July 25, 2025 • 23 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are doing well this week.
I am actually posting thispodcast a little late because I
had freshman orientation with myoldest son, david, at Coastal
Carolina University this weekwith my oldest son David, at
(00:22):
Coastal Carolina University thisweek and it was a lot of
walking and by the time I gothome I just wanted to rest, I
wanted to crash, but we had sucha nice time.
It was nice spending two dayswith him, but the campus and the
university is just great and sohe's really excited about the
fall.
(00:42):
He's going to be majoring inaccounting and I'm so proud of
him.
He's super excited and I'mexcited for him.
So that's what our week hasconsisted of.
We've been touring Coastal andlearning about the program that
(01:03):
he's going to go into and Iactually a little side note I
actually worked there for 10years, right out of college.
That was my first job.
I worked at Coastal CarolinaUniversity.
I worked in two differentdepartments but when I left I
was in the admissions department.
But that's been 18 years agoand I actually quit the year
that I found out that I waspregnant with him.
(01:23):
I went to another position atanother company.
But Coastal is a terrificschool and it was nice to see
the campus and how much it'sgrown in the last 18, 19 years.
And I actually knew some peoplethere not many, because most of
them have retired or gone on ormoved but I'm really glad that
he's decided to go there and Icould not recommend it enough.
(01:44):
It's a wonderful school and so,as I was pondering this morning
and thinking about my time atthe university and since then
and our homeschool journey, Ijust wanted to share some things
with you.
You know, I'm so glad that wehomeschooled.
It did not hurt my kids'opportunities.
(02:08):
I think that it did things inthem that you know some things
only God knows, but I think itdid good things in them and you
know, even this week it was kindof like a validation.
It was like, okay, you didn'truin your children.
They got into a good universityand could basically go almost
anywhere they wanted to go.
You know the financial side isanother consideration, but I had
(02:33):
some time to ponder in betweensessions and I went to my van
for a while while he was doingother things and I had some time
to think about homeschoolingand the road we took.
You know we took the road lesstraveled and I'm glad we did.
But I wanted to share with youthis week some things that I
love about homeschooling what Iwould call the pros of
(02:55):
homeschooling.
Now, to be balanced, next weekI'll probably share with you
some of the things that are notso great about homeschooling.
There are some cons tohomeschooling, though some
people may disagree, but I wantto share with you honestly, from
my heart, the things that Ifeel like homeschooling did for
us and the reasons that I'm gladthat we were able to homeschool
(03:18):
.
And I want to start off bysaying that I don't think
homeschooling is for everyone.
I don't.
I have heard podcasts whereChristian homeschoolers would
say you know, every't thinkhomeschooling is for everyone.
I don't.
I have heard podcasts whereChristian homeschoolers would
say you know, every Christianshould homeschool.
You should never send your kidsto public education or public
school.
And I disagree.
I think that God has a uniqueplan for every family, every
(03:39):
individual.
And you know we're in the world, we're not of the world, but
I'm also not afraid of the world.
I can't be afraid of the worldbecause then you know we're in
the world, we're not of theworld, but I'm also not afraid
of the world.
I can't be afraid of the worldbecause then you know, if we're
afraid of the world, we willretreat, we'll hide and we won't
be active in this world, whereGod has placed us to be salt and
light and not to hide our lightunder a bushel.
And so I think thathomeschooling is wonderful.
(04:02):
I mean, I loved it.
I'm so thankful that I had theopportunity and we were able to
do that, but I don't think it'sfor everybody.
So today I want to share withyou some things that
homeschooling did for us.
For us, it opened up a way forus to connect.
For me, it opened up a way forme to connect with my children,
(04:23):
for me to share my faith withthem.
And today I just want to sharesome of those things with you.
First of all and I've spoken onthis I did a whole series on
homeschooling and I'll link tothat series in the show notes.
But for me, homeschooling was anopportunity to disciple my
children.
It was a great tool to disciplemy children.
(04:45):
It was a great tool To disciplesomeone.
You need proximity, you need tobe close to them and you need
time.
You know, a lot of times wetalk about quality time and
quality time is important, butalso sometimes you just need
lots of time, like you need tobe around that person so that
they can soak in what who youare and what you believe and
(05:07):
what you think, and so that theycan see that you love them and
you care for them.
And homeschooling was anopportunity for me to do that
with my children.
It gave me the time, the twonecessary ingredients time and
proximity to truly disciple mychildren.
