The pupil can only educate himself.
Teachers are the custodians of apparatus upon which he himself must turn and twist to acquire the excellencies that distinguish the better from the poorer of God's vessels.
~Martin H. Fischer
I started homeschooling in 1999. It was a quick decision because my fiance didn't want to place his youngest on medication. The school principal and the teacher insisted that she needed medication to concentrate. We strongly disagreed. She could sit quietly for long stretches of time when we were with her. What could be the problem? Over the next year, the youngest flourished at home. The homeschool group we joined in Tyler TX was wonderful. We became convinced that the older girls would benefit from schooling at home as well. So, after a number of disturbing and down right scary events at the public and private school the older girls attended, we choose to bring them home. Nearly eleven years have gone by, we did some things well and others not the best. In all I believe the girls gained a equal education to what they would have gotten in public school. And more importantly, we believe they gained a greater personal strength away from the constant peer pressure of the large public classroom. Did we escape exposure to drugs, sex, attitude? No, the vices of the world are present at homeschool functions, church, and everywhere we go.
The older girls are off living new lives. Rebekah serves in the US NAVY. She tells me often how she thanks me for standing by her and up to her through her teenage years. Concentrating on teaching her to be responsible for her world without blaming the past for her own weaknesses. Sarah works hard at her jobs at the TJC school paper and her Mimi's daycare. She, also, works hard to grow at college and in her writing. Here is a girl who before homeschooling, would NOT give her own opinion. Now, she is full of her own mind and her own strength. Elisabeth is now back in public school. She is enjoying tons of learning and social activities under the watchful eye of her first mom. She struggles with some things and excels in many others. She never needed medication. And that high energy that was the bane in early public school is now her strength. Now she can focus her energy where she wants to go. I am so very proud of these girls. I could not love them more. I pray they will continue to go in the LORD toward personal strength, integrity, and knowledge.
Over the years, I have been in classes, had thousands and thousands of books, and cooped many different ways. Now, we homeschool on the road. Our youngest two spend lots of time asking questions, reading books, exploring, and going places. It is a lesson in minimal stuff for your big learning buck. We have chosen to follow the Classical homeschool model with a dose of Charlotte Mason philosophy tossed in the mix. We use Classical Conversations curriculum, Progeny Press literature workbooks, Liberty Mathematics, Veritas Press, and lots of flexible ingenuity. Anyone willing to concentrate on loving learning and exploring knowledge with their children can homeschool.
