The Empty Schoolhouse: Reflections & Adventures of a Veteran Homeschool Mom

There is an old country song called "Life as We Knew It Ended Today."  That is how I have felt today. Not melancholy, just recognizing reality.  The end of an era is here.  I have been a SAHM (stay at home mom) since Nov of 2000. Twenty-four years is a long time, folks!  You know how some books are broken down into sections & then chapters? The book of motherhood started a new section when I became a widowed mom. And today I close the section on SAHM.  Monday I start working full-time outside the home again. I will always be a mom, but all my sons are adults. They need me just in different ways now. The Lord has provided this new job as a way to provide for me and grow me in this next chapter of life.  Today has felt like the last day of a vacation, soaking it all in knowing this time is ending, yet knowing a new duty is calling. I walked around the yard just enjoying the usual evening songs of our usual robin, cardinal, and wren, with occasional red-winged blackbird and

My youngest son graduated today! Several people have said to me that now I will become an empty nester. Actually, two of my sons still live at home, so I am not an empty nester just yet. But I will have an empty schoolhouse!  I began homeschooling back in 2003 when my oldest son was a preschooler. We began gently using  Before Five in a Row  and the wonderful companion books. These books and the ones used in Five in a Row  (FIAR)  became like dear friends as we continued to homeschool and more boys were born.  I have tried to remember how I first heard about the  FIAR  curriculum which has the parent read the same beloved children's book five days in a row and pulls out different elements each day: language, applied math, science, social studies, and art. Then it has activities with them. My most treasured memory of motherhood is having my sons surrounding me on the couch, snuggled in, and being captivated by a book that seemed to transport us to a different time or place. This was