Leader Highlight: Michelle
Michelle Newbold, Mentor for Unite Homeschool Network, Inc. & College Planning Advisor, Augustine Classical Academy West
How did you begin homeschooling? What was your motivation?
I started homeschooling 22 years ago when my oldest daughter was in preschool. I was having a hard time figuring out why we were paying for her to learn stuff she already knew and to be bullied by a boy in her class. We pulled her home as an "experiment" and started homeschooling at the kitchen table. Over time we added books and kids and eventually have now graduated 3 and our last has one year left! My main motivation over all these years comes from a passage in the Bible, from 2 Timothy 4:2-5. "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. " My main goal was to train them up to be able to go out into the world with a firm foundation in all areas including spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health.
Tell us about your experience homeschooling.
I loved my years of homeschooling! I won't say it was easy or even fun all the time, because it was hard work, really hard work! We started at a hybrid homeschool program and over the years we did a number of different programs and curriculums including The King's Academy, The Classical School, Living Science, and Classical Conversations. I was of the mindset that not every curriculum or program would work with every child, so we adjusted for each person as needed over the years. Towards the end, each of my kids dual-enrolled a large number of hours in college and high school at the same time. This ended up being helpful in so many ways for us. They grew in maturity and learned how to handle adult situations while they were still at home and under our care. Long term, it also helped them be more free in college to customize their education since they came into college with a lot of free extra credit hours.
What 3 things did you learn along the way that others could benefit from?
1. Learning who they are was so important - their personality traits, their gifts, their strengths, and their weaknesses. This helped me in both parenting them and making educational decisions.
2. Even when my kids were starting to become more independent, they still needed me to check on them, hold them accountable, advise them, read and grade papers, etc. You're not done until the last day of the last class is done. Don't "check out" and leave them on their own because they need you! Even the high schoolers.
3. Teaching them life skills has been a big part of our homeschooling. We started chores when they were very young and kept adding responsibilities as they became age appropriate. Our kids learned to cook, take care of their laundry, cars, and everything in between before they left home. This has proven to really help them launch into adulthood fairly seamlessly!
Tell us more about your accredited transcript business and how you can help our members/readers.
Our business, ACA West, is for all homeschool families in the state of Georgia with students in 9th and up. We offer accredited homeschool transcripts, high school advising, dual enrollment advising and connections, college advising and application assistance, immediate HOPE/Zell Scholarship Eligibility, and inexpensive workshops for groups/community. Also, if you are not planning to accredit, you can work with me on the unaccredited side with my side business, Intentional Arrows.