Because the Trail Guide to Learning series is an all-inclusive curriculum, covering everything except math, families considering the curriculum often wonder how long they can expect to spend on it each day. The length of time can vary according to your children, but most families can expect to spend 2-3 hours a day when in younger grade levels, and 3-4 hours a day for Older students. During that time, you and your students will be covering:

• Copywork or dictation
• Reading - both independent reading and read-aloud assignments
• Spelling/word study
• History or science (on alternating days)
• Geography
• Writing/grammar
• Art and/or music
• Related hands-on activities

The text is written to the student, but it is intended for regular parent interaction. Typically, my kids and I do the majority of the work together, as a family, which was the vision of the authors - for families to enjoy learning together.

How are the Trail Guide to Learning lessons scheduled?

Because each daily lesson is completely laid out for the parent to be able to just pick up and go, many families go through each daily lesson exactly as it is scheduled in the book, while others have found that it works better for their families to rearrange the lesson order. 

Many families with older children find that it works best to complete lessons in which the whole family participates in the morning hours. This allows older children to do their independent work in the afternoons while the teaching parent focuses on helping younger siblings.

This always worked well for my family. We would save assignments such as independent reading, art, and music for the end of the day so that each child was able to finish those assignments, and math (which is not included) at his own pace. Other families like to reverse this order, with older children working independently in the morning and the family working together in the afternoon.

One of the wonderful benefits of Trail Guide is that it was designed with homeschooling families in mind. It was written by homeschooling parents, for homeschooling parents. It offers the ultimate ease-of-use by having all of the lesson planning done for you, but there is plenty of room to rearrange and tweak to suit your family's needs.

By Kay Chance

Last year my son took biology through a co-op class. For the tests they were required to know at least twenty vocabulary definitions for each unit, so I told him he needed to study the words and then I would quiz him. Unfortunately, when I quizzed him on the definitions he didn’t remember very many. It was as if he hadn’t even seen the words. So we tried something else. This time I said the definition to him and he would repeat it back to me, back and forth, until he had them down. Why couldn’t he just read the definitions over and over instead of saying them over and over to learn them? My friend’s son was in the same class and could take the book, memorize the words quickly, and be ready for the test without saying them aloud. Why the difference?

Perhaps one of the biggest factors, besides interest in the subject, was a matter of learning styles. There are many excellent books and resources on this topic, and if you look up learning styles on the Internet, you’ll soon find there are multiple labels and theories about them. Learning styles are the ways, techniques, or manners in which we gain knowledge. Webster’s 1828 defines learning as “gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice.” One of the most common ways to categorize learning styles is visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners; and those categories can be clearly seen in Webster’s definition:

Gaining knowledge by instruction (auditory) or reading (visual), by study, by experience (kinesthetic) or observation (visual); acquiring skill by practice (kinesthetic.)

The following is a chart to help simplify the concept (especially for you visual learners) that includes a definition of each kind of learner, their characteristics, and a few learning strategies for each type:

The most important thing to remember, though, isn’t a list of labels. Instead, keep in mind that each of your students is a unique individual. Because of this, they will have different interests, different ways in which they learn best, and specific preferences for how they learn—and one way isn’t any better than another. Does that sound overwhelming when you think about your family? Do you think, “How in the world can I teach all these unique individuals without running myself ragged? How can I teach more than one child without buying a separate curriculum for each?” Don’t worry! It can be done.

For one thing, if a person prefers to learn by listening, that doesn’t mean he won’t learn anything by reading. If she loves hands-on activities, it doesn’t mean she can’t get anything out of an educational video. People usually have more than one learning style, especially during different stages of life. For example, all young children can benefit from using concrete objects to learn math. Most have a mixture of styles, though usually you’ll notice a dominant one. My son, who learns better with auditory methods, is also a very good reader. Just think of identifying a student’s dominant learning style as another tool in your educational tool box. You can use all the tools in the box, but sometimes you need that special tool to help fix a specific problem—like when your student has to memorize a lot of biology words! Sometimes you can use a different tool for a job (yes, I have hammered a nail with the end of a screwdriver), but another tool might be more effective.

