The World is a Classroom!

 As a homeschooling family, we have learned to use everything as a teachable moment. There have been days we have done a full day of school without my boys even realizing it. When I would take them to the zoo, we would bring a chart with us that we had made at home. We would graph how many of the animals had four legs, how many had two, how many had wings, and how many had fur. We would compare their natural habitats. We would discuss which animals were our favorite and why. The next day we would draw pictures and write about our favorite part of our day at the zoo.  One made the comment one day, “Mom, we didn’t do school yesterday.” Then I pointed out all of the things we had learned.  I took them again and they were in the middle school years. Their first question to me was “Why didn’t we make a chart?” I always carry a notebook with me so we each made a chart of something we wanted to compare.  I was surprised that as old as they were, they still wanted to do that. That was a fun memory for them that they wanted to recreate.

When we have gone on vacation, we try to hit some educational places, not letting them know that they are actually doing school. If they knew that, they probably would not enjoy it as much.  We have gone to museums and toured coal mines. He have gone to the ocean. Something always intrigues us enough to google more information on it.   The world is a classroom!

I was pleased to find out that some of our activities can count as speech or drama hours in high school if there are a certain number of hours spent doing it.  Every year my boys have participated in speaking parts in the Last Days of Jesus pageant that our little town performs. My boys have played various roles and have been in it since they were able to walk. The last few years they have both been the thieves on the cross. My youngest has his whole Last Days acting career planned out stating that when he is done being the thief, he will play the role of Peter and then will play the role of Jesus. My son helped one of the actors who played Jesus in the past with his lines so already has an advantage.

Another activity we are involved in is civil war re-enacting. Yes, we are nerds like that, but you know, my kids have learned so much history doing that! Our specific unit has been a ministry geared towards youth. Last year we had 35 people in our unit; only about 10 of them were adults. We join 400 to 600 other re-enactors to perform battles for the public and then stay in character as people wander through our camps to hear about the history of that war. The kids in our unit learn discipline as they are in charge of certain tasks. They are each in charge of cleaning their own guns after a battle. They chop wood, start the fire, do their own dishes. They learn manners and etiquette such as standing when a lady walks into camp and learning how to properly escort a young lady to the ball. We usually get up to the site on Friday night and they are in charge of setting up all the tents and getting a fire pit dug and hauling water. For the next two to three days, they are living in the 1860s. We usually come home on Mondays after they have torn all the tents down and repacked the trailer. Going up, the van full of kids are usually pretty noisy and rambunctious. Coming back is much more subdued…and stinky. 

Build memories with you children! Make school fun! Find out what they want to learn about and then have a blast studying with them!

Say NO to Writer's Block!

I had a thrilling moment as an author and a homeschooling mom one day as I was reading over a report my son had written. I was complimenting him on his paragraph structure and grammar. His response was,  "I'm doing a lot better than I thought I was going to fer shizzy". Hearing the words “fer shizzy” come out of his mouth took me off guard and made me laugh. 

We returned to the paper and I pointed out that there were a couple times that he used three full lines to scream the word "Noooooooooooo..." He admitted that he would insert that into the story line when he would encounter writer's block. That was my thrilling moment. Like mother like son;  I don't believe in writer's block. He has heard me rant about that before. You should never have to worry about experiencing writer’s block. Just write something. He chose to write the word “Noooooooooooo” until something else came to him.  Good for him.

When you can’t think of anymore to write on  a certain project, move on to another project. You can write a poem, start a short story, jot down random thoughts, or make a grocery list, but WRITE  SOMETHING.  I have discovered something about my own self.   I was in a group one time where the facilitator would show a picture and we had to write a story about it.  I would have that picture in my mind and think for days about what to write. I decided to just sit down at the computer. I pulled up a new document and all of a sudden my fingers started flying over the keyboard as if each fingertip had a brain of its own. Within fifteen minutes, I had written my story and submitted it.  

Sometimes, we overthink things.  You can always go back and edit. Your first draft is not going to be perfect so just write something.   Don’t trip yourself up.  You can’t edit a blank piece of paper.  Happy writing!

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Knives in My Bed, Nerf Darts in My Dishwater

I have had the privilege of raising boys with a couple of moments of sanity having my husband’s daughters stay with us. With only a couple of teenagers left at home, we fill our house with the noise of grandchildren on the weekends, two girls and a boy. When the older kids were still at home, I recall I would go to the Dollar Store and throw a couple of dart guns in the cart for the little ones.  My husband would follow behind me and throw enough in so that the four older kids each had one along with one for himself. We would walk into the house and my husband would start tossing a gun to each child and the fight was on.

