2020. The Year of Years.

 2020. The year of years. Disruption, confusion, negativity, blame, sickness, death, heartache. (NLT) Psalm 58:8 says, "You keep track of my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." As a Bible-believing family, we took these words to heart. We know His joy comes in the morning...each morning...even amongst the chaos. As a homeschool teacher, I know he hears my worries, my troubles, my longings. He knows our kid that give us the most grief in school. He knows which child needs specialized attention. He knows that homeschool moms agonize over curriculum choices, scheduling, teaching, grades, preparations for college, etc. So if you're reading this...and even in the future you come across another "2020" as a homeschool mom...He sees you.

Quarantine hit about a year ago this week and the memes started flying. This one was my favorite. Parents were forced to make major decisions about their children's education in a flash. Virtual learning is not for everyone and many parents learned that very quickly. Our schools and teachers did their best, but some kids just couldn't handle virtual...so many parents took matters into their own hands and decided to homeschool. Homeschooling in Texas soared to a whopping 300% increase in about 3 months. Curriculums sold out and some still remain on back order. I've heard testimonies from families who love it and some who decided it's not for them. The most common thing I hear from moms is, "I can't handle that" or "I'm not qualified to homeschool." I get it. It's overwhelming. It's loud. It's a huge responsibility. It's consuming. It can be confusing. It can be looked down upon. (Been there. Don't do that to families who choose it.) Y'all...the negatives to homeschool are there, but I'm here to tell you that the positives far outweigh the negatives. Don't think you're qualified? Theodore Roosevelt, Booker T. Washington, Thomas Edison, Condoleeza Rice, Susan B. Anthony...thank goodness their parents/parental figures decided they were qualified to homeschool these great minds. Don't sell yourself short. You're more qualified than you believe. In today's day and age, homeschool help is just a mouse click or phone tap away! But be ready. You may have to give up more than you are willing. You have to consider becoming a one income family if you're going all in. Are you in it for the long haul or for as long as your children are thriving in the homeschool learning environment? Can you afford it? (Y'all...research that curriculum, budget, and plan in advance.) Are you ready to fight the norms? Are you ready to go back and relearn metric units of capacity and long division? Consider it, weigh the options, and pray about what God would have you do.

I'll leave you with some encouragement. My kindergartener is on Lesson 123 of phonics. He has fought me tooth and nail through every lesson this year. Tears, frustration, anger, refusal to do the work...and he gets upset sometimes too. (But for real.) A few days ago he was watching a clip from the gameshow, "America Says" at his Granny Sue's house. He pulled me aside and said, "Mommy, I need to know phonics to play that game, right?" I told him yes and that he would need phonics for just about everything. The next day we sat down to do school and he yelled out, "I want to do phonics first!" Take the win, friends. 💗