A Homeschool Journey, Part 14: Graduation

In my last post of this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 13: Extracurriculars, I described some of the extracurricular activities in which our children participated. Homeschooling gave us the time and the freedom to explore so many things that we otherwise would not have experienced. At times, it was a challenge getting all the kids to their respective activities. We became experts in logistics and time management and used to laugh when people with one or two children would complain about their busy schedules! But somehow we managed. When people would ask us how we did it, I would simply answer, "Only by the grace of God!"

Eventually, the inevitable happened: the kids grew up. They studied diligently for college entrance exams and began taking the PSAT every year, beginning in 9th grade. I made arrangements at a local Christian school for them to take the test when October rolled around. The cost of the test was minimal, and it gave each child experience in taking the test in a classroom setting. By the time they took the SAT, they were comfortable with the environment and prepared for the challenge. Each of them did well and took the test multiple times, if necessary, to achieve the highest score they could.

Meanwhile, our role as parents became that of guidance counselor and school principal. As such, it was our responsibility to prepare transcripts for college applications. We had to find out the requirements for homeschooled students to apply for college and fill out the necessary paperwork for scholarships.  We had to get the documentation needed from the school district to prove that our children were legally registered as homeschooled students.Two of our children needed a full list of course descriptions, with materials used, for their applications. One of our children encountered an uninformed university admissions director who insisted that every student must have a state-issued high school diploma in order to gain admittance. Apparently, that particular school had never had a homeschooled applicant. After my husband educated them about the state law and statistics about the success of homeschooled students, the university changed their outdated policy. Our daughter was accepted to their honors program and was even invited to dinner and a lecture by Desmond Tutu. In the end, she chose another school to attend, but hopefully our advocacy has opened the doors for other homeschool graduates to study at that institution.

Every one of our children was accepted to the school of his or her choice. And they all received scholarships to help with expenses. As each child graduated from our home school, we sent out graduation announcements and celebrated with a party and a beautiful diploma. Each diploma was graced with the following verse, the reason we started the journey in the first place:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

Proverbs 9:10 (KJV)

And so we come to the end of the journey. Twenty-three years it took, from beginning to end. We had ups and downs, laughter and tears, challenges and triumphs. But in the end, it was all worth it. And as each child steps out into the world to make his or her own way, I pray that this will always come to mind:

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

 I Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

A Homeschool Journey, Part 13: Extracurriculars

I mentioned in the last post of this series, Beyond the Elementary Years that extracurricular activities were a big part of our life. These pursuits served several purposes. First, they provided an opportunity for our children to be with other kids their age, and gave them experience with people of all ages. Second, extracurriculars were a means of exploring interests and participating in group activities that we simply couldn't do at home. And third, extracurricular activities enriched our children's learning experience with skills and opportunities that helped prepare them for success in life. Some of these activities were quite expensive; others cost less. All of them were worth the sacrifice in time and money.

First of all, there was church. Our kids went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening and, whenever possible, Wednesday evening. Here they attended Sunday School, Bible Club, and worship services. They learned to participate in worship from an early age and, as they got older, used their talents to serve the Lord -- singing in choir, running the sound system, helping with Vacation Bible School, or serving as ushers. They made friends, learned about the Bible, and had fun!

Our girls took ballet, beginning at age five. They didn't attend a recital school, where time was spent learning dances to be performed in costumes purchased by the parents. The schools they went to were serious schools of classical ballet. They started with one class on Saturday mornings, but as they got older and more advanced, they were attending class more and more frequently. They danced in a beautiful production of The Nutcracker each year (see my post The Nutcracker Years), and attended summer intensives with major ballet companies in other cities. They studied with master teachers who trained many of today's principal dancers in professional companies around the world. And they met, and danced with, some of those dancers. The girls learned grace and confidence, artistry and discipline, while developing strong bodies. Ballet may look like a delicate art, but those dancers have some serious muscles!

Our oldest son studied fencing for many years. It all started with an interest in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. When he found out that "sword fighting" was actually a sport, his eyes lit up. Just about that time, we saw an advertisement in our local homeschool support group's newsletter for fencing classes. Naturally, we decided to investigate this activity and, after a class or two, he was hooked. He competed in a few local tournaments and did well. Then we met a former Olympic coach, who took an interest in him and agreed to teach him privately. This eventually led to us opening our own fencing academy, where our other kids learned the sport as well, with people of all ages. Our son competed in more tournaments, and participated in several national competitions. He even spent one summer in Atlanta, Georgia, studying with fencers from the U.S. Olympic team. Fencing taught our son discipline, focus, and confidence.