I learned early on in my marriage that the fantasy of having a house dressed up as a Hallmark store like my mom’s beautiful home was never going to be a reality for me.  I adjusted. I tucked the China cupboard into the corner for safekeeping and the rest of the house was fair game.   Now we live in a house where the only thing separating the living room from the kitchen is a short, bar-style wall.   When things get rolling there are footballs being tossed back and forth, a small basketball being shot through the mini hoop hung over the hallway entrance, and nerf guns whizzing past, several times having landed in my dishwater.   The kids know that as long as there is no blood shed, pretty much anything goes. I’m cool like that and to quote my friend, Lisa, “and if there is blood shed take it outside so you don’t get it on my carpet.”

When the boys are helping put groceries away, many times they would just take the meat out to the garage freezer and put it in there, not bothering to actually take it out of the grocery sack. I was not going to criticize that. At least they were helping. I went out one summer day to grab a grocery sack out for supper. The kids were in the front playing and the garage door was open. I lifted the sack out, surprised at how light it was. I held it up in the sunlight and hollered at my boys, “Is this a gopher?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry Mom! Mr. Smith at church said he would teach me how to tan a hide!”

“On a gopher?! You’re lucky I discovered this or you would have ended up with gopher stew tonight!”    A couple of side notes here.  I have changed the name to Mr. Smith to protect the innocent (?).  Also, I am all for learning. We homeschool and it dawned on me then that my example of turning everything into a teachable moment had backfired on me.  I had actually bought a dissecting kit from a homeschool convention, not really thinking I would ever have to use it. My husband refused to be a part of this little project and my boys were aching to dissect the gopher and tan its hide. So we did. Once we got in, it wasn’t bad and I was thrilled that the boys were able to identify many of the inside parts. After that was done, they took it from there and I entered my garage one day to see a tiny little hide stretched out and tacked onto a board. 

Now that they are teenagers, they have calmed down a bit from their exploits. However, after we took the grandkids home yesterday and I went to crawl into my bed last night, silent alarms went off and I knew I would have to prepare for another round of adventure. I pulled back my covers and there lay a plastic dagger belonging to my four-year-old grandson.  Let the games begin!

Getting Off the Bus

The CHOIS homeschool  convention every June has been such an encouragement to me. It is the highlight of my year. The speakers that we have the privilege of listening to serve to remind me why we do what we do. I come away renewed and with fresh ideas.

I shared before that I struggled  with feeling that our schooling had to look just like public school. I was concerned that people would judge me if it didn't. I thought both boys should be doing the same hours of instruction...until I heard a workshop about homeschooled kids getting off the bus at different times of the day. Wait a minute! Homeschool? Bus? I wanted to know more.

The speaker of the workshop was my hero as she shared about schooling four boys. She explained how all of the kids got on the bus at the same time every morning. As the day wore on, however, the younger ones would begin getting antsy and she could no longer hold their attention; they "got off the bus".

I knew exactly what she meant! She let me know that this was okay! My youngest boy, when he was little, could not last very long. After attending that workshop I was able to change my tactics; instead of fighting with him, I said to myself, "Okay, Eli is getting off the bus." Some days he would last longer and I just learned to get as much out of him as I could.

Another trick I learned as the boys got older: we had to do math first!  Math was something on which all three of us had to concentrate . If we waited until our minds were tired and bogged down from our other subjects, there was a higher level of frustration. The boys had a harder time grasping the new concepts of the day. Easy fix; do math first.

The other thing that made life easy was knowing my boys. They are complete opposites on practically everything, especially their schedules. Eli performs best early in the morning. He loved setting his alarm and getting up about 7 a.m. to start on his work so he could be done early and have the rest of the day to do as he pleased. Chris, on the hand,  treasured his sleep. When he did get up, he took his sweet time getting ready for the day, doing his chores, and eating breakfast. He didn't mind doing school work all day long though so I didn't harp on him unless we needed to be done earlier for some reason. He knew what had to be done for the day. Many times he would still have work to do in the evening after sports practice.

I have learned that it is okay if the kids get off the bus early, even the older ones. In fact, there are times that I have to get off the busy early.  In those situations, we have a game day. I have a ton of board games, dice and card games that we can incorporate into the learning process.   Scrabble and Yahtzee are great! I have many spelling and history board games as well. There is nothing wrong with a fun day!