As a homeschool mom, I was withthem all day, every day.
I was able to have devotionswith them.
(05:29):
I was able to share my heartwith them.
I was there for correction, Iwas there to say no, not that
way.
This way, it's an opportunityto be close to your children, to
teach them, to disciple themand to pour your heart into them
.
You know it's, you become theirprimary influence and you get
to shape their worldview.
(05:51):
It's a very natural way todisciple your children, and so
that was probably that was myfirst motivation to homeschool
my children, and it was probablythe greatest benefit I see from
homeschooling my children.
The second thing that I lovedabout homeschooling was the
(06:11):
ability to customize eachchild's education.
I had three.
I had three children that Ihomeschooled.
They were all very differentfrom each other but as one
teacher, three children I couldcater for the most part.
I could cater to their needs.
(06:32):
All of us have differentstrengths and weaknesses and one
curriculum does not always fiteverybody, and of course, I had
my favorites.
I had the things that I enjoyteaching, because you have to
take into consideration your ownpersonality and the way you
enjoy teaching and the way youknow, the way you like to
structure things.
But then, once you find thingsthat work for you, they don't
(06:55):
always work for your children,and so you know, I found things
that I really liked and I couldtry those things on my children,
and sometimes it was a greatfit and sometimes it wasn't.
And the beauty abouthomeschooling is, if something
is not working, you can go findsomething else or you can find
(07:15):
additional resources tosupplement, and you have the
freedom to do that.
And so I loved that abouthomeschooling and you know your
child better than anyone else.
You love your child more thananyone else, and homeschooling
allows you to create anenvironment that works for their
learning style, that works attheir pace, that takes into
(07:38):
account their personality.
You know you can slow down ifthey need more time or you can
speed things up if they'regetting it quickly Right and you
don't have to wait on the wholeclass to get to the point where
that child is.
And you know it's anopportunity to customize an
education for that child.
(07:58):
You can take into account theirinterests, the things that
light them up.
You know you can do things thatare outside of the box.
You can take them on fieldtrips that correspond with their
curriculum.
Often during the summers wewould take a vacation and I
(08:18):
would try to find a spot wherewe could actually learn some
things that corresponded withwhat we learned that year.
You know, for example, one yearwe went to Williamsburg,
virginia, and we did all of thetouristy things there, but we
had just done a unit on colonialAmerica and we had just studied
(08:40):
about the founding of Americaand the Revolutionary War, and
so that was a wonderful trip tosolidify a lot of the things we
just learned that year, and theywere young enough at that time
that they were really into it,and so it was a lot of the
things we just learned that year, and they were young enough at
that time that they were reallyinto it, and so it was a lot of
fun.
And with homeschooling you havethat freedom to do that.
You know, if you have one childthat thrives on hands-on
(09:04):
projects, you can do that.
You can make that a part ofthat child's curriculum.
You know, if you have anotherwho loves to read, you can find
the best books for that child toread and you don't have 20 or
30 kids that you're trying tomove along at the same pace, so
(09:24):
they get a lot of one-on-oneattention, and so I think that
my children really thrived inthat small, one-on-one
environment.
Also, another point that kind offeeds into that is we were very
flexible in our scheduling andfor us that meant that we had
less stress and we had moremargin in our day.
(09:45):
You know I didn't have to getup at the crack of dawn and try
to get everybody food and packtheir lunch and get them in the
car, and you know I didn't haveto do that, and so our mornings
were not as rushed, we didn'thave to race the clock.
We didn't have to spend, youknow, hours in the pickup line
or the drop-off line, and so,you know, we had more
(10:08):
opportunities for play, we hadmore opportunities to rest, and
it helped to kind of create aflow in our home where we, you
know, we had lots of time athome, we had lots of time with
each other, we could takevacations during the off season,
and so places weren't ascrowded.
I always tried to schedule ourdentist and doctor's
(10:32):
appointments during the day,when, you know, when other kids
were at school, and so there wasalways open, you know,
availability, and we didn't haveto wait as long.
And so it really homeschoolingreally honored our family's
rhythms.
It helped us to create moremargin, it helped us to not be
as stressed.
It really I think it helped withmy mental health because we
were able to create our ownschedule.
(10:53):
You know, don't get me wrong wehad times when it was really
busy and it felt like wecouldn't get everything in.
