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  • A Schedule That Works

    I had all my books.  I had researched all the new books I wanted to use for the year.  Usually, I got a bin for each student and put all the books for their year in it.  It was so exciting!  Then, the end of the summer was approaching and I was ready to write out our daily schedule – the flow of each day.  Then I crashed.

    I was relying on my experience in public school and put down an hour for every subject: Math, grammar, history, science, literature (reading), geography, foreign language, writing.  That’s 8 hours of school, with no breaks, lunch or even PE or fine arts scheduled. I felt defeated before I started.  I had more things to learn too.  I wanted them to study things they were interested in – cooking, art, music, etc.  How was this going to work?

    First of all, homeschool is not public school.  I definitely did not need an hour for every subject on our list. A few subjects did need an hour set aside, math and maybe science (depending on grade level).  However, I ended up not focusing on scheduling times for completing subjects, but a list of subjects to be covered.

    On that schedule I put each of the subjects that I intended the kids to work on every single day – primarily skill subjects.  Skill subjects are those that are needed in order to learn.  Math, writing, spelling and reading are skill subjects.  Therefore, we would hit math, writing, spelling and reading every single day.  Depending on their age, math could go up to an hour.  Spelling will not usually take an hour at any grade level.

    The next type of subjects are content subjects.  These are subjects where information is learned.  Skills need to be practiced and honed every day; content does not have to be every day.  Some of these subjects I assigned and switched them out to every other day schedules and some I put into our group time.

    Group time varied over the years from 30 minutes to glutting over an hour.  Over an hour is way too much, but somewhere between 30-60 minutes seemed to work perfect.  I often put music and art in this area.  We could discuss a composer, listen to a piece or look at some famous art and read about an artist. Poetry, read alouds, history, memory verses, geography, even some grammar I would often put into this slot.  It depended on the year and the needs of the kids.Finally, our schedule became workable.  We were working on school in a reasonable amount of time with breaks and free time. Every year we had to tweak some things as we went along, but generally we were working on the feast that I was hoping to lay out.

  • The Atmosphere of Learning

    Charlotte Mason is famous for “education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life.”  I don’t think one has to be a “Charlotte Mason homeschooler” to see the truth in this statement.  If we want our children to learn and to love learning, it must be the culture of our home.  An atmosphere that is present beyond the curriculum.  Healthy curiosity in interesting things, meeting needs around us and persevering through hard seasons can be just as important as finishing the math assignment.

    Healthy curiosity is one of the best ways to start learning things that are interesting to us. A lot of my homeschooling years, was learning alongside my kids’ curiosity.  Seeing my interest and help in researching encouraged them to keep learning.  Consequently, we raised chickens, even hatching some eggs in an incubator.  We learned how to butcher chickens by ourselves, and ventured into raising meat rabbits.  We learned how to participate in the local farmer’s market as some of my girls started baking and wanted to sell their goods.  I bartered time for one daughter to take sewing lessons.  We joined the local 4H group to learn shooting sports.  Anything they expressed a sincere interest in and was feasible to do, we gave it a go.  It led to some lively dinner table conversations.

    Beyond curiosity, there are times of need.  When we adopted a daughter from Africa, I had no idea how to care for and style her hair.  The kids saw Mama learn her way through an absolute need.  We had a flat tire on the way home from the grocery store, and thankfully my son had already learned how to change a tire.  We locked ourselves out of the car and figured out how to get help. The garage roof needed new shingles and our roofing crew that year was our kids. We needed a new bedroom so we could take care of grandma – framing and drywalling became part of the lesson plan.  Needs present themselves all around us and when we are willing to learn new things to make our way through, it helps our kids see their ability to meet needs by learning something.

    Of course, hard seasons will hit our lives, and the learning may not be so fun, but if we dig in and learn what we need to, our children can learn to do hard things and persevere.  When Grandma came to stay her health needs were significant.  With home health nurses the learning was extensive.  We learned about packing and cleaning wounds, healing and preventing pressure ulcers, changing out catheter bags, operating a Hoyer and living with dementia. We persevered through the work and were able to spend Grandma’s last days with her.My kids are all grown now, and I have watched them navigate their adult lives with curiosity that bubbles over.  I have seen them confidently meet needs that have arisen and even persevere through some hard seasons.  The atmosphere of learning in our home went way beyond the math pages and was one of the most important parts of our lives

  • Homeschooling is a Joy

    If I can tell you that homeschooling is a slog, I must also rightfully tell you that homeschooling is a joy.