Homeschooling does not have to be a stressful situation. Learn to savor the freedom and the flexibility. The more you enjoy it, the happier your children will be!

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Dad's Role

My husband, Dallas,  was actually the one who wanted to homeschool to begin with so I count myself blessed that he has been on board from the beginning.   He has worked very hard to make sure that I could stay home and focus on the kids.

I had been a working mom for many years and always cut myself some slack if the house wasn't very tidy. After I chose to come home, however,  I felt that my house should always be clean and my laundry folded (even the socks) and dishes done, but found myself falling so short.  I would try to make sure I started straightening up the house before my husband got home so that he could walk into a clean home. I knew the frustration of walking into a messy house after working all day.
Dallas came home one day and I was still on the floor with the kids, books scattered all around us. I looked up at him and said, "I am so sorry that the the house has not been clean lately when you come home."

He made a statement that day to me that made me rethink my priorities. His response was, "I would much rather come home and see you spending time with our children than seeing you neglecting them in order to have a clean house."  It was like a whole weight had been lifted off my shoulders!

As time went on, Dallas started getting in the habit of calling me early in the day and needing some errands run.  The boys and I would put our stuff away for the day because I knew I would not be able to get their full attention back after running around.  I never said anything to my husband. In June, he decided to come to the homeschool convention with me and I strategically planned for him to attend certain workshops. There were some topics specifically for homeschooling fathers and I thought it might give my him more of an idea of what I do with the boys during the day.   This was something that definitely worked in my favor!

We got in the car to head home that first night and before even turning the car on, my husband looked at me and said, "I really disrupt your schedule during the week, don't I?" I was not prepared for that, but I looked at him and nodded my head.  He said, "I want to apologize for that first of all. Do you think it could work if you schooled the boys Monday through Thursday and we used Fridays for appointments and errands?" I was so thankful that he was able to see the importance of what we did during the day and was willing to come up with an alternative.

Dallas has become very protective of the time I spend schooling and he has been able to set some boundaries when I have a hard time setting them. These rules aren't so much for the kids but for my friends who think that since I am a stay-at-home mom, I am available at all hours.  It was getting out of hand at one point so my husband assisted me in letting others know that if they called before 2:00 p.m., they would have to leave a message and I would call them back when we were finished with school for the day.

I love that my husband looks for opportunities for teachable moments with our boys as well.   He loves history and loves engaging in conversations about that. If there is a building project or a side job that he knows will teach them some life skills, he takes them along.  The most valuable role I have seen my husband take on though is teaching our sons the importance of being men of God and men of their word. He has taught them to respect their elders and to respect women.  He holds them accountable  and always brings them back to God's Word. He has had to discipline them but always comes back and loves on them and they are able to discuss the issue at hand. He has been able to come alongside me and see what their talents are so that we can nurture those gifts. He supports them in their sports but is also able to guide them in their relationships with friends and girlfriends.

My husband plays such an important role as a homeschool dad. I am so thankful for the opportunity he provided for us to do this.   It is fun to share a passion such as this with him and have one more thing as common ground. WE love homeschooling together!

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"What qualifies you?"

"What qualifies you?" This is another question that I would hear when I told people we homeschooled.  I often wondered if people would approach the public school teachers (most times who are strangers at the beginning of the year) with this question.  Would they go up and ask, "What qualifies you to teach my child?"  Why is it that people feel it is their duty to ask a mother what qualifies them.

That was my answer to their question.  "I am their mother and who else is more concerned about my child's education?"   I was no longer working when we made this decision and we figured we might as well try it.  Nothing had to be set in stone. The public school would always be there if we needed to fall back on that. It was determined on a year to year basis for a while until we realized that we needed to completely commit and decide that this was going to be our lifestyle.

A friend was asking me questions about school the other night and asked if I would do it through high school. I told her that both of the boys were in high school now.   "That just goes to show how very smart you are!"  I quickly corrected that.  I don't consider myself very smart at all. My advantage has been that I started with them in kindergarten and have learned right along with them.

I used to bring school books to bed with me at night and plan out the lessons for the next day. One night, I was excitedly telling my husband what the kids and I had learned about George Washington that day.   He laughed and said, "I'm glad you are learning so much."

"I am! I don't remember learning this stuff in school,"  I responded.   Maybe it was because it had been so many years or maybe I didn't pay attention in school. I did what I could to make history and science fun for my boys in hopes that they would retain more than I did.