You know, the thing abouthomeschooling is when you know
you're the teacher for all threeor all of your children, then
if something happens to you,there's no school right, not
very little happens, and Iremember a particular season
where it seemed like we had afuneral, and then, you know, on
(11:14):
top of that, somebody in ourhouse got sick and then you know
that person finally got betterand then the other person got it
, and then so it felt like itwas like a month that we didn't
homeschool and so we had to.
In order to finish where I feltlike we needed to finish, we
had to continue into the summer.
Where I felt like we needed tofinish, we had to continue into
the summer.
But we could do that.
I didn't like it but we could,and so it puts the control of
(11:36):
the schedule into your hands,into your family's hands.
You're not tied to the schooldistrict schedule or you know
you can.
If your family, if somethingcomes up and you guys want to
take a trip somewhere, you cando that, you know.
I remember when my kids finallystarted transitioning into
public school and we would go todoctor's appointments, I always
forgot to get the schoolexcuses, because I never had to
(12:00):
do that before, and so I'dalways have to call the doctor
and say could you fax the schoolan excuse for my son?
That was really helpful.
With my children growing up isthat flexibility in our schedule
and being able to set our ownschedule Also another benefit
that I saw with homeschoolingwas that the goal was different.
(12:24):
It was not only was there thegoal to disciple, but I also
cared a lot about the academics.
And you can do both well.
You don't have to choose.
You don't have to say, well,we're going to be this kind of
homeschooler and just focus onacademics, or we're going to be
this kind of homeschooler andfocus on discipleship or
character development.
You can do both well.
(12:46):
And I cared about the academicsbecause if my kids ever did
want to go on and go to publicschool and go to college, I
didn't want something that I didor didn't do to limit their
options, but we could focus onthe joy of learning.
We didn't do formal grades, wedidn't have to do standardized
(13:09):
tests.
It wasn't a requirement in mystate.
So it was a long time before mykids even took a test when they
got older and I wanted toassess are they learning this
material?
You know, we we added sometests, but for a long time the
goal in learning, the goal inour school, was just to learn
(13:31):
and we didn't have to.
We could emphasize the joy oflearning and I think it helped
them to become lifelong learners.
They would get excited aboutthings they would get excited
about.
You know.
We would go on nature walks andthey would actually get excited
about things that we found Notalways.
Sometimes it was hot and theyjust wanted to get back to the
(13:52):
house and guys, that's normal.
But there were days when thingswould grab their attention and
they weren't trying to get agrade, they were just
experiencing something new,something new in their life, and
that is learning.
And I've even had them.
I've even had my sons now, youknow, come home from school and
(14:12):
say, mama, it's all about thetests, it's all about the grades
, and you know, that's that,that's, that's the nature of
public school, that's just theway it is.
But I'm glad that they saw thatthere is another way to learn,
that it doesn't always have tobe about the test or the grades,
that you know we can learn justbecause we enjoy learning.
One of the things I loved mostabout homeschooling was when
(14:34):
they would get into a good book.
We did a lot of reading and alot of times there was a lot of
moaning.
That goes along with that,because they're like, no, I
don't want to read.
No, not another book.
Well, we read a lot.
We read out loud.
I read to them, and then asthey got older they would learn
to read on their own, and Iloved it when they would
complain and gripe, but thenthey would get into a book and
(14:57):
not want to put it down, becausethat's when I knew, okay, at
least they see that, you know,at least they may not love
reading.
They may never, you know, admitthat they enjoyed this book,
but I saw it.
I saw that there were timeswhen they would really get into
that book and not want to put itdown, and to me that was a win.
They have learned that there isa joy in reading and you can
(15:20):
enjoy reading and you don't justhave to watch TV or movies to
get a good story.
And so we had that.
Learning becomes a way of life.
One of our goals and one of thethings I think is wonderful
about homeschooling is thatlearning can become a way of
life.
It's not just a race to thetest.
(15:42):
Another benefit for me forhomeschooling was the safety
issue.
I did not homeschool my kids toshelter them from the world
their entire life, but when theywere younger it was nice to
know that they were at a placewhere they could grow, develop
and learn without having toworry about being bullied,
(16:03):
without having to worry aboutpeer pressure, without having to
worry about violence.
There was a comfort that mychildren are in a safe place and
they can grow in confidence.
There was less social anxiety.
They could focus on growingacademically, growing
spiritually, growing emotionally.
