STAR Homeschool Community began in Lynchburg, Virginia in the 2022-2023 school year. Including the nursery children, we had forty fabulous children at STAR every Wednesday our first year! The next year, the 2023-2024 school year, we had more than fifty amazing children at STAR. We met for twenty-eight weeks of the school year, and we sang hymns, studied memory work, did projects, learned about composers, artists and poets, went on nature walks, and talked about great literature together. I met so many wonderful moms, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. It was a beautiful community!
God made it clear that the STAR program needed to change for the 2024-2025 school year. This year, we have a small group of teen girls who meet together every Wednesday and discuss literature, history, Bible, and science with me. It has been a really special time, but very different from last year.
Right now, in addition to teaching teens on Wednesdays; God is leading me towards more teaching, speaking at conferences occasionally, and writing, rather than running a large community. These ministries are scalable and easier to partake in during this new season of life our family is in. We have added another child to our family–a blessing we didn’t know was in store! When God closed doors for the full nursery-12th grade program last Spring, I grieved. I didn’t know what He had in store. It only took a month of waiting to find out. We spent the summer getting a homestudy done, and our new daughter joined our family right after the school year began. I wouldn’t have been able to lead a program with forty or fifty children this year. God knew. To Him be the glory!
Will the full STAR Community meet again? I’m not sure at this point. We (the Board) are praying over what is next for STAR. I know one thing for sure–I shouldn’t do it alone again. Leading a full community requires a team, and it was really too much for me to lead by myself for two years. I’m confident that if God leads us to start up STAR again for nursery through twelfth grade, He will provide that team. He’s good. I invite you to pray with us about the future of STAR.