Why DO I homeschool??

Sometimes, when I'm tired of homeschooling, and I feel like I would love to quit and have the day to myself, it is good to be reminded of why I wanted to homeschool in the first place.

My oldest went to Kindergarten at a small Christian school, but only because his aunt was his teacher and the other two needed some Mommy time.

Now, I home educate because I want to be the largest influence on my children. I want to instil in them the belief that with God, they can do anything. If someone was going to influence my children from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, I wanted to be sure that her convictions were mine. That her reason for spending the time with my child was not to pay for her child's education, not to earn a little extra money for herself, and certainly not to indoctrinate them with some liberal agenda. I want to have my children taught WHY we do the things we do. WHY we go to church. WHY we memorize Bible verses. WHY we believe in creation. WHY we love serving others. WHY we pitch in and help out with others. WHY our standards are as high as they are, even though others think they are weird.

 I want them to love learning. I remember distinctly the day when I no longer enjoyed going to school. The day when I was bored to hear about the same thing for the 50th time and I still had to sit and listen to a 45 minute lecture on the topic. I remember hating doing homework over a topic that I understood and was bored of. I remember not retaining things even though I had studied them because it was not a topic that held my interest. NOW, I do teach all the different ranges of topics to my boys, but at the same time I allow them to pursue those that interest them. When we go to the library, they are allowed to pick three books for that week on whatever topic seems interesting. So far they have studied dinosaurs, pirates, sharks, Christmas in foreign countries, and baby animals. I LOVE this!!! I love that they ENJOY learning.

 I want them to realize that they will never know everything, but they can know where to look. I love taking them to the library and introducing them to new topics. I want them to realize that books, and GOOGLE :) have all the answers to all the questions they need. I love memorizing verses on topics for an entire school year. Last year, we memorized verses on God's commands to children (ie. Be quiet, Be still...). This year, we are studying verses from Proverbs on the slothful and the diligent. I love sharing with them Bible verses that apply to simple things like schoolwork.

I want them to have an entrepreneur's heart that seeks out challenges rather than being afraid of failure. So many times, boys at school tease other boys who do not have their sports ability. Those kids that do not have the ability to learn well are teased for their bad grades. I'm not saying that grading is bad. We are graded daily in every area of our lives, and only in knowing we have failed can we choose to improve. It's just that with a dyslexic son that sits next to a brother that has been reading since he was two, he has enough trouble without also being added to the "remedial" reading group in school. It also takes much encouragement from us, and a curve in reading grades. But hey, in my humble opinion, since reading is not a grade in high school, then  it's not really important what their grade is now as long as they arrive in high school with a love of reading and absorbing knowledge. I can give my dyslexic reader a B for his high effort, even if it's not as good as my advanced reader would have done at that point in his life. If they learn from the examples in their own life that they can do anything if they keep trying, they will be willing to take charge of their own lives later down the road.

 I want my sons to get to be boys, instead of disciplined into being robots and sitting still all day. Don't mistake me. They WILL sit still when they are asked, but they will be given enough opportunities to run so that sitting is not so difficult. I love letting them run all day, only to coral them after dinner for two to three hours of schooling. They get done quickly that way and are able to enjoy the day. They have time to do their chores, time to help with the work around the outside of the house, contribute to being helpers in the house, and still get to spend roughly half of their time awake at play. I love that!!!

 I want my sons to have every opportunity to find out what they want to do with their LIFE rather than focusing on the subjects available at whatever college. If they hate this subject or that subject, they will be far less likely to head for the career of their dreams because they have so much prejudice against a certain class they may have to take. If, however, they are taught in a way they enjoy, on a timeline that fits them, they will learn useful information at a time that is best suited to their learning, not to a curriculum's calendar.

In short, I want to give my sons every opportunity to find what God wants and requires, and the strength of mind, body, and character to become that man. THAT is why I homeschool. THAT is why I love what I do.

Family Update

It's been a while since I logged in here to type, so here goes...

We've been working on moving my Mother-in-law into a smaller, more suitable apartment for her now that Dad's gone.  We've gone through all the things in her home, and are selling things at the Flea Mall on Saturday.  She's only been out of her house for a day, and I already miss having her nearby.  I'm thinking of moving into her apartment building.... Not really, since I have a house and all, but I really, REALLY miss her.

Next, Because Mom is selling Dad's tools on Saturday, I've been working on making the boys toddler beds into bunk beds.  I know, crazy, but they turned out pretty nice, if I say so myself!!

I also am working on putting up shelves in the boys room, so I can put up the important stuffed animals, and trophies they earned in tee-ball.  I moved Andrew into the same room with the two little guys so that I could make Andrew's old room into a play/ school room.  As of now, all that is in the "Bed Room" are beds, dressers, and shoes.  The toys are all in the "Play Room".  I like it this way.  Leaves only one room to try to clean up at lunch and bed time.