(16:25):
And then my hope, my prayer,was that when they went on to
public school, when they went tolearn outside of our home, that
they had the confidence andthey had built the skills they
needed to be themselves, to beconfident in who they were, to
have a strong faith and if thatwere the case, then I felt like
I was successful in my role as ahomeschool mom and discover who
(16:57):
they really were before theywere shaped by the world that
they were going into.
And so homeschool gave us thetime and the opportunity to do
that.
Also, one of the last thing I'llmention and it's a small one,
that's why I saved it for thelast but they learn a lot of
life skills.
You know, they learn how tounload the dishwasher and they
(17:19):
learn how to wash clothes andhow to clean up after themselves
and how to set the table.
And you know, they and I triedto teach and, guys, please
understand there is.
This was not perfect, it'snever has been perfect and never
will be perfect in our home.
But my goal was to teach themthat it is not your mom's
responsibility to take care ofeverything in the house, that
(17:41):
this is our home, that it's ourresponsibility to make sure that
things are tidy, that make surethat things are functioning,
that make sure that you know ifa guest comes, that they're not
appalled by the bathroom, thatthey, you know those kind of
things.
It's not just mama'sresponsibility, it's our house.
And so being at home with themall day gave me the opportunity
(18:04):
to help, to show them how tohelp to keep things you know in
a good state.
Can you do that withouthomeschooling?
Absolutely, but having thattime and being home with them
gave me more opportunities toshow them that you know, instead
of running out the door in themorning and you know, and just
leaving everything a mess.
(18:24):
That was something we could dobefore we started school.
You know, let's make sure thatthe bathroom is cleaned before
we start school.
Let's make sure that the dishesare unloaded before we eat
lunch, and that was part of ourrhythms, you know.
That's how I tried to make ourday flow.
We have a flow to the day, andso homeschooling was a great
(18:47):
place to learn life skills thathopefully they will have for the
rest of their life.
I will be honest here.
Just a moment of honesty.
As they've become teenagers andthey've gone to public school
and now I am in and out, youknow, working at the coffee shop
, doing other things I wonder ifthey remember any of it.
I have to.
(19:07):
You know I'm still constantlysaying I'm not the only person
who can unload this dishwasher.
Or you know, if you know, ifyou come to me and you're upset
because you know your soccersocks are not clean, maybe you
should wash them.
And that's hard for me becauseas a mom, I just want to make
sure everything's perfect forthem, but that is not helping
(19:28):
them.
If I'm doing it all, I'm nothelping them to become
responsible adults, and so,anyway, enough of that.
So I guess my point in sayingall that is it's not perfect,
it's never going to be perfect,but homeschooling gave me an
opportunity to teach them thingsthat at least I know they know
(19:49):
how to do, whether they chooseto do them or not.
So I hope that this has beenhelpful today.
These are the things that Iloved most about homeschooling.
Next week, like I said, I'mgoing to share with you some of
the things that I think weresome of the areas where
homeschooling wasn't great,because I want to give a
balanced view and I want to behonest with the areas where we
(20:10):
seem to thrive and with theareas where we struggled.
I hope this has beeninformative and helpful and made
you think.
And also, if you have anyquestions, you can always reach
out to me.
That's what I'm here for.
If you have any questions, youcan get in touch with me.
I have my all of my contactinformation in the show notes
how to reach me through emailand text and facebook and
(20:33):
instagram.
So, and I would love to hearfrom you, I would so love to
hear from you.
Um, every now and then I'll geta text, I'll get an email from a
listener and it just it makesmy day so and I respond back to
those.
I cannot respond back to thetext.
If you send me a text throughthe link in the show notes,
unless you give me your emailaddress, I can't respond back to
(20:55):
that.
It's a one-way communication.
But all the other ways I canrespond back and I definitely
will way communication, but allthe other ways I can respond
back and I definitely will.
Also, don't forget, if you livein the Mullins area, on Saturday
, august 9th, from five to seven, I'm having a prayer gathering.
(21:16):
It's called covered in prayer,a night for moms, and on that
night I'm gathering moms fromour area who would like to get
together and just have a meal,relax, get to know each other
and pray for our children, praytogether for our children, and
I'm really excited about it.
If you live in or around theMullen South Carolina area,
that's, in Marion County, wewould love to have you.
(21:37):
I'll put the link in the shownotes where you can sign up for
that, and I hope you have agreat week.
God bless, take care, bye, bye.
