Why We Homeschool

The subject of our homeschooling has come up quite a bit recently...not just with non-homeschoolers, but a lot with homeschoolers. This is our 15 year to teach our kids at home and it's been a big boost to realize once again why we do what we do.

Ben and I are not the "vision statement" or "family mission statement" kinds of folks. We don't have a 5-year plan or ponder the future too much. We try to live in the moment, trying to understand what God would have us do, and we try to do it. We hold on loosely to our stuff and our "plans". BUT several years ago, we were discussing our homeschooling and after much discussion realized that we were stumbling upon our reasons for why we homeschool.

Ever since then, we have had a focus and have aimed in that direction! It has informed everything that we do from what curriculum we choose to how we spend our time. It has allowed us to be excited for others' results of graduating their children from high school at age 10 instead of having a knot in the pit of our stomachs that we the stick figures our children were still drawing weren't even close to high school graduate type of work! What a joy that is!

Though most non-homeschoolers out there really wonder in the back of their minds if homeschoolers really school their children, I have NEVER come across one homeschooler who didn't want the best for their children and loved their children more than anyone else in the whole world! Our lives just look a bit different.

So...why do we homeschool? We homeschool for mainly these four reasons. (there are so many others, but these are the BIG 4)....and in this order!

1. To teach our children about our FAITH.
2. To teach our children about our FAMILY.
3. To teach our children how to SERVE.
4. To teach our children ACADEMICS.

We want our children to grow up to be strong women and men of faith in the Almighty God of the universe.

This list has truly freed us up and given us a direction for how we spend our days, what activities we choose to get involved in, and most certainly the curriculum we pick.

So, though we still don't have a family mission statement, and probably never will, we do have 4 core values that hopefully are beginning to define what it means to be a DeBusk in this world.

Rainey Through the Years

Rainey 2 days old...pretty sweet!
Rainey 6 months old..pretty cool!

Rainey 2 years old...pretty wonderful!

Rainey 3 years old...pretty serious!

Rainey 4 years old...pretty smiley!

Rainey 6 years old..pretty wet!

Rainey 7 years old...pretty perfect!

24 and My Sons

I have become a bit addicted to the show "24". And by "a bit", I mean that on the nights that I can't sleep, I can end up watching an entire season on Netflix! I LOVE the show.

I have begun to wonder why I love it so much when it's really deep and a bit depressing and creates a knot in the pit of my stomach wondering how it's all going to turn out. But today, as I began watching the third episode of season 6, it dawned on me! .... I love the man that Jack Bauer is! I love that he is patriotic. I love that he is courageous. I love that he loves his daughter (and loved his wife before she died). I love that his word is his bond and everyone who works with him for more than a minute, knows it.

In short he is full of integrity. Oh...he is not perfect by any means! But he is a man of integrity.

Ben and I say that word a lot in our home. We say it to our boys. We want them to be men of integrity. We want their word to be their bond. We want them to be courageous, even in the face of fear. We want them to be patriotic and serve their country.

So...I will continue to watch 24 and LOVE it!