So how does identifying your children’s learning style help you to choose a curriculum? For one, if you have a student who is predominately a kinesthetic learner, you probably need to stay away from curriculums that do not include any activities. If you have an auditory learner, a workbook-based curriculum might not be the best. If you have a visual learner, perhaps learning a foreign language from a CD isn’t the best.

I believe the most effective curriculums use a variety of materials and methods and are adaptable to multiple students.

Consider the following:

• When a family reads aloud and discusses what they are reading they are reaching the student who is an auditory learner.
• When a family does a science experiment they are reaching the kinesthetic learner.
• When a family watches an educational DVD, they are reaching the visual learner.
• When a family takes a nature walk they reach all three: the visual learner observes, the auditory learner hears the sounds of nature, the kinesthetic learner gets to move.
• When families create notebook pages, they reach all three provided they let the auditory learner tell someone about it (narration)!

I hope you will consider the Trail Guide to Learning Series as you search for the curriculum that fits your family’s needs the best. In it you will find a variety of methods and activities based on multiple learning styles. These are just a few examples:

For the Visual Learner: Reading (including visually appealing books like The Story of the Orchestra, Good Ol’ Cowboy Stories; and a variety of atlases); Making charts and graphs, DVD (in POS); Vocabulary cards; Copywork

For the Auditory Learner: Read-alouds; Narration; Discussion; Speeches; Music CDs; Dictation

For the Kinesthetic Learner: Drawing, water color painting, sculpting with clay; Games for review; Notebooking; Optional lap-books; Experiments; Activity books including Going West and Lewis and Clark Hands On.

My son looked up from his math, pointed his finger in the air, and exclaimed, “Kid’s grades could be in danger!” He had found a mistake in his text. You might think that is a unique reaction to finding a mistake in a textbook, but I knew exactly why he said it. We had recently finished reading aloud Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. In it, Nathaniel Bowditch, who wrote The American Practical Navigator, was furious when he found a mistake in the mathematical calculations of Moore’s Navigator. He declared, “Men’s lives depend on these figures!” knowing that sailors navigated the dangerous oceans based on the accuracy of those calculations. Often some phrase has caught the attention of our family during a read aloud, and it isn’t uncommon for us to begin quoting it around the house. My son had just put his own twist on it.

One of my favorite times of the day when it comes to educating my children at home is reading aloud. When my oldest son, Ben, began his freshman year I chose a curriculum that was designed to be done independently. While reading to my youngest son Daniel, almost daily we would hear a comment—actually multiple comments—from the other room about what we were reading. I finally gave up and let Ben come listen, too. It wasn’t like he was really paying attention to the assignment he was supposed to be working on.

That was when I realized how much I value the time to read aloud with both of my boys. To me it is one of the most beneficial things we do as a homeschooling family. Why? There are multiple reasons, but one is the chance to spend time together—to have a shared experience. In her book, For the Children’s Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macauley explains it this way: “A family, a class, or any group that reads aloud has a sense of communion as they share together ideas and human experiences.” Reading together deepens our relationships through the many discussions that naturally occur during that time. The topics we talk about vary as much as the books we have enjoyed together.

Many homeschooling parents I know are as concerned with character development as academics. Let’s face it, what difference does all the knowledge in the world make when someone lacks the character to handle it well? Reading aloud, and discussing different topics that naturally come up, is a non-threatening way to talk with kids about worthy character traits we want them, and ourselves, to develop. Just as Jesus used stories to teach his disciples, we can use stories to teach our children. For example, when we read Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, we talked about Johnny’s struggle with pride and how he was humbled. We talked about how the prank of one character, Dove—a boy who was jealous of Johnny, and whom Johnny had looked down upon—ended with more severe consequences than he ever imagined. We’ve observed disobedience, selfishness, and fear in the lives of some characters, but we’ve also seen perseverance, courage, faith, and hope in the lives of others. We have seen how imperfect people can grow and change. Sometimes they are fictional characters and sometimes they are real, but all the people we have met through reading have affected us.

This year we have been reading biographies of inventors while working through Paths of Progress. So far our discussions have centered on three main topics: how these great men were able to overcome various obstacles in their lives, how their earlier circumstances influenced their accomplishments, and how they were able to learn, even without formal schooling, and then take what they learned and apply it in new ways.

