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They walked down the aisle, clad in traditional cap and gown. We waved our hands in mad applause. Waved our hands? These proud students claim their status as the first Mexican secundaria equivalency graduates of Instituto Isaias 55, the first deaf school in Reynosa. My teammates tell me stories about when one of these boys started school, kicking and screaming, really- kicking staff in the shins. But over time, they have learned to communicate using Mexican sign language, and they have learned the skills necessary to operate in the real world, and they have learned about Jesus. So this day, we celebrate the students. We celebrate their families and the school staff that labored alongside of them, and we dream of even bigger victories in the years to come.

(To see a news story about the graduation on the local news, here's a link... Vallevision- I55)

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And then there were none.
We graduated our last high school students on Friday evening. Five graduation in five years.
Phew.

It has been a rich journey, traveling this road of homeschooling. Our primary inspiriation for the very intentional decision to keep our kids home for school came from Scripture, from passages such as
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8

We began to homeschool not as a statement against anything, only as a means to teach our kids about the Lord our God throughout our day, in our coming in and going out. In addition, we were an active-duty military family in those days, and we knew that we would face frequent moves. Homeschooling allowed us to keep that one thing constant even in the midst of change.

Over the years, we found deep community and sweet fellowship among fellow homeschoolers. Our kids have never lacked for friendships, for opportunities to socialize. They have participated in extracurricular activities and athletics. They have been challenged by other teachers and students in learning opportunities outside the walls of our home. They have read 30-50 books a year as part of their history and literature curriculum. They went searching for rocks and dissected crawdads and fish and frogs and mixed up chemicals in science labs. They are fairly well-rounded students, college-ready by the highest state standard.

But perhaps even more importantly, through the flexibility of homeschooling, we were allowed opportunity for service, and to spend parts of our days looking outside our family. For years, we delivered meals to homebound seniors and invalids. We could be the last minute drop-in care for friends needing a place to send their kids. We could serve the church and her body, together. We met many characters and we have written many stories, together.

After nearly twenty years of raising up these young people, I well know that there is no perfect educational scenario. There were many times when I thought, maybe there's another, a better, option. Yes- we missed some things- no choir or band where we live, no opportunity for varsity sport competition. Quite likely, my kids would have had higher test scores with a better and more diligent math teacher. Homeschooling is not an 8-4 job. Perhaps one of the hardest part of homeschooling is that to make an opportunity, you sometimes have to make it yourself. We found others who wanted a prom, who would participate in student council, who joined us for commencement.

And yet, I feel certain that the words and the love of the Lord are written on my kids' hearts, and for that, I have no greater joy. I know, that is not my work but all the generous grace of our God. I am grateful for these 20 years, and eager to see what the next chapter holds for all of us.

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Here might be a primary problem with homeschooling-
if you want something to happen, you might just have to make it happen yourself.

Graduation=T-1week

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Watching the event from behind the safety of the snack table seems a heck of a lot easier than participating in it, my friend and I agreed. We remembered high school, that awkward never-quite-fitting-in feeling, and dances, where we never quite had the right moves. I admire my girls, my tall girls taller still in heels, who get out there anyway, so much more comfortable in their skin than I ever was. I admire the ones who don't really want to dance, but in kindness, take a spin anyway with the one brave enough to ask. And thank you, Werner Thomas, for the Chicken Dance, that jiggy tune anyone can follow.
SaveSaveSaveSave

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The morning flag ceremony came midday, under bright sun, and the third graders were extra wiggly. But the fifth grade knows how to parade the flag. The "YA!" on the corner turns couldn't have been shouted with more gusto.

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A day spent with these characters (and a couple more not in the frame) painting fences, working hard, getting dirty, laughing a lot.

I needed that.

If in doubt about the future generation, be encouraged.

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The best part about teaching the art class is watching the kids create.
The second best part is that I can too.

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Holliday Academy first day of school-
year 17

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Our primary guide in this homeschooling journey comes from Deuteronomy 6:1-9-

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

and right behind that is the exhortation from Micah 6:8-

He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

These remain as our prayer for you, Susannah-

that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength;

that you would love His teachings and hold tight to them;

that you would love others well, even better than yourself;

that you would know the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of the love of Christ;

that because of God's grace, you would be confident that there is nothing you can do that would cause God to love you more and there is nothing you can do that He would love you less;

and that is true of me and your dad, too.

Press on, eyes fixed, Susannah. We love you and we rejoice with you.

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an island of steady in an ocean of chaos.

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I thought about the day and what to write.

Would it be about the delight of young learners reciting their ABC's and playing a simple harmonica tune and telling about their studies of the world or even their favorite toy, or the beauty of young ladies "singing" in sign language?

