Tomorrow (Sept. 8) is National “What” Day?
National “Grandparents” Day! Yes — that’s a real holiday!

To some, National Grandparents Day, instituted in 1978, might be just another holiday concocted by marketers to pad the coffers of the floral and greeting card companies.

But to those of us who hold dear that special grandparent/grandchild relationship, it’s a wonderful reminder to express love to one another and thank God for our families.

And lest you think it costly to do that, remember — we’re in the digital age now, so we can escape being held hostage by those pesky marketers because we have access to FREE online greeting cards, with FREE online floral arrangements, complete with music and dancing bears! Now we can celebrate all those special days without SPENDING anything, just SENDING our love!

We have lived through National Grandparents Day on multiple levels — first as grandchildren, then as parents and now as grandparents. But it’s not till now that we’ve considered this day from the grandparents’ perspective. What, really, are we celebrating?

Relationships. That’s the essence of family. We have molded and shaped one another’s lives. Grandparents: Whether we realize it or not, and whether we live nearby or far away, we play a crucial, irreplaceable role in our grandchildren’s lives.

How to celebrate?

Verbally — Share your love.
Physically — Share your hugs.
Visually — Reminisce over photos.
Prayerfully — Thank God for the incredible blessings of children and grandchildren.

So treasure and deepen those relationships each day, seeking to grow closer to Christ together, knowing that our true treasure is in Heaven. Have a blessed time tomorrow — celebrating National Grandparents Day.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matt. 6:21

Because We Love Our Grandkids!

[Photo: Grandparents, parents and grandchildren enjoy a day together focusing on family discipleship at the Turning Hearts Celebration in Kalona, Iowa.]

There’s a reason the phrase, “Because we Love our Grandkids!,” became the slogan following the ministry name, “Grandparents of Homeschoolers.”

• We are all from different life situations, but we are united under one umbrella: We ALL LOVE our grandchildren!

Fresh off the conference season, with speaker workshops and an exhibit booth at homeschooling conventions, we at Grandparents of Homeschoolers are more excited and convinced than ever of the importance of grandparents engaging in the discipleship and education of their grandchildren.

That’s why we minister to grandparents AND parents, connecting families with ideas, encouragement, information and resources to help make this home education adventure the richest experience of your life!

It has been delightful to meet so many of you personally at conferences and others via our website contacts. You have shared sincerely and candidly, and your stories have been both heartwarming and heartbreaking. That’s real life. The joys and the sorrows. Yet all of you are unwaveringly meticulous and focused on the very same thing: loving those grandchildren!

We look forward to sharing your ideas and testimonies to encourage one another, so let’s get to know each other now. Here’s a snippet of who Grandparents of Homeschoolers are:

• Grandparents who live near their grandchildren and are able to spend physical time with them, doing things together regularly.

• Grandparents who live a long distance away who are finding creative ways to be fully engaged with the grandchildren and keeping those close relationships despite geographical barriers.

• Grandparents and parents who have moved to different cities and states in order to be closer to one another.

• Parents who both work full time and are able to have their children homeschooled because of Grandpa and Grandma’s involvement.

• Parents who are discovering the joys and relief from stress that they experience when the grandparents help with their children’s education, whether it’s teaching a skill, helping to purchase educational supplies, or taking the kids on a field trip.

• Grandparents who LOVE the fact that their grandchildren are being homeschooled.

• Grandparents who are skeptical of homeschooling. Yes, we welcome you to be a part of Grandparents of Homeschoolers because we can relate! Many of us once thought that homeschooling was the craziest idea on earth. Now we wouldn’t trade it for anything. We believe you will be surprised and amazed to discover what home education really is (it’s different for every family), and we know you have so many valuable skills to contribute … not to mention lots of love!

• Parents whose own parents are no longer living, or who are estranged, but the family has found surrogate grandparents in their church or community — non-related elders who have taken a special interest in being a grandparent-figure to their children.

• Grandparents who are raising and homeschooling their grandchildren.

• Grandparents who are homeschooling their grandchildren part or full time while the parents are at work.

• Families in which the grandparent(s) live with the family.

• Grandparents who are helping teach a special-needs grandchild.

• Grandparents who are in their 40s and still working; and grandparents who are retired.

