Latter-day Learning Review #2

This post contains affiliate links.  I was given a copy of Latter-day Learning Year 1 in exchange for honest reviews of the program.  I am not required to give positive reviews.  My family loves it which is why I DO give it rave reviews. 

Maybe you remember my last review of Latter-day Learning and how much we LOVE it! 

Well, some time has flown by since then and guess what.  We STILL love it! 

Years ago, when I started on this homeschooling journey, I never would have guessed that focusing on just one subject per day (in addition to math and language arts) would be sufficient.  I thought I would be recreating school at home.  Little did I know, at that time, that life itself is more of a real education than sitting in a classroom for hours on end. 

This curriculum fits right into our school of life plans.  It’s engaging and thoughtful with a real purpose.  With LDL you are able to perfectly integrate a gospel principle into each lesson.

I feel like I am learning right along with the kids, and we are having so much fun with it!  We are following the order of the recommended schedule, but not moving as quickly as recommended.  It’s just right for us.  There’s no better feeling than being able to move at the right pace for my family. 

Miss H has pretty much stuck with the younger kids recommendations for activities, while K is moving along nicely with the older kids activities.  Miss A still goes back and forth between wanting to play around with the essays and doing the simpler activities. 

If you are on the lookout for an LDS curriculum that integrates the gospel into the lessons, look no further; you can be sure this will fit the bill.  It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that I am giving my kids an education that is both spiritual and secular.  There is no better way to educate.     

Why Latter-day Saints (or any Christian) Should Consider Homeschool

The most recent assignment for my writing class was to write a persuasive essay.  Something that would persuade people to think the way you do about any controversial topic.  So far, this has been the most FRUSTRATING assignment. 

Is it the topic?  No.  I love the topic I chose… it’s homeschool. 

But seriously… 2-3 pages double spaced?!  That’s ridiculous!  Too long?  Heavens no!  It’s far too short!  How in the world do they expect me to fit in all the reasons that a family should consider homeschool within a mere 2 or 3 pages?  I could go on and on…. and on.  For real. 

I had all these ideas floating around in my head about which avenue I should take for this paper.  It got me all excited.  And then… I started to write.  After only the first two paragraphs I realized that I would have to eliminate a huge chunk of my thoughts.  So, while this paper doesn’t express my passion for this topic or anywhere near my complete thoughts on the subject, it is a tiny sampling of what I feel. 

 

“I am opposed to free education as much as I am opposed to taking away property from one man and giving it to another… Would I encourage free schools by taxation? No!” Brigham Young had very strong opinions about education. His views on the subject were very clear and inspired by the Lord. He was not on board with the idea of sending children to public schools where they might be taught the ways of the world. President John Taylor said that Latter-day Saint children should be taught by Latter-day Saints. The thought of Latter-day Saint children being taught by teachers of varying faiths, or perhaps no faith at all, appalled him. All Latter-day Saint families should consider homeschooling as an option.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are well known for praying over almost every aspect of life. When a young woman wants to know whether she should marry a certain person of interest, she prays. If there’s a question about whether a young man should do a year of college before leaving for a mission, he prays. A prayer is said almost any time there is a decision of significance to make. However, most people do not think to pray about the education of their children. There’s usually a perfectly acceptable public school right down the street, or an even greater charter school that everyone is talking about. Society says that’s just what is done; children reach a certain age and they go off to school. That’s how education happens. Many parents are unaware that there are other options.

Children are able to learn far more in their own homes under the loving care of parents who are looking out for their well-being. Secular learning, along with the spiritual teachings a parent can provide, is sure to go much further than that of a teacher only able to teach the worldly view of all things. President Eyring says, “It is clear that our first priority should go to spiritual learning. For us, reading the scriptures would come before reading history books. Prayer would come before memorizing those Spanish verbs. A temple recommend would be worth more to us than standing first in our graduating class. But it is also clear that spiritual learning would not replace our drive for secular learning.” Secular learning has its place. Heavenly Father has asked us to know the events in world history. There is much to be learned from the sciences, math, and foreign languages. Knowledge of all things secular is a wonderful thing, but only if the emphasis is placed on the most important learning to be done first. Spiritual education should take precedence, and it starts in the home. President Eyring goes on to say that spiritual knowledge can motivate students to work even harder to learn the secular side of things. The more an individual learns about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the gospel, the more knowledge he will desire to gain in secular matters.

There is a downside to homeschooling: People. Many people just don’t understand why a parent would make such a detrimental choice as to homeschool their children. Educators often take it as an insult that someone would choose to keep their children away from a government-run educational facility such as a public or charter school. What these people fail to realize is that it has nothing to do with the educators themselves; there are great teachers in every school. The problem is that they are only allowed to teach what the state and federal governments mandate.

There is no right way to educate children. They are here on the earth to learn just as every adult is here to do. Education is highly individual, and the only way to know if homeschooling is the right option for any family is to study it out and pray about it. Heavenly Father will guide each family to the path that is right for them. Just remember that there are options. Is it worth sending a child to the public school, where there is sure to be no spiritual gain, simply because it’s what everyone else is doing?

Works Cited:

Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses, vol. 18 p. 357, General Conference 1877

Smith, Joseph Fielding. Church History and Modern Revelation. 4 volumes. (1946-1949), 2: 98-99

Eyring, Henry B. “Education For Real Life.” Ensign Magazine, October 2002

 

 

I believe…

Anthony and I are studying Religion (Lives of the Prophets) along with English.  We are taking a basic writing class.  And I don’t know why but it is kicking our BUTTS!  Grades are fine…ish, it’s just a lot more work this semester than we are used to. 

The first assignment for writing was to write a love letter.  But not just any love letter; it had to be a letter to someTHING that we love, not someONE.  I plan to share that once I have access to it again (long story), but for now I am sharing my second assignment.  We had to write an essay about something that we strongly believe in.  This paper was easy for me because I have a very strong opinion about the value of homeschooling.  I believe that homeschooling is education in its most realistic form. 

For the record, I originally wrote close to 6 pages before realizing I had some major cutting down to do.  The essay could only be 1-2 pages.  What the heck?!  I could have gone on forever. 

Anthony’s paper was centered around fathers being heroes to their children.  (I’ll share that once I get permission.  He has to be awake in order for me to get that.  ;))

Below is a copy of my essay:

 

I believe homeschooling is education in its most realistic form. It is the most appropriate way to educate. The public school system seems so artificial. Having to learn the same thing as everyone else at approximately the same ages sends the message that what a child is interested in isn’t important, and that you can only learn certain things at certain times. Being told there is only one right way to do just about everything sends the message that we shouldn’t try to be creative. Certainly the government knows better what, when, and how a child should be learning a particular concept. In addition, standardized testing is not an accurate measurement of intelligence or progress.