Now that WE are in high school, things are a bit more challenging.  We are in Algebra 2. We have our good days and we have our bad days.   Each of us has our own math notebook and we do the odd numbered problems so that I can check our answers in the back of the book.  We all write down the problem and cover our papers while we work the problem out. The boys are afraid I will cheat off of them...and I would, if they would move their hands.  I ask them what answer they came up with and see if it matches mine, then we check the book's answer.   There have been several times that my answer has been wrong and they both got it right and they are able to tell me where I went wrong.


So if anyone asks you what qualifies you teach your children, smile politely and respond with, "I'm their mom." Then quickly walk away before anything else spills out of your mouth.   It's just safer that way.

"What about their social skills?"

"Aren't you worried about their socialization skills?"  If I had a dollar for every time I had to confront that question, I would be rich right now! Why is that question never asked in regards to public school kids?  Just because they are in a room with other kids their age does not mean they have any more social skills than a homeschooled children.

I was asked that question one day and I responded with, "I don't have enough  time in the week for them to be any more social."  At that time, I took them to the after school programs at the library. They attended Adventure Club, an after school church program. They were involved in the community Easter play, the church Christmas play, two or three different sports throughout the year, church activities, and a Civil War re-enacting group in the summer. If they were involved with too much more I would not have had any time for their studies!  Their socialization skills were the least of my worries.

We were not any different than any other families. We taught our kids manners and how to interact with adults. We taught them to share when they were with other children.  Opportunities were always presenting themselves for teachable moments. We did not lock our children in a room and keep them sheltered from the community.

Now as teenagers, I am very thankful for the social skills my children possess.   They are able and WILLING to help at our Awana Club and on Sunday mornings with the younger children. They are able to round up work in the summertime because they know how to interact with adults and approach them. They are polite and perceptive as to when others need a helping hand.   I love that!  A lot of that I believe was knit into them, but it took some training as well.

I will admit, there are times that I have worried about how they will act in public.  My boys are not angels, by any means. They are teenage boys. They roughhouse and pick at each other, but they have never disrespected us as parents and they know the appropriate times and places for certain things. They know what is expected in mixed company. My aunt asked me one time, "JoEllen, are your boys always this well behaved?"  I laughed out loud at that as I pictured  doing dishes at home and nerf gun bullets would be landing in my dishwater and footballs were zinging past my head and the remote control was the cause of many wrestling matches on the living room floor.  "Um, no," would be the answer to my aunt's question.  I never felt the need to threaten them to be good or remind them to have manners when we were going out.   They are good boys and and I have been so thankful for the chance I have been given to be with them so much throughout the day!

Learn to Love to Learn!

There are a lot of things to pack into a day of learning and it can quickly overwhelm you.  Don't let it! ENJOY your time with your children.  I shared with you that we did a lot of hands-on projects when the kids were younger. At one point, I thought it would be less stressful to try a different "program". It was actually more stressful and by the end, all three of us were in tears everyday. There was so much paperwork that HAD to be done, it left no time at all for fun stuff.

My husband and I decided that OUR main goal would be to teach the kids to love to learn.  They were not going to love to learn if I made them read something they were not interested in reading.  Now, don't get me wrong. We had some non-negotiables.  Reading and math had to be done everyday and of course they had to read about certain historical events and people. Leisure reading was different though.   I let them choose what they wanted to read about.  As teenagers today, one of my boys loves reading the Percy Jackson series and the other loves to read about the different wars. As long as they are reading everyday, I'm happy.

With the library being our home away from home, I was used to talking to them on the phone often, either to extend our check outs or be told that something was overdue. So I was not surprised one day when they called.   I was surprised, however, for the reason they had called.   They told me the book that I had reserved was in and that I could pick it up anytime. I searched the warehouse of my brain trying to determine which book I had reserved and had to finally ask the woman on the phone.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Eli reserved it," she replied. Okay. Eli was five! In order to reserve that book, he had to go find the Ninja Turtle section on the bookshelves, look to see that the particular one was not there, go down to the main desk, climb up the little set of steps so he could see over the counter and request the librarian to reserve it and call us when it was available. At five!

That's what I'm talking about! Teach them where to find the answers.  I certainly didn't have them all. Teach them how to use an index and table of contents so that they can search things out for themselves. Teach them how to use the library.