    I did not enter every day of my homeschooling skipping around and full of joyful energy.  However, in the end what joy it was to educate my children at home.  Obviously, we were home.  All of us home together.  We experienced life together, the highs and the lows.  We talked about a lot of things all the time.  I called them my tribe (which sometimes they hated by the way).  It was the best description I could think of – one tribe doing life together.

    They learned all sorts of things I didn’t set out to teach them in a curriculum plan.  By necessity, when they were younger, we all went to the grocery store together.  They learned price checking; especially how to look at the unit price vs the price of the whole.  If the unit price wasn’t provided, they saw me using the calculator to figure it out. They learned about reading labels and nutritional values. In those days, they also learned all about couponing.  That was just from weekly trips to the grocery store.

    We took them on all of our projects.  For a few years we had a couple of rental properties.  They were along for the purchase and even cleaning between tenants was all hands-on deck.  Except that one time, we unfortunately learned about the life cycle of fleas and what it takes to eradicate them. They didn’t help clean that house.  I liked to bake cheesecakes as Christmas presents.  Eventually, I had helpers in the baking process and Dad took them on delivery trips until the last few years when an older sibling did the driving.

    We even moved my mother in with us for her care in her last years. Wound care, pressure ulcers, dementia – they learned about those.  They also learned how to run a Hoyer.  They were skilled at getting her in the wheelchair van and locking it all down so we could get on the road.  I teased them about being a good pit crew. They also learned how to talk to many nurses and doctors.  They were there the day she passed – sitting at her side giving cups of water and letting the tears run.

    I say it was a joy and it was, but perhaps the better word is privilege.  Privilege is defined as: A particular and peculiar benefit or advantage enjoyed by a person, company or society, beyond the common advantages of other citizens. (Websters 1828).

    It was a joy, and indeed a great privilege.

  • Homeschooling is a Slog

    Homeschooling is a slog, is just an honest statement, and I believe that when we accept it for what it is, we can stop trying to make it different than what it is. According to Merriam Websters Online Dictionary, slog as a noun is defined as hard persistent work or a prolonged arduous task or effort.

    Now that is the truth of homeschooling. It is something that is difficult and must be followed through with consistency over a long period of time.  It is work and it is hard work. It equates to laundry.  It is something you do all the time.  If it is not done, the results are epic.  However, when it is completed on a regular basis, it becomes a seamless hum to the house.  I don’t know many people that would call laundry fun, or exciting.  We might have a breakthrough on getting those shirts finally white, or that crazy stain out, but most of it is just a slog.  When ten of us lived at home, I did two loads of laundry Monday through Friday, just so that I could have my weekends off from laundry.  Every day – two loads: washed, dried and put away. This was most days.  Other days, a machine broke and we had to figure out a problem, and there were those amazing days when I was ahead of schedule.  Most days were just two loads finished.

    Likewise, homeschooling.  Every day we would pursue our schedule.  Every day we did math, reading, science, writing, etc.  Every day we went to the basement took out our schedules and went to work. Some days had some bright spots – a field trip, a special movie, a surprise day off, but not very often.  Bad days came too – attitudes flared; concepts did not make sense to anyone – even the teacher.  Someone was sick.  Most days were just getting the work done.  It was the seamless hum of our days.

    When we stop trying to make homeschooling always fun, always exciting or everyday a huge lightbulb going off – we can accept it for what it is – the hard job of providing an education.  For our kids, it is the hard job of getting an education. When we know that and accept that – we can relax and get on with it.  The days then become more enjoyable because we aren’t trying to be flashy. As the seamless hum of our laundry produces great results for our household, even more so, does the seamless hum of working at education.  One day that child begins to read books, because of the time spent working on phonics. One day that child enters Algebra because of the time spent memorizing math facts.  One day, believe it or not, the job will be done.  The child will be ready to graduate and move on to the next phase of their life.  The work of educating will end and there will be more fond memories than you can see now.  You will actually finish this job.  The laundry will still be there.

