Homeschool Moms in the Wild: Missy Lemacks

Write a short introduction about yourself: 

Hi, I’m Missy. I’m a mother of five, and I focus on keeping everything alive from children to goats, pigs, cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, etc. If it breathes, we specialize in keeping it alive. 

When did you begin homeschooling?

I feel that schooling is beyond K5-12, so to me homeschooling starts at birth… But if you want some realistic numbers, this is my seventh year homeschooling. I feel like I am always beginning homeschooling over again as the youngest get old enough to join the classroom.

How did you begin homeschooling? 

I can’t remember the year I submitted my first letter of intent, but I do remember making the decision to homeschool when I was pregnant with our very first child. I was a sign language interpreter for the school system convinced that my situation was perfect; when they became school-age, my kids would have the same schedule as me. But that life was never for me. When I was about six months pregnant with my oldest, I became aware that God was telling me to quit my job and stay home to take care of our children. I finished out the school year, gave my resignation, and had our first child a month later. I have never looked back since! The biggest obstacle to this life was scaling down to a single income, which, once we did it, seemed suddenly manageable. My reason to start homeschooling is because I knew life could be no other way for our family (now with five children). I am still blown away that I get to be home with my kids every single day to teach them. It is one of the fullest joys I have ever known in life.

What type of homeschooler are you? . 

I enjoy an emphasis on outdoors and nature,  but also learning basic life skills. We are a small homestead and our school day starts with my children waking up and going outdoors to feed our animals, rain or shine. This is teaching them stewardship. Once they’re back inside, we work together to get breakfast on the table; this is teaching them the importance of every part supplying. It’s in the name of education, but really it’s just life together. Each person works together as a team to accomplish what we need for that day. Every day will look a little different. Some days we make sourdough, other days will be math or language arts. We may sew or read a book together. Sometimes, we might even have to bury a dead chicken, but that’s another story. I’m not trying to prepare them for college, I’m prepping them for life. I’m prepping them for the homes and families they will lead when they one day start their own. 

What is your favorite thing about homeschooling? 

Getting to be with my children is by far my favorite thing about homeschooling. My second favorite thing is just getting to be outside at any time of the day and getting to set our own schedule depending on what we want to do for that day. If the weather is really nice, the books can wait. 

What are/were your homeschool wins?

My homeschool wins look different day to day, from child to child. Some days I’m just glad we made it through the day without tears (myself or the children); other days it’s wondering, “will they ever learn this!?” and getting to see things finally click weeks or months later. But if I could answer it more fully, the biggest win to me is when my kids are frustrated (and frustrating), at the end of it all, by working through it, we have grown closer.

What would you do differently?

I’m always learning every day, but if I could change one thing it would have been the lack of patience I started off with. Patience with myself and the children. I wish I would’ve made it more about connection rather than completion. I do hope my children have a more patient version of me today, but I am not the same person I was when I started this homeschooling journey. Homeschooling has been just as much about me transforming as a mother as it has been for my children to transform as learners. I am thankful for the life lessons it has taught me along the way. I wish I could’ve started off with that same knowledge, but hindsight is always 20/20. But here I am halfway through my journey with my older children and not yet begun with my younger children. Every day is a new opportunity for grace. Being open with my children has taught them a greater lesson than trying to hide or pretend that I had it all figured out.

Who inspires you to continue homeschooling?

My family! There are many days I get buried: there are too many dishes, bread needs to get made, laundry is piling up, and meanwhile the toddler has filled the toilet with toys. And I have only homeschooled three out of five kids.  Part of me wants to act like a martyr and think how tough I have it in a day, but really, when I stop and look at it, I realize what an honor it is to be in this moment of life. It’s my family that I wake up for and do it all over, again and again, every single day. The monotony, the stress, but also the reward that I get to be with them. To serve my family is the deepest passion of my heart and to get to be with them for this short moment in their lives called childhood. What an honor!

-Missy Lemacks

Interview by Shelby Gwinn