Its 8 o’clock on a Monday morning, the smell of fresh coffee and bacon fill the air in the McCoy household. Tara McCoy sits at the table enjoying breakfast with her three sons Xavier, 11, Tucker, 7, and Gunner, 4. Unlike most parents who have to rush in the morning to get the kids on the school bus and themselves to work, this serene moment is the daily scene at the McCoy household.
For Tara McCoy though, this moment is the calm before the storm. Her days are packed full with task ranging from cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and her favorite of all homeschooling her three boys.
Tara herself was homeschooled from the 6th grade through her high school graduation. Together Tara and her husband Jesse decided that homeschooling was the best path to instill good religious and moral beliefs in their three boys. Above all Tara wanted the day-to-day interaction with her children. “I still have moments when I’d like to run away, however I wouldn’t change a thing, I love getting to spend every day with my children,” said Tara.
The boys are no different from the average grade school child. Tara and Jesse have made every effort to make sure they get the same knowledge and social interaction that the children obtain in a public school environment.
“If I was given the chance to go to a school or be homeschooled I would choose homeschooling because I think I get a better education than what my friends get and I get to spend a lot of time with my family that other kids don't get to,” said Xavier.
Religion is very prominent in the McCoy household. Both Tara and her husband Jesse were raised in homes abundant with religion; their father’s were both pastors. Coincidently they were both also raised Baptist and met each other in Hyles-Anderson Bible College. The three boys are being raised in a very similar manner. Every morning begins with a daily-devotion and a morning prayer; religion is built into a lot of their school lessons, a prayer at dinner, and another at bedtime. They are also very active in Northern Baptist Church, Liverpool, NY. All three boys attend a weekly church program called AWANA (Approved Workman are not Ashamed) weekly and the whole family spends every Sunday morning in church.
The McCoy household is overflowing with love, and they are unique in many ways, however homeschooling is not one. About 1.5 billion children in the U.S. are homeschooled, 40 percent are homeschooled because their parents desire to provide religious and moral instruction.
