This picture has always been my image of how homeschooling looks—not at my house, mind you, but for the “real” homeschoolers, the ones with ten stairstep children, perfect schedules, and no tantrums or mashed potatoes on the walls. Our real day looks just a tad different! We are the Wright family, Ronny and Anne Margaret and our little brood of chickadees: Josiah (11), Benjamin (6), Gabriel (3), Abigail (2), and Zechariah (1). Each of our kids is a precious gift from God, and each has his or her own challenges or special needs. Josiah, who is gifted academically and has a heart of gold, serves as the Number One Safety Officer and Gopher (and family cartoonist). Benjamin, Gabriel, and Abigail all joined our family through adoption and all have Down syndrome. Each has many struggles and a smile and hug that could warm the coldest heart! Zechariah is shaping up to be as bright and curious as Josiah and as sweet as the rest. And to keep the mix a little crazy, Ronny and I are both licensed psychologists. So far I’m still winning the arm wrestling matches for who gets the privilege of homeschooling the kids!

God has given us such a blessed mission with our crew, but it is sometimes hard for others to understand, especially when they see us going somewhere with two double strollers, a big backpack filled with diapers and medical equipment, oxygen tanks, and invariably a little trail of cereal or juice leaking out the back! So many times I’ve seen others touched by a brief interaction with the kids, and so many times someone has encouraged us during a difficult day. For all the complexities, our lives are really pretty simple: try to love God with all of our hearts, and serve Him by loving and caring for the beautiful children He has graced us with.

On a typical day you can usually find us at home getting up at—well—later than 6 AM, because we’ve been up several times the night before with the baby or with Abby. With four kids in diapers, great philosophical discussions frequently occur over diaper changes or g-tube feedings! Abby has heart, lung, kidney, and feeding problems, so she has spent several months in the hospital over 11 different stays. She is on oxygen and a monitor to check her oxygen level 24/7, is fed through a feeding tube, and wears glasses and a hearing aid. Abby spent most of her first three months in the hospital. During that time Josiah filled her room with “get well” signs and reports about her heart conditions, hurricanes, science topics, and anything else we could think of to keep his fertile mind busy and learning! During Abigail’s third heart surgery, he studied for the local homeschooling spelling bee by having the nurses ask him to spell the hardest words they could find.

As for curriculum, we’ve used everything from workbooks to license plates and pasta letters! What’s the point of homeschooling if you can’t have a little fun with your kids? We frequently “do school” on the way to and from doctor’s appointments, with Josiah reading out loud or working through math homework together while I drive the 80 miles to the hospital. On days with lots of therapy for the kids, he does some independent work, and on calm days we work together. We build language arts, history, art, social studies, and more into unit studies based on great literature, such as reprinted classics from Vision Forum and stories of missionaries from YWAM or Voice of the Martyrs. Each study ends in a culmination night with a presentation of the kids’ work and a meal or other related activities. For Josiah, we use Connected Mathematics from Prentice Hall because it allows him to explore math through critical thinking skills. For science we use Switched-On Schoolhouse, videos from Family Pass and Discovery Channel Education, and other materials we find on our own. We listen to the Bible on CD at breakfast, and Ronny does more Bible study with the kids at bedtime. Benjamin and Gabriel are both doing some great preschool activities a little at a time. Benjamin knows all the letters and their sounds and is beginning to learn to read. Gabriel is just starting to speak, but he can count to five with pride and gusto!

Our most important job as homeschoolers is to teach our children first to love God with all of their hearts and to serve Him with all of their strength. We pray that our children can be useful to God to fulfill His purpose. God doesn’t require great intelligence or talent from us to be useful, only a willing and obedient heart. Sometimes it is hard to relax amid the chaos and let God choose the learning for that day rather than feel pressured by the daily planner. Sometimes it is hard to let the laundry go another day because somebody just needs some mommy time. Sometimes it is hard to know how hard to push and what goals to set or how to accomplish those goals. But as Romans 8 promises, always we see the hand of God working in the lives of five beautiful little faces, and we see Him shining His light through those faces to all who are blessed to know and love them.

Dr. Anne Margaret Wright is a licensed psychologist and homeschooling mom of five delightful special children. She can be reached at rawright@skybest.com. Dr. Wright and her wonderful husband of 17 years live in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, where God frequently allows them to maintain their sanity.