The biographies featured in the Trail Guide to Learning Series show us how difficult circumstances and even tragedy developed the very characteristics that we remember people for today—the characteristics that allowed them to be successful. And that has given us the opportunity to talk about how we never know how God might use our present circumstances in our future endeavors. Samuel Morse’s desire to create a quicker way to communicate was born from both personal and national tragedies. Michael Faraday overcame a speech impediment with the help of a stranger he met on the streets of London.

I’m going to be honest here: my kids don’t always value the education they are receiving. Sometimes they even complain about doing schoolwork. I know—gasp! So reading biographies together has allowed us to talk about the fact that these men valued education to the point that they sought out opportunities to learn in ways we might not consider fun. Nathaniel Bowditch from Carry on Mr. Bowditch taught himself several languages by placing a Bible in the language he wanted to learn by his own. Then, he went through it verse by verse, comparing the two versions, to learn the new language. Michael Faraday learned through copywork, taking notes and drawing diagrams, going to lectures, talking with mentors, and corresponding with others interested in the same subject. All valuable ways we can learn today, too.

Noticing how these men learned about new things has inspired discussions about how to learn. Many copied passages from the books they were reading and developed relationships with those who were interested in the same things. We noticed how Morse first wrote down all he knew about subjects such as electricity and magnetism as he began to develop an idea for how people might communicate more quickly. Ben said “Well, he had a lot of time to think since he was stuck on a ship for months.” This, of course, lead to a discussion of how it takes time—quiet, uninterrupted time—to learn and to be creative. We talked about the importance of not filling up all our days at the expense of time to think.

I’m praying the lives of these great men speak louder than my words about how privileged we are to have education so readily available to us. I hope they can see that characteristics such as tenacity, perseverance, creativity, along with hard work are traits they, too, can develop. Like Faraday, may they—actually we —“stand on the shoulders of giants.”

My boys aren’t the only ones learning in this process. Through Michael Faraday’s mother, I have been confronted with the importance of faith and encouraging my children to pursue their God-given talents and interests. Yes, by reading with my children, I have learned probably more than they have. The discussions we have give me a window into my children’s minds. I have the privilege of hearing their perspectives and ideas. They have had some pretty amazing insights over the years, and, yes, there have been times I’ve had to ask “Did you even hear what I was just reading?” (Just want to keep things real here!) But whatever the responses are, we get to share it—together.

When I was young, my grandmother made my sister and I a special calendar to hang on the wall during the month of December. It was a large rectangle of red and white felt, and there were 25 candy canes tied to it. Each day we removed one candy cane until it was Christmas. I still remember that calendar fondly, but my total focus as a child was what happened when all the candy canes were gone: Opening all those presents under the tree! My sister and I always counted each present we were going to get—and made sure we had the same number of gifts. We would shake the boxes trying to figure out what they were, and one year we even carefully unwrapped two of our matching gifts to sneak a peek, and then rewrapped them so our parents wouldn’t know. (I can tell you all this now that we finally “‘fessed up” to our mom a few years ago!)

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with children looking forward to presents, but do we really want that to be the main focus of this Christmas season? How can we help our children keep it all in perspective—to enjoy and be thankful for any gifts received, as well as being excited about giving to others?  It begins with us setting the example! As we make our Christmas list of family and friends, take time to really think about what would benefit or be an encouragement to each of them. Ask your kids for their ideas, too. We can also go out of our way to be gracious and patient with those who are working in restaurants and retail stores during this busy season. Our kids are watching us, and they are learning.

Be creative with your time and talents. Brainstorm ideas about how you can give to others as a family and individually. And remember giving to others doesn’t always mean buying a gift. It can be gifts of service, thoughtfulness, and encouragement, too. Hopefully the following list will help you think of fun ways to focus on others during this wonderful season! And please, share your ideas with us on our blog!

