An Unexpected Adventure

Before my husband and I got married, we discussed future children and sketched out a plan for me to be home for the years when they were little and then return to work when they started school full-time. It was a sound plan. It made sense in our minds.

And then one day, our then 4-year-old started reading. In six months, he was reading at a second-grade reading level. I began to think about Kindergarten. This child's birthday is in September, and because of the rules in our state, he would not have been able to enroll in Kindergarten until he was 6.

For the first time, I started wondering if we needed to explore a different option for school.

I did some research on private schools in the area, but they far exceeded our one-income budget. As a last resort, I started reading about homeschooling. I did not expect to home educate my children. It was never part of the plan. But the more I read, the more it made sense for our family.

The thing is, I wasn't sure I could homeschool my children. Did I have the knowledge necessary to teach them well? I didn't know. But what I did know was that I was willing to try. I spent months learning about the various ways to homeschool. I read about unschooling, Charlotte Mason, classical education, and many other models.

Something about the classical education model resonated with me. It was logical and orderly, and it felt like there were plenty of resources to help us succeed along the way.

So, the year our oldest turned five, we "officially" began our homeschool journey. Though, truly, it was just a continuation of the years before he was five when he'd been learning at home through lots of reading, field trips, and play.

By the time our youngest turned five, we'd been homeschooling for several years, and I assumed the same things that had worked for his older brother would also work for him. It was shocking to discover that this was absolutely not true. It quickly became clear to me that this child did not like school the same way his brother did, but I wasn't sure why.

It wasn't until he was seven that we realized he was dyslexic. I had wondered off and on if it was a possibility, but certain things didn't track, so I kept pushing it to the back of my mind. Until one cold January day, he said to me, "Mom, I hate reading. I hate that the words move around on the page. I hate that the letters disappear and turn upside down. I hate how it makes me feel.”

This was shocking news to me. He'd never told us any of this. I asked him why he hadn't mentioned any of this before, and his simple reply broke me. He said, "I assumed it was this way for everyone, and I just couldn't figure it out."

In the same way I'd found myself researching homeschooling to begin with, I found myself doing a deep dive into dyslexia. I needed to know how to help this child learn to read. Could I? Would he? I didn't know, but we had to try.

This week, these two sons will take two different stages.

The youngest, who is now an avid reader and about to graduate from high school, will take the stage today to present his senior thesis to a room full of people. He's spent this school year researching this project, writing a 20-page paper, and creating a presentation to explain it to others.

The oldest, who has continued to enjoy school and is about to graduate from college Summa Cum Laude, will take the stage on Friday to receive an award for being the outstanding senior in the Computer Information Technology major at his university.

When I think back to the plan we discussed before getting married, the one where I would go back to work after sending our kids off to school full-time, I will be forever grateful that God interrupted that plan.

I'm thankful that our oldest started reading voraciously at 4, because it caused us to ask different questions that we might not have asked otherwise. And I'm thankful that when our youngest was struggling to read, we were already in a position to slow down and figure out how to help him succeed.

Often, we make plans based on what we know, and it's good to start there. However, it's also important to hold space for what we don't know and be willing to modify or even discard the initial plan when, or if, it's no longer a good fit.

I will be forever grateful that we said yes to this wild adventure. I will be forever grateful for the ways that God has journeyed with us and established our steps when we had no idea what the steps needed to be.

In the weeks ahead, we will be celebrating the completion of a journey begun two decades ago - one that was beyond our wildest imagination. It has been a path full of highs and lows. Joys and sorrows. Wonder and Delight. And, I wouldn't trade a minute of it!

Are there any plans God has been inviting you to reimagine? Are you open to it? 

~  Melissa