Good afternoon… or whatever time it is when you finally sit down to face the looming pile of school books on your table. It’s May, which means we are all living somewhere between “almost finished” and “just survive.”

It’s a good time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, what we’ve yet to finish, and what we’ll do better next year. In that spirit, let’s do a quick end-of-the-school-year evaluation.

No pressure. Just three questions:

• Did we finish every single page of the curriculum we planned? …Mostly.
• Did we maintain a perfectly structured, peaceful, orderly environment every day? …Next question.
• Did we stay on a perfect schedule the entire year? …Define “schedule.”

Sound familiar? Probably. I’m guessing we’re all on the same page here.

As the books close, the highlighters dry out, and our attention inevitably turns to summer plans, most of us ask the same heavy question: Did we actually accomplish what we set out to do?

Not just the academics. The why behind the what. Because when we started this year, we had something more in mind than merely checking boxes.

C.S. Lewis once wrote: “Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both.”

That idea has quietly shaped what we’ve tried to do. The goal sounds simple: keep the first thing first. For Lewis and for us, that means the love and knowledge of God. Reading, writing, math, science — those things matter deeply. They just come second.

Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowing God isn’t just a subject we pencil into our schedule; it’s the lens through which all other learning makes sense.

So what did that actually look like this year?

Some days, exactly what we hoped. We started with Scripture. We slowed down and talked instead of racing to the next chapter. We had those rare, beautiful moments where something clicked, not just in a child’s head, but in their heart.

Other days, if I’m honest, we rushed. We pushed to just get it done. We cared more about finishing the lesson than feeding the soul. Those days always feel thinner. When the first things start slipping, the rest of the day starts feeling forced. Matthew 6:33 says it plainly: “Seek first the kingdom of God… and all these things will be added to you.”

Here’s what I didn’t expect: the moments I’ll remember most didn’t even happen at the school table or over a book.

Every Tuesday morning, I drive my daughter to her government and economics class. It’s a simple cross-town trip on my way to work, but it’s become something of a sanctuary. She talks; I ask questions. She thinks out loud; I listen. And before she gets out of the car, I pray for her. Nothing planned. Just a small, repeated rhythm and somehow, that’s where the first things actually happen.

I saw it with my teenage son too. We found a “science of surfing” class that technically checked a curriculum box, but it did something more. It connected his learning to the world God placed him in, in a way he actually cares about. Education doesn’t have to be separate from life. Sometimes it just needs to be aimed in the right direction.

And then there’s my youngest, who reminds me that wonder is its own kind of theology lesson.

After watching the recent splashdown return of the Artemis II crew, he immediately got to work on his plan for terraforming the moon so people could live there. And honestly… he had some pretty good ideas! There’s something about that kind of thinking. It’s not just curiosity. It’s a kid who isn’t afraid to engage the world as it is and imagine what could be. And I can’t help but think that starts with knowing there is a God who made it all in the first place.

As we near the finish line, there’s no shortage of ways to measure success. Pages read. Lessons completed. Tests passed.

But here are better questions:

• Who are our children becoming?
• Are they learning to love what is true?
• Are they beginning to understand the world God has made and how He wants them to live in it?

Micah 6:8 doesn’t leave us guessing about the goal: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. If our children are moving that direction, even slowly, even imperfectly, then the year was well spent. Even if the math book is missing its final three chapters.

I see the fruit of this most clearly in my oldest. Watching her grow into adulthood, devoted to her work, staying close to her family, caring deeply for her friends. Seeing her move thoughtfully through the world as a follower of Christ. That’s not something you measure on a standardized test. It happened in the quiet, ordinary days where learning and life were allowed to bleed into one another.

Homeschooling isn’t the only path to this. But I will say: teaching our children that God exists, that He made them, that He loves them. That is the foundation of education. Jesus said everything else hangs on loving God and loving our neighbor.

Everything.

So look at that pile of books on your table and take a breath. You’re doing good work. It may not be perfect, but finish strong. You’re almost there. You aren’t just teaching them their ABCs and 123s. You’re pointing them toward the God who knows them, loves them, and made them to find their very life in Him.

There is no better foundation than that.

Next year, new books. New plans. Probably the same challenges too. But the goal is always the same:

Put first things first. And keep building. It’s work well worth doing.

by Ian Fraser, HCS Board Member