Meet Paul and Gena Suarez: Homeschool Entrepreneurs

Written by Zan Tyler

Paul and Gena Suarez's book releases this month! It is truly a homeschooling convention in a box--and contains articles by over twenty authors, including Dr. Ruth Beechick, Clay and Sally Clarkson, and Christine Field.

Paul and Gena Suarez of Cool, California, are publishers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (TOS). This husband and wife had very different ideas about homeschooling at the beginning. But after nine years and four children, the Suarez' have seen their homeschooling success grow into other areas. TOS has grown from an eBay business and newsletter to a glossy magazine with print-runs of 21,000.

 This is your chance to become acquainted with Paul and Gena, as well as what they’re trying to accomplish in the homeschooling community.

Zan Tyler: How did you get interested in homeschooling? How long have you been homeschooling? Can you tell us a little about your family?

Paul & Gena: We got married in 1989 and immediately became pregnant with our first son. Paul was 31 and Gena was 20, so there were some definite generational differences. Paul had friends who homeschooled, and he felt this was the way to go. Gena thought that was "weird." No way were we doing that! Not hip enough for her.

Well, Paul won out and the homeschooling adventure began when little Paul was 4. Gena worked with him with all sorts of things, and when he read his first word, "fox," at the tender age of four, Gena whooped with joy. She could teach! Homeschooling was the way for us and we never looked back.

By the time little Paul was 8, we had had Luke, Levi, and Julia. All have been homeschooled to this point, and they are now 13 (Paul), 11 (Luke), 9 (Levi), and 6 (Julia). They love learning at home.

Zan Tyler: What is your favorite part of homeschooling?

Paul & Gena: The freedom. The fun of it all. We like a child-directed environment where everyone is interested in what he/she is doing.

Zan Tyler: Tell us about your daily approach to homeschooling, and a little bit about each of your children's learning styles and preferences.

Levi loves computers and does much of his work on Wordpad. Paul loves his AlphaSmart, a small laptop processor, so when viewing learning videos, he takes all of his notes with it. His favorite subject is science and he longs to be a geneticist someday. Our two older sons love art and science; they would (study) it all day if we'd let them. Luke, however, wishes to be a pastor. We're glad his babyhood goal changed. At one point Luke wanted to be a racecar. Not a racecar driver, but a racecar!

Also, recess always takes up a certain chunk of our day. The kids use it for some really strange things - building their treefort (a little too high up!), making all kinds of crazy inventions, exploring our seven acres, using their sketchpads to draw all kinds of neat things in nature. They are very strong physically for it, too. (They make it a point to try and beat all their buddies at church at arm wrestling!)

Julia is very feminine and loves the reading arts. She totes around her favorite book - a chapter book she cannot read yet, Black Beauty - often, and spends a lot of time writing things in her notebooks. She and her cousin compose songs as often as they can. She loves anything melodic.

Levi has always been called "Beaver." Well, Beaver decided one day to study the "habitat of beavers" and make a beaver house. When he informed us that he was doing this, we just said, 'Okay, whatever, go at it.' But later that day, he took us outside where, in the front yard, he had constructed - out of a gazillion large branches - a huge "beaver hut." You had to see it to believe it. We were totally impressed. He, at age 7, had obviously done his beaver habitat research well. We love this kind of fun learning in freedom.

Zan Tyler: Tell us about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Paul & Gena: We had an eBay business a couple of years ago. Gena sold textbooks and other curricular materials to homeschool families there, and the business was just hopping. She had customers from all over the world, and so many repeat buyers. She has some good connections on used books and we actually did pretty well with sales. In the midst of it all, we made a lot of friends. The craziest thing, though, was that her customers kept asking us for homeschool advice. Pretty soon Gena created a form letter that she could use, since so many people were asking.

Finally, she thought, 'Heck, let's just do an e-mail newsletter and that'll be helpful.' We certainly have the database from all these homeschool eBay customers. So, she put together a nice little 12-page newsletter and zipped it out to hundreds of customers.

Well, the response was overwhelming. The newsletter was free, but we only sent it out once. The next newsletter was physical, rather than digital, and sent to 1,000 people. The following one was sent to about 4,000 people, and the next to about 6,000 people. Soon after, we went to a color-and-gloss format because there were more than enough advertisers interested in being a part of things, and today we print up and distribute 21,000 copies. This next issue is 100 pages and glossy color all the way through. It just keeps growing.

Zan Tyler: What do you desire to accomplish through the magazine?

Paul & Gena: Unite the homeschool community. Present many options and a variety of methods. No matter what style we are currently using, we can all learn something from each other. The Suarez family does not have it all together; we haven't arrived. We are learning along with everyone else. That is why you'll find few articles written by us. We get the best in the community to come teach us all.

Each family is unique, but we have a common thread: We willingly make the sacrifices that are necessary in order to educate our children in the way that we believe is best and take the responsibility for that task. Many different homeschooling methods are represented in our magazine so that families can choose one or a combination of several that are right for them.

We want to provide encouragement and a wide array of resources for all, from those still considering homeschooling to veteran homeschoolers. We hope to encourage and strengthen homeschoolers to persevere in their calling to educate and disciple their children in the home; to provide information and support; to do this work in the best way possible for each individual family for the glory of God.

Zan Tyler: If you could give homeschooling families one piece of advice, what would it be?

Paul & Gena: Pray first. Then, research all of the available options you can find before making any important decisions. What's right for your neighbor's family may not work for yours. Expect to change methods or curricula as your family grows and changes.

Relationships with God and family are incredibly important and play the largest part in homeschooling. If those relationships aren't strong, home education won't reach it's full potential.

You as the parents are in charge. Exercise this God-given privilege. Remember: You are not joining a cause or a movement, but drawing closer to Christ and your children in your schooling. Don't concern yourself with being like Susie Homeschooler down the lane so you can be "just like her." This approach brings out the idea of every family having their own convictions, builds the no-division message, and reminds people that Christ is it, not homeschooling.

And enjoy it. It's not a chore; it's fun!

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