When you think of what you're grateful for this year, I trust that having the freedom to homeschool makes the list. I know it can be hard when you're in the trenches of day-to-day parenting and teaching. But know that most veteran homeschool moms look back at their time of teaching their children at home with deep gratitude. I know I do.
To encourage you with some long-term perspective, I have a gift for you. We collected stories from moms about why homeschooling their kids has been worth it – worth all the hard work, worth the sacrifices and worth the huge time commitment.
That collection is called: It Was Worth It: Real Stories to Inspire Your Homeschool Journey. It's an e-book that includes honest, fresh, encouraging stories from homeschoolers such as Sarah Mae, Ann Voskamp, Crystal Paine and several more.
The whole thing came about after a conversation I had with some friends who had also finished their homeschool journeys. We were talking and laughing about how hard it was at times to teach our children. (Like all those days I practically had to sit on Justin to get him to focus on his math!) Then my friend Jill and I broke out at the same time with an emphatic "But it was worth it!"
And it was indeed.
So, we set out to collect people's stories to encourage you during your homeschool journey. To give you just a taste, here's a short excerpt of my chapter, "How Homeschooling Freed My Children to Be Themselves":
In fact, I wouldn't trade my time at home with any of my kids. I firmly believe that homeschooling kept both Luke and Justin from being labeled. I fear Luke would have gotten the message in school that he was unintelligent. In reality, he just had an eye-tracking disorder that it took us far too long to figure out. The mechanics of reading were painstakingly difficult for him. But as I taught him at home, we were able to progress in reading at his own tortoise pace while we raced ahead in our other subjects. I simply read his Science and History out loud to him, and let him dictate his writing assignments to me. In school, his difficulty with reading would have put him behind in all subjects.
Instead, Luke knew reading was hard, but he never once thought he was unintelligent. By the time he started public high school, he had figured out how to work around his difficulties. He graduated valedictorian and went on to pursue a meaningful career in media and film.
I also think that homeschooling protected my youngest son, Justin, from being labeled. ... (Read the rest in the e-book.)
I trust that God will honor your hard work. The time and love you are investing in your children now will bear fruit for years to come. I pray that when your kids are grown, you too will have an inspiring story of why it was all worth it.
God bless you in this great and worthy task of raising and educating children!
Sarita
P.S. As Thanksgiving approaches, I am also incredibly thankful for you! I am so thankful for you and your noble commitment to raise and teach the next generation. Thank you for being part of the Sonlight homeschooling community!