I am the product of the public school system, and I think I turned out alright. Homeschool isn’t for every family or every kid. Public, charter, or private school are all options as well. However, there was a dam built in the flow of my creative juices as a result of the way the schools and government have set things up for the education of children.

It has taken a lot of effort to get the juices flowing again. As a small child I remember my imagination running wild. The things I could come up with on my own were worthy of a best selling picture book. Vivid colors, imaginative characters, and playful thoughts and scenarios danced around in my mind like a pile of autumn leaves frolicking into the air, gently pushed upward by a light, cool breeze. Exposed pebbles in my corroding driveway were ‘buttons’ that would magically transport my friends and me to new and exciting places like Bubble Gum World. But I knew that when I entered the classroom things had to be just so.

Everyone used the same color of tissue paper for a flower art project, the same design for an imagined replica of one of Christopher Columbus’ ships, and the same topic for learning acrostic poems. My classmates and I were limited by certain criteria set by either the teacher or the government. Eventually, the natural curiosity and imaginative thoughts inside of me were drowned by the knowledge that it didn’t matter how I wanted to do my project. If I wanted a good grade, I would have to follow the format and subject given to me.

The most frequently asked question I get as a homeschooling mom of six kids is, “What about socialization? How are you going to socialize your kids?” I always tell the asker that we just live life. Life is a social event. My kids are involved at church, in church activities, recreational activities, and organized homeschool events. They play with each other, cousins, neighbor kids, and they go to the grocery store and the park. Everyday social interaction equals socialized children.

Schools were not created to provide a place for social interaction. They were created to help educate those children whose families could not afford to buy the proper materials or hire private tutors for their education. At some point, it just became simpler to send all, or at least most, kids to the school for free education. Soon after that it became the law.

Homeschooling is a lifestyle. The world is our classroom and we are able to choose what to learn, when to learn, and how to learn. It offers the very best of life and can help children discover their creative genius.

Latter-day Learning

**This is an affiliate post.  I was offered this curriculum to use for free in exchange for an honest review and feedback.  I was not required to give a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.  If you decide to purchase this curriculum by clicking on any links within the post, I will be paid a small amount which would be greatly appreciated.**

Coming up with a curriculum for each school year can seem like a daunting task.  There are so many choices for each subject and there are always going to be those that just don’t work for your family, which is a bummer when you spend the money for something you won’t use.  It’s my least favorite part of the year. 

This year we started with a new curriculum called Latter-day Learning (this first link will take you to the main page for Latter-day Learning… no affiliate link).  Before I tell you how much we love it what we think of it, let me tell you a little bit about it.  This is a curriculum designed to be used for ages 4-12 as a group (family) setting.  That is why they refer to it as The Family School!  You can get the printed version or the digital version and print it all out yourself (that’s the way I do it.)

It’s a 6 year rotation and I believe they have 2 years available for purchase right now.  Latter-day Learning encompasses ALL subjects except math and language arts.  When I say ‘ALL’ I mean:  history, literature, science, geography, art, and music.  That is amazing!  Also, each lesson is tied to a gospel principle to help them understand it in a way that Heavenly Father would want them to understand it with an eternal perspective. 

Most homeschoolers that I know, including myself, try to have all their kids learning together as much as possible.  It’s not hard to have them all learning the same things in the subjects covered with Latter-day Learning.  The trick is getting each child to learn on their own level while in the group setting and it can be done!  Math and language arts, however, would be difficult.  You can’t teach a 12 year old and a 4-year-old the same language arts or math concepts.  If said 12 year old is learning pre-algebra for instance, the 4-year-old may get left behind.  Unless you have a genius 4-year-old.  In that case… have a ball!  ;)

Now I’m getting anxious to just say this:

We LOVE it! 

When I first started homeschooling I didn’t think I wanted it to be about religion at all.  School was school… secular only.  That was my mindset because that’s what I knew.  My mind quickly changed when I realized I wanted my kids to have spiritual growth as well.  And not only in addition to the secular but the spiritual became MORE important!

 

Since starting school again myself last month I’ve come to realize how much I depend on my spiritual knowledge to gain a clearer understanding of the secular knowledge. 

Age wise, I have to say that my 5 year old is not quite ready for this.  He has a learning style unique to him that I haven’t quite figured out yet.  He’s an interesting case, that C.  So, he will participate in the parts that look and sound fun to him but that happens probably less than 10% of the time.  All of my girls are actively engaged in this curriculum always!  They absolutely adore the lessons and I am so impressed at how much I am learning myself.  The lessons are very thorough and even though they say up to age 12, I find that they are easily adaptable for older kids as well. 

Miss K has been able to choose from several different types of essays to write.  I love that they give examples of each type of essay and a run down of how it would be graded.  K did a Five Senses essay about her dance studio.  That was fun!  In fact, reading over the different types of papers and essays has helped ME in my writing for my own classes. 

I think the favorite overall subject so far has been Literature.  Fairy Tales are up first in Year 1.  Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned fairy tale? 

If you are wondering if this curriculum might be a good fit for your homeschool you can take a gander at their sample lessons. 

There will be follow up posts in the coming weeks and months just to update you on our progress of this curriculum and how we are doing with it. 

This has truly been a blessing to my family.  Everything is laid out for me.  I don’t have to do much prep work at all other than making sure I have everything ready and reading each lesson ahead of time to make sure I understand what is being taught.  I don’t think I can ever go back… this program is everything I have ever wanted for my family and more.  And it is so easy to adapt it for different ages and comprehensions.  My two oldest girls take notes during the lesson while my youngest daughter is just present, listening.  Sometimes she will draw a picture of what is being talked about.  The application activities are geared toward both younger and older children.  I usually assign my oldest the activity for ‘older children’ and my youngest the one for ‘younger children’.  Miss A is stuck somewhere in the middle so I often let her choose whichever one sounds more appealing to her.  About 50% of the time she chooses the older activity. 

So, now that you know how much we love Latter-day Learning, what questions do you have?  Is there anything you want to know?  Anything I didn’t cover? 

 

 

 

 

Freddy the Frogcaster–Book Review

{Click image to see where you can buy this book.}

Sally Croaker is the weather forecaster.  Freddy has adored Sally’s forecasting ways since he was just a tadpole.  He is also very good at forecasting the weather… just not on TV. 

But what happens when Miss Sally goes on maternity leave?  Enter the popular Polly Woggins (love the names in this book)!  But with her inaccurate forecasts how will the Mayor know if he’ll be able to hold his Leapfrog Picnic? 

