THE ROAD TO LAMP&SPINDLE

Welcome! We are Lamp&Spindle, a Christian homeschooling family based in Tennessee. Last year, we began creating digital resources that focus on faith, education, and holidays, which we sell on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. This year, we've decided to create this space to share everything we have learned—and continue to learn—about homeschooling, faith, and family.

You can find our products on ETSY & Teachers Pay Teachers

A favorite free little library outside of her preschool.

How did we get here? In the fall of 2018, it became necessary to explore school options for our daughter. She was enrolled in a preschool where I had previously worked, and her teacher was someone I greatly respected and trusted with her care. However, the public school designated for our home at that time was less than ideal. The district had a low rating overall, and the school's location was not a place where I felt comfortable leaving my child. We had been considering moving, as the neighborhood was beginning to decline, and we needed more space since our family had grown from two to four during the six plus years we had lived in our two bedroom starter home. We applied to a local charter school and entered a lottery system to try for a better school placement within the district, and we also continued our discussion on homeschooling.

My husband was homeschooled, so it was something we had always talked about. My family, however, was very involved with a different local school district with national award recognition. My siblings and I had attended school in this district. My parents had both worked for the district. I myself worked as a teacher's assistant and recess monitor there after high school. The idea that we wouldn't automatically put our children in that renowned district was baffling to my family and they were apprehensive about homeschooling. A lot of pressure was (likely unintentionally) put on us to transfer them to that district, or really to do anything other than homeschool. Like a lot of things that I have done that have gone against the grain, I felt conflicted and desired their support. I knew in my heart that I wanted to homeschool; I wasn't ready to put my children in school full time. I already had guilt for putting them in part time daycares and preschool so I could work part time at a family business. I felt like I was missing out on their childhood. I wanted more of it, not less.

Leaf painting in the backyard, nature's classroom.

At the start of 2019 we finally heard back about placement. We were not granted a transfer within the district we were zoned for, but we had been accepted to a highly ranked charter school down the street. We attended the orientation thinking this could be the solution. Not quite. The charter school was heavily focused on academics. So much so that kindergartners had essays hanging on display to showcase the rigor of the curriculum. Homework was a staple for all grade levels and there were no sports or extra curricular activities offered. Was my child capable of this level of academia? Absolutely! According to her preschool teacher she would have had no problem academically, and she emphasized that this charter wasn't something she would suggest for all students. Did I want my young child to be thrown into the pressures of this school? No, no I did not. Just because a child is intelligent, doesn't mean they don't deserve a childhood. The choice was made: we decided to homeschool the following year until we relocated and could assess the school options from our new neighborhood.

Our homeschool space at our second home.

The following school year was 2019/2020, and we all know what that means. In the spring of our daughter's kindergarten year, in the midst of selling our home, COVID hit, and the world shut down. We lived in California at the time, so depending on where you yourself lived, you can either relate or imagine how that went for us. The one thing we had going for us? Homeschool. I watched as our friends and family members with young children struggled to adjust to the online classrooms. The parents were miserable, facilitating this task as they were all suddenly home without the ability to dictate their own days. We had family members who were essential workers, who typically slept during the day, that now had to manage multiple children on different screens with different schedules after coming home from long shifts. I felt guilty for not struggling alongside them in that way. We had a routine and were accustomed to being together. In fact, we enjoyed it. It was at that point that I had no doubt we would never be entering the public school system, and my husband agreed.

So here we are, in our seventh school year, loving life together more and more as time passes. I feel honored to be able to witness my children's growth up close. We have had school everywhere, from our kitchen table to an RV traveling down a bumpy highway. We have had dedicated school rooms and coffeehouse lessons. We have used strict curricula, audiobooks, workbooks, curriculum kits, and have created our own resources. To say we are eclectic in our style may be an understatement. Naturally, over time, we decided to take all we had created—all we had learned—and pass it on to other homeschool families.

Lamp&Spindle Fruit of the Spirit Booklet

That's the brief explanation of how we ended up here, creating Lamp&Spindle. Hopefully, over the next few blog posts, we can expand on our homeschool journey, our family's journey to Tennessee, and the inspiration behind our brand.

Today's bible verse:

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6

We have a God-given responsibility to raise and educate our children, but that's a story for another day.