[Shirley here.] I hated literary analysis when I was in high school: character sketches, plot outlines and hunting for symbolism and abstract imagery that I was convinced the author never intended in the first place!
To my teenaged mind, it all seemed like overthinking a perfectly good story and ruining it by dissecting it!
Inevitably, after spending decades reading aloud to my own children and introducing them to some of the world’s greatest books, I have come to appreciate something that I completely missed as a teenager:
The best stories all follow remarkably similar patterns and there is a typical hero’s journey.
Whether it is Lucy stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia, David facing Goliath, Scrooge encountering Marley’s ghost or Heidi leaving the Swiss Alps to live with Clara in Frankfurt, the hero’s journey follows familiar stages. The details change, but the pattern remains the same.
As I recently read aloud A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to my 15-year-old, I wanted him to recognise this pattern because it appears again and again throughout history’s greatest stories as well as in the literature of our story-driven homeschool curricula.
Then a new thought struck me: Homeschooling parents are living a classic story adventure too.
You are as bold and brave as the timeless heroes we all know and love.
Let us show you why:
1. The Ordinary World
Every hero begins in an ordinary world.
Perhaps you were driving children to school every morning, packing lunchboxes, signing permission slips and helping with homework in the evenings or maybe you were preparing to send your oldest child to school, assuming that was simply what every family does.
Your life was following the expected script.
2. The Call to Adventure
Then something happened.
Maybe your child was struggling academically or perhaps he or she was anxious, bored or simply not thriving. Maybe like us, you wanted a richer education, more time together as a family or the freedom to nurture your child’s unique gifts. Whatever it was, something stirred inside you. You began asking questions that many people never ask.
Is there another way?
That was your call to adventure.
3. Refusing the Call
Every hero hesitates and every homeschooling parent has to overcome questions and doubts:
- “What if I mess up my children’s education?”
- “What if my children fall behind?”
- “What if they miss out socially?”
- “What if everyone thinks I’ve lost my mind?”
Those questions and many others like them are not signs of weakness, instead they’re a sign that you know how to consider the pros and cons of a decision. You know how to evaluate options and make an informed choice.
4. Meeting the Mentors
Heroes seldom travel alone.
- Frodo had Gandalf
- Scrooge had a series of ghosts
- Heidi had Grandmamma Sesemann as a loving mentor
- David declared the Lord God to be his Guide.
Homeschoolers find mentors too.
Perhaps yours was another experienced homeschooling mother who patiently answered your endless questions. Maybe it was a curriculum author whose philosophy resonated with your heart or maybe you were blessed to have a supportive spouse, grandparents, church friends or an online community who encouraged you when you wondered if you were making a terrible mistake.
No hero succeeds entirely alone.
5. Crossing the Threshold
Eventually there comes a moment when there is no turning back.
You cleared a corner of the dining room table, you purchased your first curriculum and you announced your decision to family and friends.
You took the first real step into unfamiliar territory. You crossed the threshold.
6. The Trials
This is where every good story becomes interesting. You might not have giants to slay, a cursed ring to destroy or unchartered lands to map, but homeschooling, like every hero’s journey, entails overcoming many challenges:
- Your carefully made timetable is abandoned after three days
- Someone refuses to do maths
- Someone else cries over handwriting
- Your schoolish curriculum sabotages the joy of learning
…and the inevitable disruptions seem endless!
You discover that homeschooling is less about finding the perfect curriculum and far more about developing patience, flexibility and perseverance.
Along the way you encounter the inevitable critics. Some ask sincere questions but others assume your children will become socially awkward, academically deficient or hopelessly unprepared for adult life. Their comments sting, like the arrows of an enemy.
Sometimes your own doubts are louder than anyone else’s criticism. Read about The Homeschool Thief, one of the homeschool hero’s greatest antagonists!
Every hero faces obstacles.
Without them, the story would not be worth telling.
“In contrast to what many homeschoolers believe, God’s initial goal for Christian homeschooling families is not the raising of godly children. Instead, God’s wonderful but subtly hidden agenda is that the homeschooling experience be so challenging for the parents that they feel the need and hunger for a closer walk with their Heavenly Father.” ~ Kyle Miller
7. Unexpected Victories
Heroes also discover strengths they never knew they possessed.
You become a researcher, a problem-solver, a teacher and co-learner, a librarian, a science lab assistant, a history enthusiast, a nature guide and your children’s CEO – Chief Encouragement Officer!
You probably also become a homeschool freedom advocate, making submissions to the government to protect your children from legal and administrative overreach!
And then the ‘magic’ unfolds: You watch your children become curious learners instead of passive recipients of information. You notice conversations growing deeper, you see confidence replacing anxiety and you witness siblings becoming genuine friends.
Many of these victories will never be reflected on assessment sheets or standardised tests, yet they shape lives forever after…
8. The Treasure
Stories often speak of finding treasure. Most often the treasure is not literal gold or gems.
- The Secret Garden and its miraculously restorative effect was the treasure that Mary Lennox unlocked when she found a key lying in the ground.
- The once rude and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge discovered the wealth of generosity and human connection in A Christmas Carol.
- In The Wizard of Oz, The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion discovered that the journey itself unleashed the intellect, compassion and bravery that was already inside them all along.
Homeschooling’s treasure is seldom a trophy or a certificate, instead it is the relationship you’ve built with your children. It is knowing who they are becoming. It is watching them discover their gifts instead of simply fitting into someone else’s timetable. It’s being able to cultivate their interests and talents. It is seeing learning become a lifelong delight rather than a task to endure. It’s about Mining the Gold in Your Homeschool Situation
These are treasures that cannot easily be measured, yet they are the priceless rewards of home education and they last forever. Read more about The Hidden Blessing of Homeschooling.
9. Returning Home Changed
Every hero eventually returns home, but he or she is no longer the same person who first set out.
Too soon your homeschooling journey will end. The books will be packed away. The dining room table will stay clear. You’ll have a tidy house and the noise will fade.
Your children will become adults, probably with families of their own, but you will not be the same person who nervously wondered “Can I do it?” and then later worried “Am I Doing Enough?”
Neither will your children be the same children that started out on this learning journey.
You will have grown together. You will have shared adventures, solved problems, laughed over failures, celebrated victories and written a family story unlike anyone else’s.
You are Living the Story
The hero’s journey continues to resonate after thousands of years, not because it is merely a pattern found in great literature, but because it reflects real life.
Heroes are not fearless. Heroes are ordinary people who have the courage to act, in spite of their fears.
They decide that something matters more than their fears.
Albert Einstein said: “The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.”
That’s the hero.
Every morning that you choose to invest your time, your energy and your love into your children’s education, you answer that hero’s call again.
You are choosing the road less travelled. You are facing challenges, overcoming obstacles and growing stronger along the way.
You may not wear the physical armour of a hero. Most likely you carry a pencil and a coffee mug instead of a sword and shield, but you are courageous nonetheless and we salute you!
Also Read
Why Homeschooling Moms are Better Than Teachers
Five Things to Remember to Homeschool with Confidence
9 Tips for Winning Dad’s Support for Homeschooling
How CAPS Sabotages Learning—and How Footprints Restores It with Purposeful, Joyful Education
From “Invisible” to a Validated Cultural Heritage