This is the end of an era for me. From preschool to junior high, I’ve homeschooled my children for the past 20 years. It has been a wonderful journey that I will be forever grateful for. Of course there have been tears and frustration, overwhelm and tired days, but overall it has been a joy teaching my children, inspiring them to love learning, literature, and the Lord.
For the past 5 years, it has just been my youngest son and I.
Our homeschool days from preschool to 8th grade:
Some highlights with him have been:
using The Good and the Beautiful language arts–It has given him such a strong foundation in reading, writing, and of course with a focus on uplifting and beautiful books. It has changed what books we want to read in our home and has been a great blessing. On our last day of homeschool, my son read the poem “Down the Lanes of August” by Edgar Guest. The words touched me as he recited his last memorized poem.
being part of a homeschool co-op the past 2 years–It has been a wonderful junior high experience for my son to go to ASA–having homework to prepare for other teachers, cultivating friendships, all day classes, lunch, field trips, and monthly activities. We had our end of year celebration and graduation with them last month. It was a lot of work to help teach and plan activities, but we will miss it!
going on field trips together–for our last homeschool field trip, we went to the Tulip Festival. The landscape and flowers were just beautiful. I love being in nature with my family!
taking Mr. D Math–I’m so grateful we found this math online program. My husband teaches math at the high school, so as our kids get more advanced in their math, they take from him, but in the mean time, this program was a lifesaver for us this year. My son really did enjoy math! We’ve come so far from “munchy math” when as a younger child, we had to incorporate snacks during math time to encourage him to do it.
reading aloud–it’s my absolute favorite thing to do with my kids. This year, we laughed when we read The Wednesdays Wars–I will never think of rats and cream puffs the same again. We were uplifted, when learning about WWII, we read Echo together. The audio book was amazing with music that added so much to the story. To celebrate, I bought a harmonica for my son to try out.
We cried when we read Where the Red Fern Grows, ate food from the book, and watched the movie for our last day of homeschool.
(I read this to my public school students 24 years ago, so it was fitting to end my last homeschool read aloud with this classic. Although, I would edit for language and violence.)
Many of our book choices over the years have come from Read Aloud Revival, The Good and the Beautiful, and Sonlight.
going after his passions–my son has taken private art lessons for the last few years. He has really grown to love using the medium of water color and ink. Here he is with one of his paintings:
He also participated in Millennial choir. I loved watching him sing songs of the Savior with his whole heart in the rafters while I watched from the sidelines as a volunteer.
Dear D.,
I’m sure going to miss:
-hearing you play basketball in the driveway during your breaks
-waking you up when you snoozed too many times in the morning
-finding you in your pjs highlighting your scriptures while you ate a bowl of cereal
-watching you make gourmet smoothies, breakfasts, or lunches and wanting to sample a taste
-the fridge opening up multiple times to get a snack to eat while you do schoolwork (Can you tell we’ve got a growing teenage boy in the house?)
-our devotional times in the morning to sing, read, and share scriptures together
-our favorite morning read alouds
-hearing you play songs you composed on the piano
-your smile, your kind notes, and your goodness
I’m thankful that I not only got to be your mother, but your teacher these many years of your life! I’m excited for you as you start 9th grade with many opportunities for new classes, friendships, and growth.
Love, Mom
“The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.” -Harold B. Lee
“We can get too easily bogged down in the academic part of homeschooling, a relatively minor part of the whole, which is to raise competent, caring, literate, happy people.” -Diane Flynn Keith
If I’ve done a portion of that, I will have succeeded! And of course,
“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isaiah 54:13
The Lord knew I needed to take this path and as we transition next year into new roles, classes, and schools, I will hold onto the many precious memories I had homeschooling each of my children. Now spread your wings…and fly!
*Also read Before You Go to hear how it was to send my oldest to junior high for the first time after homeschooling.
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