t a point in our homeschooling journey, I felt like I was spending most of my time refereeing fights between our eight kids. I kept trying to get through the conflicts as quickly as possible so we could get back to our schoolwork, but something felt off. I was in a quandary. We needed to accomplish some schoolwork, but I also knew that I was the family gatekeeper. If I didn’t root out the ways that my kids were sinning against each other, we would never have true peace in our home.

As I began to pray over all of this, I realized that I was interpreting the fighting between our kids as an obstacle to what I thought was more important: schoolwork. But the truth was that those relationships were more important. They were not separate from my kids’ education, but rather a huge part of their education. In reality, my kids’ fighting was not an obstacle, but an opportunity.

The word education is often used to describe whatever might be learned at a school, college, or training center. Education is seen in many people’s minds as something we do at “special learning places” as though it is completely separate from real life.

doesn’t get more real than family. We have a front row seat to every bad attitude. We see all the fears and frustrations. We see the worst come out at times.

We see the tender hearted moments and the growth that occurs over time. There’s no place to hide when you’re together all day, every day!

While Lincoln was helping me with lunch one day, he shoved a bowl full of mac n’ cheese across the table to his brother and it went straight overboard, falling epically to the ground and spilling out everywhere.

ust when I thought we were almost finished, the arrow inevitably landed on the “spill the bucket” space. The boys would laugh. Sometimes I would, too… and other times, I must admit I just wanted it to end!

You know that classic game of counting—Hi Ho! Cherry-O. Perfect for little ones, but maybe not too exciting for adults. And yet, it was so worth it.

Those “boys” are twenty-seven and twenty-four years old now. As they were growing up, we always enjoyed playing board games, and game night remains one of our favorite family activities! It’s not unusual for them to be excited about a new game they want to introduce us to.

We all have our favorites, but one thing I’ve noticed about both my sons is how much the games grew with them. Now, the complexity, amount of strategy, and the number of rules involved in their games overwhelms me. I grew up on games like Monopoly and Pay Day and Life, after all! (We make compromises on our family game nights and opt for the more middle-of-the-road ones.)

To think it all began with a board full of little, red plastic cherries, a spinner, and giggles galore.

remember walking over to where four-year-old Hays was painting and quickly noticing she had taken her artwork beyond the paper. Hays proudly grinned as she looked up at me and said, “I painted myself red.” She had done exactly that; she had painted her entire body red. Instead of freaking out, I calmly said, “Wow, I see a lot of red, how does that feel?” While we cleaned up the red paint, she giggled as she told me that the paint felt cold when it touched her arm, but it wasn’t too cold.

’m pretty sure my oldest son was born as a history professor. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but he did develop a very early fascination with it.

Growing up in public school, I did not share his passion. To me, history was the least interesting subject with classes usually consisting of reading the textbook and answering the questions at the end of the chapter. One teacher in high school insisted we write out each question on our paper then answer in complete sentences. I always had the feeling that it was to simply keep us busy!

But homeschooling opened up a whole new world (quite literally) to me and my children! What made the difference? For us it was reading historical fiction and engaging non-fiction, doing crafts, cooking recipes, making projects, and so much more.

raditions are the sticky film on the kitchen table of life-long learning. They are the honey of homeschooling that sweetens the adventure and holds the family together. Okay, that sticky substance could also be glue from an art project or goo from a science experiment, but you get the idea. Traditions help us bond, give us a sense of camaraderie, establish inside jokes and family tall tales. Traditions create wonderful memories our kids can carry with them and pass on to their own kids someday. Hopefully, we get asked to join in passing down the fun when we’re old and grouchy.

y early morning summer swim practices took place in an unheated pool in the Midwest—where the evening temperatures dipped into the fifties in June. Those practices taught me a lot about the effect of swimming on the human body. For example: Cold water will bring your entire body to full wakefulness at 6:30 a.m.!

For twelve years, swimming was a part of my growing up. As kids, we tested and tried many things. Several die-hard male swimmers on our summer team would shave their heads and legs to reduce drag. We also practiced kicking skills to propel us through the water and kept our hands cupped, assuming these practices would help us get better swim times.

Looking back, we applied a lot of science to our swimming technique. As a veteran homeschool mom, I reflect on those days and can think up several cool science experiments. Of course, I turn everything into a science lesson!

uring my growing up years, our family vacationed in northern Indiana at the state’s largest natural lake, Lake Wawasee. My parents had been going for decades. Around the end of July, we would load up our old ski boat with bikes, clothes, and junk food for two weeks of vacation bliss. And every four years, the fun would be heightened because of the summer games.

Every evening, we’d sit around a black and white television and hope the aluminum-covered antenna on top would pick up a decent signal. Boy, that was fun. Every Summer Olympics since, those memories come rushing into my noggin like a line of sprinters after the starter’s gun is fired.

Like every American, I have my unforgettable Olympic moments tucked away in my brain with names of athletes like Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt, and America’s sweetheart, Mary Lou Retton. But the Olympic moment I’ll never forget involved a gymnast named Kerri Strug and her coach Bela Karolyi.