Leroy & Fae | Idaho
We’re a military family of four. My husband has been on active duty for almost 20 years in the Air Force. We are currently living in Idaho. Originally, I am from Alabama and my husband is from Florida. Because of his deployments, we’ve had the opportunity to live in various places, including Spain, Japan, and now here.
Because of our lifestyle, my children have gone to school in the United States and overseas. I also taught ESL overseas. Their first school was actually in Spain. We then moved to Tokyo. It’s large and rich in culture, and they believe in education and in their students. They attended a private academy in Japan, and it was then we found out my daughter had test anxiety. It was off the charts. When it was time for her to do math, she would shut down.
We eventually had to leave Japan and enroll the children in school at our next military base in the US. It wasn’t even remotely close to the education they were getting in Tokyo, and my daughter was still apprehensive about math. What led us to homeschool, honestly, was volunteering in my children’s school. I was there every day. I was on the parent board. I did the math and the reading in my daughter’s class, volunteered at the book fair, and attended assemblies.
"I was able to have a front-row seat to what was going on in the classroom. And I could see where my kids were not accustomed to that much distraction."
I looked at a few different curriculum providers and talked to other moms I knew who homeschooled. Aside from quality, value was incredibly important to us. When you’re looking at homeschool programs, you ask yourself, what is my child going to be actually experiencing? What are they going to be learning? How are they going to be learning? The course materials and the textbooks all play a role. What is the value of what you’re getting? And then, of course, the all-important cost. Is it within your budget?
Abeka Academy was the obvious choice for us as a military family. We move around so much. On average, we’re moving every two years. One thing that is very important to me and my husband is accreditation. Abeka Academy keeps you on track with state standards. It keeps you accountable and if we move again, it would be widely accepted.
When my daughter started Abeka, we saw a difference in just ten lessons, especially in math. Her anxiety is gone, and her confidence has skyrocketed. And for that—just that alone—Abeka Academy is worth it. Homeschool is worth it: the busy days, the hard days, the new days.
It's worth it to see her confidence, for her to say, “I can do it.”
I love that Abeka always asks this one question: Why? I love how the kids are having to get those wheels turning. Why is this my opinion? Why did this happen? The curriculum is prompting these kids to think for themselves and process information critically. And I love how all the subjects connect. You have language and writing that connect with a historical essay. The math, everything, it’s all connected.
Homeschool has shifted so many things in our lives. We have freedom, we can travel, and we don’t have to worry about them missing school, especially with Abeka Academy, because you have the option of streaming their lessons. They can even do their bookwork sitting in the airport. It’s so flexible. Anywhere we travel, the books come with us. We have a special suitcase that we put all the books in. And it is accelerated based on the standards of the American schools we experienced overseas.
Before Abeka, my kids were at school longer than they were with me. Now, as parents, we get that time to spend together, which is so important given my husband’s schedule. And even though we’re homeschooling with Abeka Academy, they’re able to get social interaction with after-school co-op activities, field trips, or just playing with their friends down the street. Before, they couldn’t do that. By the time they got home from school, they still had homework and chores.
My daddy was a military man, and so was my husband’s dad. It shaped us into who we are, especially our integrity. That’s fading in the world today. We also encouraged independence in our children, even from a young age. We love that Abeka Academy encourages that very same behavior. Abeka pushes and challenges them to be better than they were the day before.
Watch Fae talk about her family and their homeschooling journey.
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