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are doing well this week.
I am actually posting thispodcast a little late because I
had freshman orientation with myoldest son, david, at Coastal
Carolina University this weekwith my oldest son David, at
(00:22):
Coastal Carolina University thisweek and it was a lot of
walking and by the time I gothome I just wanted to rest, I
wanted to crash, but we had sucha nice time.
It was nice spending two dayswith him, but the campus and the
university is just great and sohe's really excited about the
fall.
(00:42):
He's going to be majoring inaccounting and I'm so proud of
him.
He's super excited and I'mexcited for him.
So that's what our week hasconsisted of.
We've been touring Coastal andlearning about the program that
(01:03):
he's going to go into and Iactually a little side note I
actually worked there for 10years, right out of college.
That was my first job.
I worked at Coastal CarolinaUniversity.
I worked in two differentdepartments but when I left I
was in the admissions department.
But that's been 18 years agoand I actually quit the year
that I found out that I waspregnant with him.
(01:23):
I went to another position atanother company.
But Coastal is a terrificschool and it was nice to see
the campus and how much it'sgrown in the last 18, 19 years.
And I actually knew some peoplethere not many, because most of
them have retired or gone on ormoved but I'm really glad that
he's decided to go there and Icould not recommend it enough.
(01:44):
It's a wonderful school and so,as I was pondering this morning
and thinking about my time atthe university and since then
and our homeschool journey, Ijust wanted to share some things
with you.
You know, I'm so glad that wehomeschooled.
It did not hurt my kids'opportunities.
(02:08):
I think that it did things inthem that you know some things
only God knows, but I think itdid good things in them and you
know, even this week it was kindof like a validation.
It was like, okay, you didn'truin your children.
They got into a good universityand could basically go almost
anywhere they wanted to go.
You know the financial side isanother consideration, but I had
(02:33):
some time to ponder in betweensessions and I went to my van
for a while while he was doingother things and I had some time
to think about homeschoolingand the road we took.
You know we took the road lesstraveled and I'm glad we did.
But I wanted to share with youthis week some things that I
love about homeschooling what Iwould call the pros of
(02:55):
homeschooling.
Now, to be balanced, next weekI'll probably share with you
some of the things that are notso great about homeschooling.
There are some cons tohomeschooling, though some
people may disagree, but I wantto share with you honestly, from
my heart, the things that Ifeel like homeschooling did for
us and the reasons that I'm gladthat we were able to homeschool
(03:18):
.
And I want to start off bysaying that I don't think
homeschooling is for everyone.
I don't.
I have heard podcasts whereChristian homeschoolers would
say you know, every't thinkhomeschooling is for everyone.
I don't.
I have heard podcasts whereChristian homeschoolers would
say you know, every Christianshould homeschool.
You should never send your kidsto public education or public
school.
And I disagree.
I think that God has a uniqueplan for every family, every
(03:39):
individual.
And you know we're in the world, we're not of the world, but
I'm also not afraid of the world.
I can't be afraid of the worldbecause then you know we're in
the world, we're not of theworld, but I'm also not afraid
of the world.
I can't be afraid of the worldbecause then you know, if we're
afraid of the world, we willretreat, we'll hide and we won't
be active in this world, whereGod has placed us to be salt and
light and not to hide our lightunder a bushel.
And so I think thathomeschooling is wonderful.
(04:02):
I mean, I loved it.
I'm so thankful that I had theopportunity and we were able to
do that, but I don't think it'sfor everybody.
So today I want to share withyou some things that
homeschooling did for us.
For us, it opened up a way forus to connect.
For me, it opened up a way forme to connect with my children,
(04:23):
for me to share my faith withthem.
And today I just want to sharesome of those things with you.
First of all and I've spoken onthis I did a whole series on
homeschooling and I'll link tothat series in the show notes.
But for me, homeschooling was anopportunity to disciple my
children.
It was a great tool to disciplemy children.
(04:45):
It was a great tool To disciplesomeone.
You need proximity, you need tobe close to them and you need
time.
You know, a lot of times wetalk about quality time and
quality time is important, butalso sometimes you just need
lots of time, like you need tobe around that person so that
they can soak in what who youare and what you believe and
(05:07):
what you think, and so that theycan see that you love them and
you care for them.
And homeschooling was anopportunity for me to do that
with my children.
It gave me the time, the twonecessary ingredients time and
proximity to truly disciple mychildren.
