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  • The Mom Binder

    I am in the process of packing away over 25 years of homeschooling materials.  As I was sorting, and purging, I came across my very last Mom Binder.  I took a few pictures for you, because of all the things I did over the years, this was the most practical teacher tool for me.  When we were in school, I carried it all over the house with me.  If not, I would invariably be folding laundry and someone would come with a question and I would have to send them to get my Mom Binder.

    Some of you may be old enough to remember the unwieldy binders that a “homemaking binder” used to be in the 1990’s.  Women were encouraged to keep price comparisons, important phone numbers, household routines and all manner of information in them and carry them everywhere.  I suppose my mom binder was something like that for homeschooling, but not always so giant and I only kept it with me around the house during my school times.  I would imagine some of you will find a way to do this digitally, but I was never satisfied with my digital attempts and found it easier and faster to keep my little binder.

    The binder I have pictures is the year I had two high schoolers.

    As you can see, I kept it very simple – nothing fancy.

    I put dividers in for each of my areas, starting with each child’s name.

    Behind the name binders were their assignment lists.  When they completed assignments, I simply checked them off, so that I would know where they were at all times.  They had a duplicate set of assignment lists in their own binder. I had a weekly calendar for them, any assignment lists provided by curriculums, or instructions needed in the book of assignments.  I didn’t always have to create assignments as much as clearly indicate a timeline I expected for each student as we worked through books and curriculum that we had chosen for the year.

    I also kept lists of grades for classes that made sense.  These were for high schoolers who had textbook style classes like math or science, I didn’t always need a list of grades for younger students.  Grades were different for classes with narrations and writing assignments.

    My state does not require attendance sheets, but the standard for schools is 180 days.  So, during the summer, I planned our 180 days and all of our days off on a yearly calendar. I also used an attendance calendar during the year, to keep a count of days that we actually did.  Sometimes we didn’t follow our plan exactly taking extra days off for events or sicknesses that could not be planned in advance.  These calendars and other similar items I purchased from the Homeschool Better Together website. I highly recommend their materials.

    For younger children, my binder would often have copies of things we were memorizing or loop schedules of my read alouds to them.  Also, lists of things to cover in our one-on-one meetings.  In the height of my homeschooling days, I had eight students from high school to preschool. The notes behind each tab were often reminders for me.  It might be formulas my high schooler was memorizing for math, or which math facts to drill for my younger students.  I just flipped to their tab and could find my footing.

    The back of my binder simply had blank notebook paper and blank graph paper.  I could take notes as I went through the day, or simply use these to work with the child.  I didn’t always have the white board or chalkboard to work with, so we would just pull out a paper and work through the steps of a math problem, spelling word, or practice formation of a difficult letter.  It just felt easier to always have paper available. When my kids were old enough to have any independent work, they had their own binders with lists for them to check off, blank paper, and time schedules to keep them moving through the day.

    I encourage you to create your own mom binder.  You can be simple and analog like I was, or create your own digital format.  Anything that feels easy and helps you stay on track.

  • Beyond the School Hours

    Homeschooling becomes a large part of your family’s life and even a part of your identity. However, I woud suggest you continue to do things that might not “count” on your paperwork. Live your life outside of the “school”. One of the things our family did was serving in a nursing home as part of our church outreach program. Those years bring fond memories and even some tears. I believe it is one the most meaningful things we did with our kids.

    Our most unforgettable was a nursing home in Sidney, Ohio.  It wasn’t a fancy place at all.  We went once a month and did our best to encourage the residents in Christ.  The children all did whatever their talent was — playing piano, guitar, or recorder, singing, reciting memory verses, or even being the Master of Ceremonies and announcing the next song or person.  My husband always gave a short message.  The rest of the time was spent getting to know the residents and trying to be a light to their day.

    We met people who made us laugh, some who made us cry, and many who encouraged us more than we encouraged them.  Going there for the length of time that we did meant that we often watched them decline and eventually not be there when we came back.  Tears would fall. 

    One Fourth of July, I talked with a lady who struggled to put any language together and couldn’t even tell me her name, but when we stood for the Star Spangled Banner, I saw her looking around, and I sprang forward and grabbed her hand.  She sang all the words right to me — I sang them back.  I held hands with another woman who told me, “I have no real family left, this is my last home, I am going to die here.” She talked with me for a long time and told me over and over to “stick with it” every day with those kids. They will never forget these years — keep teaching the Bible and showing them Jesus — “it won’t leave them alone when they are older.”

