By Katie Murphy | For On Mission
Over the past decade, homeschooling has been on the rise. According to babwell.com/homeschooling, statistics reported in August 2024 show that 3.7 million children, or 6.7 % of children in the United States are homeschooled. The increase of online educational materials and classes has made homeschooling more accessible for many families, yet it isn’t the ease that draws many to this way of life.
What draws many Catholic families to homeschooling, or better, what keeps Catholic families homeschooling, is often unique and faith driven.
Joann Luke, a homeschooling mother of six from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, shared that she was first drawn to homeschooling because of the witness of vibrant, faithful homeschooling families she met while in college.
However, she and her husband ultimately decided to homeschool because “our primary push first of all was academics,” she shared, remarking that a strong academic foundation was important to her and her husband.
“You know once we got into it, we quickly discovered that it was such a beautiful way to organize our family life, and it became apparent that the faith could flourish,” she said. “It was not a subject. You were living the faith daily and incorporating it into your life, talking about it… When the family is all together and that is a primary intention, it really comes together beautifully.”
Joann utilized her graduate degree in literature from Marquette University in Milwaukee and love for literature to teach her children throughout grade school and high school. Now, with her children grown, she reflected on the aspects of homeschooling that were the most instrumental in helping her children grow academically, spiritually and together as a family.
Joann said she incorporated quality literature, especially reading aloud, as the backbone of their homeschooling life.
“It’s the one thing I could never give up,” she said. The stories they read became part of their conversation, creating a shared culture in the family, she said.
“We were all reading the same books together, talking about the same ideas and that only helped build unity,” she said.
Joann said she also loved that homeschooling allowed her family to live liturgically, celebrating feast days, reading about the lives of the saints and allowing faith to be a natural part of their day.
She shared this advice to others who homeschool: “Don’t be afraid to explore the nooks and crannies of living your homeschool life and don’t be afraid to take days off of school for the holy days, to live out those traditions, to take the time to incorporate it fully into your life.”
Her family had a tradition of making an Epiphany cake each year to celebrate the feast. Their family celebration even attracted a neighbor, who was not Catholic and began joining them each year. The beauty of their family traditions radiated to the community beyond the four walls of their home.
Years of dedication to quality children’s literature and education imbued in the faith has borne fruit in the lives of her children, but also in Joann’s life. Inspired by childhood memories, Joann has written and illustrated a delightful children’s book of her own, Pudge. She is also currently writing and illustrating a picture book for children.
To find out more about the children’s book Pudge and Joann Luke’s writing for St. Austin Review go to: https://www.joannluke.com/