This will be my 9th year homeschooling these beautiful souls. It’s crazy how time flies by. When people ask me why we homeschool our children, my answer is different today than it was when we began all those years ago.
What led us here
In January of 2013, our son Gideon was born. From the minute he arrived, every doctor suggested something was wrong with him, but no one knew what that “something” was. All his little oddities didn’t add up to a known diagnosis.
Fast forward to August of 2013, Gideon’s neurologist did a blood test that gave us the answers we did not want to hear- peroxisomal biogenesis disorder. The geneticist was the one who broke the news. She told us that Gideon would not live to see his first birthday and then she sent us home with hospice care.
To say we were devastated would be an understatement. Even without a diagnosis, we already knew that our little boy was going to have some challenges. He was not typically developing, his hearing loss was getting worse, his eyes weren’t right… but at that time he didn’t have any major issues. He was eating by mouth, breathing fine, no seizures… and still they sent us home with hospice care.
No one knows for sure
Gideon’s hospice was short lived. After 3 months, the hospice nurse told us that Gideon was too healthy for hospice. Something I already knew. During those months, I met woman whose son, Sam, had a peroxisomal disorder. He was 11 years old! I was hopeful as she connected me with The Global Foundation for Peroxisomal Disorders. It was the avenue that led me to more families like ours.
Unfortunately, I quickly learned how different life could look for our family. No one could say for sure how long we would have our son Gideon. Children with peroxisomal disorders die for SO many different reasons; therefore it’s hard to give a life expectancy. Most parents were told what we were finally told after hospice ended- the average life expectancy for our child is 2 to 20 years.
Living intentionally
As we celebrated Gideon’s 1st birthday in 2014, I realized how precious this milestone was for our family. With each passing day, I knew I wanted to make the most of the time I had; not only with him, but also with our oldest Laynie. I wanted them to have as much time together as possible.
So I approached Kevin about homeschooling Laynie. Like most husbands, he was not too excited about that idea. He was still a teacher in the public education system and I had left teaching in 2012 to stay home with Laynie. He told me he would pray about it and even attend a homeschooling conference with me. So in the summer of 2014 we attended the Texas Homeschool Coalition Conference.
It was eye opening. The people we met were all so… normal. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I clearly had some preconceived notions about people who were homeschooling their children. We attended several break out sessions, visited every vender booth and talked to any parent who would give us their time. I finally purchased a curriculum called My Father’s World and we never looked back.
So here we are
As I reflect back on that first conference, I remember the reason why we began this journey in the first place. I just wanted Laynie to know her little brother well before he died.
Now that we are 9 years in (plus two additional kids), the reason why we homeschool is different. We don’t do it for fear that we will one day bury our son. We do it because we love it!
Homeschooling has given us the freedom to come and go as we please. When my children struggle with a concept, we don’t have to move on quickly because of time constraints. They sleep in and have extra time to pursue what their hearts desire. If our curriculum doesn’t work, we find a new one that does! The real life experiences they get are endless & our classroom is not bound by four walls!
There are many reasons why we love homeschooling; but our favorite is that we are teaching them God’s word. And that doesn’t just happen during Bible time. It’s ongoing throughout our day. The opportunities to apply what we learn from scripture are innumerable.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Homeschooling allows us to do this to the fullest! And as we head into this 9th year, I’m grateful that we get to do this at all. When we started this journey we were a special needs family of four on a teacher’s salary. The numbers didn’t make sense then, but God provided. I still struggle with insecurity & patience, but God is continually faithful.
If you homeschool, what is your WHY?
