Month: September 2019

And We’re Off!

A new school year has started and we are six days in! After a lovely day spent at the beach while most of the other kids in our neck of the woods had their first day back at school, we began our 2019-2020 school year last Wednesday. Our grades this year are 2nd, 4th, 10th and 11th, and this is my 21st year of teaching my kids at home.

We always start with a half-week of school so that we can all get used to the new grades and new books and can get back into the routine of a well structured day. We sure do enjoy the freedoms of summer, but it does make transitioning back to school a little bumpy! Now we are hitting the books hard and working to stay on top of the schedule I’ve laid out. This way, when it’s time for our field trips, we will have the freedom to go without feeling like we are falling behind.

Speaking of field trips, I have a whole mess of them planned for this year! I am doing a Maryland History course with my younger boys, so we will be visiting every single one of the 24 counties. Almost all of these trips will include a hike of at least 2 miles, so I’ll be counting these as a part of our Physical Education as well! We will be doing some camping, visiting some historical places like St. Mary’s City, a one-room school house and the Maryland State House as well as going to some nature reserves and museums. It’s going to be so much fun!

My boys really love science, so I invested in some magnifying glasses for them to explore around our yard and to use on our hikes. I think that hands-on learning is the absolute best way for kids to learn. They’ve already started collecting different bugs and stuff. I just hope that they don’t decide to let any of the creepy crawly things they find loose in my house!

We always start our day out together with all four students sitting around the table where we have our Bible time and pray for our day. The boys are learning the books of the Bible as well as having weekly memory verses. My girls are pretty much independent with their school work, but we are studying Proverbs 31 together and I am looking forward to all of our discussions about what being a godly woman looks like.

I was able to get away with a good friend of mine for 2 nights before school started, and we were able to have some really good time alone with God, seeking his heart for us and for our families. One thing that I was reminded of, is that one of the greatest things to invest my time in is in the minds, hearts and souls of my kids. While their minds are the obvious investment when you think in terms of school, it is really the hearts and souls of my children that I should be focusing on the most. Everything that I am teaching my children should be able to be used to point them to Christ.

It’s been a long time since I have only had four kids to teach. It’s actually kind of weird, to be honest. I have adult children who have moved out, and other adult children who live at home and work full-time. I am embracing the changes that are inevitable and accepting the challenges that I will most certainly face. I know that God’s grace will be sufficient, His joy will be my strength and that His mercies are new every single morning.

I am really excited about all that He has in store for our school this year!

My Home School Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for another year to school my children. Thank you for the opportunity to take Your instruction to train them up in the way they should go beyond their physical and emotional needs and being able to equip my children with an education that is based on Your Word and the godly values that we uphold in our home. Thank you that I do not have to shoulder this amazing responsibility by myself, but that I can be assured that You will be with me every step of the way, giving me wisdom as I teach each day. Thank You for being the perfect Teacher and showing me how to teach by Your example all throughout Scripture.

I pray for grace to accept every challenge that I may face this year. Please help me to remember that I am not only helping to grow my children’s minds, but more importantly, I am helping to grow character in each of their lives. Help me to keep in mind that You are present in everything, and that no matter what the subject, I can always point my children toward You.

I ask for wisdom to know when to push my children farther and to know when it’s time to put the books away. I ask for patience during those times when I have to explain something over and over again or when my children don’t want to do their work. You have said in Your Word that Your joy is my strength, so I ask for a measure of Your joy that would be so abundant that it overflows from me and effects those around me. I pray that our home would be filled with peace and not chaos or disorder.

I ask that you give each one of my children a love for knowledge and a desire to expand their minds through learning. Help me to tailor their school to their individual needs and bents that You have blessed them with. Help me to try not to fit them into some kind of mold of my own design, but to remember that You are molding them into exactly who You want them to be.

Please give me eyes to see when I need to correct my own faults instead of trying to always correct my children. Give me humility to admit my sin and to ask forgiveness of them when needed. Remind me that when I face a challenge, the first thing that I need to do is to get on my knees and ask You for help.

Thank you for the flexibility that allows us to take amazing field trips and learn things first-hand by traveling to different places around us. Help me to make the most of every opportunity to teach my kids about the world that You have created for us to live in.

Thank You for making each one of my kids different from the others. Thank You for their unique personalities and the things that make them special. Thank You for blessing me with the gift of children. I ask You to bless all of us not just with teachable minds, but with teachable hearts as well. Help us to pursue excellence in all that we do. Please bless our school year and help us to honor You in all that we do.

AMEN