If and when you feel in your gut that you should bring your children home, do it. You are brave. You can do this. You don’t need a degree in teaching to intuitively know that you were the one meant to influence and direct your child’s future and education!
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6.)
Transcripts
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Hi friends.
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I'm so excited you're here to jump in with me.
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You are welcome whether you're new to what homeschool even means, or you're
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a veteran homeschooler, welcome.
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I'm so excited to get started.
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And to start off, we're going to look at the "Top 10 Reasons That You Can
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Homeschool" and feel confident in that.
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We're gonna start today with "You Are Brave."
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Homeschooling means you're going against the grain.
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And anytime that happens, you have to jump in with both feet despite what
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your previous experience says and despite what people may be telling you
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.You may be absolutely terrified that you're embarking on a journey that
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you don't know where it will lead.
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You don't know how to begin.
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You even may think that you are gonna wreck your child's
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education or wreck their lives.
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But trust me, you can do this.
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You don't need a degree in teaching to intuitively know that you were the
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one meant to influence and teach and direct your child and their future.
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You have a fierce love for your child, and your children, and you may have a
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conviction that you want to do the will of God to raise them up in the ways
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of the Lord according to his commands, and you should feel proud of that fact.
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Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he
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is old, he will not depart from it."
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And that is so true.
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Acts 16:31 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be
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saved, you and your household."
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Your household coming together, parent and child learning together
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can bear so, so much fruit.
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So before I begin talking about curriculum or all the fun philosophies and how you
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can glean amazing knowledge from them, I want you to know that you are brave.
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By jumping in or even thinking about jumping in, and I wanna
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encourage you that you can do this.
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Your love for your children is enough to get started.
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Your want and your need to connect and love and be together and go
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through experiences together that will help you start this journey.
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And just know that nothing has to be prepared for you right now.
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If you are not happy with your child's education or with their
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school, or maybe with some attitudes you're seeing and witnessing, maybe
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with how they're being treated or the culture that is being taught.
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Any of it.
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If you're feeling in your gut that they should be home with you and
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outside of the school that they're in right now, then we have the right, and
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really the obligation as parents to do something about these gut feelings.
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I'm not saying that you can choose to do nothing as a homeschooler,
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but you can absolutely have nothing prepared to take your child out.
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Now, different states have different laws, and I'm going to make sure to
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attach those to this podcast episode so you can see what your state laws say.
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But children, they need you.
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And again, you don't need anything to start.
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You can read together, spend time outdoors, do some nature journaling.
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There's a huge movement called unschool.
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And yes, that is a beloved philosophy by many where the child's interests
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and needs are directing the learning.
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A parent can place tools and resources and books in front of the child
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based on their likes and interests.
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A small example I have is I have a friend whose daughter loves horses.
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They actually have some horses, so they have gone to the library.
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They have many horse anatomy books.
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She's written horse fiction books, and also horse non-fiction books.
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She's creating diagrams of horses and other mammals.
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Creating amazing stories about horses and unicorns.
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She's presented her horse in the local clubs.
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So much learning has.
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Been made through these interests and she's learning grammar and
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spelling as a result, as well as a lot of science learning too.
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So that's an example of unschooling for a mid elementary child.
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But just so you know, right there, just a trip to the library,
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some reading, some outdoor time.
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Can encompass a lot of learning.
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Now, I personally don't subscribe to the method of unschool, but we
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use a lot of the principles with my children, especially in the afternoons.
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They have instruction from me in the mornings with books that I've
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curated for them, but their afternoons are free for their own interests.
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So this could include art, hobbies, knitting, coding, so many things as
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well as some field trips with friends.
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But you can start by using this method so you don't feel pressure.
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I do believe children need the wisdom of old, so this is where
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I divert away from unschooling.
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I do believe the liberal arts and classical education and
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knowledge is so important, but you don't need a plan to jump in.
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So all that to say, if you cannot stand your child in a government
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school for just another minute, you definitely consult with your spouse.
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Discuss it.
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Take a look at those homeschool compliance laws for your state.
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Give notice to your school and take them out.
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It could even happen tomorrow.
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Your journey can begin today.
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Also attached to this podcast, I'm going to outline a number of free
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resources that can help you jump in according to your child's age group.
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So this will be a list of free suggestions for language arts and math, and some
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nature and science options for you to jump in, as well as some curriculums
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that I feel are the best to jump in, but also the easiest to jump in because
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I know there are so many different options and those choices can make
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it hard to make just one decision.
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So I just wanna reiterate, you can pray with your spouse.
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So remember that you can be brave.
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You can make this brave decision.
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You can say a prayer, you can discuss with your spouse, and if he isn't on
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board or she isn't on board, you can continue to pray and I can let you know
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my husband wasn't initially on board.
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He did let me make the decision, but he was a little weary.
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You know, there is that quote unquote, properly socialized mentality that
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people have thinking that homeschoolers are weird and awkward, but the more you
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share with him or her about what's going on in the culture of the schools, what
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may be going on for your child's mental health, all of those things, having those
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conversations, praying about it, hopefully will help them to become on board.
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So my prayer for you is to fervently pray that you can agree on homeschooling
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and that you will see the fruit.
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The fruit is your child morally influenced by your own faith,
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by what your own morals are.
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You may want your child to have more free time and not be
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sitting in a classroom all day.
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You may want to help them express their own interests and create
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and build and find and discover.
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Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good for
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at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
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So, dear friend, my prayer for you is that you don't give up.
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You don't give up this gut feeling that homeschool just might be
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right for you and your family.
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Don't let the what ifs get in the way.
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Don't let your fears get in the way.
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No homeschool family is perfect.
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Mine certainly isn't.
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But what we do do is we make that intentional choice every
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day to be together, to learn with one another, to forgive and
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have patience with one another.
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Dear friend, you are braver and stronger than really I ever could be.
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I do have a degree in elementary education, but I don't say that
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to float my boat, so to speak.
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In this elite minded world, many think that's all that matters.
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I'm so-called qualified to teach my kids.
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But you may feel like you're not because you don't have a
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fancy degree behind your name.
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Let me tell you that you are more equipped to teach your child who you
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love so fiercely than any 22 year old, fresh out of college or seasoned
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60 year old who genuinely loves her job and may be very good at it.
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You are more equipped than those people.
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Your brave decision to homeschool will open so many doors, and we're gonna
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share more in, the episodes to come.
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You can visit me at graceinhomeschool.com where we have many informative eBooks
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and free resources like the ones we talked about here in the show.
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I leave you today with a poem with what could be.
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It is so hard to jump into something new, knowing that you may or may
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not fail, but Adelaide Proctor wrote in the 19th century this poem:
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Have we not all, amid life's petty strife,
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Some pure ideal of a noble life
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That once seemed possible?
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Did we not hear
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The flutter of its wings, and feel it near,
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And just within our reach?
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It was.
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And yet
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We lost it in this daily jar and fret,
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but still our place is kept and it will late,
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Ready for us to fill it soon or late.
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No star is ever we once have seen,
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We always may be what we might have been.
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So jump in, dear parents, dear Mama, you are brave and you are