All three of our boys participated in Boy Scouts. The oldest didn't start until he was in 6th grade, but the two youngest ones started with Tiger Scouts and went the whole way through high school. One of the boys even attained the rank of Eagle Scout. They went camping every month, learning important skills and a love of the outdoors. Each year they participated in the Barefoot Mailman hike -- a 35-mile trek along the beach, commemorating the route of 19th-century mail carriers in South Florida. They learned to train for physical exertion, to pack only what was necessary, and to endure hardship. And they learned the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving a goal. Boy Scouts taught them patriotism. It taught them to serve others. And it taught them leadership.

Two of our children were exceptionally talented, artistically. They enjoyed drawing and crafts from an early age and, even though I had some training in art myself, we thought they might enjoy taking art classes. After a little research, I found out about classes at our local art museum. So every Saturday morning, for eight years, we took them downtown for lessons in drawing and painting, taught by master teachers. They learned drawing and oil paining from life, rather than photographs -- still life, landscapes, and figure drawing from live nude models (yes, in high school!). And at the end of each class, the students would critique each other's work -- as they do in college and graduate school. They spent their summers working in top-notch studios, learning from expert teachers. And when our daughter went to college, she had a summer job as a teaching assistant in the school where she had learned from the best. Those teachers have, since then, established a new school, FAT Village Center for the Arts, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in serious art instruction.

For our military-minded child, we got involved in the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Click on the link to see a promotional video, and you may catch a glimpse of our son! In Sea Cadets, our son gained military knowledge and had many adventures. He attended USNSCC Recruit Training, and traveled to other states for advanced training, such as field operations, master-at-arms training, and Petty Officer Leadership Academy. He learned fire fighting and damage control, marksmanship, land navigation, SCUBA, and survival skills. He trained with the Coast Guard, flew in a Black Hawk, and spent a weekend sailing from Norfolk, Virginia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the USS Iwo Jima. And the list goes on! As he progressed in rank, he was given more responsibility until he was leading his division of over 100 cadets. In Sea Cadets, our son developed his natural gift for leadership. He learned how to more effectively interact with others. But most important, he learned the true meaning of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.

Our children participated in other activities outside of "school", but these were the ones that impacted their lives the most. They truly enriched our homeschooling experience.

Stay tuned for my final post of A Homeschool Journey!







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A Homeschool Journey, Part 12: Beyond the Elementary Years

In my last installment of this series, Our Homeschool Grows, I shared our commitment to continue this journey through high school. The elementary years had flown by with our first child, and by this point, we had five children. As the oldest was going into seventh grade, the youngest was two. Some people refer to this as the "terrible twos", but I like to call it the "terrific twos". We always enjoyed our kids at this age. They were full of curiosity and fun! Be that as it may, it was a challenge to juggle everything. But the children had learned the routine and knew that they were to get started on independent studies, and I would work with each one individually in turn. We would go over their work, and rework any math problems they had missed. We would go over phonograms and spelling words, and any other assignments they had. About mid-morning, we took a break for a walk around the neighborhood and a snack. The littlest ones played while I worked with the older ones, but I made sure that I spent time with them, too. They were eager to "do school" like their older siblings, so we did special, age-appropriate activities together while the big kids did their math. After lunch, we would read stories on the sofa, and the little ones took naps.

As the children progressed, we gradually added more text books and more good literature to their curriculum. We knew what courses were required for college admittance, and we planned accordingly. Some of the books we used were geared to Christians, and some were secular. We used what we felt were the best materials available to teach the subject at hand. Even though our reason for homeschooling was largely based on religious convictions, we wanted our kids to get the best education we could provide. Sometimes, the books available from Christian publishers were just not the best. One chemistry book we tried went overboard with "Christianizing" its material, giving a gospel presentation right in the middle of an explanation of atomic structure. We scrapped that one and went with a secular book that proved to be a better choice. Our belief was that God created math and science, and we didn't feel it was necessary to teach addition by counting the disciples' sandals or how many jugs of water Jesus turned into wine!