Can Freddy give him an accurate forecast?

----------------------------

This book is darling!  My little boys and Miss H really liked it.  And it got them all wanting to learn more about weather and how it is forecasted.  The book is also chock full of fun weather vocabulary which we will define, in our homeschool, when we do our weather unit coming up.  ;) 

Books like this are always welcome in our homeschool library.  The storyline was fun and fresh and the characters were memorable. 

**I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to give a positive review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

 

Our 2013-2014 Curriculum

**This post has some affiliate links.  By clicking on certain links and purchasing the product I will receive a small percentage which would be much appreciated!**

This post has been a looong time coming.  WHEW!  Finally! 

I should have had this up during the summer but for the life of me I didn’t know what I was going to do for certain subjects.  One of the many reasons
I love homeschooling… so many options!

When my girls were very young and we decided to homeschool, we chose to allow them a lot of play.  If they showed an interest in something we would absolutely take the time to learn about it.  It was scary, I admit.  I wasn’t positive that that the day would come when they would come to me and ask for more.  More studying?  Who wants that?  I was told the day would come.  “Trust the process.”

It came earlier for some than others but guess what… it came! 

My girls are now asking for more.  Especially Miss K.  She is so ready to start the scholar phase.  To be honest, I think she was ready long ago.  I feel that she is slightly resentful of our first few homeschooling years because she was ready long before I was ready to let her be. 

You’ll notice in her schedule that she has a lot more than the other girls.  

Remember, we homeschool.  That is very different than school at home.  We aren’t trying to get through any certain book as fast as we can in order to take an end of year test or make sure they are right on track with their peers.  Instead we move at a pace that is comfortable for each child and make sure they grasp each concept before moving on.  That could mean they fly through a subject’s book in a month or it could mean we’re working on it for 2 years.  It could also mean we decide to toss something out that just isn’t working for us.  It happens!

School for us includes real life.  Living is learning, believe it or not! 

So, without further ado…. Here is our MAIN curriculum!  LIFE!  The one that we center everything else around. 



And secondly… The Family School! 

The one we do all together.  The boys aren’t quite ready for this one but little C participates when we are doing something that looks fun and interesting to him.  

This is from Latter-Day Learning.  It is an LDS curriculum that is pretty much all-inclusive.  It covers History, Geography, Literature, Science, Art and Music.  The only things you really need to add are Math and Language Arts.  The reason they aren’t included is because this curriculum is designed to include children from ages 4-12.  Math and LA are level based which would make it hard to incorporate with such a wide variety of ages.  I love that it incorporates both spiritual and secular together.  Each lesson is based on a Gospel Principle. 

I will tell you right now that we are absolutely LOVING it so far.  But I’m not going to go into too much detail right now.  There is a more in depth review of this curriculum in the works.  Stay tuned…

Miss K’s curriculum:

Math – Life of Fred (Fractions, Decimals and Percents)

Language Arts – The Giggly Guide to Grammar (I would link you to the Amazon page for this item but it doesn’t come with the parent CD on Amazon.  Find it somewhere else for the better deal :))

Tech Class – Mobile Apps for Beginners

Religion – Discover the Book of Mormon Grades 4-7  A more in depth review of this coming up as well. 

Drawing – ARTistic Pursuits, Elementary 4-5 Book One  Again… an in depth review coming shortly.

This is what I love about homeschooling.  Miss K is so interested in learning more about the Book of Mormon and she wants to be an artist.  We are able to customize her education to those interests and dreams.  I don’t have A or H doing drawing because they haven’t shown the interest in it like K has.  Miss A is starting to show an interest.  Take a look at her curriculum and you’ll notice in her choice of Tech classes.

 

Miss A’s curriculum:

Math – Life of Fred (Elementary Series)

Language Arts – informal lessons by Mom :)

Tech Class – Drawing, Sculpting, and Animation Foundations

Miss A really wants to focus on having beautiful handwriting this year so that is one of the things we will be working on.  She would also like to learn cursive.

 

Miss H’s curriculum:

Math – Life of Fred (Elementary Series)

Language Arts – informal lessons by Mom

Tech Class – Engineering Foundations

Miss H didn’t really have anything extra she wanted to work on.  I am perfectly fine with that! 

 

The Boys curriculum:

This year for the boys we are going to focus on the letter sounds and numbers.  For B we will also focus on shapes and colors as he has not mastered them yet.  We will also do a lot of little projects to keep them busy while the girls are working. 

 

In addition to everything already mentioned, we plan on continuing with Nature Study.  This is something that I believe comes pretty naturally to kids anyway so it’s not hard.  They love exploring the outdoors.  Finding bugs and spotting birds are favorite pastimes for my kids. 

We are having so much fun already this year.  I just know it’s going to be our best homeschool year yet!  We’re off to a great start.  How about you? 

Not sure how this box got here and I can’t get it to go away.  So, I thought I’d write in it.  Hi!  ;)

 

 

 

Homeschool Through the Summer (Even if you don’t homeschool!)

{{In case you are wondering… YES!  They are all this excited about summer school!  ;)}}

As a kid I remember always looking forward to Summer because it meant no more homework and no more teachers!  It meant playing all day long with friends from sun up to sun down, ice cream trucks and popsicles, mud pies and bike rides.

By the time school would start again in the fall I had forgotten so much!  I distinctly remember one particular incident where I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to do a subtraction problem where the top number was smaller than the bottom number.  If I remember correctly, it was the beginning of second grade.  We had learned, the year before, how to borrow from the neighbor to the left but… I hadn’t borrowed from a neighbor for nearly 3 months! 

I sat on the couch with my first homework assignment of the year (math) and I remember laughing out loud when the question was 35 – 8 = …

Because 5 – 8 = 0… THREE TIMES!! 

How was that even possible?  I laughed as I walked my homework over to my mom who reminded me to ‘borrow’. 

Good times, good times.

My kids aren’t so lucky.  They don’t take an entire 3 month hiatus.  We school year round because we take breaks whenever we feel a burn out coming on.  Sometimes one kid is breaking while the others are still chugging along.  Or we break on some subjects but not others.  That’s the beauty of homeschooling!

This summer is going to be so much fun!  I had a friend in my ward call up and ask if we would be interested in forming a small group of kids for a book club. 

HECK YEAH!! 

Three of us and our kids met up to discuss the details and set it all up.  We decided ages 8-12 would be perfect!  However, there is another mom that has a 6 year old that wanted to do it as well, and one of the moms at the meeting also has a 6 year old so it was decided that we could do two separate book clubs.  The two little ones along with H because even though H will be eight next month, she is still not quite ready for the bigger books on the docket for the older kids. 