  • That Pesky Varmint

    Hunting and shooting have been a part of my parenting life for many years. Kids have taken hunter safety courses.  They have joined a shooting 4H and go to gun ranges often.  We even purchased a gun safe to keep everyone safe. 

    One year, when two of my sons were 13 and 10, we had a pesky varmint.   A rabbit, he hopped around our yard and ate our garden.  They decided they were going to get this rabbit, in the act of eating our garden.  They loaded their BB guns and sat under a tree.  Basically, staking out the rabbit.

    I thought it was great and these boys were safe, so I headed to the grocery store.  When I drove up, the rabbit was in the garden, and the boys were eyeing him with the BB guns.  He was down.  I dropped the groceries and ran to help.  I sent one for the sharpest knife they could find and one for the booklet about field dressing rabbits.  We took the rabbit to the far reaches of the yard, and following the book, this Mama field dressed her first and last animal.  Why I did it instead of one of the boys, I have no idea, maybe because they had never done it before, but neither had I.  Go figure — the adrenaline of the moment ruled the day.

    They were so proud of their work, saving the family garden and putting their skills to use.  I was so proud of them, sitting out so long waiting for the moment.  We were excited to be a team.  We bagged the rabbit and froze it for future eating — that’s what hunters do. The best part was allowing all of them to stay up until Dad got off work at midnight to tell him their story.  I have a picture of all the boys standing around a smiling Dad still holding his lunchbox.  One of them had actually pulled the rabbit out of the freezer to tell the story.

    From there, our hunters grew.  We had the “if it’s brown it’s down” years.  We learned how to process our own deer meat.  I learned how to cook venison. I learned how to cook squirrel.

    That pesky varmint that was in our garden started us on a great learning project for our whole family.  We knew gun safety, some kids didn’t choose to shoot, but they all knew that you treat every gun as if it is loaded, know your target and beyond.. etc.  If they saw someone being unsafe with a gun they spoke up.

    Homeschooling is not just about math programs and grammar, it is also about allowing your children to develop some interests and to go on adventures together!

  • Inspiring Reads for Your Homeschool Journey

    Maybe you are considering homeschooling.  Maybe you just need a shot in the arm during your upcoming summer break.  I have four books to recommend for your own education.

    Schole Everyday

    This book is not about homeschooling.  It is not even written particularly to homeschoolers. However, it is written by homeschoolers.  I recommend this one because it endeavors to teach moms how to educate themselves.  You cannot give what you do not have.  If you are not engaged and excited about the learning process for yourself, how can you hope to engage your children?  This book will help you see why you should be learning and how you can fit it in the margins of your day. 

    Mere Motherhood

    My favorite genre is memoir and this one is one of my favorite memoirs.  It tells her story.  To me, that was more inspiring than any prescription on how to homeschool.  She talks about educating herself and educating her children (mostly boys).  

    However Imperfectly

    This is a collection of essays/articles Andrew Pudewa has written over the years.  Even the title gave me a view of homeschooling that I love – However Imperfectly.  

    Awaking Wonder

    I enjoyed this one for the feelings it invoked.  I am not sure that she ever used a curriculum per se. The book talks about how she and her husband formed their own idea of how to educate their children, and then implemented it in their home.  Awaking Wonder is a great book for impressing the idea of getting your children full of wonder and excitement for learning instead of spoon feeding a list of facts.

    These are all books that I have read — some of them more than once. They kept me going on the homeschooling journey and gave me ideas for forward momentum. I highly recommend reading any or all of them.

  • Does Homeschooling “Work”

    I don’t know. Yes.  Maybe.  Wait!  What?  Define Work?

    I have heard this before,  “I see what you are saying, but does homeschooling really work?”  My head replays the response from above.  Total confusion.

    What we need to define is what do you mean by “work”?

    Will your child turn out perfect and your relationship intact?  Maybe — maybe not.

    Will your child far outshine all the public school counterparts?  Maybe — maybe not.

    Will your child avoid all the sinful habits in the world and come through their teenage years unscathed?  I would guess not, but I guess there is a maybe there.

