Scriptorium

In the Beginning...

Before I every bought a book or thought about the homeschooling, public or private school I prayed for the teachers of my son as he grew to be a man. I prayed Luke 2:40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.” as I nursed my son in the late evening hours and as I rocked him in the predawn darkness. I prayed for him to grow and became strong and be filled with wisdom and have the grace of God on his life. Why? Why would a brand new exhausted Mom be praying for Godly teachers before the age of five or six when education plans are usually formalized and implemented with sharpened #2 pencils and early September school year zeal?

How it started...

Well, I am a Hannah and my son is a Samuel. Those are not are real names we are Pam and Michael and ours is 1 Samuel 1 & 2 is our story. I wept, cried and begged for this child and once I had him in my arms I dedicated him to the Lord. I don’t know if he will be in full time Christian service or a layperson and I wasn’t called to leave him with the Eli and sons at the temple at two to three years of age. My prayer is that he will live for Jesus in his time as God the Father weaves human history and his sovereign plan of Jesus into his tapestry of Grace for mankind. I know how Hannah felt when she said in 1 Samuel 1:26b-27, “… I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” These words were not easy to say when my son was a few months old or when I felt called to homeschool him. You see homeschooling wasn’t even an option in my heart or mind in those early years. In fact I was going to put him in daycare and return to work when my pregnancy “short term disability” leave expired in three months but God had different plans than I and those plans were and are so much higher and better than anything I could imagine like Isaiah 55:9 says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

The Early Years...

My son and I spent hours during those rapidly passing infant months and toddler years reading and gazing over beautifully illustrated board books, listening to silly “push hear” sound books. We worshiped, prayed and talked about Jesus as we read Bible story books. We pondered the colors of the rainbow, counting number and the 26 letter alphabet books. We became very proficient in early board books. His appetite for learning was insatiable. My perspective on staying home with my son had totally changed on staying home from a weary dreaded bore to exhausting peaceful calm. Nothing was impossible so I decided that I was going to homeschool my son and it would be a breeze. Um, it didn’t work out that way.

Goliath show up....

Little did I know were were going to face a major hurdle during his preschool and kindergarten years. We would face the fine motor skill Goliath giant of scissors and handwriting. It seemed to be a beast that would not go away or diminish in size. What had been effortless “wind beneath my wings” learning had become a burdensome chore.

We worked on fine motor skills and just placing a pencil in his hand every day for months and years.  You might be saying to yourself, “that couldn’t have taken very long”. That’s what I thought also. His Kindergarten Sunday School teachers at church, who were trained special ed teachers saw how difficult it was for him to hold a pencil. They said he needed to be in public school to get the “help” he really needed. I asked them what would be done. They said, “Not much, we’ll work on holding a pencil a short period of time every day then he would just have to figure it out.” I told them we were spending hours a week just getting the pencil in his hand and starting to write his name and the date. They told me, “No one is going to spend that kind of time with your son. He needs to be in school so he can just get used to not writing.” After that conversation from a well meaning Christian teacher I vowed that my son would write his name and the date by the time he graduated high school. Well it didn’t take that long but it was three to four years before he was comfortable writing his name and date. I am convinced my son would have flunked kindergarten even though he was reading at the 4^th grade and knew his numbers to 100.

Praying...

I kept praying. I kept believing God had a plan and a purpose in Homeschooling. My fruitful bounty looked like a few shriveled up grapes and I was praying and begging God for the answers in curriculum and process. I learned there were now short or quick answers and I was called to be faithful in the little things every day like Luke 16:10a “ He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.

Our first years, textbooks...

I kept praying. I kept believing God had a plan and purpose. I first started formal “schooling” with the best textbooks money could buy. My son and I chose BJU because they had the best pictures and phonics program. I kept feeling he could be doing so much more even though I couldn’t put my finger what I was looking for. We worked on worksheets and short stories and he was becoming a proficient “formologist” or one who can complete a worksheet form with skill and excellency. Was this what I was looking for? I’m not sure but the worksheets were filled out and I could show his studies were progressing despite fine motor skill frustrations.

Our next phase, Classical Homeschooling...

We started Classical Conversations at the beginning of his 5^th year and I was amazed at how much they could memorize. I loved the CC Memory Cards and the Veritas Press time line but I didn’t think he could memorize it in a year. He didn’t do it in a year but he did get most of the Ancients’ dates and facts memorized in the first year. I was still timid and afraid to fail but we persisted. We worked on Year 2 during the 2010 – 2011 school year because we moved to Texas. It was hard sometimes, no many times it was hard to keep going but the rewards were so wonderful.

The next phase, The Brave New World....

Next year we are doing Challenge A. The Homeschool Journey that my son Michael and I have walked has been a walk of faith. It took perseverance and sheer will many days but Jesus was faithful then and I choose to stand in faith on the promises in his word.

The Vision...

As the Psalmist says in The Message - Psalm 116:12 “What can I give back to God for the blessings he's poured out on me? I'll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God! I'll pray in the name of God; I'll complete what I promised God I'd do, and I'll do it together with his people. When they arrive at the gates of death, God welcomes those who love him. Oh, God, here I am, your servant, your faithful servant: set me free for your service! I'm ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice and pray in the name of God. I'll complete what I promised God I'd do, and I'll do it in company with his people, In the place of worship, in God's house, in Jerusalem, God's city. Hallelujah!”