You scan your new living room as you watch the movers bringing box after box in the door. “This one is so much smaller than my last,” you think silently. You walk towards the kids’ new rooms, dodging boxes and bubble wrap as you go. You find them dutifully setting up their beds, making this new space as familiar as possible. And you breathe a sigh of gratitude and of concern knowing that this new duty station will bring with it much of the same, despite it being so new to you.
Each new home means a new set of experiences and requirements — finding schools, seeking out extra-curricular teams and organizations for your kids to join, learning how to get from place to place. Though everything is “new,” somehow it’s also so familiar.
As a family whose life is devoted to service and to sacrifice, you know all about the challenges and costs that being active duty can mean for your children. Your child will most likely move six to nine times during your military career, a reality you accept as part of the service. You willingly enter into these challenges because of your faith and commitment. But kids are kids, and what they need most is stability and continuity to feel secure and confident — to thrive. As a parent, your heart longs for more stability and connection for your children, a feeling many military families face with each move.
Your passion and commitment to your family calling in the military can leave your kids longing for the blessing of familiarity, something they can find in their education through homeschooling.
The Blessings of Homeschooling
Your family is always on the go, so you’ve most likely gotten used to the moving and resettling process. But the requirements of your child’s education are not as flexible if you’re using local or online schools. Even though the requirements are standardized because of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, there are still many barriers to transitioning to a new district and school. Obtaining transcripts, getting used to new teachers, textbooks and schedules, and finding new friends each year — or midyear — can be disheartening for your kids and frustrating for you! Homeschooling your children can provide the blessing of stability you’re all longing for! No change of textbooks. No new teachers. No new curriculum or concepts that your child has already learned in the previous school. And no playing catch-up because the new school moves faster. Homeschooling allows your child’s education to be the steady-Freddy in your children’s lives, giving them the confidence they need to succeed and reach new heights.
Your family is your life and the reason you choose to serve — to protect and honor your legacy. The most important learning your children do already happens within the walls of your home, within the arms of your family. Character, faith, and wisdom are lessons you’re teaching each day, and are the hardest to teach of all! As your children’s first teacher, you’re fully equipped to lead them on their educational journey. Through homeschooling, your family has the ability to grow, learn, and nurture one another each day as you spend more time together. You’ll also have the time to connect in fresh and exciting ways with each new concept, lesson, or topic. As we learn and spend more time together, we grow closer. Homeschooling gives you just that: more time and the opportunity to explore the world hand-in-hand. As a military family, you know that there’s no greater blessing than a strong, close-knit family.
With homeschooling, regardless of where you’re sent, your child’s education remains the same. Think of the relief it will bring knowing that you don’t have to make your child fit into a school’s requirements with every move, and that your move won’t set your kids back. And your children can keep completing lessons and working during the transition process (even if they are sitting on moving boxes while working). Homeschooling gives your family the blessing of peace of mind knowing that your child is on track and his or her education is moving forward while you transition to a new duty station.
One of the greatest blessings of homeschooling is that you don’t have to go it alone. There are elite, well-trained homeschool experts, like Bridgeway Academy, ready to help you each step of the way as you transition into homeschooling and become your child’s learning coach. From transcripts to grading to course selection, an accredited homeschool partner can help you ensure your children are getting what they need, when they need it — and have the paperwork to prove it.
The military has given your family so much, but not nearly as much as your dedication and commitment have given to your country. As our bravest and finest, your family deserves to experience the blessings you sacrificially give each day with your service: freedom and peace of mind. Find those blessings in your child’s education through homeschooling.