A schedule was made with a list of all activities planned.  Two moms are in charge of the activities each Thursday throughout the summer (the moms that don’t have little ones at home) while myself and another mom are in charge of the book clubs on Tuesdays each week.  We will rotate having the little ones and the older ones. 

My kids are excited to be doing this with some of their friends and I am excited that we have a plan!  Mind you, these other families do not homeschool.  They do, however, have a vested interest in their children’s educations.  I look at all of these families and think, they would make AWESOME homeschoolers!  But I realize that it’s not for everyone.  And in their own way, they ARE homeschooling!  I love that they have a plan for summer as well! 

In case you are interested here is a list of the activities planned. 

• June 13 – Make bread
• June 20 – Picnic at the lake
• June 27 – Learn about and make kites
• July 4 – No activity planned
• July 11 – Fly kites at The Great Salt Lake
• July 18 – Learn about indexing
• July 25 – take Trax downtown
• August 1 – Make baby burritos (not sure what that is)
• August 8 – Family History Class
• August 15 – Go on a hike 

 

As for the book club, here is a list of the books we plan to read and discuss over the summer for the big kids.  

• June 11 – Bring your favorite book (novel) to tell the others about. 
• June 18 – The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• June 25 – The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
• July 2 – Bring your favorite childhood picture book to discuss
• July 9 – Choose a Childhood of Famous Americans book to read and discuss.  Dress as that person.
• July 16 – SOS Titanic by Eve Bunting
• July 23 – The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and Yoko Tanaka
• July 30 – Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• August 6 – The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• August 13 – Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

 

Obviously, this is just a guideline.  We have a total of six kids in the older group.  Some of them are not readers.  They just don’t like it.  This is the case for the mom’s son who approached us about this group idea.  She just wants him to start reading and enjoy it.  And then there are the 8 and 9 year olds in the group.  They aren’t going to read as quickly as K or her friend who are both bookworms and could read Harry Potter within a couple of days. 

If we start to see that things are just going way too quickly for some, we will simply slow it down.  Discuss one book for two weeks if we have to.  That might mean that we aren’t able to get through them all and that’s ok. 

For the younger group we are simply going to read and discuss a picture book each week, one with a message.  Or a short chapter book that moms can read to them during the week without losing their attention. 

What about you?  Do you school your kids during the summer months?  Are your kids in year-round school?  What do you have planned? 

 

 

Building A Nest

I don’t do nearly enough homeschooling posts. 

On that note, we tried building a nest this week.  A nest.

For birds.

Not as easy as you might think!  My girls learned quickly that they would not make great birds.  They can’t build a brilliant nest.

{That… and they can’t fly… weird!}

Their science book suggested the project and so they thought they’d give it a go.  They had just learned about all the different types of nests that birds make.

Ingredients were gathered.

Mud…

Sticks and twigs…

Weeds…

And with that they set to work.

 

They even tried soaking the twigs in hopes of making them more ‘bendy’.  The dry ones kept snapping.

In the end, they came up with a great little basket thing (or maybe a potholder?)

And C made some delicious pies!  (He was so proud!)

H was determined to build a nest.  This is what she came up with. 

She even put it up in the tree because she thinks a bird might use it.  I don’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.  It could happen!

 

Homeschool–Curriculum

There is definitely not a right or wrong when it comes to choosing a curriculum for your homeschool.  It varies with each family and very often with each child.  I’ve only barely touched the surface with the list below.  We try to integrate both Thomas Jefferson Education and Charlotte Mason methods in our homeschool, neither of which are a ‘curriculum’ in and of itself.  We still choose what books and methods work best for us.  And quite honestly, it changes with circumstances.   

Popular Curriculum Choices:

A Thomas Jefferson Education

-A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille

-A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion by Oliver DeMille, Diann Jeppson, and Rachel DeMille

Charlotte Mason

-Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series Vol. 1-6 by Charlotte Mason {These can be read online at http://amblesideonline.org/}

- http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/

- http://milestonesacademy.com/

-A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola

Montessori

-Google “Montessori Activities”

Unschooling

-No direction, no structure. Learning is all child directed.

Sonlight Curriculum (Full Boxed Curriculum)

- http://www.sonlight.com/

K12 (basically public school online)

-Teacher from school district is involved in checking on progress.

-Absolutely free (including computer)

- http://www.k12.com/

Five in a Row

- http://www.fiarhq.com/

Classical Education

-The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home by Susan Wise Bauer

- http://www.welltrainedmind.com/

Unit Studies

-Just Google “{whatever subject} unit study}”

 

Homeschool–Tips and Advice

Here are a few things I have learned over the years as a homeschooling mom. 

With homeschooling there is no typical day. Every day is different and sometimes unexpected things pop up. Only one out of ten days (if that) turn out exactly the way you planned it.  Expect delays and changes.  They are inevitable!

No family is exactly the same. The dynamics of each family is different, therefore you need to plan accordingly. DO NOT try and copy someone else’s daily schedule. You need to figure out what works for you.  Take ideas from others but don’t get down on yourself if it doesn’t work for you. 

Have fun with it! Don’t stress the small stuff. If your child is not ready to learn something it’s ok. Just because one child learns to read at 4, it doesn’t mean he/she will be a better reader than a child that learns to read at 6. The potty training analogy: A child that potty trains at 2 is not a better potty goer at 25 years of age than the child that trains at 4 or 5…. just sayin’.  :)

Expect that every child will be different. We (Brooke & Anthony) have three girls with three very different learning styles. One is extremely visual, one is auditory with a dose of photographic memory, one is kinesthetic/visual… hearing something means next to NOTHING with her. This is why we don’t believe you can plug 20+ children into a classroom and expect that the curriculum will work for all of them.

Relax! Your child/ren will learn. You don’t need to cram facts or worry that they are behind. Let your child learn at his or her own pace. They WILL learn it whether it be now or later. It really doesn’t matter when. Students teach themselves. You are only there as a mentor.

Get Dad, grandparents and other family members involved. They have so much to offer! 

• Anthony has taught the kids so many things that I could never have taught them myself. 
• Anthony’s Dad is into nature, birds in particular.  Because of his influence K is able to identify many birds by their calls alone.  And if she sees a bird she is able to tell us what kind it is almost without fail.
• My mom comes over once a week and teaches K and A to sew.  That is something that I never learned to do even though my mom has a phenomenal talent for it! 
• A neighbor of ours taught the girls to crochet… several years ago.  Another thing I never learned to do.  And just this week they have been crocheting up a storm! 

