Hi, I’m Amy, I have 4 kids, and I have homeschooled them for about 5 years. As a believer in Jesus and a homeschool mom, I have been encouraged by the Master Books YouTube channel, podcasts, and social media over the years with some of my most favorite lessons being the ones about thinking outside the box, growth hacking your homeschool life, and using curriculum as a “tool” for homeschooling.
As a former traditional school educator, I’ve been encouraged and challenged by Master Books to move away from the idea that homeschooling should look like the traditional classroom. It is more of a lifestyle environment where we use textbooks, scripture, nature, life skills, and more for our “classroom,” building our children up with an eternal mindset and a true preparedness for their world.
Master Books has been the perfect curriculum for “real life” and my kids are thriving! I am a firm believer that education should be more than just textbooks in a classroom, and I love that Master Books gives our family opportunities to get outside of “the box” and make our learning about more than just facts from a textbook, but truly experiential.
We do a decent amount of traveling throughout the year, and we will take breaks from bookwork or even bring stuff along with ease. We aren’t married to a schedule that forces us to stop living for the sake of “learning”; rather we live, and we learn as we live.
Our bookwork never takes all day, which gives us freedom to explore, play, adventure, and take our learning beyond the classroom and beyond bookwork into real life lessons. We do lots of baking, cooking, nature exploring, visiting and learning at local businesses/farms, hands on work around our own property, volunteer and service projects and more.
As I homeschool my own kids, I am learning things I don’t remember learning when I was in school. We get to learn together and it’s beautiful!
One of my favorite Bible verses for motherhood/homeschooling is: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Master books has helped this verse to be a reality for me as it allows me as a busy momma to find rest knowing that my children are receiving a solid, Biblical education! Jesus did not call us to live a life without rest, and in the rat race of today’s culture, this concept is counter cultural.
Raising my kids and homeschooling is not a burden. It is a blessing, and I am beyond grateful for this mission that my heavenly Father has given me.