    My point here is nothing “works” in the sense of outcome.  Insert public school — Does public school really work?  How about private school — does private school work?  All of the models work sometimes.  Great kids come out of all of these models.  Dismal failures come out of all of these models.

    It all goes back to your goal.  Most would agree that what we are trying to do is educate our children. Let’s define “educate”. I used an old dictionary and a modern dictionary:

    Webster’s 1828:

    To bring up, as a child; to instruct; to inform and enlighten the understanding; to instill into the mind principles of arts, science, morals, religion and behavior. To educate children well is one of the most important duties of parents and guardians.

    Merriam Webster’s

    1a: to provide schooling for

    b: to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession

    2a: to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction

    b: to provide with information : INFORM

    3: to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way

    Both of these sources indicate that to educate is to in some way pass on a program of instruction. Merriam Webster’s defines this as “schooling” or a “trade”.  Webster’s 1828 talks about principles.

    From these two sources we see a system presented of training, skills and information that a child will need for their next phase of life.  Since we are homeschooling kids high school age or younger, this ought to be a decently broad list of topics to give our children a well rounded view of the world.  We would agree I am sure that children should minimally learn to read, write and do basic math.  However, I would argue that we should be including sciences, arts, etc.  — what some would define as a liberal education.

    Both definitions have an element of morality indicated — even behavior.  Instructing our children in morals, courtesy and manners is also part of their education.  Our family is decidedly Christian, so these flow from our study and understanding of the Bible. We then teach our children that all people are made in the image of God and should be treated as such.  That means we are polite – look someone in the eye when you are talking with them, learn to shake hands, address others with respect, etc. We taught them about Jesus Christ and his saving grace poured out for all mankind, they were instructed in the creation account found in Genesis.  Morality, religion, behavior were all a part of our system of instruction.

    We didn’t just sit at a table and teach phonics and math.  We went to art museums and live plays. Music in the park or a full presentation of Handel’s Messiah.  They took music lessons and we listened to music – we learned about different instruments and composers.  We looked at art and talked about artists and painting styles.  We did crafts and learned to make things.  Some of my boys even learned to put up drywall and frame out a room.

    We followed what we believed to be important skills as well as a liberal introduction to the arts.  Some kids loved some things and some kids really didn’t. That is perfectly acceptable, we weren’t waiting for their approval; we were whetting their appetites. Just as some children develop a taste for avocados and some don’t, some loved classical music and some did not.  However, they all had at least tasted it.

    So, back to the original question: “Does homeschooling work?”  Yes, most parents are endeavoring to provide a system of instruction to their children — to educate them.  In the same way, most schools, public or otherwise, are providing a system of instruction to a class of students.  However, if you are defining “work” as an outcome of every child.  No one, not even a tradtional school can promise that. All people are born with a free will and there are choices made.  We have all heard of someone like George Washington Carver, who did not receive any real form of education who loved to learn and went about teaching himself all that he could. I am sure most of us know someone who seemed to have the necessary things provided and turned their back on all of it.

    You can provide a good, dare I say, even a great education to your child at home.  Yes, it works.  No one can ever promise you the outcome.  However, being together with your child everyday, teaching from a place of relationship and love, I believe gives you a greater chance at  helping a person grow into their purpose.

  • Why Did I Choose to Homeschool

    I get asked a lot about how I decided to homeschool. It was a definite walk on a sunny day. Then it was worked out over many years. I am not sure how I heard about homeschooling in the late 90’s.  It could have been from a radio program like Focus on the Family — I listened to those a lot, but I just don’t remember.  I remember researching homeschooling when my oldest was about 3 years old.

    I had a little file folder of research that was shoved into our regular bookcase.   My husband was not sold on the idea, he was worried about socialization issues and about sports.  How would our son play sports if he wanted to?  My friend put all her kids in an in-home preschool program that was supposed to be really good.  I looked into it, but just couldn’t fill out the application.  I decided that since my daughter was only 3 we could wait another year until she was 4 to think about preschool.  I used Sesame Street magazine and did little lessons about 3 times a week.

