A Homeschool Journey, Part 11: Our Homeschool Grows

As the years went by, our family increased in size. And so did our school. As our students progressed through the grades, we made adjustments to our curriculum. And as we added students, a routine was established that seemed normal to us. One thing we knew for sure: This was what God wanted us to do. We never had the opinion that homeschooling was every parent's mandate, but it was our mission. And what had started out as a solution to a negative situation became something we did because it was so good for our family. We were committed for the long haul. And we began planning our strategy for teaching our children all the way through high school. But before I get ahead of myself, let me just address the elementary grades.

Our experiment with unit studies had been a success, and we continued with the Konos Character Curriculum, described in  A Homeschool Journey, Part 10: A New Approach to Learning, for another year or two. There was even a year when we were involved in a co-op with several homeschooling families at our church who got together on a regular basis for learning activities. What Konos really taught us, though, was how to learn. We discovered that the simplest thing could become an educational experience. And that discovery led to some fascinating pursuits. For example, one day the kids found some exotic birds that had escaped from a neighbor's screen porch. When they returned the birds to their owner, she gave them a beautiful lovebird. Before we knew it, our daughter was hand raising Danish violet lovebirds. The interest in birds continued, and my husband and the kids used their math skills to assist in building a loft for a flock of pretty white racing pigeons. They would take the pigeons miles away, release them, and anxiously await their return. The lessons the children learned, from math to biology, history, geography, woodworking, and responsibility, to name a few, were things that aren't learned in your typical elementary school classroom. When a child expressed an interest in something, we would try to find a way to encourage that interest and to facilitate learning. And God always provided just what we needed at just the right time.

With five children at varying levels, juggling schoolwork was something I had to manage daily. Once a child was able to read, he or she could work independently on certain subjects. The older children learned to begin their work while I gave my attention to the younger ones, and I would spend time with each child individually through the day. Curriculum adjustments were made to fit the needs of our family and each child. And while some kids used a different approach for this subject or that, we used The Writing Road to Reading and Miquon Math with all of them, transitioning to Saxon Math in upper elementary grades. Saxon's incremental approach and constant review were highly effective, as the children's test scores proved. And so we continued on our journey, determined to never give up.

To be continued in part 12 of this series!