Our Journey to Homeschooling

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Among Christian families, one of the most hot button topics is education. While most American children (like their parents before them) attend public schools, there is a rapidly growing number of families who are choosing private or home-based education. We have been homeschooling for several years now, and it has blessed our family in many ways. One of the biggest differences we have noticed is the priority that we are able to make of discipleship. Biblically speaking, education and discipleship are one and the same, and this purposeful focus is incredibly important in our day-to-day lives. Educating our children at home has given us a much greater opportunity to keep Christ at the center of their schooling, not just as we teach, but as we model for our children what we say and do. Homeschooling is not something we had thought of doing when we first had kids, but God has taken us on a journey to homeschooling that has been a blessing for our entire family.

The Original Plan

Growing up, Derek and I were both educated in a traditional classroom model in small Christian schools. When we had kids, we knew that we wanted our children to receive a Christian education. This was non-negotiable, so we enrolled our son in preschool at a small Christian school near us. Like many parents, our plan was primarily based on our own experiences because it was what we knew. We both had gone to small Christian schools, so we wanted our children to do the same and have the same experience. We had not even considered other educational ventures at this point.

The Transition

A few years later, we started see the downside of classroom-based learning. Leah was coming home from school very crabby and tired. Cole was quickly losing his love for learning. Their attitudes about school varied from year to year, depending on the teacher they had; sometimes the experience was good, sometimes it wasn’t. Above all, God was working in our own hearts, placing a deep desire in both of us for something more. I began to hear more about homeschooling and it seemed interesting but not something I could do. I had gone to college to be a teacher, and I knew all the work involved in teaching kids at a school and it seemed too overwhelming to teach my own children, especially since there were four of them at four different levels. It was at this time that we learned about Acton Academy.

The Acton model of education uses experiential, project-based learning and Socratic discussions to create an environment that helps each student discover their gifts and passions. It is heavily self-directed and encourages children to be curious and independent, develop a love for the physical world, the arts, and freedom. It didn’t take us long to know that this was the kind of model we wanted our children to experience in their own education. The benefits seemed promising, attainable, and lifelong. 

So, we decided to apply to begin a school in this model in our community. Our application was accepted, and we found one other family who joined us for our new adventure. We took our kids out of their small Christian school and began the process of de-schooling and practicing this new model of education. (This happened to be January of 2020, so we brought our kids home to educate right before all the schools in our area closed down in March for the rest of the year. God's timing is always perfect!)

We were able to run the school for one school year with our 4 children and 1 other learner. It was a great year of learning and discovering new things. We learned from mistakes and had great discussions. Our kids also began to learn more independently, and I was thrilled to see that their love of learning had returned! At the end of that year, the one other learner we had at our school decided to go back to his other school but his mom was very thankful that he had grown spiritually and emotionally throughout the year. We wished him well and then we knew needed to look at our options. 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any other families in our immediate area that were committed to this model, making it hard to continue running the school. We had a decision to make: Continue to try to find more families and grow the school, or try something else. We realized that we didn’t want the busyness and chaos that other families around us seemed to have in their lives. We wanted a more flexible, purposeful, intentional family life that would thrive alongside a high-quality education.

This is when we realized that home education appeared to provide all the benefits we desired for our children and our family and gave us the flexibility we needed for our travel and the opportunity to spend more time together as a family. We transitioned to home education with non-traditional methods, some of which we had learned through Acton Academy.

Weichel Home Education: A Snapshot

Our children’s education has greatly changed since those days at the Christian school. Rather than simply having a Bible class, we have the blessing of teaching a thoroughly biblical worldview throughout the day and in every subject and circumstance. We pray together when there is conflict, reflect on God’s Word, choose Bible-based curriculum in various subjects, memorize Bible verses together, and incorporate devotions. Our evenings are largely free for family dinners and family time.

We homeschool year-round, five days a week and take breaks every 4-6 weeks. Learning happens all day, not just with books but through hands-on projects and experiential opportunities. Our kids work alone sometimes and with each other at other times. They learn at their own pace, mastering skills in their own time. Because we school year-round, our schedule is very flexible and we are able to travel for educational and worldview expanding purposes. And one more bonus: We never have homework!

Conclusion

We never thought we would be a homeschooling family. Like most parents, we expected our kids to have a similar school experience to ours. And how thankful we are that they are getting something even better! Homeschooling has been such a blessing for our family! Our kids are becoming stronger students, self-starters, and lovers of the world in which God has placed them. Christian school can be a good option, but embarking on this journey has already shown us just how wonderful and rich home education can be. It is challenging, interesting, enjoyable, and biblical, and our family is thriving because of it. If you are considering making the jump into home education, we encourage you to go for it!

Key Points

• All families should be frequently re-evaluating the educational model they have selected for their children to determine if it is still meeting the needs of the child and the family as a whole. 
• Parents should spend time learning about a variety of educational models
• Look for a model of learning that will not only meet your children’s educational needs, but also the vision and goals for your Christian family.
• As with all things, we should constantly be looking for ways to improve the Christian educational experience for the children we have been entrusted to raise to the glory of God.