Homeschooling: 2018 Has Been AWESOME

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This last year has been INSANE! As a homeschooling parent, I have been totally digging into some new curriculum. By the time all my kids are in college…I will still not be an expert at homeschooling. I think one of the reasons I love homeschooling so much is the fact that it is this living, breathing monstrosity that constantly makes me stretch outside comfort zones and keeps me learning right along with my kiddos.

This last year my oldest started college. He is only 17 and still small for his age, so he gets a lot of comments from other students about how young he looks. I think he would have been uncomfortable in the past with people commenting on how he stands out in life, but he has grown into an incredibly funny guy and finds the whole “Yikes, how old are you?” question to be a great opener to telling the universe about how much he loved being homeschooled. My kids are so strange!

Tanner got into the college he wanted and into the program he was hoping to pursue. When he first came home asking to step outside the traditional public schooling path, I was scared to death. But the past 6 years of homeschooling my kids has given me an opportunity to build courage and find relationships with other parents who home school their kids. It is a much bigger and braver community than I could have imagined, and I’m so thankful to the men and women who have helped me navigate a course I never imagined I would be taking. Some of these families have homeschooled all of their kids from kindergarten through high school, and I have a few friends with 7 or more children…I don’t know how they do it. These parents and children have helped us find peace in the journey. They’ve taught me to let go of what I thought education should be and embrace what education is for my family.

Jake has started high school through the BYU online program. It is a rigorous educational program and I think we will take a couple steps back from the way I did things with my last high school kiddo. I am planning on enrolling Jake in some community college courses for fall and will go ahead and audit the classes with him. I didn’t think I’d be going back to college after I finished my master’s degree. Yet here we are…and I am taking freshmen courses again. This is one relentless reminder that my plans have to remain fluid if I want to let the kids take charge of how they go about learning, and it is one heck of a humbling experience.

Little Moments that Change the World

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I’m finding more and more that flexibility is the key to truly creating an environment that is conducive to educating my children. I truly don’t know how public school teachers are able to teach large groups and stay on task. My little ones have so many questions and we end up deviating from my lesson plans just about every day. I have ended up delving deeper into topics I had no idea my children would be so interested in.

Lately, my kids have been super interested in the religions around the world. Each religion started in one region, and spread across the globe. Hinduism is the topic of conversation right now, and we are learning about the many different gods and their purposes in the lives of the Hindu people. It’s fascinating to watch my kids devour information on people around the world and begin to understand the reasons why we are different and yet so much the same.

About three weeks ago we were covering the reality of poverty around the world. My children have never faced a night of going hungry, and I wanted them to understand just how wonderful a blessing it is to have an abundance of food. I didn’t think the video I chose would have the intense impact on my children that it ended up having. Seeing the conditions many people live in, both within the United States and around the world, had my children in tears. I had not intended to put them into a state of total despair, but that’s where we ended up.

My daughter looked at me as soon as the video was over, and with tears streaming down her face she declared that we must somehow make a difference in these children’s lives. We have decided, as a family, to put aside more money each month to donate to those in need. One way my kids have helped make this possible is by slowing down on the amount of food that is wasted in our home. Their commitment to change has had an enormous impact on our budget. I was amazed at their commitment and ability to make such a huge dent in our weekly finances.

Again, this was one of our many tangents in education. We spent hours researching what poverty looks like and how we can help make the lives of those who struggle just a little less difficult. I’m so incredibly thankful to have the time and opportunity to work with my sweet children as they learn about the world around them. Who could have possibly known that a lesson on cultures could take us down the path that would lead my children to a place of empathy and love? I want them to believe that one person can make a difference, and it is a priceless experience to watch them pursue their plan to make the world a better place. Such a sweet moment as a mother and as a teacher.

Art Is Back!

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I haven’t been as good at getting art classes into our curriculum the last two years, and this horrible downward spiral needed to end. I know that providing time and tools for the kids to let their imaginations and creativity run wild is an important aspect to developing individuality and dreams. I have felt myself descend into a more rigid academic pattern, and as our school days got longer I let go of some of the most important classes…art being one.

