I’m one person sitting down to write to you… and yet I believe there’s a whole generation of us who could sign our names at the bottom of this sentiment.
This is a thank you note of sorts written to a beautiful but unsung group of women.
I appreciate all homeschool moms. But this note of thanks is to you… the veteran, pioneering, groundbreaking, homeschool moms.
This is written very specifically to the moms who began their homeschool journey in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s when homeschooling was far from being considered popular, sane or effective.
I believe you tread a new path and stepped out on a unique adventure that we more recent homeschool moms can only grasp in part.
Some of us were your students, some of us were public or private schooled. But so many of us, in this generation and in these tumultuous days, have chosen to homeschool our children…. whether or not that was always our plan. With public schools today openly teaching our children to embrace the things which, according to God’s word, we believe would be to their harm and detriment, many of us feel we have no other choice.
And so we need to talk about the path that you’ve helped to pave for us as we step out on an adventure of our own.
It’s not that I think you’re seeking praise or recognition for anything you’ve done, but maybe you believe it’s all gone unnoticed. Or perhaps you don’t fully realize the trail you blazed and what it means today.
And so I’d like to tell you… and I’d like to say thank you.
Thank You For Being Brave
Thank you for taking that first step, for heading out on a journey that few had embarked upon at the time, for taking up something that was unpracticed and new. Thank you for being courageous enough to be different. Thank you for being daring enough to stand out even when you didn’t want to. Thank you for having the fortitude to do something that many people thought was so crazy and strange.
My mom was one of these pioneer homeschool moms and I remember story after story after story of how many comments, questions and judgments she received over her decision.,, and yet she carried on.
Thank you all for being brave… so that we younger moms can stand against the fear that arises in our own hearts as we step out on this beautiful but weighty journey.
Thank You For Being Creative
Thank you for stretching your own knowledge and abilities.
I laugh a little because I think today’s homeschool moms are more overwhelmed by the unending list of curriculum options out there rather than by the lack of it. Homeschool curriculums have had years to be developed, not to mention that glorious thing called the Internet. These days we could just about teach our kids for free at YTU (YouTube Uni) if we chose to.
This was not so for those of you who started so long ago.
Thank you for how well you taught our generation when you had so many less resources at your fingertips. Thank you for pressing on and teaching well, even without all the variety of options. Thank you for the numerous trips to the library to walk out with stacks of books that would serve as 6 or 9 weeks of history or science or art curriculum.
I can hardly imagine anyone being more creative than my mom was in schooling us. So many crafts (an Egyptian pyramid made with sugar wafers), so many hands on activities (ummm M&Ms for counting in math), so many books read together (book, upon book, upon book). It wasn’t a perfectly put together curriculum. She put it together herself and it worked perfectly for us.
Thank you for being creative and crafting ALL ON YOUR OWN without the help or influence of Google or Pinterest.
Thank you for putting in the blood, sweat and tears. The experimenting, the wins and fails, the going before… that’s a part of the reason we have all the options we do today.
Thank You For Being Determined
Thank you for carrying on, even when it wasn’t easy. Thank you for continuing when many told you to give up or give in or just put the kids in school already! Thank you for ignoring the naysayers. Thank you for trying something different rather than throwing your hands up when your last idea failed.
Thank you for being so sure that what you were doing was right for your family that you could not be convinced otherwise.
If you’d given up, there would be a path less trodden before us. If you’d given up, maybe we wouldn’t even have tried.
Your determination encourages us young mamas to press on when the going gets tough.
Thank You For Being Strong
Oooooh, I want to take a moment here.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being strong.
I’m sure, for many of the pioneering homeschool mamas, there were moments where this entire homeschooling thing was enough to break you. Homeschooling is hard on EVERY mama. But when you add to it the times where there was so much less support, so fewer resources, no older, more experienced homeschool mom to go to for advice, the lack of friends walking the same journey as you… your strength shines through all the brighter.
I know for many of you, it had to be lonely at times. I know there had to be moments where you knew that putting your kids in school would be easier, it would be simpler. it would be so much more… normal. There would be so many less questions. And no one would blink an eye, because that’s what everyone else was doing.
Thank you for doing the hard thing. Thank you for standing on what you felt was right even when you felt you were standing alone.
So now, even with boundless resources, when we young mamas struggle with the daily grind, when we struggle with loneliness, when we wonder if we can carry on… we have you there to encourage us, to offer advice, and to prove that yes, by God’s good grace, it can be done.
Thank You For Being Obedient
And this above all.
I would say that a large number of pioneer homeschool moms started their journey because they felt led by God to do so.
I don’t know many people who, especially back when it was such a strange idea, would make this life altering, time consuming decision for the heck of it. I think many were driven by something more.
I’m thankful for you, for heeding the call when it might have seemed crazy to everyone else, and forging ahead with the confidence that you were walking in obedience.
Your journey of obedience encourages us in our own.
To Close
I know none of you were out there seeking recognition today.
Maybe you never thought of yourself in the way I’ve described. Maybe starting a movement was never your intention. Perhaps you were just doing what you felt was best for your family, and really that’s all any of us can do.
Maybe you didn’t feel like a conquering hero.
Maybe you didn’t feel bold or courageous or strong or creative.
Maybe you felt like there were so many days you were simply surviving.
Maybe you were more afraid than you let on.
Maybe you see so many things you would have done differently.
Please just know that your highs and lows, losses and wins, failures and victories, laughter and tears are all of value. You made mistakes that we can learn from. You made some really great decisions that we can emulate.
Whether you felt like you were stumbling along or running a marathon…. you kept going, dear friends. To the benefit of so many of us and to the glory of God.
And I just wanted to say thank you.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5
My Family Freedom 