Color Me Kooky

And other thoughts on home educating

I’m sitting at my desk, an old wooden kitchen counter with a single drawer in the middle of it, on a wobbly wooden stool that I found in an abandoned dusty garage underneath a small pile of cobwebby broken tools. There are, of course, piles of papers on either side of my desktop. To the left: magazines I want to savor (Feel Free, Taproot, and Permaculture), notes I wish to revisit from the G3 and WAPF conferences, and plans for my gardens and house. I’m not counting the tissue box, a refractometer, and a plastic kids’ recorder. On the right: bills to pay, Ruby’s therapy ball for her eyes, and because I’m a word nerd, a book of American-English Usage, and The Oxford Book of English Verse. I shoved all of this aside yesterday morning to make room for a YouTube interview regarding my newest book release, Slow Schooling (affiliate link).

Obviously (or it soon will be), I am not polished. My desk is in a five by six foot corner of the pantry (covered up by a child’s twin size bed sheet), and all I have for light is a wonky overhead 1979 five bulb dining chandelier and a cheap metal clamp desk lamp. Somehow, I figured out how to blur the Zoom background (because I supposed a white sheet wasn’t blurry enough), and after the conversation started, I figured out real quick not to look at myself because half my head would blur in turns as well. And my ear buds kept popping out (why? because my jaws were yammering?). I was happy the children were barely stirring from the night before, but of course my radar sensed every stir. I could hear the crisp crunchcrunch of my cats eating.

So I sit here now, pondering how it went. Her questions were good, and although I had no idea what they were going to be, answering them wasn’t too difficult. After all, she was asking about my life, and specifically the homeschooling aspect. What about finances? How do you choose curriculum? And socialization? And qualifications? And high school transcripts? As I said, good questions. Questions I wish I could answer with cups of tea between us, but grateful for the opportunity for you all to join us with your own, on your own time, watching the recording.

It’s hard to encapsulate educating at home, because we are not running a school, but living our lives, where education is encouraged, supported, expected and celebrated. We don’t have outcome goals such as GPA status or self esteem in mind, but rather gospel understanding, humility, character, habit, curiosity, and an appetite to learn. I don’t just want my children to learn to read; I want them to WANT to read. And to research and to think critically and to be able to interact with books and authors with a pencil in one hand and a Bible in the other to respond. My non-graduated children also don’t own smartphones or iPads, because I want them to actually experience boredom and the freedom to dream a little and to cultivate internal peace. I absolutely want them to labor to create their own lives, to write their own music, to connect with people they actually know in real life and to form their friendships based on conversations and not on brands. I want their heads held high on tall necks, their eyes keen and observant, their shoulders open and their lungs able to expand.

If I thought I could achieve all of those goals via public schooling and Apple products, then I might enjoy all of those quiet hours not filled with “Mom…Mom…Mom….”, much less replacing sofa pillows, washing unending dishes, giving spelling tests, teaching the same mathematical concept in 14 different ways, and playing Judge Judy. Because the weariness is real! If I thought I could teach my children to seek the Kingdom of God first in the few hours limply leftover from a long day of public school attendance, homework, and extracurricular activities, then I might embrace that. I’m just not convinced, not as a former public school teacher, and not as a parent. Color me kooky.

I hear the oven timer dinging now, and need to pull out our evening meal. Afterwards, I will read to and tuck my babies into bed, and spend time with my older children and husband, probably watching them slap cards on the table and yelling TACO and GOAT. The internet is completely off for the night now, and the woodstove is winding low. I feel so blessed and grateful to live life with my family, and if someone *out there* gains the courage and encouragement to do likewise with theirs from my writing or speaking (wonky as it may be), I will be further humbled and thankful to the Lord for allowing me to publish with the voice of thanksgiving for His continued mercy and grace. If this isn’t the path for your own family, I don’t presume to know the hows and whys, and you are of course just as accountable to the Lord for your ways as we are to ours. May we all be faithful to teach our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and to depend upon His leading in it all, that their peace will be great both now and for eternity. There truly is no greater joy than for our children to learn about and to walk in the truth, and I pray that for you all with all of the love in my heart.

If you don’t think you can homeschool, or if you’re feeling burnt out, this is the book for you!(affiliate link)