Hewitt Homeschooling Resources

First Things First: What are my qualifications for grading keyboarding?

I graduated from high school with two years of typing which proved helpful (more than the beloved trigonometry) in the offices where I was employed during and after my college years. Fortunately (because he is a great husband) or unfortunately (because I can’t put any of those neat letters after my name), I married a great guy, Jerry Dillon, and didn’t finish college. After several years of his assisting in a church, we moved back to the Bible college from which he graduated, and we both worked there for nine years. Eventually our family consisted of three daughters (and various cats, hamsters, and fish during the years). Living on campus made it easier for me to work parttime (as needed throughout those nine years) as secretary to the dean registrar, be head librarian, teach typing and music theory, and still keep the home fires stoked (or at least under control most of the time). I have been enslaved--sorry, I meant to say I’ve enjoyed working at Hewitt for thirteen years, working as secretary, receptionist, “switchboardist”; doing layout, proof-reading, and editing; and writing and publishing (My First Reports, Music for Minors, and Across America).

Though we didn’t homeschool our children, we did many things advocated by homeschoolers--some because we thought it part of responsibly raising them--some just because we enjoyed the children’s company--some because we enjoyed the activities and wanted to share them. It’s been a joy to watch them grow and develop, and they now are enjoying the results of the putting up with our enthusiasms. All three of our daughters, who are now grown, echo our own love of music. The oldest lives in Idaho with her husband, six children, dogs, cats, horses, (and some very bold mice). They help in their church music, singing and playing instruments. The middle daughter (who insists she’s always overlooked since she doesn’t occupy a distinguished place in birth order) is an adventurer who has wandered the world being a professional chef, student, and is now aiming toward opera diva. The youngest daughter sang five years with the Voices of Liberty at Epcot in Orlando and is now assisting in the music department of her church.

Reading is another avid interest pressed onto our children (and now grandchildren). We discovered C. S. Lewis long before he became “all the rage.” I’ve read Tolkien, Chesterton, Sayers, MacDonald, some of their writings several times, taking C. S. Lewis’s advice than any book worth reading once is worth reading again. I’m also into the “detective” genre (should have left those Nancy Drew books on the shelf back in grade school). And books on theology; right now I’m reading everything I can find by Helmut Thielke--especially his sermons.

At times I might wish our wanderlust wasn’t so catching; our girls have lived such distances from us. I’ve journeyed through 44 of the 50 United States (our good friends Frankie and Judy Bell took extra pains to add Mississippi to that list last year when we visited them in Tennessee. Making it to those last six states may not be terribly important--but it seems a shame to have missed Hawaii), Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands (the upside of having family far away in an interesting place--you don’t have to rent a motel room). We’ve visited neighboring Canada and Mexico and traveled as far away as China (on a missions trip).

Other interests (which didn’t seem to take with my offspring--possibly because they were always half-heartedly executed) are sewing, rock-hounding, stamp-collecting. Whatever, I find God’s world fascinating, such a variety of people and things, beauty, puzzles and enigmas. Surely His ways are past finding out; but as the women at his tomb after His resurrection, we are still invited to “come and see.”