We could go on and on. The stories that so many of you shared with us at conferences, whether with overflowing exuberance or quiet tears, have confirmed what we already had suspected: the world of being a grandparent of homeschoolers opens a literal floodgate of multifaceted opportunities to fulfill your role as that very special person in the lives of your grandchildren. You are an important part of what God has designed — multi-generational family discipleship.

Stay tuned as grandparents from across America and around the world share encouragement and ideas that you can incorporate with your own grandchildren — “Because We Love Our Grandkids!”

Grandmother Sue Yeaple of Omaha is the winner of an art kit, awarded by Grandparents of Homeschoolers at the Teach Them Diligently Christian Homeschool/Discipleship/Parenting Convention held May 31-June 1 in Omaha. Grandparents of Homeschoolers founders Rich and Barb Heki presented the prize. Congratulations, Sue! Enjoy exploring God’s creative world via colored pencils and watercolors with your grandchildren!

Congratulations to Jim Conrady of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri! Jim is the winner of the Art Kit door prize, awarded by Rich and Barb Heki, founders of Grandparents of Homeschoolers, at the CHEF/Family Economics Conference in St. Louis.

Jim already has been actively engaged in teaching his grandchildren through filming a movie with them — Sons of Georgia! We hope he enjoys learning a new art form with his grandchildren — colored pencil sketching with this set of sketch pads and a family-size colored pencil kit.

Grandparents of Homeschoolers prepared this door prize to illustrate how easy it is for grandparents to be involved in their children’s education. You don’t have to re-learn trigonometry! (Although, if you already know it, you could teach it to your grandchildren.)

Something as simple as sitting in the back yard sketching squirrels with your grandchildren is educational. You can sketch the critters, compare artwork and share ideas for improvement, talk about the habits of the animals, how God has designed them perfectly to survive and flourish in their environment. You can talk about their colors: Squirrels are not just “brown” or “gray.” They are a mixture of colors and many of those colors in the pencil set need to be combined to get the proper hues. Is it sunny outside as you are drawing? Where do those birds and squirrels go at night, or in the winter? How do they get food when snow and ice cover the ground?

By the time the drawing session is over, and the grandparents and grandchildren head into the house for cookies and refreshments, a revelation hits: The grandparents have just taught their grandchildren a science, art, Bible and weather lesson without even knowing it! And they’ve strengthened their relationships as a family. That’s what makes education so FUN!

Rich and Barb Heki, Co-Founders & Directors

Grandparents of Homeschoolers is a non-profit ministry uniting all grandparents of homeschoolers under one umbrella — our love for our grandkids! We exist to provide information and resources to grandparents of homeschoolers through a myriad of tools, online and onsite. This blog is one of them! We also connect with grandparents (and parents) via our website, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

We are excited to be ministering specially to grandparents! Whether your grandchildren are already being homeschooled, or will be homeschooled in the future, or whether you’re not sure you even like the idea of them being homeschooled, we invite you to join us on this journey of connecting with other grandparents and learning valuable tidbits of information and ideas from one another. Our ultimate goal is to unite the family — all generations — in a close relationship of discipleship and mentoring, through the vehicle of home education.

We invite you  — Grandpas and Grandmas — to share your ideas, joys, struggles and victories as you dive into this wonderful world of grandparenting those precious homeschooled grandchildren!  Stay tuned for a variety of content, ideas, information and grandparent stories from around the country on this blog.

We can’t wait to meet you! With that, here’s a brief introduction to our family. We’re nearing our 60s, so that puts us smack in the middle of Grandparent Land! We are homeschooling veterans, having served in homeschooling leadership statewide and nationwide since the turn of the century, and having homeschooled our four children from birth to adulthood. Now we are loving being grandparents! The above photo was taken on the last occasion we were able to get together from all parts of the country. Please introduce yourselves when you see us at homeschooling events. The internet is  a great place to connect regularly, but just can’t compare with a hug or a handshake.

If you’d like to receive our occasional blog postings filled with ideas, resources and encouragement in your special roles as Grandpas and Grandmas, we invite you to click the JOIN button. We also welcome parents and other special people in each homeschooled child’s life who play integral roles in the education of the grandchildren. You can lurk, or you can share stories and ideas you’ve seen work in connecting the generations through home education.