    I watched my son pat the shoulders of little old ladies who missed their sons, and feeble hands grab the face of my youngest and cry, “cute, cute”. We sang hymns, we pledged to the flag, we prayed to our God, and we all left richer for having spent an hour with the mostly forgotton older folks in a little nursing home.

    As important as homeschooling was in the life of our family, I believe we were all marked just as much or more by days like that Fourth of July that we spent not “counting” anything for school, but serving Christ on a hill in Sidney. Not many people remember that day and I may, in fact, be the only one. However, we were all impacted by the many days we held those wrinkled hands.

  • A New School Year

    It’s the beginning of a school year for most.  Homeschooling denotes freedom, so some may be working a year-round schedule and some may be working a 6 week on, 1 week off, etc. Be that as it may, this is probably a good time of year to discuss the beginning of a new homeschool session. I remember these times so clearly as I was the most excited person in our house for school to start. I had picked out all the books, I knew all the subjects we would cover, all the ways I found to present something to the kids, I could hardly wait to get started.  My kids were usually not quite as excited, and some not excited at all.

    It took me awhile to not take these attitudes personally.  However, I began to realize that this signified the end of their free-flowing days.  Our days never lacked complete structure, but there was definitely more structure in place than the summer days had.  Also, the school year was work for them.  Not necessarily work they hated, but definitely a job they had to show up for.  It was work for me too, but I was an adult and working was something adults do out of having an adult life, this is not something 10-year-olds are ready to fully grasp.

    Starting the year out recognizing these facts can really help with our ability to not get too sidetracked right off the bat.  They are not likely to be as excited as I am about the shiny new math book and manipulatives we get to use this year.  That new grammar book that is going to help us really grasp the grammar rules, is also not a motivator to a kid. Mine wanted to go kick soccer balls in the yard and now that was not going to happen until the work was completed.

    How do we not let everyone get the doldrums right out of gate of our new homeschooling year?  I like to acknowledge the true facts of the situation. “I know math is not that exciting, but I think if we work together and tackle it first, you will see it is not so bad.”  I also don’t recommend starting the first day of school off with the hardest lesson.  It feels like they probably will remember more, we could likely skip some of this review, but you might need to do the review lessons to get them back into the game. Honestly, I have had kids come to me and ask to skip ahead. I usually would let them at least try.  If they have the gumption to go right for the meat, I like to let them do that.  Others, though, may need a bit of a slower start to warm up.  Both are just fine.

    We need not fear a slow start.  As long as we hit the subjects we intended to hit in the first few days or weeks, we can say it was successful.  When I say hit the subject, you might not finish what you would determine to be a full lesson. It is perfectly fine to just get to each subject, get a little bit flowing and move on. You will not be behind at the end of the year, for slow starting.  Homeschooling is freedom, there is no behind if you are working steadily and consistently.  

    Finding something the kids could get excited about also helped with the start of the year.  For some of my kids they just wanted to jump in to their day. Being allowed to bring coffee and a muffin to the school room and get started on their first assignment felt good.  They had an early start and felt they had some control over when they would be done.  For some it was knowing this year they could use school time getting credit for something they loved – like a cooking or sewing class. I have heard of families starting their first day with donuts, or offering a special activity as part of the kick off celebration – any of these ideas could really help ease that first day.

    I also had a printed schedule for each child for the day.  They could see what was expected of them and when they could be finished.  Often, my kids really needed to see everything before day 1 to allay any fears they might be harboring.  “This is the next grade it’s going to be so hard!” I could spend many days and conversations telling them that it is just a continuation of what we have been doing.  However, when I left the books out as I was planning over the summer, let them see a sample schedule of a day, let them help me pick a book or a subject they wanted to cover, etc.  Then day 1 was not a big surprise of what this year was going to be like, it was the start day of what they already knew was coming.  Occasionally I would find one of my children reading a book from their basket during the summer.  That was perfectly fine!  Then they knew this coming year wasn’t a big unknown, we were just getting back to a schedule of work.

    Be excited about your first day of school; enthusiasm is often contagious.  Talk about school, before school.  Let them see or be part of the planning that is going on.  This transition might be a bit harder for some kids than others –find something they can look forward to in their day. Let your first few days be a bit slower and easier, a slow start can be a great start.

  • 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.