My youngest  has been the only one of our children who has voiced that he wants to go to college. He would ask me questions and I would try to look things up online but really didn't know what I was looking for or how to maneuver around the pages once I did find them. He has been researching colleges on his own since he was in the sixth grade . He has made budgets and charts comparing different colleges. He has learned how to find the information that interests him.  If we can teach them that, their options will be limitless!

Confession Time:  I have spent practically every waking hour with my boys since we have started schooling. Knowing that Eli wanted to go to Texas Christian University about gave me a heart attack. I tried to let him know that there were closer (and cheaper) Christian colleges. He wouldn't budge. I then advised that he needed to look at more than just the courses and such. As he was sitting down to the computer one day, I mentioned that he also needed to look up the weather and other information about the area. He took one look at the screen and said, "You've already been researching TCU, haven't you, Mom?"  I gave him the deer in the headlights look. How did he know?!  "Mom, the search bar says Crime Rates and Statistics for Fort Worth, Texas. I know you've been researching." Busted!  Í have to learn how to clear the search bar!  I backed off that topic for a while, but through his research, he discovered one bit of information that was very important to him. He said, "Mom, on the TCU website, it states that they do not necessarily follows the disciplines of Christ." That was all it took for him to start seriously searching for other colleges.

Teach your kids to love the world of information that is at their fingertips. Work that in to your studies.  Before we started each school year, I would sit down with the list of topics for history and science and I would let them put the list in the order in which they wanted to learn it. That gave them some ownership of their studies and kept them interested. Homeschooling allows you to really zone in on their interests and talents so that you, in turn, can nurture that aspect in your child's life. What a great opportunity!

"What curriculum do you use?"

There were times I dreaded telling people that I homeschooled, especially other homeschoolers because the first question I would hear was, "What curriculum do you use?"  I never knew if I was being judged or not when I would tell them we customized our curriculum based on one book.

When we were just starting out, I had gone to the library to see if they had any books to help me know what I should be doing. I found this book:  Home Learning Year by Year.  I would call and check it out over and over again until I finally found it on Amazon.com and ordered my own copy  for less than $10.00.  It covers Kindergarten through 12th grade and breaks down every subject for those grades.  It gives links you can visit and suggested readings. It lists what they need to be learning about in math and language arts. It tells the people, time periods and topics they should study in history and science. It explains how deep they should go in art, music, physical education and foreign languages.

We were on a very limited income so my main expense to begin with was the Home Learning book and a library card. I paid $45 a year for a card and the Payette Public Library became our home away from home.   I had a list in my hand of who we needed to learn about that week and would load up my oversized blue-jean bag with books and videos and audiobooks.  I would grab family magazines for me to get craft and game ideas.

Library books were not my only resource. Over the years, I have kept an eye out for good deals on books. Because I had my Home Learning book at my fingertips at all times, I would know what to look for.   I could always find good reading books for the kids at yard sales.  The Dollar Store and I became very well acquainted. They had the math and language workbooks usually through grade 2. Then they started getting Spectrum Test books in up through grade 8! When these first came out, my boys were still very little but I loaded up and bought two for each grade. Every once in a while they will get some great little science and history books in so I snatch them up.   They always have colorful charts and such too.   I have even gone to the public schools at the end of the year to see if they are getting rid of any old text books. That step alone supplied me with Saxon Math text books for four years.

Of course, the highlight of my year was (and still is) the CHOIS Homeschool Convention. The Thursday before the convention is the used curriculum sale. The first time I attended this event, I was overwhelmed. I walked around like a zombie the first half hour. There was a whole gymnasium filled with tables of books and games and gadgets and more books.  I didn't even know where to begin. Once my head cleared, I was in heaven. The deals I was able to find there had me dancing on cloud 9 for a week!  I learned a valuable lesson that first time though; make a list.   Before I go to this sale, I go through the material I have at home and and decide what I will need for the next year.  I make a list and try to set a limit on what I will spend. Those are the first things I look for when I walk in. Once I have fulfilled those needs and if I still have money left, I look for fun stuff.

I shared my anxiety about telling people about my choice of curriculum.  That panic ended when I attended one particular workshop at the convention. A woman was speaking about how much she would spend on her schooling supplies each year.   She opened it up with, "The only thing that you need in order to homeschool your children is a comfortable couch." A couch? That statement actually changed our lives. For the first few years I had been trying to bring the public school home. The boys each had their own little desk . The room I used was set up like a school room, but I realized how rigid and legalistic I had been.  That next Fall when I grabbed our stack of books and went and sat on the couch the first day of school, the boys weren't quite sure what to do .  It has made things much more relaxed and we have had some great conversations on that old couch.

