It’s All In The Name

Ten years ago, I got a little homeschool form from my state to fill out. It is called a “notice of intent” to homeschool, and it doesn’t ask for a lot of information, but the very first blank on the card threw me for a loop.

It asked for our “Homeschool Name.”

Whoa.

I mean I was just wrapping my poor head around this whole idea. The plan had been for me to buy the notebooks, and the backpack, and the Lunchables™ and send my son off to kindergarten. Now because of medical circumstances, that wasn’t happening, and he was suddenly a homeschooler. And now they wanted to know if our homeschool had a name??!!

I look back on that little moment as kind of miraculous. My husband’s Greek/English lexicon happened to be sitting next to me on the couch, and I began to flip through the pages. I could practically have closed my eyes and picked a page and pointed, because suddenly I came across a word in there that just sort of “grabbed” me.

Ergon. Roughly translated, it means “service.” I made the quick decision that we would be called Ergon Academy.

What I didn’t realize at the time was how prophetic that name would be. Looking back on the last ten years of our homeschooling journey, one of the biggest aspects of the whole adventure has been our service to our community. Not a year has gone by that we haven’t volunteered in some way. We’ve participated in everything from Meals on Wheels to helping out at our local Humane Society. Our homeschooled years truly have been about “service.”

I’m sure that every homeschooling family has their own story for how they chose the name of their homeschool. I would LOVE to hear some of the names you’ve chosen, and why.

What did you fill in YOUR blank??