Do you feel called to homeschool, but scared to start?
I know exactly where you’re at and how you feel. Two years ago, I felt the Lord put it on my heart to homeschool, and I was so scared. I ignored the calling, kept making excuses for myself, and kept making excuses for my daughter. “She’s going to hate me,” I thought. “She’s going to have no friends. I’m going to put her in a bubble. I can’t do that to her.” But that voice in my heart kept saying, “Homeschool.”
One day, feeling so scared, I started praying: “Lord, if You truly want me to homeschool, please guide me because I don’t know where to start.” That day, I happened to go on YouTube and on my recommended feed was a video from The Good and the Beautiful, where the creator, Jenny Phillips spoke about how God called her to create the curriculum. As I heard her story, I felt so much peace, knowing that God was leading me and showing me the first curriculum to use.
I wish I could say that I immediately bought the curriculum, pulled my daughter out of school, and began homeschooling. But that didn’t happen. I waited a couple of days to share it with my husband, as I was unsure of what his response would be. The day came I couldn’t hold it in any longer I waited for him to come home, and shared my heart with him. He seemed surprised and a little hesitant to agree, so I asked him if he would pray and ask the Lord if we where making the right decision for our daughter. After my husband confirmed that this was the right path, the search began.
I googled how to pull a student out of the public school system, which led me to the HSLDA. Thank God for them because they had thorough, step-by-step videos on how to do it. I wrote my letter, took it to the school a week before the last day of school, and said I was pulling her out. I had no hesitation from them. They sent a confirmation letter back to me, and that was it. I had to wait to file a PSA in October, so I set a reminder on my phone for the day before to get ready to file it.
Then the fun began: picking out curriculum. Knowing where to go, I went straight to The Good and the Beautiful, printed out the assessment tests, and had my daughter take them. Once I knew where she was in math and language arts, I started planning.
For the first year, I bought Language Arts, Math, History, Science, and Handwriting from The Good and the Beautiful. Watching YouTube homeschool moms, I received notifications of fun units to do with her, so I purchased a couple of those, and our year began.
I write this briefly just to encourage you: if God is putting it on your heart to homeschool your children, do it. He’s never going to call you to do something and leave you hanging. He’s going to guide you step-by-step.
I leave you with this verse and I pray that the Lord gives you the courage and strength to walk gracefully into what he is asking of you.
With Love,
Anabella
