The How-
We loosely follow a daily schedule...so we can change up our day if we feel the need to do so. The kids get up between 7 and 7:30. We have "wake up" time where we watch a cartoon and snuggle. Around 8, we eat breakfast. Then, the kids get dressed, brush their teeth, make their beds, semi-clean their rooms and feed their pets (4 fish, 2 frogs, 1 dog and 1 cat). We try to be upstairs (in our school room) by 9. We start with story time. We go to the library often, so we always have lots of really fun, easy children's books that we read together. Sometimes Rach reads to us, but most of the time, I read to all 3 kids while they lounge in comfy chairs. Then, we do a short Bible story and devotion. Sometimes we have a craft that goes along with our Bible story. (The kids love crafts!) At this point, we have usually lost Trent's interest. He has moved onto playing with toys or connecting some kind of truck with a trailer using a shoelace. But, I still offer him the opportunity to participate if he wants. Sometimes he scribbles on his paper and then quits. Whatever he feels like. It doesn't matter. Next, we move onto individual subjects (Math, LA, Reading, Handwriting) or, we might go ahead and do Science and/or History together. This is our first year doing a serious study of both of these subjects and we're having a great time learning together. Our Science and History subjects are full of cool project and craft ideas, so the kids LOVE doing those as well.
I work individually with Bradley in all of his core subjects: Math, Reading and Handwriting. He is a very smart boy but he doesn't enjoy working independently yet. Rachel is a very independent learner, and she loves to read the directions and figure things out on her own. She usually requires minimal instruction and flies through her core subjects of Math, LA and handwriting. We typically do schoolwork till 12 with a few breaks thrown in there as well, to keep the mood light. We stop for lunch at 12 and after lunch, we usually go outside for at least an hour to play. This is very important for all of our moods and it REALLY helps our outdoor-loving-Trenty make it through the day.
After our outside time, we usually come in and rest for a little while. If we have a subject that needs to be completed, we do that after our rest time and then everyone has play time/quiet time in their rooms. This just gets everyone out of the den/kitchen so I can clean or take a break or check my e-mail. The kids can play in their rooms or read or whatever as long as they don't fight. (Many times, I have to let Trent come into my room and play while Brad plays in the boys' room so that they get a break from each other and don't get into a fight.) Then, it's time to get supper started, so the kids continue to play or they get to watch tv until it's time to eat.
Some days, we have the opportunity to go on a field trip and that's an awesome perk to homeschooling. We've been everywhere from the High Museum of Art to the Atlanta Zoo to the William Harris Homestead Day in Monroe to the Botanical gardens to just the regular fun parks in our area. It's truly awesome getting to see and experience things first hand instead of simply reading about them in a book. Our homeschool group organizes many fun field trips throughout the year and we pick and choose which ones we want to do. Other, less exciting but more important, field trips are when we get to see grandparents for the day. Or, when we take a day off to spend extra time with our cousins. These special days are when I feel truly thankful that we homeschool, because I don't have to worry about us missing a day of school. I know we can make it up whenever and however we want to, and still spend time with our precious family.
The Why-
We chose to homeschool at first because we didn't feel like we had any other choice. Our precious daughter was ready to begin Kindergarten, and our plans of already being moved into a reputable county with a good school system had been dashed. Unable to sell our home and move, we felt like it would be smart for us to just stay put in the home that we love. We only had a couple of options: Walton County public schools or homeschooling. I didn't think I could handle homeschooling (nor did I want to) while I had 2 small sons at home. Trent was just 5 months old at this time, and Bradley had just turned 3 years old. So, we enrolled Rachel in the local public school and took her to Open House to meet her teachers. The school was nice, the teacher was nice and she seemed no-nonsense and ready for new kindergarteners. I knew Rachel would be okay. She actually went to school for 2 days and had a great experience. But, the more Nick and I thought and prayed about it, the less we felt at peace about sending Rachel to school there. We weren't going to send our child on the schoolbus through awful neighborhoods, so I drove her there. The school was 15 miles from our house. If you consider the fact that I drove there and back twice a day, I was driving 60 miles to send Rachel to a school that Nick and I both considered less than status-quo.
