May 14, 2025 – Homeschool Moms: We Celebrate You!

Beth Mora

Don’t Miss Your Growing Celebration!

Oh, how time flies! One blink and your infant is a toddler; another blink, and you will be waving goodbye to red tail lights as your child speeds off to the first of their life’s adventures. And you, Mom, make that possible. 

You’re not just any mom; you’re a homeschool mom dedicated to every aspect of your child’s development. You go above and beyond to make a house a home and an education more than a grade on a standardized test. 

However, moms often feel underappreciated for all the 17,000 little things we do from birth to adulthood. Children can’t offer an eloquent “thank you” until many years have passed. But just like you celebrate every growth and developmental milestone in your child’s maturation, you can celebrate how they appreciate you and all you do. 

So, this Mother’s Day, I encourage you to soak in all the appreciation your child is expressing that sometimes we miss. Receive every smile from your infant as a “thank you” for late-night feedings. Say “thank you” to the toddler for the cuddles, rocks, and dandelions given to you with sticky hands. Cherish the scribbled crayon streaks on a homemade card. Proudly wear the orange and lime paisley bow that will never match anything but was purchased with his money. Enjoy every bite of her favorite dessert she made for you and the card with umpteen spelling errors. You sometimes need to be a sleuth to see how loved and appreciated you are! 

The years have passed quickly for me. This year, my little homeschooled children are now parents. I will receive cards with kind, eloquent words, all spelled correctly. I will accept gifts that reflect they know and love me. They will race to call me and wish me a Happy Mother’s Day. But this is not the goal. It is not what I live for.

I live to serve an audience of one: my heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. And through every step of this journey, even when I felt underappreciated, He was there helping me see the gratefulness of my growing child and understanding my worth in His eyes.

Dear Homeschool Mom, you are loved; you are celebrated! 

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About the author

Beth Mora is a staff writer for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC and lesson designer for www.Schoolhouseteachers.com. She is the creator/teacher-on-camera for Here to Help Learning’s Homeschool Writing Program Grades 1-6, and a homeschool conference and women’s events speaker. Meet up with Beth at Home To Home, one of her favorite places to encourage. Everything she does, whether laughable or heart-gripping, is done to honor her Lord and Savior, Jesus. God’s grace is the salve that has healed her own life and is what she offers liberally to others.

Where relationships meet education. Make every moment matter. Fellowship grows wisdom while textbooks simply inform. Turn daily life into meaningful learning. ClassicalConversations.com/TOS

Todd Wilson

Familyman Ministries

This Bud’s for You!

I know a homeschool pioneer who is as tough as the trail is dusty. When everyone else chose the road more traveled, she chose an unmapped path filled with what-ifs and uncertainty. She assumed responsibility for her choices, prayed like crazy, and spent most of her time wondering if she made the right choice.

But even amid uncertainty and constant dangers, she pressed on. She got up each morning, pulled on her boots, herded her young’ns, and hit the trail. She’s a hero . . . a homeschooling legend. And she is . . .

 . . . You.

Yes, others have gone before, blazing homeschooling trails and winning freedoms, but you blaze trails every day. What you do today leads the way for so many others who will follow . . . it might be your child, a young mother at church, or a neighbor who knows no other home educator except you.

So . . . imagine me holding a rose bud out to you in honor as I say with deep appreciation, “For all your hard work in blazing the homeschooling trail for those who will follow—this bud’s for you.”

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About the author

Todd Wilson is a dad, granddad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd’s humor and down to earth realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions, retreats, and churches across the country. As founder of Familyman Ministries and the Smiling Homeschooler, his passion and mission are to remind dads and moms of what’s most important through weekly e-mails, podcasts (The Familyman Show & The Smiling Homeschooler), seminars, and books and products that encourage parents. Todd, and his wife Debbie, still homeschool two of their eight children (six have graduated with four married) in northern Indiana. You can read more at www.familymanweb.com.

