A Last Home School Hurrah

A bright, hot New York City summer is commencing without me, and it’s okay. I’ll be there soon enough.  I graduated from college in New York a little over two weeks ago. Right now, I’m in the Midwest for a few weeks, jumping in on a myriad of family events and celebrations, and enjoying the AC while I can (we have none in my apartment). Last week, it was a wedding in Cleveland with my boyfriend, this week, my brother graduated from high school, and next week is the Indy 500. The next week, my sister returns from doing medical work in Togo, then we’re going to Virginia Beach for my brother to compete in nationals for speech and debate. I’ll take a bus up the coast back to NYC in time for my internship to start.

Yesterday was my brother Roger’s open house graduation party. The most conservative estimate is that there were about 150 people there. We still have fruit, corn chips, and three Cost-co size bags of pita chips left over. Celebrating milestones and witnessing ceremony are two of my favorite pastimes, also, pita chips and hummus are generally what I live on. It’s been a good three weekends.

It was a bittersweet time for my family because Roger is our youngest, so we all feel like we’re graduating from the world of homeschooling- and believe me, it is a whole world. As much as I like to poke fun sometimes at the quirks and hang-ups of the homeschooling subculture, I willingly affirm that after this week, I’m so proud to have been homeschooled.

Roger’s open house wasn’t just the typical collection of relatives in the house and cluster of peers in attendance, though both were there. It was a parade of entire families who are friends with my entire family, adults who have invested enormously in Roger either through our homeschooling cooperative, church, AWANA, or 4-H. Most of them also invested in me in the same ways- several commented that they’d been to all three open houses for us kids. One family we are close to volunteered to do set-up and keep abreast of all the food through the whole party so we could focus on mingling with everyone.

Earlier this week, I went to a homeschool production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which, I must say, was just as high-quality as any high school play I’ve ever seen. I caught up with three old friends there watching the play- one has started her own photography business, another is doing ministry in Colorado, one is in pre-med at Vanderbilt. The audience was teeming with small children, and every last one was quiet and attentive through the entire performance.

Also this week, I went to a homeschool graduation ceremony for a homeschool co-op with 5 graduates. I made it for the tail end, just in time to hear one of the dads talk about his twin sons from the stage as he handed them their diplomas. He spoke of how both boys were interested first and foremost in being servants of Christ, in being men who love the Bible and live a life of faith. He spoke about his sons’ strong character and maturity. I remembered these twins from when Roger played in a basketball league with them years ago. Another graduate was from our 4-H club. Another had been a friend from AWANA.

The cooperative was called Iron Sharpens Iron, drawing from Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” An appropriate name, for in my homeschooling experience, such sharpening is allowed to happen over the long haul and through many different avenues. I don’t agree with everyone about everything, to be sure, and some think I’m a little crazy for living in New York City. We all agree that being countercultural is hard, and I can only pray that one day my children could have a community this vibrant and enriching as they pursue an uncommon life of faith no matter where we live.

So don’t give up, Mom!  Look what awaits you at the end of the homeschooling  journey.  If you are interested in The King’s College, Pennie highly recommends it, and I understand that about 1/3 of the student population is former homeschool students.