I walked into the end of the year homeschool program with a sense of finality and relief, having just completed my first – and what I felt would be my last – year of homeschooling.  My husband wanted us to continue, but I felt under-qualified to take the place of a college-trained teacher in my child’s life.  And with a six year-old, a toddler and a new baby, I was feeling the need for a break.  I also wanted more time to spend with the younger ones, as well as to reclaim some personal time. 

The program that night had no videos about homeschooling, no special speakers, and no workshops.    So, no one was more surprised than I, when two hours later, I walked out of that meeting totally dedicated to homeschooling!

What did I see that night that so thoroughly changed my mind?  It was the children.  There was a depth of character in the older homeschooled children that I had not seen in any group of young people that we had previously worked with.  It was the type of character that I wanted to see develop in my own children.  So, while other parents watched performances and promotions, I watched preteen boys and girls respectfully give their attention to the program.  I later listened as they talked to each other about their studies, their activities, their thoughts and their worlds – without artificial masks or foolishness or pretentiousness.  There were no cliques or out-of-place clothing or statements to be made.  Yet, there was no legalistic atmosphere, nor any sense of fear in the children (or in the parents) that someone would break a rule or misbehave. They were at ease with their parents, respectful to their parents’ friends, polite to strangers, and the most impressive to me – they were inclusive of their siblings.  They seemed genuinely comfortable with themselves, with each other and with the world.  It was an event that I would later rank as a 90 to 95 on an imaginary Character Scale.

Until then, I had only seen the potential cost of homeschooling, but that night, I saw the potential product.  I was so impressed that I came into instant agreement with Bill, and found myself signing a blank contract with God that said, “If homeschooling is what I have to do to get that type of character, then to homeschooling I am committed!”

Little did I know then, that a year after that inspiring decision, I would make my first truly ground-breaking revelation about the relationship between homeschooling and developing character:  Having my kids spend all day at home with me was not going to produce strong character!  As a matter of fact, instead of developing character, it seemed that they were only becoming characters! 

That humbling realization propelled us onto an exciting, difficult, rewarding, terrifying, wonderful journey with our children that has had more surprise mountains, valleys and turns than we ever could have imagined.