 

I’ve got a couple more posts in this homeschooling series but I don’t want anyone to think that we feel that EVERYONE should homeschool.  We absolutely do NOT think that.  I am just so grateful that the option is there for us.  The public/charter/private schools absolutely serve a great purpose in our communities.  Homeschooling is not for everyone.  In a home where both parents work it is most likely not even an option.  And there are a hundred thousand other reasons that homeschooling may or may not work for you.

Having said that, I do have to say that I think that in order for ANY educational route to work for ANY child, the parents need to be as involved as possible.  Especially in those younger years.  Maybe join the PTA, ask a lot of questions, sit down and do homework together, etc.  Show an interest! 

 

I hope that if you’re considering homeschooling you’ll research it all that you can.  If you have any questions for me I would love to answer them.  Please email me or leave a comment. 

Homeschool To Us - FAQ

Below is a list of questions that Anthony and I are asked on a consistent basis regarding homeschooling. 

Do I have to have a degree?

No, you do not have to have any type of training or degree to homeschool.

Is homeschooling legal?

Yes, it is legal in all 50 states. You just need to find out the laws in your state. Here in Utah you have to send a notarized affidavit to your school district each year notifying them of your intent to homeschool. They can not tell you no, they can only send back a letter telling you that they received your affidavit and that your children are exempt from school. {Starting with 1^st grade… Kindergarten is not required here in Utah}

For sample affadavits and more info go to http://uhea.org/

How much does it cost?

Homeschooling can cost as much or as little as you want. The library is your BEST FRIEND!! ;)

How do I make sure my kids are on track?

This can get tricky for some people. We don’t worry so much about our kids staying on track with the kids that go to school. I would rather see progress rather than making sure they are ready for a test or making sure they get through a certain textbook within a school year. 

Do my kids have to be tested?

It depends on where you live. Here in Utah, no! You can choose to have your kids tested at certain points. We choose not to at this point.  Below you’ll see a couple of illustrations.... this is exactly how we feel about tests!

 

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Babblin' on Pinterest

 

Source: classroomcollective.tumblr.com via Babblin' on Pinterest

 

Do I have to keep a log of what we do?

Again, it depends on where you live. Here in Utah, no! Some states require a log and that you keep attendance.  And some also require that you show which curriculum you are using. 

What about SOCIALIZATION?

This is the #1 biggest question people ask.

We believe that the socialization in the schools, for the most part, is negative. Public schools are, in our opinion, an artificial environment anyway.  And I find it interesting that this is the most concerning question for most people.  Are we sending our kids to school to be ‘properly’ socialized or are we sending them to get an education?  Funny that the burning question isn’t, “**Gasp!** What about their education??” 

What curriculum do I use?

This is absolutely a personal choice! What works for one child may not work for another. In that case you may need to try a different approach or an entirely different program to help certain children understand what’s in front of them.  More on this later.

What should our day look like?

It’s going to be different for every family. Our day starts with devotional and chores. Then we move into individual work while mom works with and plays with the younger boys. Once the boys are down for quiet time/naps we start on group work.

How do you teach multiple children at multiple levels?

I suggest doing as much as you can together. At our house History, Science, Nature Study, family book reading, etc. are all done together. Other things like math, spelling, individual reading, etc. are all done separately at each child’s level of understanding and comprehension.

Homeschool To Us–Who, What, Where, When, Why (but not necessarily in that order ;))

I mentioned that Anthony and did a homeschool workshop for some people in our ward and family that were interested in learning more.  Now I’m going to post all the details here for anyone else that may have missed it but is still wanting to learn in a series of posts. 

Below is a picture of my girls’ interests for the year.  Obviously the lists grow as time goes on and K’s list is obviously a bit longer than A’s or H’s.  The picture isn’t too terribly relevant to this post, I just wanted to add a picture and that’s what I had ;).  We’ll go over the lists along with some other things a little later in the series. 

Following you will find a list of five questions along with mine and Anthony’s answers.  We did this packet together and you will notice our opinions of homeschooling are heavily peppered throughout.  Does that mean that our way of homeschooling is the only right way? 

Definitely NOT! 

Does it mean that we look down on others for doing it differently? 

Absolutely NOT! 

It simply means that we have prayed and come to certain conclusions and received answers as to how we need to educate both our children and ourselves in our home.  Your home is different!  You have different children, different parents, different circumstances, different ideas, different backgrounds, different learning styles, etc.  Your school should definitely NOT look just like ours!  So, before we begin, I encourage you read this article that I wrote about schedules. 

Our homeschool opinions are just that… opinions… things that have worked in our home and things that we strongly believe in. 

Let’s get on with the show… :)

 

What is homeschooling?

Homeschooling is a lifestyle! It is NOT school at home… or at least we don’t believe that it should be. 

Who am I teaching?

Ideally you will be mentoring, not teaching. And in the process you’ll be learning along with your children. You are your child’s greatest example.

Where do we ‘do’ school?

School is done wherever you feel comfortable. We like the comfort of our living room or dining room table. Sometimes we even prefer to be outdoors on nice days. Some prefer a designated school room.  The reason we choose NOT to have school room is because, as I said before, we don’t believe that homeschool should necessarily ‘look like’ school.  You’ll read more about the reasons for that in the ‘Why’ answer below. 

When do we ‘do’ school?

In the interest of ‘Structure Time, Not Content’ (A Thomas Jefferson Education) we have designated times of the day that we are learning. Friends are not allowed until after 3:00 on ‘school days’. As far as the content, nothing is required… ‘Inspire, not Require’. I (Brooke) tell the kids that I will be studying {whatever subject} at such and such a time in whatever room I choose. They are welcome to join me. In the past it has been required but they fought it. Once I stopped requiring them to join me, it was voluntary. They enjoyed it.

They will value their education if they see that you value yours!

We want our kids to develop a LOVE of learning rather than a HATE of learning.

Why should we homeschool?

Here is an article that is definitely worth reading (very LDS {Mormon} based but I still think it applies to just about anyone)!!

In addition, we believe that our children can and should LOVE learning. It should happen every day without even thinking about it. We love that we are able to tailor each child’s education to what they want out of life. This lets them know that their ideas and opinions are valued. Children have very valid points of view.

You are able pinpoint strengths and weaknesses that you might otherwise miss. Children are able to move at a pace that is comfortable for them. They don’t get left behind if they are struggling in one area. Likewise, they aren’t bored like they might be in a school setting where some of their peers are lagging. A teacher can only move at the pace that is already predetermined for them.

Homeschool, according to us!

Anthony and I hosted a Homeschool Workshop last week for a few friends and family that were interested in learning more. 