We ❤️ homeschool moms! At The Homeschool Well, we help make your job easier with resources and encouragement right at your fingertips. Visit www.thehomeschoolwell.com

Alexandria Letkeman

Thank you, Mom—From a Homeschool Graduate

Dear Mom,

Now that I’m an adult, looking to the future and planning my own homeschool journey, I’m beginning to see so much that Teenager Me couldn’t.

I see the countless hours you poured into planning—not just picking a curriculum but tailoring it to fit each of us for each class. (Let’s be honest . . . a lot of curricula!) I see the time you spent researching, praying, reading, and growing so you could become the best teacher, mentor, and mom possible.

But you weren’t just our teacher. You were our chauffeur, our guidance counselor, our life coach, and our character example. You were everything—often all at once.

I now understand how brave you were to pull us out of the system and take our education into your own hands. The fierceness of your love for us—that you knew in your heart what was right for us, and you wouldn’t let anything (even our occasional bad attitudes) stop you from pursuing that belief.  That decision took so much conviction, boldness, and perseverance. 

I see how often you showed up for us when you had nothing left to give, when you were sick or hurting. I see the quiet sacrifices—the late nights, the early mornings, the unanswered doubts.

And more than anything, I see the fruit of your faithfulness. Because of you, I was protected, I learned how to learn, how to think, how to care deeply, and how to pursue what matters.

So, thank you—for the lessons, the laughter, the hard conversations, the second (and seventy-seventh) chances. Thank you for choosing this path.

You didn’t just teach us math and grammar.

You taught us how to live.

I hope to follow your example and do all of that with the next generation. 

Love,

Your grateful homeschool graduate

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About the author

Alexandria Letkeman began homeschooling with her family in middle school and has recently graduated with honors in 2020. Together with her husband, she has developed a passion for financial literacy, classical writing, and the freedom that homeschooling provides. In pursuit of those passions, she and her husband aim to continue the legacy of The HomeScholar and continue helping homeschool parents homeschool with confidence. One day, Alex plans to start a homesteading farm in Texas featuring mini cows.

Felicity Young

God Uses Us!

Today was the first snowfall! The kids were in and out with snowballs and digging out winter gear. After coffee and morning snuggles, I had my eight‑month old back to sleep. I was dressed (yay me!) and directing traffic from upstairs. When the piano teacher pulled up at 9:30 a.m. I hadn’t even been downstairs yet. My eleven‑year old had made breakfast for everyone while I tended baby. 

Normally, this is no big deal. Mr. Piano Teacher has been coming once a week for over two years now. He has seen our “on top of things” days where we are miraculously sitting at the table doing devotions after pancakes (okay, maybe once), our usual “helter-skelter” days, and our “we forgot today was piano and no one is even up yet” days. 

This messy morning of snowball fights, winter gear hunting, and schoolwork forgotten amongst breakfast dishes, he brought his newly pregnant wife with him. Commence the panic! I hotfoot it downstairs and try to discretely clean up the worst of the mess. I smile and suggest she shove one of the laundry piles covering both couches to the side and make herself comfy. 

While my kids take turns at piano, I make polite conversation, fold laundry, and nag the teenager to get his work done. The baby wakes up to join the fray. My younger students read their lessons to Mrs. Piano Teacher, make her snow cones, and draw her pictures. 

We discuss the weather, pregnancy, and homeschooling. Mrs. Piano Teacher was public schooled and is undecided about education options for baby. 

Once they leave I wonder about her impression of homeschooling now. Good thing God can use even our messiest efforts. I chuckle and wish I could visit other homeschools unexpectedly in the morning. 

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About the author

Felicity Young is a homeschooling mama of five. She serves on the board of the Alaska Private and Home Educators Association.

Do you wish your family read together more? Adventures with Books on SchoolhouseTeachers.com will inspire the whole family to gather on the couch for good stories. Diverse themes, like holidays, authors, nature, seasons, and ice cream, appeal to students of all ages. Be sure to check out the lesson on Space and Mother’s Day for a special Mother’s Day focus! Let reading time come to life for the whole family.