Homeschool?  Well, I ordered all my books as of yesterday.  I really liked the way that the BJU Math was last year for Aaron and Nate, so I ordered K-5 for Aaron this year, 1st for Nate, and 2nd for Andrew.  I didn't order the tests, or the curriculum, because I noticed last year that they had a "Chapter Checkup" every section that I could use for a test, and I could get the speed drills that I want from online or make them myself.  It was less money that I had to spend, and more that my boys could do with me.   For Phonics/ Language, I went with A Beka.  I think it is the best Phonics curriculums out there!!  And since reading and addition/ subtraction/ multiplication/ division are the base for all else that you learn in school, I want the best!!  I did have to buy the test book for 2nd grade Phonics, but I already had the one for 1st grade, and it can really be taken very easily on paper.   For Reading, I have the A Beka readers that were given to me, and I can't wait for the boys to get into them.  Nate should be reading really well by the end of the school year, and I'm looking forward to seeing him go! 

For Science/ History/ and Health, we are going to be looking up subjects on the internet.  Should prove to be fun.  Gonna try to do some experiments as we go along.

Business, I'm slowly but surely working on my courage.  I really LOVE this business.  I've never in my life been so pushed, stretched and pulled into the shape that would please my Heavenly Father.  I've become a better me, and can't wait to see what else God has for me (although I am a little scared as well).

Lets see, I also have been rearranging the house as I go along, and folding a mound of laundry that is the size of the couch. It's quite depressing, actually.  But, I'm fixing to watch a sweet romantic movie while I fold late into the night.

Oh, and I dyed my hair for the very first time in my life.  It is a light auburn, and it looks pretty nice.  I'm still not used to it, but I like it, and Doug does too, so we'll see.

There's the update.  Busy as always, and tomorrow will be more-so.

Homeschool

I have many things I love about homeschool, but the top of the list has to be that boys can be boys.

I have never, even when I was a teacher, enjoyed keeping little boys cooped up inside a building all day long. It gets painful right around 10AM when everyone really starts to wake up and have loads of energy. It's just that in school settings, you have to teach things a number of different ways to make sure that everyone understands each concept. I never did like looking around at all the boys who would much rather be outside of that window they were staring out of so longingly.

Therefore, being a mom of three little such men, I want to keep homeschool as brief as possible so that they can get on with being boys for the day. We are done with our proper homeschooling, at 11AM. Shortly after the boys want to be active. And we didn't start until about 9AM. It all is over so quickly, that they don't seem to mind so much sitting down for a couple of hours to learn on paper. Then begins the fun of the day. We learn things at the pond about how fish breathe, learn outside why oil helps bicycles go faster, learn as we crawl through tunnels that the scientific law of "no two things can occupy the same space at the same time" is truely a LAW, not just a suggestion.

I love doing homeschool, because boys get to see daily life happen. We get to LIVE together and LEARN together. These first few years, I want most desperately for them to have a good foundation in learning. Until second grade, the most important things are the math families (+,-,x,/), the phonics and how it makes it easier to read and spell, and the discipline of putting your mind to something and doing it. Other than that, everything will be re-taught in a grander, more comprehensive way on the way through high school.

I love that we get to just do the basics, and move on with the day of being boys, asking questions, and genuinely wanting the answers to those questions. I don't ever want my boys to lose that natural curiosity that makes them want to learn. I love that HOMESCHOOLING makes it possible not to squash that curiosity before third grade when the real learning begins, and when most schoolboys are tired of school.

Passing the Torch

I love watching things of substance with my boys.

Today, I had a lot of fruit that God blessed us with that I needed to cut up and put in the freezer. As I was cutting, since we have a giant front room/ kitchen, I turned on the movie Fireproof to watch as I cut. My boys will sit to watch parts of it, in particular, the beginning, the car crash where they pull it off the track, the house fire, and the ending (sometimes).

As they were watching the beginning, they actually sat still long enough to watch Caleb yell at his wife. Hearing the things they said to each other was priceless. Andrew: "We shouldn't ever yell at our wives that way. Look at her. He's scaring her." Nate: "I wish I could give her a hug. She looks so scared." Aaron: "Yeah, girls need lots of kisses and hugs."

Then, of course, later on, they wandered out into the kitchen to join me and see if they could get a bite of the fruit, so they one by one started to talk about the movie. Andrew went with me on a couple of errands and said he was taking me on a "date." Nate, while we were cutting up apples, said, "Why are you shorter than Daddy?" to which I said, "Because girls like standing on their tippy toes to give their husbands kisses." And he gave the ultimate little boy answer... "WHY??" "Because it makes something way down in the bottom of a girls belly go all flip-floppy when she stands on her tippy toes." "OH" Like that was the answer to the world's problems. Then my Aaron, just kinda soking it all in at the moment, says "Mommy, I like helping you. I'm gonna help my wife too." So I told him, "Yup. She'll give you lots of kisses if you do." And he gets this cute little expression of anticipation on his face.

I love having the opportunity of letting little things influence my boys. Each day is a wonderful journey toward the men they will be someday, and I am extreemely glad to have such a large part in it.