Greetings, homeschooling reader! Many homeschool blogs are springing up, so I’m grateful you chose the Academy Northwest site to spend a little time on. I pray you find support and encouragement as you create your own unique homeschool program for the 2024-25 school year.
My name is probably new to you, but I’m quite familiar with Academy Northwest. In 1994, out of sheer necessity for our son’s education, I founded an ANW learning center and became the director of Hill Creek Christian. Back then, I had felt called to do something new and different in our son’s education, and I knew God had a plan for our son. The problem was I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what to do or which direction to take, but I happened to remember Jeremiah 29:11, which proclaims, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (NKJV). With that reminder, I earnestly prayed that God would direct me. Not long afterward, an Academy Northwest director returned my call, and the rest is history. After that phone call, I left my full-time job and stepped off a virtual cliff into a great educational experience for our son, other students who joined us, their parents, and me. God is always faithful. His plans didn’t harm us. On the contrary, they prospered us, even though they were revealed over time—not all at once. His plans gave me hope, they gave our son a future, and they blessed others along the way.
In fact, I wrote a book about my experiences titled Lessons from a 21st Century One-Room Schoolhouse, highlighting my 25 years of homeschooling. The book, which will soon be available on Amazon, describes what I learned about homeschooling through insightful and poignant vignettes that I pray homeschoolers will relate to.
This book is a testament to the power of faith when we are called to homeschool. I pray it inspires those of you who are currently homeschooling—and that those of you who are merely considering homeschooling will accept the call. Woven throughout the history of my efforts in building a homeschool structure for our son and others is a spiritual truth—when God calls us, He will walk beside us on our journey to see us through to completion.
Since passing the homeschooling baton, I have written for Grace Publishing’s Short and Sweetseries, numerous short stories, and poetry. I am currently writing a second book, Tripp’s Time Travels. I enjoy volunteering in our church’s children’s ministry program. My husband, Steve, and I enjoy spending time with friends and family and enjoying nature walks with our two dogs, Liberty and Tripp.
Summer is flying by indicating a new school year is starting soon! Please check back in September for encouragement and support as you prepare for and begin your journey through another exciting, productive, and rewarding homeschooling year!
God Bless!
Patty Huey
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