One of the reasons we homeschool is to have the time to search out answers to questions the kids have and to pursue individual interests. I really needed someone else to come into my home and help me organize an art program that would push and inspire my children to continue developing artistically. I stumbled upon a really well done program that is accessed online. Thrive Art is broken down into three levels of classes and each level has six lessons. The program is $300 total, and you can go back to review lessons at any time–once you purchase their curriculum. The kids have completed two of the lessons, and I think we will make it through the entire program by the end of the school year.

I love teaching my kids, but art is not my forte. I needed help, and was thrilled to find a program that was created by artists and meant for kids. There are times I feel my inadequacies pounding on the front door, and I am so glad to have such amazing support systems available for when I just can’t quite give my kids what they need.

Homeschooling is a journey that is constantly changing. The plan I had for my children when we first started hardly resembles the plan we now have in place. If someone would have told me four years ago that I would be teaching my kids at the breakneck speed we have been moving at, I would have called them crazy. But my kids just dive in and we moved from four hour days to seven hour days before I knew what hit me. I’m so glad we have homeschooling networks and friends to remind me that academics are not all my kids need. This class is our first step in yet another twist in our homeschooling journey.

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

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At first I was totally overwhelmed by the whole process of homeschooling my kids. They had asked to come home for their education, and that was completely not part of my master plan. I was looking forward to some alone time while they were away at school. So, when they asked to come home I was totally unprepared. I presented my arguments for public schooling. They outlined their plan for a home based education. In the end, I had to concede. They had a great plan, an infallible argument, and they were just too darn cute. Truthfully, their cuteness factor can persuade me to do things I never thought I’d do.

This is my fourth year homeschooling, and I have found that homeschooling has a number of “hidden” benefits. One of my personal favorites is how it allows me the time to prepare homemade meals for the kids. We recently discovered a soup that the whole family loves, and I just thought I would share it with you. I ended up making this soup two days ago, at 6:00 am because we had a busy day planned.  I figured I would get the soup made, check that off my to-do-list, and serve it for lunch.

Apparently, this soup smells good enough to wake sleeping children. They stumbled out of their rooms with nests of bedhead hair balanced atop their heads, barely open eyes, and tummies ready to have soup for breakfast. And this is where most of us would say, “What?!? Soup for breakfast. That is just wrong.” And that is actually what I said out loud. And then protested their soupy breakfast by having a bowl of Cheerios, because that is what normal people eat for breakfast.

You obviously don’t need to make this before the sun comes up to enjoy it, but I must say–my home smelled amazing all day.

2 TBS butter

1 Cup finely diced onion

½ Cup of finely diced celery

2 garlic cloves minced

¼ Cup of flour

1 quart half-and-half (I use the fat free one)

2 (14 ounce) cans of chicken broth

¾ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried parsley flakes

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup shredded carrots

2 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves

1 ½ cups chopped cooked chicken

1 package ready-to-use gnocchi

 

Melt butter over medium heat and add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook these until onion is translucent. Whisk in flour and cook about a minute (this helps to thicken the soup). Whisk in half-and-half. Simmer until thickened. Add the chicken broth, thyme, parsley, nutmeg, carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Another Year Of Homeschooling

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Choosing curriculum, each year, proves to be more than a little overwhelming. My first year I made the mistake of walking into a giant homeschooling expo in the Phoenix conference center…by myself. My first mistake, I should have had some backup. By about the third isle of brightly colored books and every conceivable workbook, I was ready to curl up in the fetal position and cry.

My second mistake was going to the expo needing to purchase materials. After wandering around that conference center for five hours, I went ahead and made my decisions. I purchased everything and had it shipped to my home. What I should have done was pay a little extra, and gone to a bookstore for homeschoolers to have the privilege of choosing my materials with the option of returning anything I was less than pleased with.

The expo was filled with books and binders from floor to ceiling, and every single sales person claimed their materials were the best on the market. I could not get a single sales rep to give me one downside to their program. I’m a big fan of companies who are willing to admit to the pitfalls of their products. I tend to be more trusting if there is an acknowledgement of possible buyer’s remorse.