We’re not experts.  Let me just put that out there right up front.  We are NOT experts by any means but we are asked a lot of questions so we figured it would be fun to answer them all at once in a group setting. 

I invited anyone in my ward that might be interested.  What I wasn’t expecting was to have a former (retired) teacher show up.  I assume she was just curious and wanted to know more about homeschooling and what it might look like in our crazy home.  Her presence made both Anthony and I just a little uncomfortable only because I know at one point she wasn’t too keen on the whole idea.  And trust me, I knew when we said something she didn’t like or didn’t agree with because I could see it written all over her face and body language. 

But don’t get me wrong.  She’s a very sweet lady and she’s actually given us a TON of stuff to use in our homeschool.  She was getting rid of all her old teaching supplies.  Score for us! 

Anyway, I thought maybe some of you might like to know more about our reasons for homeschooling and the way it is done in our home.  I’ve written a little bit about our reason here and here but this time I’m going to go over some Frequently Asked Questions (the questions we hear all the time) and cover some things I didn’t go over in my last two rants about homeschooling.  (Part 1 and Part 2)  There were a couple things we just didn’t have time for in the workshop either so this will be done in a series of posts over the next couple of weeks or so. 

But first I’d like to know if there are any questions that YOU have so I can make sure and cover them as I go.  Even as a current homeschooler I find myself asking questions of others so don’t be embarrassed if you already homeschool. 

And please note that as we go, many of the answers to the questions I will go over are our OPINIONS!!  This does not make it right… or wrong.  It’s just the way that we feel.  And yes, we do have some pretty strong opinions… which may be why the former school teacher didn’t particularly enjoy all aspects of our workshop.  But hey, she’s entitled to her opinion just like I am entitled to mine.  :)

So, ask away! 

 

Pinterest Challenge–Day 1… Homeschool Plan For a Whole Year

I never even announced that I had planned on doing a Pinterest Challenge.  My cute friend, Kristin, decided to do one and asked anyone that wanted to join her to play along.  The idea is to take one Pinteresting idea each day for the month of August and do it, make it, cook it, bake it, etc.  Just make it happen!  

My first thought was, I’m too poor!  Don’t ask me why but I was thinking in terms of crafts and hobbies and things I’d have to spend money on.  But then she mentioned it again on her blog and I realized… HELLO!!  I don’t have to spend extra money. 

• Recipes… my family has to eat anyway, right? 
• Crafts… I’ve got a whole room FULL of scrapbooking paper and supplies that I’ve had for YEARS!  Plus other stuff I’ve collected. 
• Ideas/Tips… Read a parenting article and apply the things I learn.  No cost at all there! 
• Church Related Pins… I’ve got Family Home Evening Lessons to plan every week. 
• Homeschooling… Umm, hi!  We are homeschoolers.  Find something fun to try or a fun article to read to learn something new. 

Sometimes I amaze me.  Thinking outside the box is, admittedly, not one of my stronger points.  However, since deciding to homeschool my kids I’ve been a lot better about it.  ;)

So, for day one of my Pinterest Challenge I chose to pick back up where I left off with my WHOLE YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL PLAN! 

A couple weeks ago I came across a pin that linked to an article about planning a whole year.  (Click on the picture to get to the article)

I was inspired!  I’ve never done it that way before.  Procrastination is my middle name so I tend to do things last minute… all. the. time!  And I’m really good at it… procrastinating that is.  My homeschool schedule is usually planned day by day or, at best, week by week.  But I thought with the baby coming in November sometime and I know I’ll be tired from all the sleepless nights, it might be a good idea to plan a whole year. 

I got started with it thinking it would take a day or two.  Not so, my friends!  Not so.  It takes a lot more time than I realized.  So, I took a break for several days.  Today I decided to get back to it.  And wouldn’t you know it, I’m almost there!  It’s so gratifying to look at my schedule and realize that my whole year is planned and I don’t have to worry about it until next summer!  Sure there will be hiccups along the way and I will probably rearrange a few things here and there but for the most part it’s all done. 

For those interested in our ‘curriculum’, homeschooling style, or plans for the year, I plan to do a series of posts about that… coming soon!

Anyone else want to join me (and Kristin) in a Pinterest challenge?  We’d love to have you! 

 

Smash Books

The first time I ever heard of Smash Books was on Pinterest.  One of the gals that I follow has a whole board dedicated to them so they kept popping up on my… ‘feed’?  Is that what we call them? 

Anyway, it looked like a whole bunch of miscellaneous papers, thoughts, pics, lists… pretty much whatever you wanted.  So, I had an idea…

My kids collect garbage!  To them it’s not garbage, more like treasures.  They get upset when I call it anything that sounds ‘trashy’.  Excuse the pun. 

They get little papers from church with thoughts and quotes on them (not what I consider garbage, it just gets cluttered), notes and letters from friends and cousins, and sometimes they like to save things like candy wrappers.  Why?  I know not.  They just do.  But I get tired of finding the trash all. over. the. house! 

Enter, the Smash Book!

Each child was presented with one of these sketch books.  ($3.?? at Wal-Mart – I don’t remember the exact amount.)

And now they can smash whatever garbagy treasures they want into their own personal smash book and I don’t have to find it everywhere.  My kids have smashed everything from church quotes and calendar pictures to lists of things they desire for their future and candy wrappers.  And there’s always room for more because they’re supposed to look cluttered. 

Gotta love it! 

Why We Homeschool (Part 2)

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Babblin' on Pinterest

Now, where did I leave off in part 1? Oh yes, I believe I ended when we started praying about homeschooling.

Anthony and I prayed both together and individually about this and each time we both felt good about the decision. I have to say that just the very idea of keeping K home put many of my other worries at ease, not just the worries about the school itself. Most of my worries had to do with the social aspect. I mentioned before that school is considered "the only way" to truly socialize a child, right? But, in my research, and from my own experience, I came to realize that the social aspect of public school is often times extremely negative. The bullying, the superiority, the inferiority, all of it can be so trying on a child's self worth.

I recognize that K's personality is very similar to what mine was at that same age. Often times it still is. Our feelings are hurt very easily. We don't take it well when someone is mean to us, it usually ends up that we are in tears. That part has been easier now that I am older but it still happens. For K it still happens all the time. It breaks her heart to learn that someone doesn't like her. These are all things that mean kids feed on.

I remember crying each time someone would say anything mean to me while some of my friends would fight back with a feisty attitude when something was said to them. Can you guess who they continued to pick on? Yep, it was me. I gave the reaction they were looking for. Did you ever have a moment during your grade school years that you just wanted to go home and have your mom give you a big hug so the world would make sense again? I felt that way all the time. As great as my teachers were, they couldn't console me the way my mom could. She was the only one that would fight for me and make sure that everything in her power was done to make me feel whole again.  She had many ‘chats’ with teachers and principals.

