Living Life Fully is on Today’s Schedule

Back in early 2020, schools were among the many entities being shut down across the county. Our two oldest children, Brianna and Bridget, began learning from home using the Chromebooks that were sent home along with them.

They found themselves doing their work virtually and emailing pictures of their assignments to their teachers for grading,
all while we were caring for our newborn son, Blaise. A couple of months later, the school year was finished and the computers returned. We had made it through a never-before-seen paradigm shift in modern society.

As the summer was quickly approaching and the next school year was preparing to begin, our family had a decision to make.

On the one hand, we had to face the possibility of sending our children back to school only to follow strict masking and social distancing guidelines. On the other hand, we had already successfully “home-schooled” for two months and felt like we could do this again.

Our Prayerful Decision

After conducting online research and praying over our decision, we were led to Seton. Knowing several other homeschool families in our area who also use Seton and being devout Catholics ourselves, it was mostly a no-brainer.

In Kansas, the requirements to homeschool are quite simple. We simply had to go online to register our home address as a “school.” After deciding on St. Anthony Academy for our school name, we ordered our books. How easy it was to set up lesson plans! The kids were excited to try something different.

In the beginning, things were very informal. We were looking for routines we wanted to keep and those we wanted to change or discard.

The kids would complete their morning rituals of eating breakfast, brushing their teeth, and making their beds. But now, instead of loading up in the car to drive to school, we would begin the school day in our own home with our morning offering and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Our work schedules allowed us to teach together. How rewarding it was to teach our children things like multiplication, cursive, and their catechism! We could spend more time on subjects we determined they needed while we spent less time on subjects that came easier for them.

We saw our daughters growing in knowledge and love of Jesus and their neighbor by leaps and bounds. We incorporated things such as trips to our local Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel and First Friday Devotions into their curriculum.

The Phone Call

Then, in mid-2022, I received a phone call out of the blue asking if I’d be interested in applying for a new job.

After much discerning, I ended a fifteen-year career in law enforcement to work in Catholic radio. I began working in September 2022 for Divine Mercy Radio, a network of five Catholic radio stations which spans much of northern Kansas.

This abrupt schedule change meant that I would teach my portion of the classes in the afternoon while Jennifer continued to teach in the morning.

Then, while I was teaching, Jennifer could work from home in the afternoon, making rosaries and rosary bracelets as her Etsy-based business, Mary’s Ropes of Hope, was taking off. It seemed that devotion to Our Lady’s Psalter was growing across the country.

The children were adapting to our new schedule with ease and were soon exceeding expectations in academics, their catechism, and becoming disciples of Christ. God had been good to us.

Three years after first researching the possibility of homeschooling, we had two daughters in Seton and a son growing up before our eyes. Brianna and Bridget were finding themselves loving homeschooling more and more.

On Our Family’s Schedule

They were growing into their roles as big sisters. We still were doing things we used to do before we began homeschooling. But now we doing them as a family and on our schedule.

We took field trips to the pumpkin patch and even the zoo. Once, we took a field trip to our local Fort Hays to learn how and why it was built in the 1800s. This turned into a history assignment, of course.

Most recently, because we homeschool and set our own schedule, we were able to make an impromptu five-hour pilgrimage to neighboring Missouri for a literal hands-on experience venerating a hopefully soon-to-be saint, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, who was found to be incorrupt upon exhuming her body four years after her death. We would not have been able to experience this if we had not chosen to homeschool.

Seton has been a blessing for us over these past three years. It has allowed us to grow closer as a family, grow in our knowledge as we learn with our children, and grow in our faith.

To anyone considering homeschooling, Seton is easy to use, challenges our children, and incorporates our Catholic Faith into every aspect of learning, which can help lead us all to become saints someday.

“If you want to talk about the first steps for starting a Catholic radio station I would be happy to share our Seton family’s experience.” Nathan Lang – nathan@dvmercy.com 785-621-4110.