Each child was different, and each had his or her own special interests, as well as difficulties. We made it our goal to encourage those interests and to help each child overcome challenges. So while some aspects of their education were the same, others were not. Adjustments were made in curriculum to meet their needs. And extracurricular activities were a big part of our life.

Next up: A Homeschool Journey, Part 13: Extracurriculars

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!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 10: A New Approach to Learning

It was the beginning of our third year of homeschooling. We had completed kindergarten and first grade with great success (You can read about our second year in Part 9), and I was confident in my ability to teach my own children. I could see the benefits of learning at home for the student, but also for the teacher and, ultimately, the family! The kids were able to spend time together that ordinarily would not have been possible. And I enjoyed being with them, as well. With several children at different ages, I could see the difficulty that could arise once they were all in school. The concept of multi-level learning made a great deal of sense. Rather than having multiple children at different grade levels studying separate topics, we could all learn together as a family. What a concept! Naturally, the older children would dig into a subject more deeply than the younger ones, but the younger kids would learn the topic more thoroughly than they otherwise would as a result of working with their older siblings.

The freedom that homeschooling afforded led me to explore the idea of unit studies. And so began a new approach to school. We invested in the Konos Character Curriculum by Carole Thaxton and Jessica Hulcy and prepared for the year to come. I stapled a laminated timeline to the wall of the long hallway in our mobile home -- BC on one side, a cross above the door at the end, and AD on the other side. To this, we would add characters and events as we learned about them. Konos is a Christian elementary unit study curriculum that teaches Bible, science, social studies, art, music, literature, health and safety, writing composition, and practical living by studying biblical character traits. It is full of hands-on activities that encourage discovery and independent thinking. It also requires a good deal of planning and preparation on the part of the teacher. It is not a curriculum for mothers who want to hand their children text book assignments and be free to do their housework. Konos activities can be messy. But they can be great fun!

Wednesday was "Konos day", when we would do the messy activities. And on those days, we would not work on math, phonics, or spelling. Those were separate subjects that we did the other four days of our school week, along with some less messy Konos-related assignments. Wednesdays were just for the fun stuff! But oh, the things we learned! Even the preschool children could be involved in our school. We were cultivating a curiosity and love of learning in our kids. And before long, they discovered that if they could convince Mom and Dad that something would be "an educational experience", we were all for it! Despite only doing "school work" four days a week, springtime standardized testing proved, once again, that our efforts were succeeding. Our second grader had advanced two more grade levels in aptitude. She was reading beyond a sixth grade level, and the challenge now became one of finding age-appropriate books at her reading level. Our experiment with unit studies was enlightening. Konos had been a success.

Be sure to come back for Part 11 of A Homeschool Journey!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 9: A Stormy Start to Our Second Year

Kindergarten was complete, and it had been a success. In Part 8 of this series, I related some of the "ups and downs" of our first year of homeschooling. We had enjoyed our curriculum so much that we decided to continue with The Writing Road to Reading and proceed with Ann Ward's First Grade: Learning at Home. To this, we added Lore Rasmussen's Miquon Math (beginning with The Orange Book) and Cuisenaire Rods manipulatives to teach math concepts.

One week before school started, Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. A category five storm, this was a big one. And it was headed straight for us. We learned about tracking hurricanes and emergency preparedness and, since we lived in a mobile home at the time, we had to evacuate and stay with friends. Not only did I have to figure out what to take with us, but I also had to do what I could to prepare our own place for when we returned -- if, that is, we still had a home. In the darkness of the night, when the lights went off and the wind howled outside, we learned to trust God. There was absolutely nothing we could do. Chances were, all of our worldly possessions would be lost. But I drifted off to sleep that night with the comforting thought that the One who the wind and the waves obey was in control. We woke up the next morning wondering what would await us. Thankfully, our home was spared. Trees were down, and many homes had damage, but there stood our place with just a piece of trim blown off. As pictures started coming in of the devastation just a few miles south of us, we thanked God for His protection. A week later, the electricity was restored, and we were ready to begin a new school year.