Or maybe the words to try to express the deep peace of abiding in "be still" for even just a short portion of the day.

Or the experience of crossing the international bridge on a warm and windy Friday afternoon, of the women and children and disabled and perfectly-abled trying to hawk everything under the sun while the cars wait and move at a crawl.

Or how the Mexican vendor yelled at me for not moving along at the pace he thought correct UNTIL he found out that I have the SENTRI pass... and then how he cheerfully exclaimed, "I will help you!" in English and held the sticks down so that I could pass.

Or perhaps sharing some of the sweet comfort and rest that a night at home sitting around the table with those that know you best brings.

Or how the flash and crash and violent bursts of a quickly moving thunderstorm remind you of the very awesome power of our Creator God, and that even so, I am safe with Him.

Rock of Ages, when the day seems long
From this labor and this heartache, I have come
The skies will wear out, but you remain the same
Rock of Ages, I praise your name.
- "Rock of Ages (When The Day Seems Long)," words by Sandra McCracken, music by Kevin Twit.

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Quote of the night by visiting 12 year old while watching three teen girls ready for Prom-
"This is like a reality show!"

They sure did look pretty in the end.
(and a gentleman to accompany them, besides!)

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Catalog Day!!  I wasn't expecting it to arrive so soon but there it was, sitting on the pile of today's mail. Do you have kids between newborn and 80 years old? You need the Sonlight catalog too.

Sonlight has been our primary homeschool humanities curriculum for almost 15 years. We could not be more blessed. The instructor manuals are a tremendous help, mapping out the year in manageable and well sequenced order. I believe that heart that the curriculum shows for missions and the world profoundly influenced our own desire to pursue cross-culture missions. Our graduates have been well prepared for life beyond high school, achieving excellent scores on standardized tests and succeeding in college.

But even if you don't homeschool, I recommend the Sonlight catalog to you as one of the very best reading lists for toddlers to adult. Through Sonlight my kids were introduced to some of my favorite friends- Frog and Toad, Beezus and Ramona and Henry Huggins, the Ingalls family, the Cricket in Times Square, Betsy and Tacy and Tib, and Encyclopedia Brown. Together we met missionaries to Burma and to India and to Africa and to the streets of New York City. We traveled through history with togas and Vikings and colonists and adventurers and ordinary kids in their time and place. We read about the customs and cultures and traditions of faraway places, ancient and modern both, in the context of literature and narrative and biography, not solely through the monologue of a textbook. At the older grade levels, the lists take the students through the "highlights and hallmarks" of American literature, the world classics old and new, and the authors every reader should know.

But the best measure of success, more than the test scores and good grades? My girls still squabble over the newest catalog- each wanted to get her hands on it to remember all the old favorites and see what might be ahead in the school year to come. Sonlight has helped to inspire a love of learning in my kids, and for that I am grateful and blessed.

Needless to say, we are fans. For more information and to check out this tremendous resource for yourself, check the Sonlight website. Or just ask us!

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“An egg is always an adventure; the next one may be different.”
– Oscar Wilde

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Time for another graduate?
Thankful to share community and celebrate with these young people and their families.

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Great things about homeschooling that you might not think about:

flexibility in the day,
sitting outside to read when the "cold front" arrives,
homemade pizza for lunch.

That applies to the teacher AND the students...

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All things are from God; and above all, reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind. They are good in themselves; and we must not altogether forget their origin even in their perversion.

- G.K. Chesterton in The Dagger with Wings

"and other mind numbing horrors"

My high school junior is reading The Road from Home as part of her 20th Century World History studies this week. The following are the teacher's introductory comments on the book-

"...why spend two weeks reading about the Armenian extermination?

I think the answer comes before the Author's Note, in the front pages. Read the quote by Talaat Pasha, that orders the Armenians all be killed, "however criminal the measures taken may be."

And then, the chilling statement by Hitler, ordering all Poles killed: "After all, who remembers today the extermination of the Armenians?"

Hitler uses as his justification for genocide the lack of memory of history!

May this quote spur you on to pray for events in our world today, whether the genocide in Sudan, the horrific conditions in North Korea, or whatever other mind-numbing horrors are taking place."

Once again, I'm so thankful for the rock solid curriculum Sonlight provides and how it continues to bless our family, even as we begin our 14th year of using it.
And, I'm praying for Syria (click on the link to read an in-the-streets view of the situation in Aleppo, Syria).

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First week of school- a hopeful work in progress, but mighty exhausting as well.

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Holliday Academy 2013-14.

(and the dog? NOT homeschooled. But a terrific mascot!)