Hey, homeschoolers!

I don't believe there has been a better time to homeschool than now. In the face of a pandemic and political unrest, there are new reasons to homeschool your children this year. As a psychologist and a homeschooling mother of six with more than two decades of experience, I wanted to begin a series for new and prospective homeschoolers. The first episode in this series is about why you and I should homeschool this year in particular. If you have friends who are considering homeschooling, I would appreciate if you would share this episode with them.

Before we dive into the topic, I want to share news about Grammar Galaxy, the elementary language arts curriculum I developed specifically for homeschoolers. It's fast, easy, and fun story-based learning that kids beg to do. I just released Blue Star, the volume for 6th graders or those who have completed Red Star. Prices are marked down 20% now through August 6th. Try a complete sample of it for free at GrammarGalaxyBooks.com/Samples.
#1 Called
The first reason I believe you should homeschool this year is if you are called. As a Christian homeschooler, I see that calling as coming from the Lord. That's how it came for me. Certainly you could homeschool because of circumstances or intending to homeschool for the short-term. But a year can be a surprisingly long time. So, you may need a calling to finish the year.

I had a family member who homeschooled and a friend who intended to when the Lord placed this odd calling in my mind: You should homeschool. That calling was as surprising for me as Moses's was for him. I am a clinical psychologist by training and I assumed that when I sent my three children to school that I would resume working, writing, and speaking--things which I knew the Lord had called me to.

This new calling on my life was insistent, however, and I picked up a book on homeschooling the next time I was at the Christian bookstore. I was impressed by what I read but had no interest in homeschooling. I thought I could nullify the calling by telling my super social husband that I had this thought about homeschooling. To my disbelief, he thought it was a great idea.

I was still so resistant to the idea that I took a trip with a friend to consider the calling further. When I returned from the trip, I still did not understand how I could fulfill my original calling as writer and speaker at the same time as I took up the new call as a homeschooling mom. If you're paying attention, you should be smiling now. I am able to fulfill my first calling because of the second. I decided that if God had given me these two callings, it was His responsibility to work them out. I decided to do a trial run in homeschooling my preschooler. That did not go anywhere as smoothly as I anticipated. But the Lord wouldn't leave me alone. He made big changes in me to allow me not only to continue homeschooling but to have more children.

If you have been called by God to homeschool this year, he won't leave you alone either. I encourage you to pray and read and discuss the matter with your spouse. While I encourage you to give homeschooling a year, you are not locked into it if it does not work.
#2 Freedom
The second reason you should homeschool this year, after being called, is freedom. I hear from many people in the middle of COVID-based restrictions that they miss their freedom. Certainly the response to the virus has made us more aware of the freedoms we take for granted. However, homeschooling in a normal year is an experience of true freedom.

If homeschooling is completely new to you, you won't understand that homeschooling advocates have been working over the ...