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Letting Go & Letting God: How God Took Over Our Homeschool

Whew – boy, this homeschooling stuff is easy, were my thoughts as I ordered my school-in-a-box, workbook based curriculum, for our first year of homeschooling. You can imagine my surprise when my intensely artistic and imaginative five-year-old son was not impressed with the new supplies. I remember distinctly being very shocked that he didn’t like to sit for hours holding a pencil, and filling in all the little blanks, the proper way. This is school right? We battled through each workbook session, and were both in tears at its conclusion. In my mind, it was still better than the alternative, but nowhere close to God’s best for us.

What we did enjoy – Do you know when we had fun and enjoyed our time together? It was after our tears dried and we put the workbooks away. When we did our regular stuff that, we’d been doing for years. We painted, went on nature walks, baked cakes, attacked the playground, explored the zoo, hit the lake or just played in the dirt with Buzz Light-Year. We’d find ourselves lost in a world of creative learning and play. For hours, we’d travel through timeless books, at the end of every chapter my son would beg for “just one more chapter…pllllease!” If only homeschooling could be so fun.

Asking God for help – After yet another crying session, following our daily torture of doing school, I finally prayed {hey, I’m being honest with you, sometimes it just takes me a while} “God, can you help me with this homeschooling thing?” Do you know what happened? He did. The Lord showed me that my focus was wrong. I was trying to replicate the only educational system I knew, and a failing one at that. Homeschooling was a precious gift. It offered us the gift of time, family, and the freedom of developing a customized educational path. The mechanics of filling-in-blanks could come later. At that moment, my child needed to know learning was God’s gift and it could be fun too. The entire world is our classroom.

 

Part of Gods plan – To help spark my son’s love of learning again and to make “school time” actually fun, the Lord led me to grasp onto any subject my son was fascinated with and immerse him in it. The hot topic at the time, in my sons world, was bats. You’d better believe, we wore bats out and had a wonderful learning adventure in the process. I didn’t know it at the time, but what I was doing was a “Unit Study.” Through studying bats, we dove into topics such as South America, mammals, flight mechanics, nocturnal animals, anatomy and physiology of bats, rain forest, plant life, nectar, pollination, etc. We made bat mask, went bat watching, build a bat house and wrote bat stories. We even went to a bat cave in a local cavern. Heaven help the one family member who tried to instruct 5-year-old Jadin that all Bats are blind. They found themselves bombarded with bat facts. Jadin taught them that most bats have excellent eyesight and blew them away with his knowledge of their echolocation system.

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In the end – Despite my interference, God redeemed our homeschool and gave Jadin his spark back. Now, yes – at almost 11 years old he can hold a pencil the proper way and has been doing so for quite sometime. He’s a leader and jumps in everyday to get his schoolwork and other task completed because, in his own words, “I like to use my time wisely.” God is doing great things through this young man, and momma here has learned that it’s o.k. to have a great deal of fun a long the way. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NLT) Even though the first year of our homeschooling adventure was a rocky road, the ups and downs of it all, worked for our good. The Lord used those trials to refine my homeschooling vision, purge me of my worldly expectations and teach me volumes about trusting him. He uniquely created each of our children {yours & mine} and he has an awesome plan for them. I had to learn to allow him to not only be the Lord of my salvation, but the Lord of our homeschool. I encourage you that if you are having struggles in your homeschool, or with your homeschooling vision and purpose, don’t forget to ask for Gods help. “Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.” Isaiah 59:1 (NLT)

 


Jamerrill Stewart — Jamerrill is the daughter of the King and the blessed wife to Travis of nearly 13 years. Together they have five beautiful children-ages newborn through 10. It’s her joy to serve her family for Gods glory and encourage others through Gods Word. She holds a degree in Information Technology and is a licensed nurse. Her family’s homeschooling style is Eclectic – Charlotte Mason inspired, with lapbooking flair. When she’s not lost in a wonderful book with her children, taking them on a travel adventure or catching frogs by the pond, she likes to garden, write and collect stained glass windows. You can find her sharing her heart, as well as battling with her farm chickens as she authors ~ Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling ~, as well as writing for Heart of the Matter Online. Let’s not forget… Facebook and Twitter!

 

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10 Comments

  1. I love that you kept going. I was astute enough to realize my workbook teaching style was incompatible with my wiggly preschooler’s learning style before I invested in the curriculum. And I was so intimidated that I gave up my homeschool dream. She went to PS for K, 1, 2, and most of 3, Until we finally had her evaluated for ADHD and learned she is really bright. Her love for learning has been blunted by a vague awareness that she will never be a model student. Two weeks ago we finally worked up the courage to take her out of school and start the nontraditional path, and while we are still getting our groove I feel so empowered already. Thanks for sharing your story.

  2. Thanks for telling of your failures as well as you successes! The principles you are using work in all areas of life: ask God for help, let go & let God, let the Holy Spirit teach, find something you are interested in and pursue–chances are, this interest was given to you by the Lord and He will use it. Keep up the good Holy Spirit work. God will say, “well done, thou good & faithful servant”!

  3. I absolutely loved your post! I too have had a first year of many ups and downs, tears and discouragement. Public schooling is all I ever knew and I too tried to replicate it in our homeschool, down to the individual desks, chairs and white board! I appreciate the Bible verses – I’m trying to find a handful that I can memorize and refer to in my moments of frustration and both of those that you included will work for me, wonderfully! Thank you for sharing your past mistakes and current successes – I look to mothers like you for added strength and confidence.
    Blessings,
    Carrie

  4. Carrie, thank YOU for your encouragement! I have two “power verses” that I cling too, which help me mind, body and spirit, most days. Exodus 14:14 (Amplified Bible) “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.” AND Galatians 2:20 (NIV, ©2011) “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ” God BLESS!!!

  5. Thank you so much for posting this. I am really encouraged – I know that I need to change the things we do, and have been doing so bit by bit – but I really need to ‘let go’… now need to actually do it lol! Oh for courage!!!

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