How God Prepared Me to be a Homeschool Mom

Do you believe that everything happens for a purpose? That there's a reason why God allows us to go through certain experiences? I do.

I believe that God has an amazing plan for our lives and that He guides our every step. I believe that He doesn't waste our experiences -- be they good or bad, happy or sad. Everything that happens to us contributes to the kind of person that God wants us to become. It's up to us to make the most of these experiences so that all these can bring us closer to our destiny.

In line with these beliefs, I'd like to share with you how I think God prepared me to be a homeschool mom to my kids.

Let me share a bit about our family for the benefit of those who came to this blog for the first time. I work from home to manage a consulting and publishing business while I homeschool my two boys, ages 5 and 2. I'm also currently pregnant with our third baby. My husband works outside the home but he helps me homeschool the boys whenever he is home.

I consider homeschooling as one of the biggest blessings we have received in our family life. Recently, I realized that it's no accident that my husband and I are now homeschooling our kids. I realized that God prepared me for this role of becoming a homeschool mom.

Why do I say so?

First, God led me to make a career shift early in my career. I graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration and I was blessed to land a job right after graduation that allowed me to practice what I studied in college. I was doing well and was being promoted from one position to the next. But something inside me was moving me to look for something more. This led me to discover that helping people grow to reach their full potential and watching them improve their performance gave me much fulfillment. This insight came while I was a Certified Training Manager in the restaurant where I was working at that time. I was still part of the restaurant's operations but training the team members, supervisors and managers were also part of my main responsibility. Eventually, I decided to concentrate on training and to turn my back on restaurant operations. I resigned from my job in the restaurant industry because there was no vacancy in the company's Training Department then.

Second, God led me to work in a training firm where I learned a lot of skills related to training. The company had just closed a deal with a big client when I joined them. We needed to create a number of training programs for this client. Aside from conducting regular training for the company, I also learned to design training manuals and materials in this new job. It was in this job that I learned many basic skills like using Power Point for presentations, to write training manuals for the programs we've created and to make participant handouts. After this company, I moved to another company where I spent a lot of time going around Luzon to conduct training regularly.

My biggest break in training and human resources happened when God led me to work in a multinational company first as a Training Officer and then eventually as Training Manager. I spent around six years working in this company learning and developing my skills in training, organization development, and human resources. It was in this company that I designed countless individual training plans for its employees. I have also created a number of training programs for this company which was used in the Philippines and abroad. I also learned to use and create structured learning exercises (SLEs) for my trainees or audience to make our training and workshops engaging, interesting and more effective.

Looking back, I realized that these jobs helped prepare me in what I'm currently doing now as a homeschool mom to my kids, especially to my eldest son. My husband and I have not bought a curriculum ever since we started homeschooling them. I was the one designing their programs and curriculums. Our children benefit much from my experience because they get curriculums customized to their needs and interests, something similar to the individual training and development plans that I design for our employees in the past as I prepare them for advancement to different positions in the company where I used to work. I also use SLEs to vary my teaching methods and to address my kids' unique learning styles.

Aside from the fact that the schools that provide individualized curriculums to their students are very few (I discovered this as I tried to search for this kind of schools for our eldest son), our family was able to save on education costs because of this. The tuition fee per school year in progressive schools ranges from at least P50,000 to over a hundred thousand pesos. Yet, these schools do not offer individualized curriculums for their students. I discovered a school a couple of months ago that provides individualized curriculum design for their students who exhibit giftedness and advancement in certain areas but this school's location is very far from our home. So, my husband and I decided to continue homeschooling our eldest son together with his younger brother.

Me and my two boys. Coming soon is another baby boy!

I have grown to appreciate my previous work experiences because of my role now as a homeschool mom to two kids. Their special needs make me even more grateful to God that He has led me to this path. Homeschooling is still not a walk in the park given my background and experiences. But these skills I have developed through the years make my job a bit easier and more manageable. Because of these skills also, I have grown to trust God more in the face of uncertainties. We still have a long way to go in our homeschool journey. My eldest is still in elementary (Grades 1, 2 and 3 because of his asynchronous development) while my second child is still in pre-school. This knowledge though that God has prepared me for this role gives me confidence and hope that whatever future challenges I would face, God is guiding and equipping me every step of the way. 

Last but not least, I thank God that because of the skills I have developed and honed through the years, I can now afford to be a consultant for Management, Training, and HR solutions. This enables me to work from home most of the time so I can homeschool my kids. And even when I need to conduct workshops or training outside the home, God blesses me most of the time with clients and projects that allow me to bring my family with me to these events.  

Do you also feel that God prepared you for your role as a homeschool mom? Feel free to share your story by leaving a comment. I'd love to connect with other homeschool moms, especially those that homeschool kids with special needs.