I am only in my fourth year of homeschooling my kids, so I have not had to make these decisions for very long. The first two years I struggled to cut away from public education and opted for an online version of the brick and mortar schooling my children were used to. The second year of online public schooling was torture and we opted out of that insanity. I have kids in every phase of the schooling experience. We have had to find a high school, middle school, and elementary school options for the kids.

 

We are utilizing BJU Press for the following courses for both 6th and 3rd grade.

Heritage Studies

Science

Reading

English

Spelling

Evan-Moor has some wonderful writing and editing course work. We are using their materials for both 6th and 3rd grade for the following courses.

Vocabulary

Writing

Language Fundamentals

Paragraph Editing

I was sad when I heard the public schools were starting to do away with handwriting curriculum. I have two boys, and they both need to practice their handwriting, or they will only be eligible for work positions that require prescription writing. We have done Writing Without Tears for two years. I’ve only cried twice.

Saxon Math is the program of choice in our home for both my 3rd and 6th grader. It has a strong building block methodology. The new material is taught and then tested over and over. I still believe that repetition is the master key to most learning. And Saxon has that down.

We have been reading Story of the World, by Susan Wise Bauer, for the last two years and will continue again this year. She lays out the history of earth from the beginning through modern day. It is a chronological layout of the big and important wars and times of great peace that shaped the world we now live in. I have a feeling the kids are going to want to go back and reread all four books once we get through round one. It is a favorite in our home.

If I could go back and give myself some advice four short years ago, it would be to go to Mardel Book Store, or one of a number of other homeschooling supply stores to make my purchases. Those stores are happy to tell customers what others have said about each program carried by the supplier. They will tell you the good, bad and ugly of each education style. They will also accept returns on items you are not thrilled with—just keep your receipt.

 

 

Driveway Art

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I recently found some seriously amazing sidewalk chalk paint at Sam’s Club and could hardly wait to get the kids outside. Unfortunately, the weather boasted a high of 34 for a week before we finally hit the low 60s, and I was able to take my “cold weather resistant” children outside.

The three kids took over the driveway and created a “coral reef meets space odyssey” mural.  I think it’s interesting to let kids loose with their imaginations. My only stipulations were that they use all the paint in the little cans, and no “potty humor” painting. As much as I appreciate a good bodily function joke, I don’t think my neighbors would enjoy the presentation of these splayed across my driveway. The kiddos agreed to my rules, and took over.

I let the kids have at it, and watched as they brought our driveway to life. Their little conversations melted my heart. With three kids at home all the time, you would think that there might be a bit more contention. These kids constantly amaze me with the obvious love and respect they show each other. There was sharing, team work, and a final product that really made our driveway come alive. I just noticed there is rain in the forecast for next Thursday. I’m hoping the report is wrong, because I am not ready to say goodbye to my driveway art.

I am seriously considering letting them take their work to one wall in the house. That way I can keep their work displayed come rain or shine, but I need to get my hubby on board first.

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Museums

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One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the flexibility it affords us. I love working hard on the days we are completing a normal class schedule and then taking a day off to hit up a museum or some other field trip. We recently made a little trip over to Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville Arkansas and had a complete blast.

The hiking trails around the museum are amazing and the museum itself is absolutely incredible. Our favorite exhibit was the “100 Unknown Artists”. This particular exhibit showcases the works of artists who are not well known and all of them are from the United States. It was fun to see all the “out of the box” thinking that comes with artistic freedom. My personal favorite was the pigeon knitwear. I have recently taken up knitting and crocheting and neither of these things is particularly easy for me. But the intricate costumes this designer created for pigeons were off the charts amazing. I can only assume this person has patience that goes beyond most humans, because these things were detailed beyond belief. I would pay good money to witness a NYC fashion week “pigeon walk” of these designs.

My kids were totally amazed at some of the work shown in this museum. We have a small pottery wheel in our home, and my kids have truly tried to master the art of throwing a pot. Their work is displayed in our home, and they regularly complain about my pride in their original pieces. I guess none of them want to showcase their masterpieces, but I insist. The pottery and ceramic works this museum contains are beyond anything my children had ever seen before. It is one thing to read about art in a book, but it is a whole different animal when you actually have the opportunity to see the piece with your own eyes.