First grade went smoothly. I learned how to juggle my responsibilities with school work and a two-year-old and, halfway through the school year, a new baby. Standardized testing at the end of the year proved that we were succeeding. Our first grade student had scored three to four grade levels higher than the average child her age. As I considered our plan for the following year, I thought about the possibilities of learning in more creative ways. And so we decided to take the plunge and give unit studies a try. I ordered the Konos Character Curriculum, by Carole Thaxton and Jessica Hulcy, along with the accompanying timeline and orientation materials. And that summer, I prepared myself for a new approach to school. Another adventure had begun.

Be sure to come back for the next installment of A Homeschool Journey!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 8: Ups and Downs

In the last installment of this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 7: Getting the Hang of It, I described the simplicity of our first year of homeschooling. We established a routine that included school as a normal part of our day. And there was plenty of time for play. Seeing the progress we made as the year went by gave me confidence in my ability to meet the challenge I had set for myself.

We did have some moments that weren't so positive. One well-meaning relative gravely expressed her concern that our daughter wouldn't be like other kids, since she didn't watch television or go to school. I explained to her that I didn't want my daughter to be like other kids. That was the point of what we were doing! When my daughter eagerly showed her new school supplies to a little friend who was already in first grade, that friend informed her that it wasn't real school, and that she would have to go to real school if she wanted to learn anything. And one morning, as my little girl looked out the window and saw some children playing around while waiting for the school bus, she said longingly, "I wish I could join in the fun." It broke my heart.

There were many more times, however, that made me thankful for the opportunity to spend this time together: Times we spent snuggled up on the sofa reading wonderful stories that, somehow, I had missed when I was young. Times we went to the park, or the beach, or the library, while other kids were sitting in school. Our weekly ladies' Bible study, where the children (including a few other homeschooled kids) played together while the moms prayed and studied God's Word and sometimes went to lunch afterward. There were times when my child would wake up in the morning and excitedly check out her seeds that she had planted, or examine the aquarium to count the baby fish, and exclaim, "There are so many exciting things to see, I don't know what to look at first!" And as I listened to her read her first real book, Green Eggs and Ham, I knew that this was the right thing to do.

At the end of our first year, we awarded our little student a Kindergarten Diploma and brand new kitten. By then, the baby was two and we were expecting another little one. Life was good! And I started planning for the year to come.

To be continued in A Homeschool Journey, Part 9

A Homeschool Journey, Part 7: Getting the Hang of It

Our first year of homeschooling was easy. In my previous post in this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 6: Starting School, I described our kindergarten curriculum and left off with the statement that it only took us 90 minutes a day. This is surprising to some. But with one-on-one instruction, there is no need for standing in line, raising hands to ask questions, or other classroom management procedures. And there is no need for endless busy work intended to keep children occupied and out of trouble.

Lest anyone think that learning only took place during that 90 minutes, let me clarify. Children can learn a great deal through real life; one doesn't need worksheets to teach about the value of money, for example. We used a simple "chore chart" to teach a basic morning routine -- brush teeth, wash face, make bed, etc. Little pictures represented each item until our daughter was able to read. For each "chore" she did, she earned a penny. Once she accumulated a handful of pennies, she could trade them in for nickels, dimes, quarters, and eventually dollars. It was a natural way to learn, and it accomplished two things at once.

Serious learning time was done while the baby was napping or otherwise preoccupied, in order to avoid distraction. But whenever possible, he was included in our activities. There was plenty of time for play and rest, and we read lots of stories together -- fun stories, silly stories, and stories filled with adventure. Before long, we had established a routine that included school as a perfectly normal part of our day. We were getting the hang of it!

After our first week of this new undertaking, Saturday came. Since we didn't have school that day, our little student decided to be a teacher. She gathered her stuffed animals around the table and taught them the "2 o'clock letters" a, c, d, f, g, o, s, and qu -- those letters that begin at two on the clock face and go up and around. I smiled as I watched her review what she had learned that week and knew that this was going to work!

Be sure to check back again for the next part of A Homeschool Journey!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 6: Starting School

The years had flown by, and here we were, ready to begin our new adventure. In my last post in this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 5: Choosing Curriculum, I shared some of what went into our decision about what materials to use in our school. We had settled on a simple spiral-bound guide, filled with ideas for teaching young children. There were no textbooks. Each day's lesson plan had recommendations for library books that related to what we were learning about. These were real books, filled with pictures and stories and fascinating facts. And they were free! 

