Instructor Cotchery, That's Me

Around 2010 my husband came
to me and gently stated,
“I think we should home-school
our daughter.”
At the time, Jacey was our only sweet at a ripe three- years-old. I must admit, Jerricho lost me the moment he formulated a sentence that contained both home and school together. Not once in my life did I ever think I would be having this particular conversation.
I don’t remember our exact dialogue. I simply recall being apprehensive. Jerricho was growing rapidly as a man during this season of life. He was convinced that our daughter should spend most of her time at home. He reasoned that we should be committed to shaping her, guiding her and creating an environment where we could walk alongside her as she progressed through life.
I soon agreed, and my husband’s wish was my command. My heart was ever so thankful that Jacey was only three. This fact encouraged me and it took a little of the pressure off. I would have two years to practice before our little princess would begin kindergarten with me as her teacher. I soon began to truly believe that God’s power and authority were vast enough to cover all that I would encounter on this amazing journey. The key for me is and was to access His power amid our school by first understanding it myself. Growing in my understanding of God and instituting a school shaped around Him for my children began with these verses:
“So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27,28).
Therefore, let us end this post at the beginning. Madame Cotchery—why did you choose to home-school your children? These verses describe our essence as created beings and our roles, first as husbands and wives and secondly as supreme beings over the earth. Our essence is that our very nature echoes the image of our God (v. 27). Our primary role is to increase in number by having faithful children and to continue to develop the earth in a manner that points all things to God (v. 28). As such, home schooling my children gives me the opportunity to live out these verses. Thereupon these verses rest the reason why we home school.
Over the coming weeks, I pray the Lord will allow me to answer other questions you may have regarding why we chose to home-school. I will also continue to share with you our journey through home schooling. Feel free to submit any questions you may have in the comment field below – your question could be the catalyst for a future blog post!