in the world in minute detail.  He is outside of time itself and knows ALL things.  It is so easy to be blinded by the temporal physical world  - and have trouble seeing around or through it.  That is where the eternal and spiritual perspective lies.  There was a time in my life when a mentor kept reminding me to keep an "eternal perspective", and I am so thankful for the advice.  It is hard to remember, though, since my physical senses can only see, hear, feel, touch. and taste what is in the physical world.  

I say all of that to say this:  There is no way I could have foreseen the future in 2005.  That is the year we started homeschooling our oldest child.  What ideas would she and her brother have been exposed to if they had not been homeschooled?   Besides the proactive approach we took in teaching them why they should believe what they believe, we also taught them to be good skeptics.  A "good" skeptic gathers information and weighs the argument.  This includes knowing a good argument versus a fallacious one.  I have only recently been made aware of ideas being taught and promoted in our country's school system; ideas like Critical Race Theory, trans gender identity "options", and the 1619 Project, to name a few.  

It is a scary thought to think that my children could be extremely different if they believed these ideas were true - and good.  In fact, they could have ended up believing there was no such thing as absolute truth or that their Christian faith was an oppressive Western idea that is not really "loving" or "tolerant".   (Linguistic theft is a very effective way of making people question everything they thought they knew.  Listen here for a great explanation : Mama Bear Apologetics podcast #54)  

There is so much more I could go into about these ideas, but the more I learn about them the more and more thankful I am that we homeschooled - and still do. (I highly recommend Mama Bear Apologetics by Hillary Morgan Ferrer to learn more.)  It reminds me that God is in the shadows and he is watching over us.  We trusted Him when we felt the urge to homeschool, but had little to no knowledge on how to do so.  Remembering to trust Him every step of the way has not always been easy.  There is pressure and there are insecurities that rear their ugly heads all the time - just when you think, "I've got this."  Ultimately, He has been taking care of us this whole time, and I obviously believe He will continue to do so.  

An eternal perspective doesn't mean that we can see what God sees, it means we can trust that what He sees for us is the best for us.  

Blessings, 

Heidi

PS.  I also recommend Natasha Crain's books on teaching your children to know why they believe what they believe about their Christian faith - because, as apologist Frank Turek always says, "Kids are talked out of it [Christianity] because they have never been talked into it."  (One more book plug - I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Frank Turek)

To Love your Country or Not to Love your Country, that is the Question

Lately, I think I am more thankful than ever that in 2004 we took the bold, yet trepid step to start homeschooling our oldest daughter as she entered the year of Kindergarten.  The world has seemed to have gone nuts in the past few years, culminating in a culture that doesn't acknowledge Truth and rewrites history, among other scary ideas.  I shudder to think how my 21 and 19 year old kids would be at this point in time if they had been taught the ideas that are being permeated through our schools and universities.  

Would they respect their parents, or would they hate their parents, thinking we are bigots and transphobic because we are Bible-believing Christians?

Would they believe that America was founded on Christian-Judeo principles, or would they believe that we evolved from sludge and we need to overthrow the Constitution and the country it is based on?

Would they believe Marxist ideas like "atheistic collective guilt of oppressor groups" instead of an individual relationship with a God who loves you and forgives you if you believe His Son died and rose again to conquer all sin?  

Would they believe in free market capitalism or would they believe that socialism and communism are awesome ideas because they were not taught any history that refutes these ideas over and over again.?  

Would they believe America was founded in 1776 with a noble idea that had been growing and developing for centuries, or would they believe in the highly-refuted and inaccurate 1619 Project?  

Would they know they were wonderfully created by God to be exactly who they are, or would they be bobbing in a sea of uncertainty about who they are and what their purpose is?  

When we began this journey, I had absolutely no idea what was brewing in America's education system.  god's divine hand must have been guiding us.  And I am ever so thankful.

