Homeschool Mom Spotlight #6
Meet Meka
Every month here at Patterns for Life 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 Meka, homeschooling mom of 3. We hope you enjoy getting to know her a bit!
1. Tell us about yourself and your family.
Hello! I'm a stay-at-home mom who homeschools 3 children ages 10, 8, and almost 6. I have been married to my partner in Christ, Anthony, for 13 years this September. He works from home but travels occasionally. We are an Orthodox Christian family who enjoys our parish life, spending time together, board games, traveling, the arts, and being outdoors.
2. How long have you been homeschooling and what motivated you to start in the first place?
We have been homeschooling from the beginning. It was not our original plan. As our oldest came to preschool age, I opted to teach him at home so we could enjoy more time together. This continued for 3 years and by the time he was approaching first grade, I had fallen in love with homeschooling. Full disclosure, even if I didn't love it so much, stories of things happening in traditional schools along with growing deeper in the faith would have compelled me to continue anyway. It certainly has been the driving force during less-than-ideal semesters.
3. Describe a typical homeschool day in your home.
Is there such thing as a typical day? Our vision of what a day should look like changes year to year and even week to week at times. If everything is working in our favor, a typical day would start around 9:00. Anthony teaches one to two history lessons while I prepare for the day. He then starts work. I will rotate who I am teaching in half hour intervals. The older two are expected to finish independent work when they are not with me. If they complete everything on their school and responsibility list before the school day is over, they can play on those breaks. We take a 15-minute snack break and an hour lunch. We finish the day by 2:00. We try to be outside between school and dinner. If it is nice outside, school is outside. Our littlest has the most free time between lessons so I try to have crafts, sensory bins, or puzzles ready to go for her.
4. What is your favorite part of homeschooling?
My favorite part of homeschooling is flexibility. Because we have so much time to complete tasks and to be together, I feel we get to take full advantage of our time. I love being able to make our own schedule, to take days off when we need to, and to be able to travel with my husband as much as possible. It is so nice to have so much time together on a daily basis. We eat several family meals together daily, can adjust our schedule to visit with family and friends, attend extra church services, and fully absorb every fair-weather day.
5. Does homeschooling affect the way you parent? If so, how?
Homeschooling absolutely affects the way I parent. I feel as though our kids get two versions of me, "mom" me and "teacher" me. To keep my kids motivated and on task, I have to be much firmer and more assertive than I need to be outside of school time. There are also times I feel I have to "helicopter" just to get a subject done.
6. What is your least favorite part of homeschooling?
My least favorite part of homeschooling is getting behind. I feel stressed and defeated when things don't happen within the time frame that I feel they should. By adding extra time in and learning to go with the flow, I'm getting better. It is hard for me, however, when we get into a funk were school doesn't end until dinner time for several nights in a row. I feel as though I'm robbed of my "mom" time with them and they've only been with "teacher",
7. What have you found to be the most humbling aspect of parenting/homeschooling?
The most humbling aspect of homeschooling is learning I am absolutely not in control. That no amount of planning, list making, and research can guarantee things will go the way I want. At first, this was excruciating. Instead of accepting it and adapting, I would just pour more time and resources into getting things to fit into the little box I had built. After doing this for so long, burnout forced me to accept the uncertainty of it all. Now when our school path doesn't go as planned, I accept, adapt, pray for peace and ask myself "what is the lesson". It certainly doesn't get the work done, but it does make me happier and healthier. The biggest part of all of this is repentance. Acknowledging our error, asking our children for forgiveness, and making a true change in our behavior and attitude.
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?
Looking back, I wish I would have known how challenging the youngest child is. I didn't figure out how to manage interruptions from the youngest until recently. Things like having activities ready, an occasional babysitter, or working school time in during the youngest's nap schedule, are all helpful tools I learned late.
If I could talk to my younger self or a new mom starting out, I'd first tell her to calm down. Not every year, month, day will look the same and that's okay. Homeschooling is hard, ask for help. Have a skeleton schedule but don't fully itemize the entire year so you can be flexible. You have so much more time than you think. It's better to be behind and happy than to be on time and grumpy. And most importantly, make sure every choice, every movement, every command, comes from love.
9. How does your faith affect your homeschooling?
Our faith plays a huge roll in our homeschooling. It has been the driving force to keep us going every time I've wanted to give up. It's also a huge part of our day to day between prayers, catechesis lessons, and being able to attend weekday services. We strongly believe that "living the faith" is the best foundation for our children's journey toward the Kingdom.
10. What are some of your favorite homeschool resources?
I really enjoy Abeka for math and language arts and The Good and The Beautiful for science and history. They are both Christian. Abeka is incredibly well put together and thorough. I feel like I get all the tools and then some for each grade level. The Good and The Beautiful supplies lessons with different course work per grade level for each unit. This is super helpful because it allows us to teach those subjects as a family. All other homeschool moms are incredible resources. Hearing what works and doesn't for other families, getting support, and learning about different resources are all ways moms have helped me. Talking with Orthodox moms is especially important. Living the faith dictates every moment of your existence. Without that foundation, homeschooling can look quite different.
11. What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspect of homeschooling?
The most rewarding aspect of homeschooling is the relationships my husband and I are forming with our children and the ones they are forming with each other. I truly don't believe we would all have the bond we do if they were in traditional school. The time we have together is so precious and makes all of the challenges absolutely worth it. It's all the little things of just being family: cooking, quietly reading near each other, completing chores, an impromptu dance party, and having beautiful conversations together. Every day isn't completely rainbows and ponies, but there is truly happiness and beauty in every day.
12. Anything else you'd like to add?
Our calling as Orthodox women, a martyrdom in motherhood, fills us with joy and presents us with struggle. May you find peace in the joy and gentleness in the struggle. May the Theotokos guide and intercede for you as you parent toward the Kingdom. And always...Agape, Agape, Agape.
Thank you, Meka! Most Holy Theotokos, intercede for us.