As a homeschool mom, I was withthem all day, every day.
I was able to have devotionswith them.
(05:29):
I was able to share my heartwith them.
I was there for correction, Iwas there to say no, not that
way.
This way, it's an opportunityto be close to your children, to
teach them, to disciple themand to pour your heart into them
.
You know it's, you become theirprimary influence and you get
to shape their worldview.
(05:51):
It's a very natural way todisciple your children, and so
that was probably that was myfirst motivation to homeschool
my children, and it was probablythe greatest benefit I see from
homeschooling my children.
The second thing that I lovedabout homeschooling was the
(06:11):
ability to customize eachchild's education.
I had three.
I had three children that Ihomeschooled.
They were all very differentfrom each other but as one
teacher, three children I couldcater for the most part.
I could cater to their needs.
(06:32):
All of us have differentstrengths and weaknesses and one
curriculum does not always fiteverybody, and of course, I had
my favorites.
I had the things that I enjoyteaching, because you have to
take into consideration your ownpersonality and the way you
enjoy teaching and the way youknow, the way you like to
structure things.
But then, once you find thingsthat work for you, they don't
(06:55):
always work for your children,and so you know, I found things
that I really liked and I couldtry those things on my children,
and sometimes it was a greatfit and sometimes it wasn't.
And the beauty abouthomeschooling is, if something
is not working, you can go findsomething else or you can find
(07:15):
additional resources tosupplement, and you have the
freedom to do that.
And so I loved that abouthomeschooling and you know your
child better than anyone else.
You love your child more thananyone else, and homeschooling
allows you to create anenvironment that works for their
learning style, that works attheir pace, that takes into
(07:38):
account their personality.
You know you can slow down ifthey need more time or you can
speed things up if they'regetting it quickly Right and you
don't have to wait on the wholeclass to get to the point where
that child is.
And you know it's anopportunity to customize an
education for that child.
(07:58):
You can take into account theirinterests, the things that
light them up.
You know you can do things thatare outside of the box.
You can take them on fieldtrips that correspond with their
curriculum.
Often during the summers wewould take a vacation and I
(08:18):
would try to find a spot wherewe could actually learn some
things that corresponded withwhat we learned that year.
You know, for example, one yearwe went to Williamsburg,
virginia, and we did all of thetouristy things there, but we
had just done a unit on colonialAmerica and we had just studied
(08:40):
about the founding of Americaand the Revolutionary War, and
so that was a wonderful trip tosolidify a lot of the things we
just learned that year, and theywere young enough at that time
that they were really into it,and so it was a lot of the
things we just learned that year, and they were young enough at
that time that they were reallyinto it, and so it was a lot of
fun.
And with homeschooling you havethat freedom to do that.
You know, if you have one childthat thrives on hands-on
(09:04):
projects, you can do that.
You can make that a part ofthat child's curriculum.
You know, if you have anotherwho loves to read, you can find
the best books for that child toread and you don't have 20 or
30 kids that you're trying tomove along at the same pace, so
(09:24):
they get a lot of one-on-oneattention, and so I think that
my children really thrived inthat small, one-on-one
environment.
Also, another point that kind offeeds into that is we were very
flexible in our scheduling andfor us that meant that we had
less stress and we had moremargin in our day.
(09:45):
You know I didn't have to getup at the crack of dawn and try
to get everybody food and packtheir lunch and get them in the
car, and you know I didn't haveto do that, and so our mornings
were not as rushed, we didn'thave to race the clock.
We didn't have to spend, youknow, hours in the pickup line
or the drop-off line, and so,you know, we had more
(10:08):
opportunities for play, we hadmore opportunities to rest, and
it helped to kind of create aflow in our home where we, you
know, we had lots of time athome, we had lots of time with
each other, we could takevacations during the off season,
and so places weren't ascrowded.
I always tried to schedule ourdentist and doctor's
(10:32):
appointments during the day,when, you know, when other kids
were at school, and so there wasalways open, you know,
availability, and we didn't haveto wait as long.
And so it really homeschoolingreally honored our family's
rhythms.
It helped us to create moremargin, it helped us to not be
as stressed.
It really I think it helped withmy mental health because we
were able to create our ownschedule.
(10:53):
You know, don't get me wrong wehad times when it was really
busy and it felt like wecouldn't get everything in.
