Homeschool Mom Spotlight #5
Meet Susan
Every month here at
we highlight an individual homeschool mom through a written interview in order to encourage and inspire our readers. We know it can be helpful to meet — whether virtually or in real life — other mothers who are in the trenches with us here and now, and can relate to our daily struggles and joys.Today we are very pleased to introduce Susan, homeschooling mom of 7. We hope you enjoy getting to know her a bit!
1. Tell us about yourself and your family.
My husband Al and I will be celebrating our 24th anniversary this year, and we have 6 sons and one daughter, ages 23, 21, 19, 17, 16, 14, and 10. Al is a Math/Science/Finance guy, and I have more of a History/ Poli Sci/ English background, so together we have the bases covered. We all converted to Orthodoxy about 10 years ago, and our faith is at the center of our family life and our homeschooling.
We are at the tail-end of our homeschooling journey now, with only the youngest two now being fully homeschooled. Our oldest has his Bachelor’s in IT; our second is finishing up a Bio/ Physical Therapy degree and hopes to go to med school; our third is currently pursuing his IT degree; Numbers 4 and 5 are high school students but are taking all their courses through the local community college to earn dual credit; Numbers 6 and 7 are still homeschooled using a combo of AmblesideOnline, Teaching Textbooks, Khan Academy, and any great books I decide to throw their way.
Because we have 6 sons, and we really want our boys to be able to support a family or pursue a vocation someday with minimal student debt, we have had to get creative with methods for funding higher education. Our state, local school district, and local community college have been willing to work with us so that our kids have been able to graduate high school with an Associate’s Degree, then transferring up to 90 credits in order to finish a Bachelor’s Degree at greatly reduced cost. Other than science labs and public speaking classes, they are able to complete most of the community college course work from home. So we have been able to stay close as a family, even as the kids grow into young adults, and keep our faith and church at the center of it all.
2. How long have you been homeschooling and what motivated you to start in the first place?
We have been homeschooling since… forever! Over 20 years. When Al and I were dating and then engaged, we both knew we wanted to homeschool our future children. We had both experienced bullying and boredom in our own public-school and Catholic-school educations, and wanted something more for our kids: the ability to learn at their own pace, to dive deeply into subjects that interest them the most, and to keep our faith central.
We had Al’s older sister as an example; she had eight kids and was homeschooling them, so we knew it could be done successfully. We really didn’t mind the skepticism with which many people viewed homeschooling at the time; we were just confident that we would make it work.
3. Describe a typical homeschool day in your home.
When my kids were all smaller, a typical homeschool day started with me laying out their books for the day. After breakfast, we would do morning prayers together. Everyone would start on their pile of work; most would finish up by lunch, leaving our afternoons free for trips to the library, playing outside, music lessons, or working on whatever fun projects/pastimes interested them the most. In the evenings we would do evening prayers, daily scripture readings & lives of the saints with Dad, and more often than not, a family read-aloud, a complicated strategy board game, or a puzzle video game which we would solve together. We often stayed up late so they could get some extra quality time with their dad, sleeping in a little later in the morning. This was the schedule that we just found worked best for us.
4. What is your favorite part of homeschooling?
My favorite part has been experiencing stories and great literature together as a family. Whether it was me reading through books from the Ambleside booklist with my kids, or my husband reading aloud to us all by the fireplace in the evening, there is something so special about diving into those worlds together and seeing the stories unfold.
You also tend to build up a family culture over time, encompassing a million little in-jokes and memories and an affectionate sense of humor. The ways in which you spend your time together start to reflect the values that are most important to you as a family, so for us, that has meant church (we try to go to as many of the services as possible), service to others, intellectual curiosity & critical thinking, and building life skills (gardening, cooking, fitness, etc). We just genuinely enjoy each other’s company, and even as the kids grow into young adulthood, that still holds.
5. Does homeschooling affect the way you parent? If so, how?
I think that because we spend so much time with our kids, they know and trust that we want what is good for them. We didn’t have to formally discipline a lot, because they didn’t want to disappoint us by misbehaving, and the boys especially enforced a code among themselves: “You better not make Mom cry!” (I tend to cry when I am frustrated or overwhelmed, so….) :)
As they have grown into teens and young adults, the dynamics change, but I have found that parenting through humor and affection has worked well. It’s nice to be able to light-heartedly jab at each others’ foibles and have that be received well, instead of having to have lengthy, serious discussions or knock-down drag out arguments. It also maintains “home” as a place of sanctuary from the outside world, a soft place for them to land as they begin to spread their wings.
6. What is your least favorite part of homeschooling?
Teaching teens to drive! Hands down. :)
But more seriously, it’s probably dealing with the transition as they shift from being fully homeschooled to having to wade through bureaucracies, forms, hoop-jumping etc associated with school systems, college applications, etc. You start to realize how truly free you were in all those years of homeschooling which were so blissfully devoid of all that hassle.
7. What have you found to be the most humbling aspect of parenting/homeschooling?
Admitting humbly to your kids that you have made mistakes, sometimes big ones, in their upbringing, and in their education. Because you can’t cover everything; you make curriculum choices along the way, and sometimes life events intervene. Years later they may come back to you and grin and say, “I can’t believe you never taught me about _____________.” You just have to give yourself grace about it, and trust that on the balance, a homeschool education is still a thousand times better academically, socially, and spiritually than what they would have gotten in the schools.
8. Looking back to the beginning of your homeschool journey, what are some things you wish you had known? What would you tell your younger self as she was just starting out?
I would have told myself to r e l a x. Don’t make the three year old learn math!! Just get on the floor and help him make the complex wooden train lay-out! I was so eager to get started on homeschooling that I probably pushed the first kids a little too hard, a little too soon. But that’s one of the benefits of having a big family! You get the chance to learn from your mistakes. I’m a very different homeschooling teacher to my younger ones than I was to my older ones. And that’s ok!
9. How does your faith affect your homeschooling?
Because we structure our day around prayer, and try to attend all the services in the Liturgical year, we are very flexible about our homeschool timeframes. We still do lessons in the summer, though sometimes only 3 days a week. We take big homeschooling breaks around Nativity and Pascha, because that fits better with the liturgical schedule.
In terms of content, I substitute and swap out books that I feel don’t align with our values or our Orthodox beliefs and swap in the ones I like. I’ve never felt bound by any particular curriculum that we use, but know that I have the freedom to mix and match as I see fit.
10. What are some of your favorite homeschool resources?
I love so many of the books listed on the Ambleside Online lists; my daughter has especially enjoyed materials from The Good and the Beautiful. (Another great aspect of homeschooling being that you can tailor your materials and approach to the particular needs of the particular child!) We have used Teaching Textbooks for math with great results, though we typically go a grade ahead of what would be considered their “normal” grade if they were in school. Our kids have also really enjoyed “Story Starters,” by Karen Andreola, to aid in the Creative Writing process. A lot of mirth has been created in our house by the kids reading aloud their stories to each other.
11. What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspect of homeschooling?
We have just treasured all the time we have spent together over the years, and the reward is in seeing the unique, intelligent, hard-working, and kind individuals they have all become.
12. Anything else you'd like to add?
Just a thank you so much for the opportunity to answer these questions and reflect on the 20 years of homeschooling! It has helped me to frame things and think about the things that are most important.
Thank you, Susan! It was lovely reading your responses.
I loved reading this, Susan, and seeing someone further along the path. How have you kept the family culture/dynamic as the older ones do concurrent classes?