I imagined my little girl going to that same great big playground at the same great big school that I attended and having those same sad, lonely feelings. Her personality is such that she gives the bullies something to feed off of. It gave me a sense of peace, once we decided to homeschool, knowing that I would be here for her when she needed me. I would be here to comfort her and help her know right from wrong.

I know there are critics out there saying, "How is she supposed to learn to defend herself? How do you expect her to grow? She can't come crying to Mommy every time she gets her feelings hurt!" Rest assured, I know all of this. But I looked at my then five year old little girl and I recognized that she doesn't have her wings yet. She wasn't ready to be thrown to the wolves. I still had time to nourish her soul, help her figure out who she is, and be the best K she could be before throwing her out there for the world to mold and shape the way the world sees appropriate. Looking at the world's view of what a little girl should grow up to be is not my idea of what our Heavenly Father would want for her.

The feelings I grew up with during grade school were not positive for the most part. I felt inferior to my peers as a result of the relentless teasing I endured. I hid my face hoping no one would see me only to figure out later that 'hiding' made me more apparent. However, I did find one way to feel superior to some of my peers. Did you ever have reading groups and math groups? We had groups that ranged from low, medium and high which translates to below average, average, and above average. They always called each group a color such as yellow, blue, and red (I don't remember exactly which colors were used) so as not to identify them as the low group or the high group. I'm not sure who they thought they were fooling, we all knew which group was which. Lucky for me, I was in the highest group for both math and reading. THAT, right there, made me better than all those mean kids that made fun of me! I loved looking down on them in this manner! As an adult, I realize now how foolish I was. But at the time, it was my way of feeling superior when in fact, I felt very inferior. After all, wasn't it more important to be popular than it was to be smart?

I remember the first time I realized that I never was smarter than anyone else. Sadly, it wasn't until I was out of school and dating Anthony. Anthony is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He can rattle things off that I could never have known. Since I didn't know him during our school years, I had no idea how he had struggled in school. Unlike me, he was always in the lowest reading groups and even went to resource classes. He had a 'learning disability', which, by the way, I now have a very different view of after all of my research. I believe everyone just learns in different ways. Anthony never had a 'disability' at all. He needed to learn in a different manner, that's all. Yet, all through school, he felt inferior to his peers. He was never as smart as them and never got good grades. Funny how drastically our attitudes about education have changed. I never want my children to feel either inferior or superior to those around them, especially their friends. I only want them to know how and where to find the answers to the questions they have. I want them to know that they are capable of learning anything they want to learn, simple or complex. No one needs to tell them what they have to know by a certain age or how they have to learn it. Textbooks are not the only way to learn. BORING, if you ask me.

In our quest to find the right educational path for our family, we've learned a lot. One of the main things I've learned is that you can't take one curriculum, plug every child into that curriculum, and have it work for every child. That is why I don't like the idea of the public school system for my family. I believe that the public school system has it's place in society, I really do. Homeschooling is NOT for everyone. It can be hard and trying at times but I am absolutely loving that I get to learn right along with my kids. History, a subject I always loathed, is actually more interesting and fun than I ever knew. One of the the best things about it is that I can see that K is developing a love of learning at the same age that I had started into my hate of learning phase. It's so different when it's your own idea and not someone else's. Being forced to learn something is never the fun way to go about it. But having a question and being able to find the answer on your own is great fun!

Well, after deciding to homeschool for sure, it was time to go to the Utah Homeschool Conference. There was so much to figure out! What method should we try? Should we try a whole curriculum? Are we going to be the only 'normal' people there? Anthony was very concerned about that last question. Doesn't it seem that when you think of homeschoolers you think of the weird ones? They're out there, for sure! Come to think of it, there were weird public schoolers also! There are just weird people, in general. Lucky for Anthony, at the conference, it was about 98% 'normal' people and only 2% 'weirdies'. Those are his stats, not mine.

By the time we left the conference, I had flyers and brochures from every vendor and workshop we attended. I was armed with more information than I even knew what to do with. Where was I supposed to start? It was crazy! At that point, it all started to feel a bit overwhelming and I wondered if this was just a nonsense idea. I prayed some more and still felt good about it, so we continued.
Before I knew it, it was time to break the news to K that she would be staying home for 'school'. I must admit, she was not very happy when I first told her. She cried! It made me so sad and I thought about letting her go to school anyway. But when I asked her what it was that made her sad, she said, "I just want to ride the bus!" Perfect! Problem solved, she though that she would get to ride the bus to school everyday. Being that the school was only down the street, that wasn't going to happen anyway. Once I explained that to her, she was more at ease with the idea.

In the end, I decided that a full curriculum was not for us. Refer to a few paragraphs above.... I really like the Charlotte Mason method and the ideas presented in A Thomas Jefferson Education. (More on those in a later post.)  These two methods complement each other very well. So, our homeschool looks a lot like either of these two methods. We're still working out some bugs, there are always bugs to be worked out in life. We still have things we would like to add to our homeschool and things that we've tried that haven't worked well at all. It's a learning process for everyone but we're having a great time doing it.

K, and all the other kids, have had many opportunities that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Liberty Girls (ages 6-9) has been such a wonderful thing for the girls. They have learned so much and made some great friends. The equivalent for a boy would be Knights of Freedom. I can't wait for C to be involved in this.

My favorite part of this whole experience is that my kids get to socialize with kids of various ages. They aren't exclusive to only kids of their own age. School is just about the only time that you are forced to be in a room with 30 other kids that are your same age. At work, at church, at the grocery store, etc... you most likely deal with people of various ages. At school, you are made to feel inferior to those in the upper grades but superior to those in the lower grades. Forget the fact that some of them are reading on a completely different level than their peers, either higher or lower, or that some have the desire to move ahead much quicker in some subjects than the others. And some wish things would slow down so that they have a chance to catch up, knowing that if they don't catch up quickly, they will fall so far behind they will be pegged as a lost cause.

I love being able to move at a pace that each child is comfortable with. Is K at the same level as her peers? I don't know, nor do I really care. We are moving at a comfortable pace for her, only moving on once I know she really understands what she was already working on. She will continue to learn because she wants to, not because she was forced to. She'll remember it because she wants to. And it doesn't matter if she learns about The Boston Tea Party in first grade or in ninth grade, the point is... she'll learn it. Actually, that was a bad example because she already knows about The Boston Tea Party. You get the point, though.

