Rachel Starr Thomson

Once upon a time, a blonde and blue-eyed family of girls (three, to be exact, all with names starting with “N”) left old ways behind and lined up at the foot of the stairs for their first school picture as a homeschooling family. They had desks, organized bookshelves, maps and pictures on the walls, and a placard proclaiming “School Room.”

Well, most of us homeschoolers know how that goes. The Wickham family soon gave up trying to be like a school and got more focused on being a home that teaches, and Pajama School — Natalie Wickham’s memoir of homeschooling, getting to know God, and learning to lead — was born.

I came away from Pajama School feeling like I’d gotten to know Natalie, who is just a little older than I am and has had a journey in some ways like mine and in other ways very different. The book is steeped in the perspective not just of a homeschooler, but of a homeschooler who grew up connected to ATI (Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute), which is a subculture all its own. In many ways I enjoyed that aspect, which reminded me of dear friends who were also brought up in ATI and who, like Natalie, found places of service within that ministry as young adults.

In fact, Pajama School focuses far more on those experiences of service as a young adult — with ATI in Children’s Institutes and at the beginning stages of the Character First! program, in politics, in running a tea shop, and in teaching — than it does on the childhood experiences I expected from the title. This is less a homeschooling book and more the record of one homeschooler’s spiritual journey. More than anything, Pajama School is a memoir of Natalie’s walk with God — a memoir that is honest, humorous, and insightful.

Natalie has spent many of her years as a young adult teaching, whether in public-school classrooms as part of the Character First! program, in assemblies at big homeschool conferences, or in her own piano studio. I found her emphasis on teaching methods and experimentation slightly ironic for a “homeschooling book,” but also very inspiring. She’s implemented some fantastic ideas, and anyone who works with children will find something to encourage them here! In fact, I passed the book on to my partner in Soli Deo Gloria Ballet, as we’re developing summer camp ideas.

For homeschool grads and older teens, parents who want to see how homeschooling can play out in their student’s life, and anyone who enjoys good, clean, thought-provoking memoir, Pajama School is well worth reading.

Aaaaand, if you want to read it, Natalie has provided me with a special coupon code for my readers who order directly from SibroPublishing (www.sibropublishing.com). Just enter the coupon code “inklings” when you’re checking out, and you’ll receive a 20% discount. Go for it! This is a great deal for a book that’s well worth reading.

On a side note, Natalie self-published Pajama School. A self-publisher myself, I have some idea of the effort that goes into this — and I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of self-published books. Natalie and her team have produced an attractive book, professional both in presentation and in content. Way to go, girls!

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