Homeschooling at the kitchen table is not for the faint of heart. It’s where math meets spilled milk, where phonics battles background noise, and where I sometimes wonder if we’re learning anything at all. But in the middle of it, amidst the fractions and the science projects gone wrong, something bigger is happening—something eternal.

We homeschool because we believe in character over curriculum. Yes, I want my kids to know their multiplication facts, but more than that, I want them to know how to be kind when their sister needs help. I want them to learn patience when Mom is juggling too many things at once. I want them to develop resilience when a logic puzzle makes them want to cry into their notebooks. Because at the end of the day (or at the end of their schooling years), it’s not just about what they know—it’s about who they become.

That’s why, sometimes, the math book stays closed. Sometimes, a bad attitude, a selfish moment, or a sibling spat demands our attention more than the history lesson. And that’s okay. Because addressing behavior, training hearts, and pointing my kids back to Jesus is part of their education, too. If I push through a school day while ignoring character issues, I might get the lesson done, but I’ve missed the point entirely.

The world isn’t going to grade them on their ability to diagram sentences, but it will test their patience, their perseverance, their kindness. And if I’ve taught them to love learning but haven’t taught them to love others, I’ve failed them in a much bigger way than forgetting to finish the history unit.

So we keep at it, in the middle of family life, with the laundry piles and the snack breaks and the toddler underfoot asking to paint. We press on, knowing that character is built in the hard moments, in the pauses, in the times we stop everything to address what really matters. And hopefully, by the grace of God, we’re raising kids who not only know how to learn—but know how to live with wisdom, love, and grace.