It’s a little late for Mother’s Day and National Teacher Appreciation Week, but I am reposting this blog post, originally published on May 9, 2018 ~ in celebration of homeschooling moms everywhere.
The homeschooling mother has no paycheck, union, or prep hour
She wears a comfortable uniform and decorates with toddler art
She doesn’t weave her way through crowded hallways
She treads a path littered with laundry and Legos
She doesn’t eat her lunch in the Teacher’s Lounge
She nibbles between dish-doing and question-answering
When a stranger asks her daughter,
“What’s 3 x 4?”
And her daughter looks at the ceiling
And her son doesn’t seem to know his countries from his states
The homeschooling mother never says,
“What are they teaching you at school?”
She just blushes
and vows to get out the flashcards.
But the homeschooling mother’s students:
Can divide the last cookie into perfect thirds
Know how to survive in the Arctic
Translate Latin phrases
Play Bach on a violin
Have stepped into the Middle Ages — in costume
Know where to find the beginning of wisdom
Have looked at the Civil War from the eyes of South, North and the Native American
(And can tell you what else was going on in the world at the same time)
Perform chemistry magic using home ingredients
Talk to nursing home residents without flinching
And, they can tell you in which episode Eugene went missing from the town of Odyssey.
And when her children finally graduate
Strong, able and kind
Generous and grateful
They know how to work hard
And they know where to find what they don’t know
Fueled by faith,
They stand on conviction
The homeschooling mother
Senses that her gain is good
And she truly is…A REAL TEACHER.
© Lisa M. Luciano 2018
From an old English parsonage,
Down by the sea,
There came in the twilight,
A message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend,
Deeply engraven,
Hath, as it seems to me,
Teaching from Heaven.
And on through the hours
The quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration-
DO THE NEXT THING
Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment,
Let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity,
Guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows,
Child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus,
DO THE NEXT THING
Do it immediately;
Do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with
Earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence,
Safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
DO THE NEXT THING
Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
(Working or suffering)
Be thy demeanor,
In His dear presence,
The rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance
Be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness,
Praise and sing,
Then, as He beckons thee,
DO THE NEXT THING
-author unknown
My Word Soup 