The second component of our curriculum was The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda Spalding, originally published in 1957. A complete guide to teaching phonics for speech, writing, spelling, and reading, this book has no bells or whistles. It is a manual for the teacher. The book teaches 70 phonograms and spelling rules (some of which I, myself, had never learned), and contains a spelling list that begins with "me" and ends with "rendezvous". Obviously, this is not a book just for teaching kindergarten -- it would be used for many years. Additionally, it includes a list of books for children to read all the way through sixth grade -- well-written children's books and classic children's literature, rather than those mediocre readers that I had been subjected to in school. Some homeschooling parents are intimidated by The Writing Road to Reading, but I studied it carefully beforehand, and our kindergarten curriculum included a step-by-step, simplified approach to using it. 

As we eagerly awaited the big day, we went shopping for school supplies. Our daughter chose a pretty three ring binder to keep her papers organized. And we bought fun things, such as colored paper, crayons, glue, and scissors just for her. We already had the obligatory globe, and we had a small American flag. Our children would learn the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star-Spangled Banner, even if they didn't go to a "real" school. And so it began.

Four days each week were school days, and Fridays were reserved for field trips and the library. Our subject areas were Bible, Reading (including writing and spelling), Arithmetic, God's World (science and social studies), Health and Manners, Art and Music, Physical Education, Character Building, Story Time, and Bible Memory. Some subjects were covered every day; others, we did twice a week. It was a very well-rounded education for a child in kindergarten. And it only took 90 minutes a day! 

Be sure to come back for part 7 of A Homeschool Journey!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 5: Choosing Curriculum

We had made the decision. After years of reading about homeschooling, and having met a few people who were actually doing it, we knew that we would be teaching our kids at home. We had been reading to the children since they were born and provided lots of learning experiences in their early years. In my previous post in this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 4: Early Education, I described some of the things we did. School attendance was not compulsory until age six, and children were required to be five years old before entering kindergarten. But our precocious four-year-old had known her letters since she was two and was eager to learn to read so that she could (in her words) read her Bible. She was ready for school. And so we came to The Question: What curriculum would we use?

We had seen a few advertisements in Christian magazines for some of the most commonly used curricula at the time: A Beka Book, Bob Jones University Press, Alpha Omega, and Accelerated Christian Education. The first two had lots of colorful materials that looked much like what most school children use. The other two were designed for children to use at their own pace, but they were less colorful and, in fact, looked rather dull. All of them were used in Christian schools.

We also consulted a few books that were invaluable in our decision: The Christian Home Educators' Curriculum Manual: Elementary Grades by Cathy Duffy, Mary Pride's Big Book of Home Learning Volume 1: Getting Started, and Teaching Children: A Curriculum Guide to What Children Need to Know at Each Level Through Sixth Grade by Diane Lopez. I carefully read and considered what each author had to say. Mary Pride's book was packed with information about homeschooling and included descriptions of the available curricula. Cathy Duffy's book was very thorough in its descriptions, but we noticed that she personally did not recommend the Bob Jones or A Beka Book materials. Although they were colorful and enticing, these materials were developed for classroom teaching, she said, and were not geared toward home education.

After a great deal of thought and prayer, I was still not sure what to do. Somehow, my husband managed to find a phone number for Cathy Duffy and gave her a call. He spoke with her for quite some time and came away with her recommendation: a spiral-bound manual by Ann Ward called Learning at Home Preschool & Kindergarten: A Christian Parents' Guide with Day-By-Day Lesson Plans Using the Library as a Resource. Unlike some of the other curricula we had looked at, this was inexpensive and was geared specifically toward homeschoolers, with young children in mind. We decided to take her advice. It was the best decision we ever made in beginning this new adventure!

Be sure to come back for Part 6 of my homeschooling series!

A Homeschool Journey, Part 4: Early Education

In my previous post in this series, A Homeschool Journey, Part 3: The Research Begins, I related some of what we learned while investigating the idea of homeschooling. Meanwhile, we were blessed with two children. Right from the start, we wanted our children to have the best education we could provide. And that started at home, no matter what our ultimate decision would be concerning school. We read to the kids from the time they were babies, beginning with soft books and board books with lots of pictures. From there, we progressed to Little Golden Books, classic picture books, and nursery rhymes. The public library was a favorite destination, and we went there often. The children never sat in front of the TV. In fact, we didn't even own a television!