Until Next Time,

Blessings, 

Heidi

We Were Homeschooling When Homeschooling Wasn't Cool

I have been meaning to write again lately.  So - The Year 2020.  The Year of Covid-19 Lockdowns as well as protests and riots.  People think homeschoolers weren't affected by the closure of schools and events, but we actually participate in quite a bit of activities outside the home, so it has been a bummer to see our outgoing little girl stuck at home with her parents all the time.  She usually has at least a couple activities a week and time with friends.  Summer is when we really go crazy and sign up for drama camp, swimming lessons, VBS, etc.....

It has been interesting to be reminded that there is a HUGE difference between "doing school" at home and helping your child to love learning.  (The latter is actually less work, by the way.)  Most children are naturally curious and very smart.  They tend to remember everything they want to remember.  Every once in a while I will find a book about educating your own child and it will re-invigorate me in my mission.  The most recent one, which I am not finished with yet, is Unschooled by Kerry McDonald.  I heard her debate a Harvard professor online (via the CATO Institute) because this professor wrote a paper on how there should be more controls on homeschooling.  It is an interesting debate and it led me to pick up her book.  It makes me think that I should start referring to our education choice as "Unschooling" instead of "Homeschooling". :-)

Until Next time,

Blessings, 

Heidi

There is a Place, by Rosie

Today I was picking up Rosie's room because we are getting the carpets "pulled" tomorrow, ugh.

I came across a song/poem Rosie wrote a couple years ago and I wanted to do more than save it in a box.  I want to make sure I remember it forever. 💓  (in her own words and spelling.....)

There is a Place

i know a place were you can go 

if you are holy and trust you mhite find 

interesteing thigs like a river 

that goes on forever 

and a butyfull boat to go with it

and a punkcin that never stops growing

even in the darkest hour

i can find my way ther

there is a river that goes on forever

and a beutiyfull boat to go with it

and a puncken that never stops growing

go there

go there

you will be happy you did

go there

go there

you 

will 

be

happy

you 

did!!

Oh ther is a river that goes on forever

and a beutyfull boat to go with it.

And a puncken that never stops growing

you shud go to that place....

That place is heven.

- Rose Szymanski

age 8, I think

Launch! (The Book)

Mid-August of this year, I received a group email asking, "Has anyone ever read or heard of this book called Launch by Burlowski?  Is it any good?  Is it worth buying?" 

I had not ever heard of her or her book, so I looked it up and decided that the $35 was worth it. It came and I read it quickly since we have a son who is going to college next year.

I also went to hear her speak recently to get a a better sense of who she is.

Verdict?

She is the real deal.  

She really cares about the fact that kids are going into debt and making a lot of bad choices along the way that could have been avoided.  That much came across when she almost choked up a couple of times during her talk.  

No one is going to use every bit of information in her book, but if even one thing helps, the $35 is more than worth it.  

Did you know that most people make mistakes on the FAFSA that costs them many dollars in aid?

She also recommends figuring out what your child is truly interested in so they don't waste time and money.  And be a leader and get involved in something special.  (I love that we have had a lot of information on this through Life.)  

Ideally, start in eighth grade planning ahead.  So - if you think your child is too young for you to need to read this book, think again.  Well worth it.  Don't just go by my extremely short summary.

Have a Blessed Day!

SUMMIT!

I mentioned in a previous post that Sam was headed to Manitou Springs, CO for Summit  Camp.  I had no idea how amazing this was going to be for him.  Summit Ministries has been equipping young people to defend their Christian faith in a loving way for 55 years!  How did I miss this?!?!

They had over 60 hours of classroom lecture from amazing speakers who engaged and challenged them on various worldview topics, all the while loving them with Christ's love so they can go out and do the same.  And FUN.  They had a lot of fun as well.  And relationships that are Christ-centered ...deep and meaningful.

He wants to go back even if he has to pay for it himself.  It was that impactful.

Have a Blessed Day!