Home Schooling

I am home schooling again and this time for keeps.  I home schooled our children 5 years ago for 2 years.  If you've spent any time learning about what is going on with our public schools, you might be tempted to pull your children from their schools.  I understand.  In fact,  a few of my neighbors have found out that I have pulled all but my oldest daughter, Vanessa, from public school and they are asking me questions.  Vanessa will finish out her 8th grade year and I'll home school her again through 12th grade.  But, I am happy to tell my neighbors what I have found out and point them to the people who have informed me.

I love home schooling.  I love learning with the kids and having them look at me as their teacher.  I love that the kids and I are really bonding.  There is such a sweet spirit in our home.

For those of you who are wondering how I am doing it, I'll tell you a little bit about what I am doing.

I use Saxon Math textbooks.  I went online to amazon.com and found the oldest textbooks I could find.  The new Saxon Math textbooks have Common Core State Standards in them.  I am not interested in that at all, as you know!

For English/Literature I am frequenting the local library.  The kids are checking out classics, like Peter Pan and Where the Red Fern Grows.  We are reading and talking about the characters in the books.  I am guiding the kids to look at character downfalls, main plot, and then we look at the conclusions of the books and analyze the outcomes.

We memorize a scripture every week as a family.

We pray.

We sing.

We cook together.

Jared is teaching the boys the cello.  Jared recently purchased a cello for himself and we are borrowing an old cello from Jared's parents for the boys to learn on.

Jared is teaching the boys how to play basketball.

We have plans to plant our vegetable garden in the next couple of weeks.

We are looking forward to teaching our kids in all walks of life.

What a joy to have the opportunity to get the kids ready for their lives as husbands, fathers, neighbors, community members, etc.  I love having the opportunity to choose with my children what they want to learn.