Instead of staring at a screen for countless hours, we did things. We went to parks to play. We went to nature centers to learn about and enjoy God's creation. We went to the beach, or had picnics of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the backyard. We went for walks around the neighborhood and met people. The baby rode in the stroller while his older sister held onto the handle with Mommy. (We continued to teach our kids to do this as more children came along, preventing little ones from running off and getting hurt or lost in stores). We didn't just wait until they misbehaved and then punish them for it; we taught them how to behave. We explained to them what to expect if they were going to encounter a new situation. Our kids learned to sit quietly and enjoy concerts. They memorized nursery rhymes and Bible verses and songs. They colored and made crafts and played with puzzles. And after a busy day we had bedtime stories and prayers, and then the kids drifted off to sleep with classical music playing softly on the stereo.

On Sundays, we went to church. The Lord led us to a little storefront church with lots of young families who loved Jesus (someone we met on one of those walks had invited us). The pastor's wife even had a Sunday school class for infants. The babies sat in their car seats or "sassy seats" that hooked onto a table, and had a little lesson with songs, puppets, pictures, and baby-sized Bibles with pictures of Jesus. The children learned that church was a fun place to go, with people who loved them. And there were even a couple families who homeschooled their children!

I had been a little nervous about the whole thing. I knew that I was capable of teaching my kids; after all, I had been teaching them since they were born. But I didn't know what legal issues we might encounter. Did the school district give homeschoolers a hard time, or were they easy to work with? After talking to one of the couples at church about my fears, they assured me that they had never had a problem. The homeschooling law that had been passed in 1985 was a good one; the requirements were easy to meet. That encouragement was all I needed. We were going to homeschool! Now, all we needed was the answer to The Question: What curriculum would we use?

Stay tuned for Part 5 of our homeschool adventure! 

A Homeschool Journey, Part 3: The Research Begins

I walked into the public library on a mission. I had decided to find out all I could about home education. Our experiences in school and our personal beliefs as related in my previous post, The Decision: Why We Considered Homeschool, had sparked an idea. And we intended to investigate the possibility of pursuing this path for educating our children. Our library is a large, county-wide one with many branches. Surely they would have plenty of books on the subject. The only problem was, the modern homeschool movement was relatively new and not nearly as common as it is now. I was a little disappointed in the selection, but there were some very informative books on the shelves. I eagerly took them to the desk, checked them out, and went home with my homework for the month.

Author and educator John Holt had several books on the subject. Holt started the nation's first home education newsletter, Growing Without Schooling, and was a proponent of "unschooling" -- the belief that, given the freedom to follow their interests, children will learn. His book Teach Your Own was one of the earliest books on homeschooling to be published. Written from an entirely secular point of view, some of his ideas were not in line with our thinking. But although we felt that children need a little more guidance than what Mr. Holt suggested, his ideas opened our minds to possibilities beyond the classroom setting. Maybe kids don't have to sit at a desk for six hours a day in order to learn!

Most of the other books available on the subject at the time were written by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Two of the earliest pioneers of today's homeschool movement, the Moores were Christian educators who advocated delaying formal studies in their book Better Late Than Early. While we didn't agree with all of their ideas either, their books Home Grown Kids and Home School Burnout supported the thought that "homeschooling" didn't have to mean "school-at-home".

There were other books, as well. I read everything I could get my hands on about home education. As the years went by, more families were pursuing this path and more books were published. What wasn't available in the library, I purchased (the books in the picture above are just the tip of a very large iceberg!). As I read the success stories of others, I became convinced that we could do this! Meanwhile, God blessed us with one child and then another. And before long, it was time to really take it seriously. If we were going to homeschool, we had to make the commitment. If only we could overcome our fears!

Come back next week for Part 4 of our story!

The Decision: Why We Considered Homeschool

In the first of this series, Considering Homeschool, I promised a trip down memory lane. Join me as we begin the adventure!

The year was 1985. As my husband and I were cleaning up after dinner one night, we listened to the news on the radio. They were talking about a new law in Florida that made it legal to homeschool in our state. We didn't even have any children yet, but my husband's ears perked up. This was important to know. This was really good news!

