Dear Homeschooling Mom – from a homeschooled daughter

Dear Homeschooling Mom,

When you were talking to your friends the other day at a homeschool get-together, I heard you say that there are some days when you feel like you are “ruining” me and my siblings; apparently many of your friends feel the same way. As I sat there listening, all I could think was, “How could that possibly be?” I understand it is hard work to homeschool. I see the stress and struggle it causes you some days. But I just want you to know how much I (and many, many other homeschooled children) appreciate what you do for us daily.

When I wake up in the morning during the fall and winter months, most of the other children in the neighborhood are outside standing on a cold street corner waiting for a bus to pick them up and bring them to a place where they spend most of their day, while I’m sitting in my home with you and my siblings as you talk with us–invest in us. We all pile up on the couch while you read to us to start off our school day at home.

When other kids come home in the evening after being gone all day, their mom has to ask them how their day has been, but you have already been an active part of our day. Every day. If something is bothering a child at school he has to wait all day until he gets home to talk to his parents about it. But me? All I have to do is walk around the school table from my seat to yours to talk with you and receive a hug.

So, Mom, maybe if you really think you are “ruining” me and my siblings, you are only really ruining our opportunity to know what it is like not to have our mom with us all day, or know how cafeteria food tastes, or even what it’s like to be late to the bus stop some mornings. If you are ruining anything, it’s probably our chance to have someone besides you to teach us about the world we live in. Because, really, from where I’m standing, and for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re ruining me or my siblings one bit. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or have any other teacher besides the one who knows me and loves me the best: you.

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me that the grade on a paper is not what is important, but that developing a love for learning–despite the difficulties–is. Thank you for not just teaching me about the Roman Empire, or the parts of an atom, or even how to write a paper, but for also teaching me how to love my family, and for patiently training my siblings and I to get along despite our differences. Most importantly, thank you, Mom and Dad, for teaching me that I have an all-powerful God who loves me and will guide and direct me wherever I go in life.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching you over the years of my homeschooling education, it’s that homeschooling is not just “school at home,” but rather a lifestyle. It is learning and growing together as a family in our own home. Learning how to read, how to multiply, how to love the Lord, how to serve our family and the community around us, and having an appreciation for the home and all that you do for us. It’s growing in our walk with the Lord personally and as a family and it’s growing in our relationship with our siblings.

Thank you, Mom. I look forward to watching my siblings grow and learn at home just as I did. And to homeschooling moms everywhere: you’re doing just fine! Thank you for your sacrifice of time and energy to raise us children at home. It’s something we won’t forget.

Love,
A Homeschooled Daughter

Maiya is a homeschool graduate currently pursuing a life as a stay-at-home daughter. She enjoys her days teaching piano, volunteering at her local crisis pregnancy center, taking hold of opportunities to encourage and minister to younger girls, doing projects with her eight siblings, and writing her blog at Blessings, Bliss, and Bedlam! Follow her on Pinterest and “like” her page on Facebook.