    Silly me — I didn’t realize how many better things I was already doing.  We would go to library story times every week.  I read aloud to my children on a daily basis.  We would listen to music together a lot.  We listened to Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens and tried to act out all the animals as we heard them.  My son loved listening to Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev.  We did craft projects together and we walked a lot.  We walked around our little city and visited farmer’s markets and community orchestra performances.  We went to zoos and county fairs and local festivals.  I really didn’t need a preschool at all, but I didn’t know that.

    We were out on one of our walks one day and we walked right past the local Christian school.  I realized that if I put my oldest in school, she might go there. I imagined my son and I walking her to the door and turning to walk back home.  I spent the rest of our walk choking back tears.  I wanted to take them home like this every day.  I couldn’t imagine leaving her behind at a school. That moment of time is when my homeschooling journey took root.

    When my daughter turned 4 and my son was 2 1/2 my husband decided that we could try homeschooling.  We might continue if we tried this preschool year and things went fine.  We figured that if it was awful our daughter could enroll in Kindergarten and we wouldn’t feel like she missed anything — not every kid went to preschool right? I was so excited I ordered a traditional school box of materials for K4 and off we went. 

    We have never looked back.  Those shaky beginnings were the start of our epic nearly 30 year adventure in homeschooling.  I wish I had nailed my “Why” down more than I wanted them to be at home. I wish I had known back then that a school box of materials wasn’t necessary to start. Those loving moments of music, walking, fairs, and zoos were an abundant education. I wish I knew how much they were learning in their own imaginative play – “Star Board crew” was full of homemade hats and titles for everyone — I was always “cooker”. 

    What about allaying the original fears that my husband and many others had about socialization?  Same as that silly preschool idea I had.  Living life with your children is socialization.  We went to the library, grocery store, and church.  We attended live plays and took local art classes for kids. We hung out in the park and had family friends over often. Eventually, we also got involved in nursing home ministry, community 5k’s and some of my kids played on the public school sports teams. When I look back I see that my kids were able to speak to the lady in the wheelchair at the nursing home as easily as they chatted with their peers.

    I can not really believe that 30 years have passed since that moment I realized I did want to keep them at home. I am glad I didn’t know all that the next years would hold.  Six more children, adoption processes, trauma issues, and our home being the landing spot or transition location for a few family members.  We took care of my dying mom in her last years and I flew off to help care for my brother in his last weeks. Kids graduated, kids got married, various pets came and went, we took vacations, participated in sporting events, and kept involved at our local church.  In the process of time, homeschooling just kept plugging along.

    It started with a little walk on a nice day, and a mama’s desire to spend time with her children.  All those fears of socialization melted away as we saw what God was doing in the life of our family as we stayed faithful.  My homeschooling journey took root in a moment of time and has been worked out in the process of time.

  • The Why

    In my last post on curriculum, I alluded to this idea of finding your “why”.  I had asked what you wanted your homeschool day to look like.  However, there is a deeper question, “Why do you want to homeschool?”

    Some circles will encourage you to find your educational philosophy. That would be very helpful and keep you focused on a direction.  However, to begin, find your why.  Are you thinking of engaging in this endeavor, because it looks like your friend is having a good time and her kids are cute and fun?  Do you want to have the smartest kid on the block and you want to make sure they can get into an Ivy League school?  Do you want more family time?  Are you fearful of what you see happening in the local public schools? All of these are valid in their way, but lacking in depth and are based in fear. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 …fear hath torment.  If you are afraid that your child will not get into the best schools, or will be harmed in the local school.  That may be a place to start, but fear will always haunt you through your homeschooling days.  Am I protecting them enough?  Am I getting the right information into them for that desired school?  Likewise, it may look like someone else is having a grand time, but every homeschooler has hard days, and if that is your motivation you will falter in those tough times. What are some solid reasons for homeschooling that would give you a foundation and a place to cling to when the days are hard?

    Consider homeschooling to give your kids a strong foundation in the Bible and to know Jesus.  Homeschooling affords time, and that time could well be used to disciple your kids in the faith as you walk along the way.  Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”  I suspect, most of you have heard this verse quoted when talking about homeschooling.  However, it is very valid.  How can you teach the Lord’s principles to your children diligently as you sit in your house and when you rise up and when you walk throughout the day?  I would say, it woud be mighty hard if you weren’t with them at those particular hours of the day.  One of the things that you can cling to is that you are teaching your kids to look to Jesus and walk with him, even on days when it feels hard.