Pranksters

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One of the downsides to homeschooling is the way my kids have decided to harass me with fake snakes. I guess, as their teacher, I should know better than to think that they would let me teach in total peace. But I was under the impression that, being my children, they would not try so hard to induce panic and possible heart attacks. Most of their extra time in the day goes towards hobbies and educational activities, but a portion of it clearly goes into planning strategic snake attacks for their personal entertainment.

I’m only including a couple of the pictures of the last few “fake snake attacks” as evidence of their crimes. I’m thankful I have never had the old-school “tack on the chair” prank, but these snakes are seriously realistic and have elicited numerous screams. The problem is the fact that we have actually had two snakes in our home in the last four years, and so each fake snake attack evokes some level of PTSD style reaction.

 

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Hands-On Activities

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I absolutely love all hands-on teaching methods, and this is one of my favorites from the last two weeks. My 5th grader is learning about some of the most important advancements made in the world of transportation. I am blown away by all the educational materials available to my children. We can jump online or head over to the library and find an insane amount of supplemental materials for each topic. I had no idea the Wright brothers ran a bicycle shop full-time and made planes in the winter when the shop was slow. This is just one of the fun facts we learned while researching some of the amazing inventions and inventors from America’s past.

My son was particularly interested in Henry Ford and his amazing Model T. We talked all about the advancements made in production, and why this car made such a huge impact on the world of motor vehicles. The Model T was the first affordable car for the general population, and it was the beginning of a total shift in how we would mass produce the enormous number of items used by today’s consumer. There is clearly a down side to the mass market mentality, but we tried to focus on the upside of this new production method.

In order to show my kids just how much of an impact an assembly line can have on production, I challenged each of my three kids to produce as many candy cars as they could in just one minute. Each of the kids did their best to run around the kitchen and grab all the items they needed to create one car at a time. The outcome was one sloppy car from only one child. The other two were not able to create one single finished product in 60 seconds. Then each child chose their jobs, and we created an assembly line to produce the tiny candy cars. The kids were able to pump out three completed cars and one half finished product in just 60 seconds. It was a real learning moment for each of them. The amount of time and energy needed to complete this challenge diminished significantly when they implemented the “assembly line” mentality. I’m sure they could have pounded out a few more if we would have had access to a moving assembly line, but that was not to be… I hope they never forget Henry Ford and his moving assembly line.

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Homeschooling Away From Home

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One of the great advantages to homeschooling is the ability we have to take this show on the road. When we travel, so does our school. On our last trip, I think half of our car was packed with school supplies. My husband never complains about all the books he has to pack into our family car, but he always makes at least one comment about the number of shoes I claim are necessary for any getaway.

I know all our “school stuff” took up a good portion of our hotel room. I had crates of books, workbooks, paper, and other miscellaneous supplies all packed into our little hotel room for the entire trip. We sacrificed one corner of the hotel room to the two little kids’ supplies, and the coveted desk to my high schooler and all his materials. The only person who seemed a bit disconcerted with my stash was the sweet woman from housekeeping who somehow ended up with our room for a solid two weeks. But luckily she developed a cleaning method that included turning a blind eye to the piles of papers and books.

For the entire two weeks we got up early in the morning and completed an entire day of school well before noon. It was awesome. My kids were able to spend time with their cousins and not worry about falling behind in school. In fact, my oldest got so far ahead we were a little concerned we would run out of class materials before the two weeks were up. In hindsight, I think he figured out how to pace himself so that he could take a couple of days off–out of “necessity”.

I know that I say this all the time, but I am so thankful to live in a country where I am able to home school my children. As we sneak up on the launch date of my first book, I am looking at taking my kids on the road for a couple of months. Right now they seem to be completely excited about the potential this adventure holds. I will dig up information on all the interesting sights, museums, and educational experiences we can do as a family while we are on the road. It will be epic.