We both thought to ourselves, Rachel deserves better and I can do better than this. So, I called a lady who I had met when Rachel was in Pre-K. She was a homeschooling mom of 6 children (and I thought she was crazy!) and I figured she could at least enlighten me a little on a subject that I knew nothing about. She did more than enlighten me...she actually told me about her co-op and about the fact that they had ONE opening for a Kindergartener, and it needed to be a GIRL because there were lots of boys but only 2 girls at the time. I really felt like this was the HUGE sign that God was telling us this was the direction for our family to take. Since that day, we haven't looked back and we have enjoyed (almost) every minute! There have definitely been trying times where I didn't feel like we were learning much or where sickness would wipe us out for a week and I'd feel that we were very behind. There were times when I doubted my ability to teach my child. There are still times where I strongly fight the urge to make homeschooling look like public school education. As a former public school teacher, I have the inclination to make us do "x" number of worksheets instead of remembering we don't HAVE to learn that way. We can learn while playing a game or playing outside or reading a book OR by doing a worksheet. As this is my 4th year, I feel more comfortable than I've ever felt. I know part of this is from experience and part of this is because of my children's ages. It's easier to teach when you can somewhat do the same thing with all of them. Anyway, I really never thought we would become a homeschooling family who loved homeschooling as much as we do. I used to think homeschooling was for weird-o's. So, either my perspective has changed, or we've just become weird-o's. :) Either way, it's fine with me. I'm so very thankful for the journey that we're on and trying to just enjoy the ride.
Hooray for homeschooling!!!
These are some FAQ's that I get many times when people inquire about homeschooling:
Q1- Do you give your kids standardized tests to see if they are on par with their peers?
A- The state of GA doesn't require that I test my kids until they're in 3rd grade and then every 3 years after that, so NO, we don't do unnecessary testing just to say that we did it. However, I did have Rachel take her first standardized test last year (in 2nd grade) so that she would feel prepared for one this year. She did great and the test confirmed what I already knew were her strengths and weaknesses. The test is for my records only and does not go to the state.
Q2- Do you send in grades/reports to the state?
A- No, the state of GA doesn't require that we send anything to them. However, we are required to keep a yearly evaluation on file at home.
Q3- Does the state provide or require you to use certain curriculum?
A- No, the state provides nothing to homeschoolers. They have a K-12 Cyber Academy that is (obviously) heavily on the computer, but nothing is free. As for my curriculum, there are literally a million different options on every subject. You can choose from christian or secular, worksheets or computer, buying literatue or checking it out of the library...etc... It can seriously make your head spin and can be VERY expensive! Thankfully, I had some veteran homeschoolers recommend specific things to try. And, since this is my 4th year of homeschooling, I've found what we like to use and added to that.
Q4- Are you part of a homeschool co-op for socialization?
A- Yes, we're part of a wonderful weekly group and we're so thankful that it includes 4 tutors who are educated in their area of instruction. The question of socialization is funny and insulting. Unless you are a hermit crab who never goes anywhere or interacts with other humans, your children are getting enough "socialization".
Q5- Do you teach your kids for a required # of hours each day?(ie: 6 1/2 hrs. like public ed.)
A- Yes, my kids are learning ALL day long. However, they don't sit at a desk for all their learning time. And, we are flexible in that we don't have to go from a specific beginning to end. Learning can occur from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Ideally, we get 3 to 3 1/2 hours of inentional learning each day.
Q6- How do you teach when everyone is at a different age level? And,what do you do with Trent???
A- Rachel and Bradley have grade level math, language arts, reading and handwriting. However, we do story time, Bible lessons, Science and History together. The assignments are sometimes less involved for Bradley. Rachel has more independent work because she can handle it. Brad needs much more instruction and help. Trent is included in every part of our day. He has his own workbooks, pens, pencils and a desk. Sometimes he wants to participate...but most of the time he'd rather play. And, since our school room is in our play room, he has plenty of things to do while we are working. Also, Rach and Brad get to take breaks between assignments and they usually end up playing with Trent...which he loves. This helps strengthen their sibling bond since they actually look forward to taking a break and playing together.
Q7- Do you like homeschooling? How long are you going to do it?
A- YES! I really and truly love homeschooling!!!!! I am excited about the many things I have the privilege of teaching my kids. I love getting to study the Bible together. I love the flexibility of being able to take a field trip on any day of the week...and it can even be a visit to the grandparent's house. I love the fact that we don't have to get up before 7am! I love being with my kids!! I love that we can wear pajamas all day or wear comfy/"we wouldn't be caught dead outside of the house in these clothes" to do school. As for how long we're going to homeschool...I don't have that answer. I honestly didn't think this would be what I would be doing, so I don't try to predict whether or not this is what we will do forever. However, I love homeschooling so much that I can totally see myself doing it for a looooonnggg time!
Trent playing with "yincon yogs" during school. He loves setting up the logs in long lines and using the people and animals. It keeps him entertained for a long time.
Bradley is drawing a Star Wars picture during his free time.
Rach working hard on some of her independent schoolwork.
Yay for homeschooling!!!
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| Bradley and Trent are posing in front of our new child-size body posters. In Science, we're studying Anatomy and Physiology and the kids love it!! |
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| This is the beginning of our timeline that we are putting together for our History study. The kids love this too! |
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| This is our daily schedule. The kids love changing out our subjects. |
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| These are our motivational chore charts. Each child has individual chores that they are responsible for. They also have a reward each week. They love this too! Our room is fun and exciting. It's full of toys and learning. We have a good time learning in our schoolroom! |