Do I worry about the socialization? NOT AT ALL! Here's an interesting tidbit of info for you. Did you know that public schools are only between 150 and 200 years old? And that they were formed for the benefit of poor people who were unable to afford material to educate their children at home or a private tutor to educate their children. Over the years, it just became a convenience for most people to send their children to the public school no matter what their status was. And I'm pretty sure that 200 years ago, before public school, there wasn't a socialization crisis! My kids see and talk to plenty of people on a daily basis. They know how to speak to children and adults alike. Not to mention, most people comment on how polite they are toward everyone. I think they speak to adults with more ease than most of their peers.  They’re definitely not perfect and sometimes they need a reminder on how to politely answer or ask a question but for the most part, they’re pretty good at it.

This is not to say that all kids in the public school system are improperly socialized or that my kids are somehow going to be better off in life than yours. As I've said before, this is a lifestyle choice and it is definitely NOT for everyone. It works for us, for now. Will we do it forever? I get asked this questions all the time and my answer is always the same, "We'll do it as long as it works." When it stops working for us, we'll figure out what works whether it be public school or some other means of education. I hope that it continues to work forever but I just don't know. I imagine that in high school, the kids will have some topics of interest that the local high school will be better equipped to teach than anything else we can find. At that point, they can enroll in those classes and learn the rest on their own at home. Maybe drama, sports, band, choir.... who knows! All I know is I'm excited to see what happens in the future.

Our goal is not to have children who enter college at 14 and graduate with a degree when most of their peers are graduating from high school.  It happens, there are many homeschoolers with similar stories.  Our goal is more along the lines of giving our children a great foundation for self-worth, education, and spiritual well being.  Who knows what will happen!?

I'm sure there are a lot of things I didn't cover in this two part homeschool post so please let me know if you have any other questions.  I plan to do a number of homeschooling posts in the near future but in the meantime, ask away! 

Why We Homeschool (Part 1)

My blog friend, Cari, just posted her reasons for homeschooling on her blog so I decided to follow suit.  I actually wrote this a while back for my old blog and have been meaning to repost it here… Intentions, they get the best of me every time!  This will be a two part post because it’s pretty long.  Some of you may have already read this. 

Maybe you already know, or maybe you don't know, that we homeschool our children. It was a decision based on many different things. Was it something I had always known I would do? That would be a big fat NO! In fact, I was appalled at the idea when Anthony and I moved out of state to South Carolina with my parents and my mom decided she was going to homeschool my younger brother. He was in the 4th grade if I remember correctly. This came about after first being put into the school system there in SC. Things are a bit different there than they are here in Utah. Needless to say, it wasn't going well for my little bro. He was having a hard time socially and the academic side was not coming any easier for him. So, the decision was made.

My thought was, how dare my mom take an already socially awkward child out of the public school system. After all, isn't that why we go to school? To socialize? You would think so considering that is the first question out of almost everyone's mouth when you mention the fact that you are homeschooling. "What about the socialization?"

I was no different. Having grown up in the conveyer belt system, I believed that the only "correct" way to be socialized is to go to school, get picked on, bullied, made fun of, and make sure you find someone weaker than you to do those same things to after it's all been done to you. Then, once you hit junior high and high school, make sure you have a bunch of classes with all your friends so you can goof off and just be together. Who cares what the subject is or what the teacher is lecturing on today. Just make sure we all have fun! That's what school was for me, just a big, daily social event. Grades were never very important until the end of high school when I realized that I barely had enough credits to graduate. Phew! That was a close one! I had the potential, it was there! I tested into the "gifted and talented" programs but didn't care enough about them to do my homework like I should.

No matter how many times my teachers tried to tell me how important it was to get good grades and learn as much as I could, I didn't want to hear it. To be honest, the only things I remember from school are the things I was interested in. If I was forced to learn it, I retained the information long enough to pass the test and then it was gone.

So, when the time came and my mom pulled my brother out of school, I thought she would ruin him forever. He was already an awkward kid as it was. Little did I realize, school itself was only making it worse for him. Just a few short years after my mom pulled him out of school, he was diagnosed with autism. He's high-functioning but it explains soooo much. We now know why he was socially awkward to begin with.

Well, when the time came for K to go to preschool I had no issues with it. We found a great one to put her into and she absolutely loved it! She went for 2 years, did great and Kindergarten was just around the corner. K was so excited at the prospect of a new backpack, new school, new teacher, new friends, and field trips. I had even registered her at the local public school already. But the more research I did about the school she would attend (and consequently, the school I attended as a child), the more I realized what a detriment this could be to her. The school had a very low report card and the testing scores were horrendous!

As I asked other parents about their experiences with the school, I heard a lot of people report frustration at the pace of the learning. So many of the kids were ready and longing to move ahead but were held back because of the fact that the teachers were only allowed to move at the pace of the "average" student. This meant that even though some children were ready, others were further behind. So moving ahead too quickly would mean the kids that are behind get even further behind and the "average" ones would fall a little behind as well.

At that point, I decided to look at my other options. There was a charter school that I had heard good things about. They did a lottery pull for enrollment and K was not chosen. The next thing I did was borrow a whole bunch of books from the library about how children learn best and educational options. After reading and seeing that homeschool was mentioned several times, I borrowed a bunch of homeschooling books. Not only that but I researched online. I probably read a good 12-15 books on homeschooling alone. And some of the websites I found were incredible! I learned about so many different methods and curriculums, it was mind-boggling! During all of this, I had remained pretty quiet about my findings only to surprise Anthony with it one day.

I remember it was summer and Anthony was up on a ladder outside our garage doing something. What it was has escaped me but I do remember him on the ladder. My nerves were getting the best of me at the time as I prepared to ask him what he thought of the idea of homeschooling. Once the question left my lips I anticipated the answer with somewhat of a hopeful demeanor. What I got was the look of insanity!! YEP! He thought I had gone loony for minute. His thoughts had been the same as mine when my mom had homeschooled so the idea of doing such a detrimental thing to our own children was outrageous!

Anthony looked down at me from the ladder and said, "Are you serious?" Once I told him that I was, he gave me what we commonly refer to around here as 'the stank face'. I then proceeded to tell him about the research I had done, the methods I had learned of, and the benefits it could have for our family. The more I talked, the more on-board he was with the whole idea. This 'talk' of ours went on for more than just the few minutes on the ladder. He told me to keep researching and we would pray about it and decide what was right for our family. I was so excited! I read and researched for several weeks and told him of my findings. Some GREAT findings, and some not-so-great findings.... opposition in all things, right? Each time, he would react a little bit kinder to the thought of homeschooling and the prayers began.

Part 2 HERE!