Hey there! I’m Elizabeth, a coffee-loving, homeschooling momma of 5 who’s on a mission to bring fun, adventure, and simplicity back into learning. You see, I love learning, but it wasn’t always this way. Maybe you can relate?
Years ago, back when I was in middle and high school, I hated school! Yup. I was that kid. The one who was always bored because the subjects being covered were so simple to me. School turned into a chore. Something to be endured. A form of torture that there was absolutely no escaping from. This went on for years.
A few teachers and adults in my life stepped up and started investing in my learning. They gave me books to read outside of the type I had been reading. They challenged me. They encouraged me. They painted this picture of an adventure through learning. They kept feeding me good books as fast as I could read them.
And you know what? That spark of learning I had was fanned into a full-on flame and developed into this incredible love of learning. No matter what I was doing, I wanted to learn more. I started seeing reading and learning as a vehicle that could take me on a grand adventure anywhere I wanted to go. From the bottom of the sea to the outer reaches of the galaxy. From Africa to Asia. From Australia to France. From Narnia to Middle Earth.
Fast forward many years and my husband and I decided to homeschool our children. (Believe it or not, we made this decision before they were born and then we had 5 kids!) But I didn’t just want to sit down with books or curriculum and talk at my kids all day. I wanted to create an environment where they were encouraged to love learning. Where they would have fun, view learning as a grand adventure, and be challenged to strike out on their own and learn about the things that interested them.
But let’s face it, this is not an easy environment to create, right? It takes hard work and effort to bring it all together. And it feels so much harder, more discouraging, and more overwhelming when you’re not even sure where to start in the first place!
So we just started. Over the past decade (and more) of homeschooling my 5 kids, they have taught me what makes learning fun. They’ve taught me about the importance of flexibility even as I’ve taught them the importance of routines and schedules. We’ve learned together how fostering a love of learning looks different for each and every child.
And I’ve also learned that I have limits. As much as I want to be, I’m not SuperMom or WonderWoman. It’s taxing to pour into your children so constantly, especially when you start battling depression, anxiety, and debilitating fear.
But through all these challenges, I kept learning. Faith is the heartbeat of everything I do and the Bible is my authority. The more I sought after Truth, the more I leaned into my faith, I began to understand myself and why these struggles were coming up in my life. And the more I learned about myself, the more I was able to love on, guide, and direct my children in their own learning adventure.
By the grace of God, He brought me through that season of depression, anxiety, and fear. Oh, I still battle it. I’m far from perfect! But yet, I am who I am and that’s the person I’m supposed to be. I like to think of it as imperfectly perfect!
Let’s face it: There are still children to take care of, laundry to fold, dishes to clean, closets to be organized, books to read, children to teach about the adventures of learning, and more things for us to learn!
Won’t you join me?
Grab your cup of coffee and join me as we walk through the perfect imperfections of life. As we seek to foster a love of learning in our children. As we strive to make things simple and practical. And as we seek to encourage each other to make it through the next 5 minutes as well as the next 5 years. More than anything, let’s rediscover and recapture the fun and adventure of learning as we teach and learn alongside our children!
