I have been homeschooling my 3 little lights since 'the beginning'. I have a 12yob, a 10yob and a 4yog. The large gap between the last two was while God was changing my husbands heart about having another baby

      I decided to homeschool before my husband and I had children because I didn't figure there were any other options. I knew I didn't want to send them to public school, we couldn't afford private tuition and frankly I didn't want to miss one moment with them!

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      My mom was my inspiration to homeschool. Even though I spent most of my education in public school (from here on referred to as PS) she did homeschool me until 4th grade. Then again in 8th grade when we moved too far out for the buses to come and pick me up:)

      After I graduated from high school she took all of my siblings out of public school and homeschooled them. (of course some of them never went to PS at all since 4 of them weren't yet in school when I left home) There were 10 of us in all.

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      When my mom first started homeschooling me and then my brother, she had to really fight the PS system in our tiny rural area. She got turned in to the superintendent of PS who made a visit to our home to make sure we weren't being abused or neglected. At that point she was told to put us in school. (this was when I was 9)

      She prayed and prayed. What did God want her to do? She felt that he gave her the scripture: " Don't hide your light under a bushel" She felt that God was saying to comply with the law of man and don't be afraid, we would shine.

      So she put me in school. I was in 4th grade and I really loved it. My personality was such that I wanted to please and loved getting stars and grades and such. All in all, I shone. (Not tooting my horn but attesting to my Mom's investment in me) One day I did come home upset because of getting a 'bad' grade. My mom asked what happened and told her that I didn't get the questions all right. She asked what the grade was and I told her, "an A-".

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      Anyway...to sum up that portion of the story, the teachers and superintendent was very impressed with me, and later on my brother's, education, demeanor and poise. You have to understand that this was a very small town and school district and everyone knew everyone elses business. Even if mom had tried to 'fight' the system and keep us home it would have been very difficult to live and relate with others in such a tight-knit community. As it turns out God's direction was the best:)

As a result of putting us in school my mom gained favor in the community and with the PS system in general. Later when she did end up homeschooling the rest of my siblings she was treated with respect and allowed to do so without qualm or resistance.

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...to be continued...