My wife has been pressuring me for a while to do this, so here goes. My name is Clint, and I am writing this blog to help any dad out there who found himself in the unique and crucially important role of homeschool teacher.
I actually thought of writing a blog on this subject back in 2020, when everyone was homeschooling their children, because I thought I might have something to offer. But I was so caught up in my own family’s needs I had very little time to invest in working on the project. (I still wonder if I have the time).
I grew up in rural Oklahoma and attended public school. Though plenty has changed since then, from my memories I harbor no ill-will toward my public school experience. I didn’t always like the kids I went to school with, and had to deal with the occasional bully, but overall I have many, many fond memories from riding my bike over a mile to school every morning, to performing in band and musicals, even to high school tennis. I still miss the rich friendships and some of the experiences I had back then.
When my wife and I sat down to discuss our education plans for our firstborn child, I was actually working as a paraprofessional teacher for a charter school near where we lived in Colorado. My thought was that I would eventually get a full time teaching job as a middle school English teacher for a K-8 school, and that our children could go to that school where I would see them every day. To me, this sounded great. My wife was understandably jealous of the time I might get seeing the kids all day at work, but more than that, she knew that her work schedule, which was irregular and included many evening and night shifts, would keep her from being able to see the kids for most of the week. If she went on at 3p.m. and worked until 1 or 2a.m., then she wouldn’t see the kids for 48 hours or longer unless she gave up some much needed sleep between shifts.
That was when we looked into homeschooling our children. I admit, I wasn’t excited about it. I had been imagining myself as a classroom teacher for the previous five years through a teacher-licensure program and graduate school. My career path seemed to have taken a dramatic right turn off a cliff. I had learned through my para-work and through subbing experience that I really wasn’t cut out for Kindergarten education. I liked middle school kids, and I liked the content that I could teach at the High School level (although compared to middle school, high schoolers generally are, shall we say, meh). We built a classroom anyway in our house with a long wrap-around desk. My wife dove into researching curriculum with a fury and a vengeance unmatched by the Greek gods of old. She conquered. I mostly felt lost and asked stupid questions through the first year, fumbling along as best I could to help Leighton through Mother Goose.
It was actually fun. I would go back and do it again if I could. If I could go back and do it again, I would have listened to my wife more and been more involved in the curriculum study process. She definitely had a standard to which she wanted Leighton, even at the Kindergarten level, to achieve, and I should have paid more attention to it.
I remember feeling overwhelmed when our second-oldest child was old enough to start homeschooling with us. We found a homeschool enrichment program for him and Leighton when he entered Kindergarten. By then we had also brought home our third, fourth, and fifth children through adoption from South Korea. Life was very challenging. We had recently moved, traveled four times to Korea, changed churches and social groups, and nearly doubled the size of our family all in the course of about a month and a half. We did preschool activities with Paxton and Coppelia, our two youngest, respectively, while Edric attended preschool and while we homeschooled Leighton and Caedmon. I may write more about that time in my life later on, because it was very significant, but for now I’ll just say that it was also very difficult.
Now, before diving in to practical matters in the next post, I want to share a brief note about the format of this blog. This is my ministry. I want these posts to be useful, and not just me blowing steam or self-journaling, though it may take me some time and practice to get there as I have some bad writing habits I need to break.
At the end of every post, moreover, I want to include a brief reflection. Mostly this will be on some text I’m reading in the Bible, but I may draw from other sources. By this I don’t want to exclude anyone – if you’re coming here as a Buddhist, or Hindu, or Secular Darwinist, or Agnostic or whatever homeschool dad, I still want you to know you’re welcome here. Read on, dear reader. But, like I said, I want this to be my ministry, and so I don’t think it’s wrong for me to share the most important thoughts on the most important things to me when I have the opportunity. Otherwise, how will you ever get to know me?
I am currently reading my way through the Bible from cover to cover, and my plan is to glean some reflection material off that reading. Right now, I’m in Isaiah, so you get to parachute in with me there, but every once in a while I’ll go back and re-read something from an earlier text, too. I just want you to feel oriented into my wilderness here.
Reflection:
Reading Isaiah 28:5-6, which says, “In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people, and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgement, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.”
I love the inclusiveness of male and female in this passage with crowns and diadems, but I especially love that last line: To those who turn back the battle at the gate. I feel like there is constantly a battle going on at my “gate,” whether its some temptation to give into, or some frustration at the dichotomy between the way I often parent and what I see that my kids really need. Something I see in my kids that I know needs to change, but I’m not sure how to help them change that habit. Or maybe it’s some conflict in my marriage that has yet to be resolved. But here is a promise that God will be my strength as I work to “turn back the battle.” There is much in this image that relates to Education overall. Fellow Dads and Teachers, may He be your strength as well.