    In fact how we handle the hard moments in life, is the greatest teaching tool we have.  A whole lot of homeschooling is problem solving.  Why is my child struggling in reading or math?  How can I help them?  That begins the research and the trial and error of different methods (not always different curriculum).  Maybe it’s time of day, noise in the room, adding modalities, etc.  The point is, you and your children work to solve this problem, so they can have forward momentum.  My husband worked 2nd shift all through our homeschooling days.  That meant our main family meal was lunch, which we had at noon.  I had to figure out how to schedule my cooking meal prep time so that school was still happening and lunch was on the table for that all important family meal.  On and on you will go throughout your homeschooling resolving one issue after another as they crop up.  You may be teaching math or history, but what else has your child learned.  How to solve problems, how to be flexible, how to research, how to use trial and error, how to work as part of a team, how to encourage the discouraged, and the list could continue.

    Solving these problems with prayer and looking to Jesus teaches them more than problem solving, it teaches them to lean on the Lord and look to his ways.  I had a child once that was mad at me and told me, “I am so tired of hearing you say, ‘the Bible says.’”  I know this one was angry, but in a calmer moment I explained that I really had nothing else on which to base my decisions.  My answers, my ways, my walk need to line up with the Scripture and the Lord that I trust with all my being.  The reason, I explained with “the Bible says”, was partly for me.  Am I walking out my faith in line with what I say I believe?  I hope so.  I had another child who challenged us on Halloween celebrations and whether that was in line with Bible teachings.  We were a young family then, and I was just doing things the way I grew up.  We asked him to research it, and he did.  In the end, we changed our ways because of the challenge from one of our children. These are two great wins in our time with our children.  Pointing them to Jesus and allowing them to research their answers.

    The Why of our homeschool held us together on those days when everything else fell apart.  We were still “Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2

  • Curriculum

    As a homeschooler the first question that I typically receive is, “What curriculum do you use?” It sounds simple enough, but I find it to be a difficult question.  I didn’t use ONE curriculum.  After years of trial and error, we had different things for different subjects.  I used different things for different kids.  I used different things for different seasons.  I used a lot of different things.

    I did a quick google search of my state to see what curriculum they use.  The state has learning standards and local school districts each select their own textbooks or methods for reaching those.  I tried searching my local school district and their textbooks are not publically listed.  Basically, not even the public schools in our country use one type of curriculum.

    It is safe to say that the curriculum market is wide open.  If you have ever been to a homeschooling convention you will know this to be true when you step into the vendor hall.  It is overwhelming and the choices are endless.  I understand why homeschool moms ask about curriculum, I did too. However, I think there are more important first questions that need to be considered.

    What do you want your homeschooling days to look like?  Children watching their videos for the day and completing workbook assignments?  Desks in a room with books and workbooks to be completed?  Reading living books with narrations? A mix of all of these?   Do you want a tradtional school that looks a lot like a public school? 

    There are many different styles of homeschooling and philosophies of education.  I suggest that you do some reading and researching on the different ways and thoughts on education.  Also, do ask that older homeschooling Mom.  However, I suggest you ask questions along the lines of  how.  As in, “How do you teach math?  How do you approach language arts?”

    These questions and thoughts will begin to inform your curriculum decisions.  Your curriculum is the tool that you will use  as a means to provide the education you wish your child to receive.  Whether that includes a package of workbooks, a streaming video provider, something you develop on your own or a mix of all of the above.

    Perhaps you decide that you love the idea of a classical education with Charlotte Mason ideas and want to use living books and narrations.  You will need to look at curriculum sellers that have this as their philisopy of producing materials.  In some cases, you may not need to actually purchase a curriculum.  You may be able to follow a living books list or develop one of your own.  Use a free curriculum guide like Ambleside Online.

    You may decide to be quite eclectic with developing your curriculum.  You may use a living books approach with history and a textbook/workbook approach for science.  Maybe you find that for this season, you need a box of workbooks that can be graded and checked off.

    The point is, there is no one way to homeschool.  You need to evaluate the season of life you in and the goals you have for educating your children. Then follow those to find resources that will support your vision.