Tag: Homeschooling

When My Child’s Behavior Spills All Over the Street

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One thing my new schedule and the beautiful weather allows me the freedom to do is take a walk down the back-roads behind my house. I have a favorite journey down a winding trail, canopied over with tall, waving pine trees.

When I trekked along this morning, I noticed the road had been repaved. Before when I walked, water from an underground spring flowed all over the road, in some places pooling up into quite a puddle. Since I’m not a six year old boy, the puddles aren’t my favorite thing to stomp through.

They repaved the road, making the center significantly higher than the sides, which created a perfect, natural rut for the springing water to flow along. This left the middle of the road dry enough to walk down without raising up my pant legs.

I don’t know why my brain thinks like this, but this whole scenario reminded me of my strong willed child. The child that has tested every ounce of my will since the day he was born. The child who’s passion and behavior often spills all over the road – or the store, house, wherever he is.

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What Every Husband Needs to Know about Homeschooling

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Dear homeschooling husbands,

(And by homeschooling husbands, I mean not necessarily that YOU homeschool the kids, but rather you are the husband to a homeschooling mom.)

I am convinced that motherhood is the hardest profession out there. I am also convinced homeschooling, as wonderful as it is, places second in degree of difficulty. So when you mix the two hardest jobs in the world together, every minute, every day, well there is just not a word that fits the job description or requirements.

You know how you feel when you first come home? You just left the cozy quiet of your truck or car, walked all by yourself to the front door and then WHAM! One kid grabs your leg, the other slams you with questions and the other is quietly taking the vacuum cleaner apart?

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Letting Go

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My arms ached as my kids grabbed their bags and tumbled out of the car.

I didn’t give them one last hug, my mind alerted me in bold letters.

I resorted to hollering “I love you“, through the crack in the car door before it had a chance to fully close.

The sweet, smiling lady I’ve seen every morning now grabbed their little hands and walked them to the cone just ahead of me. From there, she passed them to another lady who assured their safe arrival to the other side of the parking lot. But before they could walk across, the second lady grabbed both of my kids, gave them a big hug and kissed the top of their head.

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When the Marble Tower Toppled

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Zach, holding back tears shuffled into my room.

“Mom, my marble thing fell down.”

This masterpiece he and his big brother worked on for hours to look exactly like the picture on the box had crumbled to the floor.

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I pulled him close and almost cried with him, for that’s just how I felt too. Like it just all fell down. This tower I had planned and build just right…came crashing down.

The winds of change have swept through my house and ushered in a brand new season. Transition is hard for me. I save reading the last chapter in a book for weeks, not wanting the story to end.

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Life on a Segmented Plate

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Thanksgiving is next week! It’s my favorite holiday, even above Christmas. I love food and family, so naturally, family gathered around food is a perfect fit.

We normally host a small portion of our family and I excitedly prepare for days. There’s the homemade bread that needs to dry out for the homemade stuffing, the real cranberries with a tad of orange peel and brandy mixed in, pineapple bread pudding, green beans, sweet potato casserole…and don’t forget the turkey and ham (unless I forget to pull it out again). My taste buds are tantalized!

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With all this fine food, there is one small problem…When I sit down to eat I don’t like my food to touch.

Nope, I don’t want my spiked cranberries running into my sweet potatoes. Now, the turkey, dressing and gravy, no big deal, but the green beans and pineapple pudding need to stay separate. There are just some flavors that don’t need to mix.

Thank you segmented plates!

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Why I Am Thankful Even For Doubts

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It happens every year.

After a long break, school begins. At first I’m excited. The crayons smell new, the pencils prick my finger with their sharpness and the scissors and glue find their home in a plastic shoe box neatly stored away in the cabinet. The kids insert tabs into page dividers, write Science on a label and slap it on the spine of their notebook. Books neatly file themselves on the shelves, waiting to be opened.

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It all looks so nice and organized.

Then we start.

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How to Homeschool Multiple Children in 5 Easy Steps

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  1. Start off the day with a slow, calm morning

2. Eat a healthy breakfast.

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3. Allow plenty of time in the afternoon to put your feet up.

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4. Get plenty of rest.

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5. Have a nightly dinner with children joyfully retelling Dad all they learned today.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Enjoy your days homeschoolers! They aren’t quiet, organized, restful or always healthy, but they are good. You are doing a good work.

Essentials Every First Year Homeschooler Must Know

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Imagine you’ve arrived at an intersection. On one side a smooth, paved, super highway with elegant, easy turns and architectural overpasses awaits you. This road has mile markers indicating how far you’ve traveled, exit numbers so you don’t miss a turn, and crystal clear GPS tracking to equip you for the inevitable question every parent gets, “Are we there yet?”.

Then imagine beside it, a back road pulled straight from the latest country song. At least it looks like a road. Paved in dirt, overgrown with weeds and fresh four wheeler tracks catch your eye at first. To travel down this one you might hit the ditch, get bit by a snake, or even get lost. Road signs? Mile markers? GPS signal? Not a chance.

Welcome to the decision of whether to homeschool or public school.

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Pros and Cons to 6 Common Home School Curriculums

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So here it is: My take on the curriculum that I have tried this far. I will share the pros and the cons from my experience using what I have tried.

One note before we begin. So much of what works and what doesn’t depends on your personality and the personality/learning styles of your children. If this is you first year of homeschooling, your focus this year is to identify how your child learns best, what his or her strengths and weaknesses are, along with you and how you best steer this ship of learning. Somewhere in the middle you’ll find something that will work. Hopefully this will give you some guidelines.

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What I Learned After Trying Every Curriculum Out There

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So there I was – fully enjoying complete satisfaction of my curriculum choice for our first year of homeschooling. I confidently purchased the same program for the following year and walked into summer with a smile. When it was time to start back, we dove into year #2 with grand anticipations.

We didn’t get 3 weeks into that year before I realized, this curriculum is no longer working. I wasn’t happy, my son wasn’t happy and something had to change!

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