Member of the Month - September 2007
Corey Civetta
My name is Corey and I have been married to Eric for almost
13 years. We have four great kids – 2 boys and 2 girls – ages 12, 10, 8 and 7.
When my oldest, Kimberly, was about to turn 3 I started thinking about how fast
those 3 years had flown by and how soon she’d be in school. I was instantly sick
to my stomach at the thought!
At the time, my pastor’s wife and one other family in our
church were homeschooling their older children so I was able to get a lot of
great information and insight from the parents, as well as the children. Before
this, I had only met one other homeschooling family and hadn’t really considered
it since it wasn’t the norm back then and I didn’t know a lot about it.
I ended up starting (relaxed) preschool work with my oldest
when she was 3 – partly because she was such an eager learner but it was also
because I wanted to see if I could actually do it! Starting early was really
helpful to me – especially since by the time Kimberly was kindergarten age we
had just added our 4th baby to the mix! We kept on homeschooling and
none of our children have ever been enrolled in school to this day.
I knew I wanted to be a photographer long before my
children were born. I took lots of pictures of my stuffed animals, my pets, the
neighbor kids, my sister, cousins, and so on. Photography has always been a part
of me and I have had dreams of owning my own business for a very long time.
However, I knew it wasn’t God’s timing until just a few years ago. I knew part
of it was being patient and waiting until my kids were older, when I was
completely comfortable homeschooling all four of them. Their education was more
important and had to come first.
Running a business on top of homeschooling 4 children has
its challenges but my work, like homeschooling, offers a lot of flexibility so
it’s the perfect fit for our lifestyle. I am able to create my own schedule
around their activities and I do a lot of the “behind the scenes” stuff at my
computer while they’re doing school at a table nearby. I have always been big on
having them do their studies independently once they were reading well so their
routine hasn’t changed much at all.
As if homeschooling and running a business weren’t enough,
I prayerfully joined our church’s demanding dance ministry two years ago!
Instead of adding more craziness to the mix, it has really been a huge blessing
for us. I knew He called me to be a part of it and He has definitely provided a
way! My kids are usually with me and I have been so blessed by their ability to
put up with some long practices and traveling!
When you know it is God’s will, as well as His timing for
you to do something (even if it’s homeschooling alone), then you must trust He
will cause everything to fall into place! It will some work and adjusting on
your part – I am still growing in certain areas, such as being organized … ugh –
but everyday is a learning experience. Just like homeschooling itself!
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