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Homeschool Sabbath Rhythms - A Rhythmic Pilgrimage
- Andrea Angie (GA)
- Nov 23, 2017
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 28
Home In The Heart
Homeschooling or home education should have more emphasis on fostering “home” in the heart, than the aim to derive accomplishment + worth from getting your child to produce “golden eggs” (aka performative output).
This is a pilgrimage about having a vision and a desire to receive and to teach from a place of shalom (peace, wholeness) and to connect wholeheartedly with your child’s heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love is the aim.
It's Not About Your Perfection, It's About His Perfection
Being + doing can work in harmony. Yes, there’s much to do, but it is eternally significant (or it ought to be) for Love Himself to be perfect enough to have accomplished His "To-Do" list entirely that you and I can rely on His perfection, instead of demanding our own to get our “To-Do” list items crossed off.
It's not about perfect execution. It's about noticing life in the midst of teaching your child's heart to embrace true peace in their ongoing journey of loving, learning, and adapting. It's about giving yourself + your child permission to discover simplicity + significance.
Sabbath Rhythms
There’s a grace-way that I have carried this out for the thirty years I've been homeschooling, called Sabbath Rhythms. I began to adopt the routine of rest in my life a few decades ago.
Sabbath Rhythms are integrated throughout your calendar. I go into more details to outline the rhythms in another blog post, Nurturing Sabbath Rhythms. There's a link at the end to read more about them in detail. For now, I just want to awaken your interest in this idea of rest.
The primary emphasis is on the routine of rest. Just to be clear, rest is not merely about the absence of activity; it's so much more. It's about the redirection of your attention + energy. It's about the presence of a heart that is attentive to an inside-out transformation.
Spiritual Formation Over Formula
There's no formula, but there is spiritual formation.
It will look uniquely different for each person in the way the Sabbath Rhythms are engaged. It’s about your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual patterns. It's also about noticing your personal growth, your values, and your sustainable responses to grace + truth.
The Veteran, The Newbie, The Curious
No matter the phase you're in, download the free homeschooling guide I created during COVID.
Whether you are a veteran, a newbie, or just curious, you get to be...
patient + trust the grace that comes to inform you of divine love + acceptance for you and your child(ren).
If you're considering homeschooling, exhale + take a deep breath because it's very likely that you have an overwhelming amount of research + information overload, but this is about your legacy journey..
Georgia Homeschool Requirements with Neurodivergent, Unschooling Strategies
How I Meet the Requirement – 180 Days of Instruction / 4.5 Hours per Day:
I document learning year-round with photos + videos, recognizing that meaningful learning happens every day, not just during “school hours.”
Our days are filled with conversations, library visits, hands-on projects, and community experiences—all of which count as instruction.
Each child has a binder and a dated notebook journal, capturing both spontaneous + planned learning moments.
We use Joon: Kids ADHD Activity Tracker, which gamifies daily assignments and helps the children visualize their progress ($12.99/month or $89.99/year). If affordability is a concern, I recommend reaching out to Joon’s support team for possible discounts or scholarships. For a free alternative, families can create assignment bingo cards or use a digital or analog calendar to track learning moments.
How I Meet the Requirement – Annual Progress Reports:
Instead of rigid grades, I create a visual presentation from a year’s worth of photos—books read, projects completed, and skills gained through daily life, play, and exploration.
Sometimes, I journal my reflections about each child’s strengths + challenges in a notebook designated for them. When they turn 18, I give them their notebook journal, offering a memoir-style narrative of their learning journey.
How I Meet the Requirement – Standardized Testing Every Three Years (Starting End of 3rd Grade):
We do not participate in standardized testing, as it does not align with our educational philosophy.
For families who choose to test:
Prepare, but don’t stress: Familiarize your child with test formats, but don’t let testing dictate your curriculum.
Use results as feedback: Look for patterns in test results to adjust your teaching approach, not as a judgment.
Keep organized files: A simple folder or digital archive for each child makes record-keeping easy.
For our high schoolers, we use fasttranscripts.com
How I Meet the Requirement – Declaration of Intent:
We file the Declaration of Intent each year with the Georgia Department of Education, and we keep digital + paper copies for our records. This paperwork is a brief administrative task, freeing us to focus on authentic learning. Follow the link to GADOE - Georgia Dept of Education Home Schools
How I Meet the Requirement – Required Subjects: Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science:
We use living books—rich, engaging literature + nonfiction—to explore all subjects, letting interests lead the way.
Library day is a cornerstone: we select books, discover new topics, participate in library-sponsored programs, and access online, third-party resources with our library cards.
Subjects naturally blend: a historical novel sparks social studies, a nature walk leads to science, and family discussions nurture language arts.
Doctor appointments become civic + science lessons, fostering real-world learning.
We also integrate Khan Academy for a variety of subjects.
We are part of the Georgia Black Home Educators (Stonecrest, GA) email: info@georgiablackhomeeducators.org
We believe in participating in Co-op's, however, currently, we participate in the Moonrise community co-learning in Decatur, GA. It is fee-based for homeschooling families + beyond
For math + other subjects:
We use Khan Academy, baking + cooking, “living” math workbooks, printable worksheets, and video lessons from Mathantic.com.
For high school math, they choose between Khan Academy or GreeneMath.com—no traditional textbooks.
How I Meet the Requirement – Parent Qualifications:
I maintain my diploma on file, but my real qualification is decades of nurturing curiosity and adapting to each child’s needs.
How I Meet the Requirement – Record Keeping:
Each child’s binder + notebook journal, along with a receipt from the library of their book lists, project photos, and their Khan Academy log of activities, documents their journey.
I also keep a bin with a lid for all loose papers that cannot fit in the binder; every paper, whether a drawing or worksheet, is dated.
These systems are manageable for my sensory sensitivities and my Persistent Drive for Autonomy (PDA) as an Autistic, dyslexic mom.
Prioritizing my neurodivergent soul care is essential for a thriving homeschool journey.
Our approach not only fulfills Georgia’s legal requirements but also honors the depth, flexibility, and immersion into the soul-nurturing power of unschooling + living books, tailored to our family’s unique needs + neurodivergent strengths.
Each family gets to discover their sustainable rhythms that align with their legacy vision + mission—there is no virtue in burnout (soul-harm, soul-violence). Homeschooling can be a homecoming, if you so choose.
To explore more of my heart on the interactive family homeschooling guide for adults + children, download the free guide:
Also, to adopt a work-play + rest cyclical rhythm, grab the free Sabbath Rhythms journaling guide for adults - download the PDF.
Until next time,
Scribble. Speak. From your soul.
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Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only as I share my pastoral care, my journey, and bring to you valuable research. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing any medical concerns or symptoms, please seek the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional.
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Links for further discovery Subscribe & Listen to my Soul Care Podcasts
Nurturing Sabbath Rhythms Part One
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