He related to me how he had asked his mom once, when he was very young, why he couldn't just learn at home. Shocked by such an idea, his mother had looked at him, and said, "You have to go to school! They would put us in jail if you stayed home!" It just never made sense to him. His teacher would penalize him for doing homework on one subject while she was lecturing in another. (He still has the uncanny ability to read a book and listen to someone speaking at the same time.) She would reprimand him for coloring a frog red instead of green. (Somewhere along the way, he had seen a photograph of a poison dart frog that made an impression on him.) School was no place for creativity or individuality. The teacher told his mother that he would never make anything of himself if he didn't follow her directions. (Did I mention that my husband is now a PhD?)

My experience with school wasn't much better. My dad had taught me to read when I was four. I still remember proudly reading Mr. Pine's Mixed Up Signs by Leonard Kessler to my kindergarten class. I was extremely frustrated sitting there, listening to classmates struggle to read simple words. My grades were good enough, but my report card always came home with the comment, "Does not put forth best effort." I was bored. Then there was The Machine. The teachers were obsessed with increasing our reading speed. So they used a contraption that flashed the words to a story on a screen, then quizzed us on our comprehension of what we had read. Never mind actually enjoying the story; a person must read fast! But of course, we never read good classic children's literature. Instead we were subjected to "readers" with mediocre stories, carefully crafted by educators and guaranteed to make reading a chore, rather than a joy. When I was required to do a serious research paper in 11th grade, my topic was about education -- and my paper was 20 pages long!

Besides our personal experiences, we had other reasons for our interest in home education. My husband taught at a large parochial high school at the time. It was an excellent school whose graduates were highly successful. It was also very expensive. On the other hand, we were unimpressed with what we saw in the local public schools. And we had become committed Christians, desiring to do all things to the glory of God. The public school system just didn't teach or support our values. When we had children, we didn't want them to be taught things that opposed our faith.

Right then and there, I determined to find out all I could about homeschooling. I wanted to be prepared. And so my research began. First stop: the public library.

Be sure to come back next week, for part 3 of my homeschooling series! You can sign up, on the right, to follow by email. That way, you won't miss a post!

Considering Homeschool

As a homeschooling family, we were always a little unusual. Some people thought we were just plain odd. Instead of packing lunches and sending our kids off to school on a big yellow school bus, we "did school" at home. Many people envisioned our children sitting at desks, with Mom standing in front of a chalk board teaching arithmetic. Some may have seen advertisements for homeschool curricula featuring pictures of little Johnny at the kitchen table dressed in a collared shirt and dress pants, while his blue-denim-jumper-clad mother leans over his shoulder and smiles at his books. Usually, there is a globe nearby and, of course, a shiny red apple strategically placed in the photograph. While some families may do things that way, many do not -- especially families with five children! In order to dispel these misconceptions and, perhaps, encourage someone who may be considering homeschooling, I'm going to try writing a weekly post on the subject. Who knows? Maybe I will pique the curiosity of somebody who never even thought of such a thing!

The logical time to begin a series on the subject of school might seem to be August or September, when our thoughts turn to a new academic year. Indeed, just about every August, someone with a child about to enter kindergarten will ask me The Question: What curriculum did you use? They think they already know the answer. Of course, because we are Christians, we must have used XYZ Christian Curriculum. But they are wrong. I cannot answer their question with a simple one minute answer. Furthermore, the time to be asking this question is not seven days before school starts!

I understand that circumstances sometime arise which require a parent to make a quick decision regarding school for their child. Having taken the drastic action of pulling a child out of the local public school, the parent is desperately trying to find out what to do next. If that is the case, my first advice is to pray! For some reason, we often seem to wait until things get out of control before we ask God for guidance. Believe me, God knows what's best for you and your child, and He will show you the way, if you ask. But then, after that, you had better start doing your homework! Get busy and learn everything you can about the legal requirements where you live, find a homeschool support group, and educate yourself. Books and websites on the topic abound, and the amount of teaching material that exists is astounding.

In this series, however, I plan to begin at the beginning. Why on earth would we have chosen to teach our own kids? How did we figure out what to do? How did we do it? Did it work? And, of course, the answer to The Question: What curriculum did we use?

Join me as I take a trip down memory lane and share our adventures. Don't miss a post. You can sign up, on the right (web version), to follow by email. Feel free to post questions or comments below and share with your friends and family!