10 Ways to Focus on Others

1. Make cookies, candy, or bread for neighbors.
2. Choose a family you know who could use some anonymous  gift certificates left on their doorstep.
3. Offer to babysit for a young mother so she can do some Christmas shopping.
4. Have an old-fashioned caroling party. Get some  family and friends together and go around the neighborhood singing carols and handing out Christmas cards.
5. Many charities need extra help during the holidays! Choose one to  donate some time. For example,  volunteer to serve with  Meals-on-Wheels or  at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
6. Plan a scavenger hunt for your children and their friends  seeking food items from willing neighbors. When they are finished collecting the items on their list, take them to deliver the food to a food bank.
7. Make home-made Christmas cards to give out at a nursing home in your area. Sing some Christmas carols for the residents, or play games and visit with them. We found a nursing home in our downtown area that few, if any groups, visit during the holiday season. You might want to check and see if there is one like that in your town, too.
8. Invite some neighbors, who you’ve been wanting to get to know, to your home to host a “Hot Chocolate Party.” Play games and enjoy getting to know one another.
9. Take small gifts, cookies, or cards to those who serve your kids or your family—their teachers at church, the mailman, the family doctor, etc.
10. Have kids write specific thank you notes to those who have given to them. Instead of a quick “Thank you for giving me ________,” they can tell the giver how much they appreciate the gift, how it will be helpful to them, and something encouraging to the person who gave the gift.

When my husband and I decided to homeschool, I began reading every book on it that I could find. One particular method struck me as “the way” to teach children. So we began our journey using the classical method. It was described as how the great thinkers were educated, and it was rigorous. Rigorous—the word that makes the new homeschooling mother’s heart sing. I mean, who doesn’t want to give their five-year-old a rigorous education? Rigorous means thorough, demanding, and therefore better, right? May I say my five-year-old son wasn’t nearly as excited about a rigorous education as I was.

So I kept reading and researching. And as I learned more, my ideas about education changed. I started asking questions like:

• What is education, anyway?
• How can I help my sons develop a love for learning?
• What should they be learning about at the different stages of their education?
• Is learning how to learn as important as what is being learned?
• How would God want me to teach the ones he had entrusted to my care?

As I continued my research, I was drawn to the ideas of Charlotte Mason. We incorporated short lessons and found my son’s attention span increased. We read, and read, and read. I started using copywork and we took nature walks. I “chilled-out” a bit and my son started enjoying it more.

Then my oldest son began his 3rd grade year, and I read Dr. Beechick’s You Can Teach Your Child Successfully.  It was then that I had that “aha” moment. What she wrote just made sense. Slowly I began to incorporate more and more of Dr. Beechick’s methods into my teaching, especially in the area of language arts. A few years later, I wrote a literature based unit for a small co-op that included reading, language lessons, art projects, and notebooking. I had a friend encourage me to write a language arts curriculum at that point, but I didn’t think too much more about it.

However, in 2009 my husband was laid off from a job he had worked at since before I had even met him. We found ourselves in a very different place financially and I began to try to think of ways that I could help out while continuing to homeschool. I had discovered Trail Guide to Learning: Paths of Exploration the year before, and knew it was an answer to prayer for my youngest son. I loved Dr. Beechick’s methods, and here was a complete curriculum based on those methods by women who truly understood them. It was a perfect match.

As I watched my youngest son’s growth that year, I realized I wanted my oldest son to join us the next year for Paths of Settlement. I wanted us to be learning together, but he was older than the target age groups. That is when I had this crazy idea to e-mail Geography Matters about writing a middle school supplement. Several months later, they responded that yes, they would be interested. All I had to do was send them a prototype—which I did—which they complimented in any way they could, but it was not what they were looking for. Cindy Wiggers called me and graciously set up a meeting between her, Debbie Strayer, and myself to explain what they did want. After talking for an hour, they asked me to try again—which I did—which leads us to this blog. I’m Kay Chance, co-author of the middle school supplements and high school extensions for the Trail Guide to Learning Series. And now I’m excited to begin working with Geography Matters newsletter production and writing their blog.

Just like the chill that sets in during winter, there is a concern that can set in on homeschoolers at this time of year. After the holidays are over and it’s time to go back to school, homeschoolers can start feeling jittery. Looking at the students who may not be thrilled about getting back into the routine and thinking about all you need to cover before the end of the year can produce a sort of panic... one that is easy to fall in to, but hard to get out of! It is the kind of panic that can cause you to throw away the methodology you love (and you know works) in favor of something more traditional, more productive looking, something with more paperwork. In your heart you know it isn’t the best way to learn, but what else can you do to address the rising sense of fear that you won’t get everything done?

