My Other Daughters and Our Homeschooling Adventure

Kim and Tasha

I post a lot about my two youngest daughters since those are the ones I am actively homeschooling.  A question was posed to me recently about my older girls, and if they had been homeschooled.  I wanted to write about our situation. 

Our Family

First, my husband and I have five daughters.  It's a mine, his, and ours situation... but we've never approached our family like that.  I talked about some of this in My Testimony.  When God led us to homeschooling, my husband and I decided to only focus on Laura.  At the time she was in third grade.  I didn't feel I could homeschool my girls that were in high school.  I knew that I couldn't teach some of the advanced levels of math that they were taking.  Little did I know how God would use my weakness for Him.

Tasha

So, we began with Laura.  She was the only one homeschooled that first year.  Megan was still a toddler at the time.  Then, at the start of the following year, we ran into a mess with my daughter Tasha, then in grade 11.  We felt that one teacher had misused her authority and was creating a very bad situation for nearly half of my daughter's class.  These kids, some on the honor roll, had all been failed in a mandatory class.  None of these children were going to be able to graduate on time unless they repeated the course... at an incredibly high expense.  At that point, my husband and I reached out for help.

Kim's Graduation

We felt more comfortable homeschooling our older children when a local certified teacher and pastor's wife agreed to help us with the difficult classes.  We gave our older two girls the option of going to public school or coming home to be homeschooled.  My oldest, Kim, decided to stay since it was her senior year.  Tasha, my next in line, came home for school.

Tasha's Graduation

Tasha did amazing in the homeschool environment.  She excelled in her classwork, was quite independent in her studies, and never needed the help from the teacher that had been offered.  Kim graduated from public school one year.  The next, Tasha graduated from our homeschool.  They are both currently enrolled in college.

Jasmine in DC

Jasmine is our only public school attendee right now.  She is going into the eighth grade.  While I would love the opportunity to homeschool her, it is not our choice alone.  We have to be in agreement with her mother.  There isn't a Christian school that is local, so we send Jasmine to public school.  We also have her enrolled with a tutor for learning challenges.  The tutor is a lovely Christian lady that homeschooled all her own children.  She helps give Jasmine a lot of the one on one she would get in a homeschool situation as well as some of the Biblical worldview.  It isn't ideal, but it is a compromise that has worked for us for now.  I am leaving it up to God on whether the future holds homeschooling for Jasmine. 

Jasmine

Our homeschooling journey has been an adventure right from the beginning.  In three years, I have graduated my first student, advanced one daughter from 3rd grade to 6th, and added a preschooler.  I have placed our family and homeschooling in the hands of our Savior, and He has brought so many blessings through homeschooling.  I post a lot about my younger girls, but homeschooling has touched our whole family.  My oldest two daughters both feel that they will homeschool their own children.  Watching the older children help with the younger children, whether reading a story or explaining a math problem, is so amazing.  It touches my heart. 

Homeschooling is a part of our lives now.  What started out as an experiment "just to see how it goes" has turned into a lifestyle of learning and discipleship.  It is a re-education for me.  I love sharing what I learn with my husband and the older children that weren't homeschooled.  I look forward to teaching my younger children and seeing where God takes us.