Carla Heslop lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, just south of Delaware. She graduated from Salisbury University with a bachelor’s degree in social work and worked in grant management for five years. Carla met her husband, Jeremy, during college and they have been married 18 years. They have been blessed with four children, ages 13, 11, 8 and 4. When schoolwork for the day is finished and the housework is reasonably completed, Carla enjoys documenting family life in the form of blogging and scrapbooking. She always has at least one book in progress and believes that an afternoon nap makes any day better.
While Carla was pursuing her master’s degree in social work and expecting their second child, her husband opened the discussion about homeschooling over supper one evening. Her daughter was 3 years old at the time, and Carla had never considered homeschooling as a possibility for educating her children. She just assumed her children would go to a private, Christian school. As the discussion continued that evening, it became clear that public school would not be an option and private school was going to be out of reach financially when tuition was multiplied by multiple children. Over the course of a few weeks, Carla grew into the idea of homeschooling if she could find a curriculum that she felt comfortable using without her having a background in education.
From the beginning, Carla knew that she did not want to piece together her own curriculum. She wanted lesson plans that she could follow and a scope and sequence that could be followed as long as her family thrived in homeschooling, whether that be that through 3rd grade or 12th grade. She also knew her personality was pretty traditional and structured. Additionally, she wanted a curriculum that closely mirrored private schools so that her children would be prepared to transfer into school if the need ever arose. On the other hand, if her children homeschooled through high school, she wanted a curriculum that would prepare them for higher education. Carla is known to say that she wants to give her children a private school education at home.
Carla’s curriculum research ultimately led her to talk to a HomeWorks by Precept consultant. That consultant was one of the first people that Carla talked to who homeschooled. At that time, homeschooling was not nearly as popular as it is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland now. The consultant talked Carla through the curriculum, how BJU Press Homeschool builds a biblical worldview into every subject, how the Distance Learning teachers teach directly to your child and are highly qualified educators, how Distance Learning teachers are there as a support for the parent not a replacement of the parent, and how there are many options built into the curriculum to adapt for different learning types. The two of them had a few more conversations over the next year and a half; and ultimately, Carla bought the entire kindergarten Distance Learning curriculum without seeing it in person. For the next seven years and counting, Carla continues to use the BJU Press Homeschool Distance Learning program exclusively.
It is not just because Carla loves the structure and ease of use of BJU Distance Learning; her children are thriving in their education. When her daughter was in 6th grade, she defended creation based on what she had learned in science during a discussion with a peer who had questions about evolution. Her 5th-grade son reads ahead in his reading book because he enjoys the stories and doesn’t want to stop at the chapter break. All three of Carla’s children who have completed kindergarten have cried during the last lesson because they will miss their teachers and the class mascot, Hopscotch.
Three years ago, Carla became a consultant with HomeWorks by Precept primarily because of her and her family’s enthusiasm and belief in the BJU Press Homeschool curriculum. It was a HomeWorks by Precept consultant that gave her the confidence to enter the homeschooling lifestyle, and she is so happy that she has the opportunity to reach out to other moms. As a HomeWorks consultant, Carla loves being able to share BJU Press Homeschool materials with others, build a relationship with them, and then stay connected and encourage them throughout their journey.
Meet the Author
Carla Heslop - HomeWorks by Precept Consultant
www.homeworksbyprecept.com/Carla-Heslop
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