The best way to back down this lurking fear beast is to speak educational truth to it.  What do we know about the way children learn, and really anyone for that matter? We know that a variety of types of activities are most effective. If you have ever sat through a college class of three hours of lecture, you know that there is a limit to what you absorb. Some lecture, or instruction is good. Too much can be numbing! So, like a good meal, set a nice educational plate of variety. Incorporate discussion, reading, writing, and activity into your school day.

How do children best remember what they learn? By attaching meaning to it! Learning by rote is best left to doing household chores, your address and the birthdays of your family members. When something that is learned is paired with activity and application it is much more likely to be remembered. The fact or piece of information is now attached to an experience and not just the ability to memorize. That’s why linking literature to content areas like history, science, and geography make so much sense. A memorable character or story connect concepts with content in a way that can seem effortless.

Next, remember where you came from. Perspective is so important in learning. Without seeing the progress you have made since the beginning of the school year, you can forget what has been accomplished. Start your lessons after any extended break with plenty of review before you go forward. It will make everyone feel more successful! Once you have reviewed, your students are up to speed and ready to build on the foundation of learning that has already taken place. Now that you see all that has been accomplished, you can rest knowing that more learning will take place.

Lastly, share the positives you see with your children. It is in your face that they see a reflection of how they are doing. While we know as teaching parents that we must adjust and correct our children, how you do that is of great influence in determining how far you will get! Your children are your blessings, not your educational burdens, so try to remind them of that fact daily. Build an atmosphere of encouragement.

Real learning is a result of these simple keys. Our goal is not just a passing test score, but an equipped, interested learner. Incorporate these easy to apply principles and watch the chill of fear fade, replaced by the confidence  that what you do with your children will produce lasting learning and and students who can use the skills they have been taught. And remember to put this article somewhere you can find it next February...

There are many ways to teach geography. You can use a textbook, curriculum guide, combine with history studies or integrate it with your other subjects. Whatever your choice, be sure to include activities. Most kids love creating their own maps from blank outline maps using an atlas. Geography is a good place to develop or refine memorization skills. It is also perfect for teaching basic research and use of reference materials.  Be sure to teach geographical terms and key facts about each place, too. So where do you begin? Many people ask me which should they teach first U.S. or world? There are vigorous advocates on both sides with compelling reasons to support their opinions.  I think it’s best to incorporate geography every year with literature, history, cultural studies, Bible, and science. However when you’re ready to focus on a study of geography it makes more sense to teach world geography the same time you cover world history and U.S. geography during U.S. history.

Basics

To understand world geography, start with the basics. Introduce the 7 continents and 5 oceans. [Note: Most people don’t realize that in 2000 the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) demarcated and named the 5^th ocean. It starts at 60 degrees south latitude, extends to the coast of Antarctica, and covers over 12 million square miles. ] Teach basic map reading skills with an understanding of latitude and longitude. Go over the legend and meaning of symbols and color. Most atlases provide an overview in the beginning of the book.

 Memorization

Encourage students to memorize common facts about our world. Facts such as world extremes, countries and capitals, and more can be memorized through use of flashcards, crossword puzzles, and daily drills. You can find facts in an almanac, encyclopedia, Internet, or in some atlases. The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide has a handy set of cards you can print from the disk to use while memorizing world facts. Flashcards - Students can make flash cards for each continent listing the highest point, lowest point, area, numbers of countries, largest and smallest country, major rivers and bodies of water, deserts, and more. Use these flash cards to memorize facts about each continent.  Add another card for facts about the world. Include longest river, highest and lowest point, largest country by area and by population, largest lakes, waterfalls, ocean areas, distance around the equator, distance to the moon and sun, driest and wettest place on earth, and more.  Play games with these facts or create your own geography bee challenge monthly, as students learn about the world. Crossword Puzzles – Instruct students to make their own crosswords using the country as a clue and its capital as the answer. Any of the other data obtained, such as those listed above, can be used in a crossword puzzle as well. When students create their own crossword they’ll remember the facts better. To self-test or for geography drill, students answer their own puzzle or swap with others.

Continents

You may want to teach geography by focusing on one continent at a time. A good schedule could be something like this:

• North America (includes Central America) 4 weeks
• South America 2 weeks
• Europe 5 weeks
• Africa 5 weeks
• Asia 5-6 weeks
• Oceania 2 weeks
• Antarctica 1 week
• Literature 6-9 weeks (Read and map Around the World in Eighty Days or some other novel that covers the world.)

