We have moved 8 times in 22 years of marriage. That is a lot of moving and a lot of rebuilding friendships. I am thankful that I have been able to maintain many close friendships despite my moves. However, I am also thankful that God has blessed me with new friends wherever I go. Whether it is sharing motherhood, sports, or homeschooling, I know the importance of having a group of friends who are one of my support networks. When we began homeschooling, I knew that my husband would support me, but I also knew that I would need friends who were walking a similar journey with me. My school aged children (4th and Kindergartener) would no longer be in public school. And by default, my support network would no longer be fellow classroom moms.

There is no question that my husband and I both felt the call by the Lord to lead our children in homeschooling. We would each be investing a different amount of time in the actual schooling, with my contributing the most hours as the stay at home parent. However, that didn’t mean there was a difference in our commitment level. We knew that; we wanted our children to also know that. How would we do this? It began by building my spouse as a part of my support network.

As a homeschooling mom of 20+ years and a HomeWorks by Precept Consultant, I get many phone calls from moms (and sometimes dads) about how to start homeschooling. Having a grasp on why they want to homeschool is often the starting place for making decisions going forward. If you are considering homeschooling, asking yourself some of these questions might help you make some clearer choices for your family.

Are you thinking about homeschooling? Looking for where to start? Let me help. I am a homeschooling mom of over twenty years who feels called to encourage other homeschooling families as they begin and travel through their homeschooling journeys.

Making the decision to homeschool is different for every family. For some families, Mom and Dad decided long ago that their children would be homeschooled. For some, homeschooling became an option when Christian school was too expensive or not able to meet the needs of their children. For others, homeschooling is the option to flee bullying and immoral teaching in public schools. And recently, homeschooling has become an emergency decision due to vaccination laws and the coronavirus that has closed schools down.

Regardless of how you have come to homeschooling, we wish to us say, “Welcome, and we are here for you!”

We are discussing the considerations and benefits of homeschooling. Please share this information with friends and family that are thinking about whether or not to homeschool their children. Please make comments and share your experiences with us.

Happy New Year! It’s always a trick to remember to write down the new year when writing the date on a check or filling out paperwork, isn’t it? Seems like it takes a few weeks to adjust to writing 2017 on things. Every new year brings its own set of adjustments. But before long, we are well on our way into the new year. And with the new year comes a bounty of wonderful opportunities- a clean slate wherever you need one. You might need to start a new regimen in your household, re-organize things, or make some new plans. Maybe you just pick up where you left off before the holidays and keep going.

Many years ago (I won’t tell you how many), I volunteered with my church youth group at the homeless shelter where we served Thanksgiving dinner. It made quite an impression as I continued to volunteer there throughout the rest of that school year. I even remember my parents pushing back dinner on Christmas day so that I could serve at the shelter. God placed a passion for serving others in me through these experiences. That passion to serve others is something I try very hard to ignite in my children. And homeschooling allows my family the ability to make time to serve and learn together.

One of the benefits and the blessings of having a homeschooling lifestyle is that day-to -day activities and extracurricular events, vacations, and holidays all work into your lesson plans! So, how do you plan for holidays? Do you take time off completely to enjoy family or travel, or do you incorporate baking, shopping, craft making, and special lessons into your lesson plans? There is no right or wrong way to handle the holidays as far as taking time off or incorporating them into your lessons, so enjoy whatever your family decides is best for you this holiday season.

What kind of cook are you? Are you a person that follows the recipe exactly? Do you level off your dry ingredients in the measuring cup to make sure everything is accurate and shop exactly to match the recipes?

It’s that time of year. Fall is settling in and the public schools are breaking for parent/teacher conferences. In our house, we incorporated a conference day. What? How is that possible? Why is that necessary? Well, if you ask my witty 16 year old son, he’ll sing you Tim Hawkins’ Homeschool Blues song. His favorite part… “when my momma’s talking to herself, it makes perfect sense. I say she’s only in a parent teacher conference.” He’d also tell you I have a lot of these conferences.