You know, the thing abouthomeschooling is when you know
you're the teacher for all threeor all of your children, then
if something happens to you,there's no school right, not
very little happens, and Iremember a particular season
where it seemed like we had afuneral, and then, you know, on
(11:14):
top of that, somebody in ourhouse got sick and then you know
that person finally got betterand then the other person got it
, and then so it felt like itwas like a month that we didn't
homeschool and so we had to.
In order to finish where I feltlike we needed to finish, we
had to continue into the summer.
Where I felt like we needed tofinish, we had to continue into
the summer.
But we could do that.
I didn't like it but we could,and so it puts the control of
(11:36):
the schedule into your hands,into your family's hands.
You're not tied to the schooldistrict schedule or you know
you can.
If your family, if somethingcomes up and you guys want to
take a trip somewhere, you cando that, you know.
I remember when my kids finallystarted transitioning into
public school and we would go todoctor's appointments, I always
forgot to get the schoolexcuses, because I never had to
(12:00):
do that before, and so I'dalways have to call the doctor
and say could you fax the schoolan excuse for my son?
That was really helpful.
With my children growing up isthat flexibility in our schedule
and being able to set our ownschedule Also another benefit
that I saw with homeschoolingwas that the goal was different.
(12:24):
It was not only was there thegoal to disciple, but I also
cared a lot about the academics.
And you can do both well.
You don't have to choose.
You don't have to say, well,we're going to be this kind of
homeschooler and just focus onacademics, or we're going to be
this kind of homeschooler andfocus on discipleship or
character development.
You can do both well.
(12:46):
And I cared about the academicsbecause if my kids ever did
want to go on and go to publicschool and go to college, I
didn't want something that I didor didn't do to limit their
options, but we could focus onthe joy of learning.
We didn't do formal grades, wedidn't have to do standardized
(13:09):
tests.
It wasn't a requirement in mystate.
So it was a long time before mykids even took a test when they
got older and I wanted toassess are they learning this
material?
You know, we we added sometests, but for a long time the
goal in learning, the goal inour school, was just to learn
(13:31):
and we didn't have to.
We could emphasize the joy oflearning and I think it helped
them to become lifelong learners.
They would get excited aboutthings they would get excited
about.
You know.
We would go on nature walks andthey would actually get excited
about things that we found Notalways.
Sometimes it was hot and theyjust wanted to get back to the
(13:52):
house and guys, that's normal.
But there were days when thingswould grab their attention and
they weren't trying to get agrade, they were just
experiencing something new,something new in their life, and
that is learning.
And I've even had them.
I've even had my sons now, youknow, come home from school and
(14:12):
say, mama, it's all about thetests, it's all about the grades
, and you know, that's that,that's, that's the nature of
public school, that's just theway it is.
But I'm glad that they saw thatthere is another way to learn,
that it doesn't always have tobe about the test or the grades,
that you know we can learn justbecause we enjoy learning.
One of the things I loved mostabout homeschooling was when
(14:34):
they would get into a good book.
We did a lot of reading and alot of times there was a lot of
moaning.
That goes along with that,because they're like, no, I
don't want to read.
No, not another book.
Well, we read a lot.
We read out loud.
I read to them, and then asthey got older they would learn
to read on their own, and Iloved it when they would
complain and gripe, but thenthey would get into a book and
(14:57):
not want to put it down, becausethat's when I knew, okay, at
least they see that, you know,at least they may not love
reading.
They may never, you know, admitthat they enjoyed this book,
but I saw it.
I saw that there were timeswhen they would really get into
that book and not want to put itdown, and to me that was a win.
They have learned that there isa joy in reading and you can
(15:20):
enjoy reading and you don't justhave to watch TV or movies to
get a good story.
And so we had that.
Learning becomes a way of life.
One of our goals and one of thethings I think is wonderful
about homeschooling is thatlearning can become a way of
life.
It's not just a race to thetest.
(15:42):
Another benefit for me forhomeschooling was the safety
issue.
I did not homeschool my kids toshelter them from the world
their entire life, but when theywere younger it was nice to
know that they were at a placewhere they could grow, develop
and learn without having toworry about being bullied,
(16:03):
without having to worry aboutpeer pressure, without having to
worry about violence.
There was a comfort that mychildren are in a safe place and
they can grow in confidence.
There was less social anxiety.
They could focus on growingacademically, growing
spiritually, growing emotionally.