• Climate and weather patterns, hottest, driest, coldest, wettest places
• Countries and capitals
• Physical features
• Gems and minerals
• Popular landmarks
• Animals
• Flora and fauna
• Natural disasters
• Food specialties
• Principle crops
• Major buildings
• Active volcanoes
• Population densities
• Languages
• Current events

Schedule some time for review so you never feel like you’re behind. Sometimes your children may want to spend more time in an area because you have piqued their interest. By all means adapt your schedule to indulge those teaching moments.

Geographical Terms

While studying each continent students should learn about the physical features. This is a good time to focus on geography terms. If students learn 2 terms a week they will know over 70 terms in a typical school year. Make flash cards with the term on one side and the definition on the reverse. Or have students create an illustrated geography dictionary with the definition and a drawing or photography depicting each physical feature.

Countries

Study 3-5 or more countries for each continent. Learn about the culture, language, principle crops, bodies of water, economy, language, currency, form of government, and major religion(s). Identify famous people from science, arts, athletics, exploration and more from each country. Make sure they also know what countries and bodies of water surround each country of focus. Select from any of the following or adapt these suggestions to suit your own ideas:

• Cook a popular meal or a dish from the country.
• Use travel videos from the library to see the country, people, clothing, etc. Make a travel brochure highlighting the popular tourist areas of the country.
• Collect stamps or coins.
• Get a pen pal.
• Make a scrapbook of pictures, newspaper clippings and more.

Mapping

With a simple set of outline maps, colored pencils, and a student atlas, kids can create their own personal set of maps that accurately depict your history and geography studies. Make a list of what you want on the map. Each continent map should be labeled with the following:

• Country names
• Capitals
• Major landforms – shaded with various colors
• Use brown triangle for mountain peaks
• Shades of green, yellow and orange can depict rising elevations
• Label mountain ranges, plains, deserts and more across the land
• Rivers, lakes and other bodies of water- draw and label in blue

Additional mapping ideas

Use separate outline maps and shade accordingly– take information from the thematic maps provided in the student atlas.

• Climate
• Land usage
• Population density
• Natural hazards
• Natural resources

Literature

Literature? Sure! It’s fun to integrate geography and literature. If you add a novel set in the region you’ll find the study of geography come alive. Be sure students create a map of the places as the story unfolds. Watch for geography terms, and add new terms you have not yet taught.

Summary

These are some ideas and a framework for teaching World Geography. Start a geography co-op or join with another family once a week or monthly for students to share what they’ve learned. Prepare an international potluck meal and dress the part. Keep a geography notebook and show the notebook a lot. Your kids will never forget what a great time they spent learning geography. You’ll forgive me if I exaggerate a bit– we can always hope, huh!   Cindy

This article uses concepts and ideas from Trail Guide to World Geography and The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. Copyrighted material. It is unlawful to copy the contents of this page and put on your blog, computer or for any other use, without permission and due credit for the work. For permission contact Cindy through Geography Matters by emailing info@geomatters.com.

What a gift homeschooling is. Over my years as a educational consultant, I have had the privilege of seeing many students who struggle. I have also had the privilege of seeing many homeschool parents who are grateful for the opportunity to homeschool and willing to do what it takes to help their children. Gifted children, challenged children, perfectionists, and those who are disabled—all can find success with homeschooling.

The heart of their parents has been inspirational. They will read, learn, listen, discuss, and pray for wisdom. Often the world's counsel has been discouraging, so they often come with a hope, but not much in the way of tangible encouragement. My pleasure is to help them customize their homeschooling program to meet their child's particular needs. That is one of the wonders of homeschooling. There is no limit to the innovation and adaptation that can take place, fitting curricula to needs, teachers to students, schedules to stamina, interests to motivation.

While all children need a program that fits them particularly, there are those children who desperately need this chance for success. Ruth Beechick has often reminded us not to be afraid to blaze your own trail and make the most of what works. Don't worry about what your homeschooling friends do or use. Remember, you are God's perfect provision for your child. Don't be apologetic, be proactive. Don't hold back, go forward in confidence. Your calling to homeschool your precious children will carry you.