Three days after Christmas, 2024, Sarah walked up the aisle of a beautiful, little, crammed-full Church, and married Dominic in a Traditional Latin rite nuptial Mass. Sarah was homeschooled most of her life, which she says prepared her for marriage. While being homeschooled, Sarah “had to learn to take on a lot of responsibility” through helping with chores at home and looking after younger siblings. Homeschooling also taught her social skills as she “had to go out and meet people, ‘cause I didn’t just have, you know, friends that I’d met at school.”
Sarah talks about her love for acting and drama; “right from a young age, I was a performer. I would put on little shows for my parents.” At around seven, she auditioned and played one of the lost boys in Peter Pan. She also has performed in the Three Little Pigs, Alice in Wonderland, and participated in drama lessons and drama clubs. When she finished being homeschooled, Sarah took speech and drama exams. She speaks about how being marked by an examiner was a new experience for her.
While homeschooling, Sarah’s mum graded much of her work, and they also used auto-graded quizzes through Homeschool Connections. Sarah mentioned that the auto-graded quizzes made things easier for her mum, Ruth Green, who is a busy mum of nine (Sarah is the eldest). Sarah says, “I love it, I loved having lots of siblings” Leaving home to get married, “I’ve missed the noise.”
Sarah says, “being homeschooled really helped my Faith, because Mum and Dad really made an effort to teach us all the Faith.” Evening prayer was very important in their home and they attended Mass as a family. Sarah’s mum would read them lives of the Saints, which gave them examples to imitate. They also celebrated feast days. Sarah says, “Having younger siblings…gives you plenty of opportunities to practise virtue…especially patience…And it also taught you to love one another, even when you didn’t feel like it.”
The Green family have celebrated St Joseph’s day for a long time. They prepare a St Joseph’s table with lots of traditional Italian food. Sarah tells about how once there was a famine in Italy, and the people prayed to St Joseph. Then, a lot of rainfall made crops grow. In thanksgiving, the people had a big feast to celebrate St Joseph, and this was the beginning of the St. Joseph’s table. On St Joseph’s day, Ruth Green would make spaghetti with bread crumbs on top, for St Joseph’s carpentry. They also have traditional Italian desserts, and bread in the shape of a crown of thorns, a hammer, or a lily. A statue of St Joseph stands in the centre of the table. Sarah says this tradition “brought the Saint to life for us.” The Green family would make Mexican food for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, put the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the prayer table, and read about her. Sarah says, “It’s so amazing ‘cause it means that we’re looking forward to that every year and it’s imprinted on our minds as ‘yes, this is an amazing thing, so we want to celebrate this Saint.’”
Asked for a homeschooling study tip, Sarah says, “having your own space to study” is great, as well as having classical music in the background.
You may also enjoy an interview and an article with Sarah’s mum, Ruth Green