(16:25):
And then my hope, my prayer,was that when they went on to
public school, when they went tolearn outside of our home, that
they had the confidence andthey had built the skills they
needed to be themselves, to beconfident in who they were, to
have a strong faith and if thatwere the case, then I felt like
I was successful in my role as ahomeschool mom and discover who
(16:57):
they really were before theywere shaped by the world that
they were going into.
And so homeschool gave us thetime and the opportunity to do
that.
Also, one of the last thing I'llmention and it's a small one,
that's why I saved it for thelast but they learn a lot of
life skills.
You know, they learn how tounload the dishwasher and they
(17:19):
learn how to wash clothes andhow to clean up after themselves
and how to set the table.
And you know, they and I triedto teach and, guys, please
understand there is.
This was not perfect, it'snever has been perfect and never
will be perfect in our home.
But my goal was to teach themthat it is not your mom's
responsibility to take care ofeverything in the house, that
(17:41):
this is our home, that it's ourresponsibility to make sure that
things are tidy, that make surethat things are functioning,
that make sure that you know ifa guest comes, that they're not
appalled by the bathroom, thatthey, you know those kind of
things.
It's not just mama'sresponsibility, it's our house.
And so being at home with themall day gave me the opportunity
(18:04):
to help, to show them how tohelp to keep things you know in
a good state.
Can you do that withouthomeschooling?
Absolutely, but having thattime and being home with them
gave me more opportunities toshow them that you know, instead
of running out the door in themorning and you know, and just
leaving everything a mess.
(18:24):
That was something we could dobefore we started school.
You know, let's make sure thatthe bathroom is cleaned before
we start school.
Let's make sure that the dishesare unloaded before we eat
lunch, and that was part of ourrhythms, you know.
That's how I tried to make ourday flow.
We have a flow to the day, andso homeschooling was a great
(18:47):
place to learn life skills thathopefully they will have for the
rest of their life.
I will be honest here.
Just a moment of honesty.
As they've become teenagers andthey've gone to public school
and now I am in and out, youknow, working at the coffee shop
, doing other things I wonder ifthey remember any of it.
I have to.
(19:07):
You know I'm still constantlysaying I'm not the only person
who can unload this dishwasher.
Or you know, if you know, ifyou come to me and you're upset
because you know your soccersocks are not clean, maybe you
should wash them.
And that's hard for me becauseas a mom, I just want to make
sure everything's perfect forthem, but that is not helping
(19:28):
them.
If I'm doing it all, I'm nothelping them to become
responsible adults, and so,anyway, enough of that.
So I guess my point in sayingall that is it's not perfect,
it's never going to be perfect,but homeschooling gave me an
opportunity to teach them thingsthat at least I know they know
(19:49):
how to do, whether they chooseto do them or not.
So I hope that this has beenhelpful today.
These are the things that Iloved most about homeschooling.
Next week, like I said, I'mgoing to share with you some of
the things that I think weresome of the areas where
homeschooling wasn't great,because I want to give a
balanced view and I want to behonest with the areas where we
(20:10):
seem to thrive and with theareas where we struggled.
I hope this has beeninformative and helpful and made
you think.
And also, if you have anyquestions, you can always reach
out to me.
That's what I'm here for.
If you have any questions, youcan get in touch with me.
I have my all of my contactinformation in the show notes
how to reach me through emailand text and facebook and
(20:33):
instagram.
So, and I would love to hearfrom you, I would so love to
hear from you.
Um, every now and then I'll geta text, I'll get an email from a
listener and it just it makesmy day so and I respond back to
those.
I cannot respond back to thetext.
If you send me a text throughthe link in the show notes,
unless you give me your emailaddress, I can't respond back to
(20:55):
that.
It's a one-way communication.
But all the other ways I canrespond back and I definitely
will way communication, but allthe other ways I can respond
back and I definitely will.
Also, don't forget, if you livein the Mullins area, on Saturday
, august 9th, from five to seven, I'm having a prayer gathering.
(21:16):
It's called covered in prayer,a night for moms, and on that
night I'm gathering moms fromour area who would like to get
together and just have a meal,relax, get to know each other
and pray for our children, praytogether for our children, and
I'm really excited about it.
If you live in or around theMullen South Carolina area,
that's, in Marion County, wewould love to have you.
(21:37):
I'll put the link in the shownotes where you can sign up for
that, and I hope you have agreat week.
God bless, take care, bye, bye.
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