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Like many bloggers, Amy Kear of
My Smoky Mountain Homeschool
never heard of the word “blog” before last
spring. However, when you look at her
blog, that’s not exactly obvious. She won
Tennessee’s best blogger award. When
you visit her blog, you instantly know
why. Her blog design, along with fabulous
family photos, cute graphics, and
wonderful writing all contribute to her
award-winning blog. She was also voted
best photo blog for 2005.
Amy praises the Suarezes for starting
such a wonderful homeschool blogging
community.
“I am thankful to Paul, Gena, and The
Old Schoolhouse for giving us the oppor-
tunity to have a place to come together
and share our joys, frustrations, accomplishments,
ideas, and fears with others. I
believe that successful homeschooling depends
a lot on your support system. This
allows those who may not have that type
of support system to have a place to go for
encouragement.”
Amy is in her second year of homeschooling.
Previously, her older children
(ages 8 and 6) attended public school. She
also has a toddler. Last year her family
used A Beka. This year she switched to
Sonlight, which a dear friend introduced
to her. Amy loves it. It’s everything she
expected it to be. But the transition to
home has had some challenges.
“Trying to get out the ‘public school’
frame of mind was the most challenging.
Once I realized that they didn’t have to
be sitting at a desk doing paperwork four
hours a day to be learning, it was much
easier to relax and have fun.”
However, in those challenging moments,
Amy has experienced many joys.
A special one that is etched in her mind
was when she was reading Peoples of the
World. She told her two daughters about
a Hindu who worked with her husband.
Both girls became alarmed and asked if
their daddy had shared Jesus with him.
“They wanted to know if Daddy told
him about Jesus. I told them yes, and they
wanted to know if he prayed and accepted
Jesus. I told them no. They said that we
needed to pray for him. Then I told them
about one of their friends whose dad was
a Muslim. The girls asked what her mom
was. I told them she was a Christian. They
wanted to know what their friend was. I
told them that her parents were raising
her as both. Sarah Beth just shook her
head. I asked her what was wrong. She
said, ‘Mommy, that just isn’t right.’ Right
there, during school, both of the girls
prayed and asked Jesus to reveal Himself
to these two men who didn’t know Him,
and they prayed that they would accept
Jesus as their Savior.”
It is in stories like this that Amy receives
the reassurance that what she is doing is
making a difference in the hearts and lives
of her children and those around them.
And now that she’s blogging we’ll all share
in the joys and challenges with her.
Stop by and visit at My Smoky
Mountain Homeschool.
Copyright 2006. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Spring 2006, pages 63-64.
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