Dictionary.com describes sacrifice as “the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.”. Many homeschooling mothers sacrifice career aspirations in order to answer to the higher calling of homeschooling.
I am not saying that homeschooling is a higher calling than a career by any means. I am saying that for homeschooling mothers, homeschooling has a greater pull on them than a career. When I started homeschooling I was running a mural painting service. I only worked about 20 hours a month, but brought home approximately $1000.00 for working those 20 hours. During the Christmas holiday season and springtime, my workload tripled. When I started homeschooling, I thought I could keep up this schedule, but was sorely mistaken. Working from home was one thing, but working on location outside the home, even for 20 hours a week was a feat of astronomical proportions. Even right now, across town sits a half painted mural that I am painting a little at a time as time allows. Needless to say, I only paint for friends and acquaintances now.
As you can see, I had to face the fact that I could not be a mural artist and a homeschooling mom. One of those two aspirations would have to fall by the wayside and wait until life circumstances changed again. I sacrificed my mural painting career to homeschool my children.
Career is not the only thing that is sacrificed for the sake of homeschooling. Homeschooling moms and dads generally feel so strongly about homeschooling that they may sacrifice any number of following:
Second income: Most homeschooling families operate on a single income when at one time both parents may have worked.
Free time: The homeschooling parents, especially if they started homeschooling after their kids had been in school for a while, give up their free time. Where they may have had hours a day at their own disposal, they end up with only minutes.
Responsibility: Homeschooling parents take on the responsibility of all aspects of their children’s education. Parents who do not homeschool only have to be responsible for transportation, behavior and homework. Should a homeschooler fall short there is no one to blame but the parents. Blame is a huge sacrifice to bear, but homeschoolers gladly accept it for the greater good of their child being able to learn on their own terms.
(This essay is an exercise in vocabulary. I encourage you to pick a new word each day and have your children to write an essay. Choose the number of required words according to grade level, age, or ability. ) For more words of the day see: syncretism, autodidact, extreme and mediocrity and more.