So there you have it! A book, a library card and a comfortable couch is all you need to begin homeschooling your children!

Learning to Teach

By the time Chris was ready for kindergarten, Eli was three years old.  Eli was my wild child and I remember telling my parents that when it came time to homeschool him, I would have to re-evaluate things.   I didn't know if I could handle him or not.  It turned out that he was the easier of the two to teach.

I have definitely discovered a lot about learning styles over the years including insight regarding my own style of learning. At first, I thought that I should just have to read to them and they would learn. Children were sponges I had been told so I expected them to soak up everything I was telling them. Yeah...not so much.  I was also under the impression that children had to sit still and pay attention while they were being taught.   Again...not the case.

This first dawned on me when I was reading a book about  Charles Lindbergh one day to Christopher. Eli was off in the corner playing with his giant leggos while I read.    At the end of the week, I was quizzing Chris on the subject matter, but it wasn't Chris who was answering the questions. It was Eli! I was assuming since it was Chris that was by my side that he would be able to remember every word he had heard. I certainly didn't think it would be the three year old toddler who was humming and clanking plastic blocks in the corner while I was reading. Yet, he was able to answer all of the questions correctly.

I realized that I was going to have to learn a different style of teaching.  One of my boys was an auditory learner, Eli obviously and Chris was a visual learner.  I had to learn to adapt. We became very hands on with our lessons and we loved it!  We built pyramids out of giant boxes. We made dioramas of the jungle. We made our own playdough together with the wildest of colors. We created chariots using toys from their rooms. Our options were limitless! And we had bright colored charts and maps and calendars.  It made it fun for me to teach and fun for them to learn.

One thing we incorporated was a sensory box. It had dry rice and beans along with objects of different sizes and textures.  They had measuring cups and funnels.  There were squishy balls in it, strips of furry cloth, small rubber grips for opening up jars, pipe cleaners,  and anything else that they found fun to touch. Each boy had one and the only time they were allowed to bring it out was when I was reading to them. They could then play quietly with their sensory boxes while listening to the story.  When we were done, we would place the lids on them and put them away til the next day. It became something they looked forward to each day and it wasn't a fight to get them to be still.  
I wanted my boys to learn to love to learn and we tried many different tactics to assist in this. Some of them worked. Some of them didn't. I will share more along the way!

Me? Homeschool?

I have always been told to "write what you know". One thing I know is homeschooling.   I thought I would start blogging a bit about it. I certainly don't consider myself an expert but have done it now for 11 years and my children are still alive and I still have most of my hair so figured I may have something to offer. The attached picture shows how I feel much of the time.

In this post, I will just give a little background as to why we started homeschooling.   My husband and I have seven kids between the two of us: his, hers, and ours.  We call it the beauty of the blended family.  I felt that we were raising two separate families as there was an age span of fifteen years between our oldest and our youngest.

I had never thought of homeschooling before I met my husband.  He knew one family in our hometown who lived that adventure and it really made an impact on him. He had mentioned it several times and I kept giving him the excuse that everybody uses with me now, "I would never have the patience to do that!"

My turning point was when our oldest graduated from high school. I couldn't believe how fast time had flown and I was determined to go to all lengths to make it slow down. Surely homeschooling was the answer for that. I wish I could report that it was true. Unfortunately time has gone just as fast.   The one thing that is different, is that I know our youngest two boys on a level that, sadly, I will never have the opportunity to know my older children.

So we chose to homeschool our youngest two, Chris and Eli, right from the beginning.  We had nothing against the public schools. We just wanted to enjoy being a mom and dad for more than two hours a day.  As Christian parents, we did find it difficult to parent effectively for the short time that we had our children during the day. They would go to school at 7:30 a.m. They got out at 3:00 p.m. but then were involved in sports and sometimes didn't get home until 9:00 p.m. or later.   We had an hour to undo everything that the world had done in the last 12 to 14 hours.  They were dealing with peer pressure, struggling with certain classes and teachers, and living their lives with very little guidance. I do not fault the schools for this. With hundreds of kids, they cannot possibly give attention to every child in the capacity that is needed.  My only regret in all of this is that I did not have the confidence to homeschool my older children.   I missed out on many precious moments! Although there have been many ups and downs, I have fallen in love with homeschooling!

I was struggling at first trying to think of the different aspect I would share about our homeschooling adventure. However, as I have been writing this article, ideas are now flooding my mind. I am excited to share my experiences with you!