It occurred to me recently (yesterday) that our family is going through a crisis, not just a “difficult time.” When K’s health issues became more serious a few years ago, that was a “difficult time” …. now that the health issues have escalated to make getting through the day (up, dressed, eating) the top priority and working outside of the home near impossible, I think it has become a “crisis.”

Webster’s defines crisis as: “a decisive or critical moment” and I think that’s interesting because I previously understood it to mean something closer to “tragedy.” The actual definition is even more appropriate, in my opinion, because it presses the point that there is a choice here that determines the future path for our family — there is (very) real hardship, but the crisis is our response to it. Will we stand firm in our faith in God to lead us out of this, or will we react to the strain and sacrifice our vision for home and family?

Through this intensely faith-testing time I have been diving into prayer more than ever before in recognition that God is our ultimate Deliverer — not a medical diagnosis or accommodating job, although He may use those things. Trust is one of my hardest lessons in life, but I’m learning not to take matters into my own hands and that He will direct our paths in His time.

Still, homeschooling through any crisis – let alone two – is exceptionally difficult, as many commendable women before me can attest. With my focus so distracted, and understanding that learning doesn’t happen under stress, it’s more important than ever that we have anchor points in our day. Barefoot Girl’s best learning method is hands-on and self-directed which makes it challenging to have somewhat structured days without those anchor points; however, the closeness of shared learning is still important to her need for interaction and for family relations so I avoid too many isolated assignments. Following are the ways in which we are approaching our learning during this season.

Rhythms are more important than ever right not. Education reformers for well over a hundred years have written and spoke about the importance of emotional stability for learning to occur, and I’m quite sure modern educators in public schools would agree. Regardless of whether a child is home or in school during a family crisis, learning is going to be a struggle if there is not comfort and peace in the child or teen’s life — thankfully at home, we can learn how to do that together and develop a mindset to handle life’s difficulties so when they come up in Barefoot Girl’s future she’ll already have practice.

We do that with rhythms; we’ve always homeschooled with rhythms rather than rigid curriculum or schedules — it fits our (hers, actually) better anyway, but at this stage in life it’s essential. It grounds our days. When emotions are high or the day was hard, it’s calming to know what our next soothing rhythm of the day will be. Evening family read-aloud is crucial (for me too! or especially?), nature journaling, time-lining, practicing hospitality so that we are not too self-focused, hymn study, family devotions, and cooking/eating together anchors our days while our dear Wild + Free group and church helps to anchor our weeks.

A slight change I did is to adjust much of our learning time to evenings, and trying to include K as well. This gives us the day to stay busy tending to all the *things,* and puts the long hours of winter darkness to use. So in addition to our anchor rhythms, we may be discussing points in history or doctrine as a family, casually learning Greek or Latin roots with a game that I love but Barefoot Girl finds rather boring, sharing our nature observations, and in general learning how to discuss. I’m fairly certain that there was a certain Greek philosopher who spoke very highly of discussion as a learning form; I think it’s sadly overlooked in our modern dependency on curriculum.

Leaning into grace is *so* hard for my perfectionistic self, but thank God that this is why He tells us to rejoice when trials befall us for we get to learn even more about His grace and this Christian walk! When days turn into months of greatly elevated stress, it’s so important to remember to have grace for each other because tension will definitely stretch us to breaking points. Snapping back doesn’t help (ouch) — what character building! My daily prayer time helps keep me focused on my family’s spiritual needs so I don’t get too caught up in “fixing” our problems as fast as I can — like I can do that anyway. Call it grace-full homeschooling?

Did I mention that K’s been out of work? That means that all the programs, books, or lessons that I want to try are a solid “no” for now. With finances being at a zero budget, we get the creativity of really utilizing the library, the hundreds of books we already own, and our own observational skills that are in need of development. I am really appreciating the lack of internet and tech at home (other than a phone) that is forcing us to hold our thoughts and questions in our heads for longer than five minutes until we get to a book or library to explore.

The most creative way I’m doing this currently is with a monthly themed “morning basket” (except our time is evening) that brings in books/other items on one topic every month or so to keep our minds fresh and interested. This first month – that I’m excited about, probably because I really wish I could have a vacation — is “seashore” and I have literature, art books (seaglass jewelry), water scenes painting books, American artists that focused on sea paintings, a cd of Great Lakes folk songs, and Seabird by Holling C. Holling for a beautiful and unique look at science, geography, and natural history. Next month I’m going to do the Appalachian Trail/Appalachia or Benjamin Franklin – I’m having fun with this!

In the end, what matters is remember that God has called us to this life, and so faithfulness reaps faithfulness. By committing to honor this great caring, I am trusting that He is faithful to care and provide for us as He says He will.