Hi!  It is almost Wednesday, and I can scarcely believe it.  We have been rushing about, getting our County Fair entries done---this is the first year we have entered anything!  So we are very excited.  I will tell you more about them later.

We are LOVING the effects of all this rain we have had, but we have been stuck indoors quite a bit.  It has been really coming down!  My flowers are going nuts, and the tomatoes are as tall as I am!  I will take photos of those soon!

My son has been learning watercolor, and has a nice one posted on his blog.  But I am helping to learn to "layer" his work, with washes and such.  Here is a great tutorial that I found online:  Right here.  (This is a whole page of links, and the cat tutorial is about 2/3 way down.  Just look for it, you will find it this time!  Sorry my link didn't work at first.)

I have always loved to paint cats, and so this one really spoke to me.  My son is working on a neat landscape.  I can't wait to see the finished product!

Next, my music loving gals are doing well with their piano, but one wants to learn violin now.  If anyone has an inexpensive violin for sale, please let me know!  I just found this site today, that has free piano theory lessons PLUS free downloads of music!  (You can only get three free ones per day though.)  It is awesome!  I downloaded "Scotland the Brave" and "Hava Nagila" (I think that is how it is spelled!)

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I am really glad everything has been resolved, about the blog thefts.  At least they deleted our posts.  I really wish they would have come forward and said something, but that is the nature of this beast.  Too much secretive behaviour and I think it's terribly wrong.  I am not saying we should "reveal all" online.  But to be able to anonymously create a website, take property that isn't yours and make money on it, that is wrong.  It's hard to track......but not impossible.  I think we had a lot of help on our side, and between all of us we were able to show them that we were serious about it.  Enough said.  I guess I might have to re-publish my RSS feed now. 

So, lets see......oh, How Could I Forget This?  LOL  I just got my support group sample copies of The Summer 06 5th Year Anniversary of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!!!!

It is totally beautiful, and I can't wait to read it.  What a treat.  I am so blessed to be published in it, and as usual, it is a terrific product.  God is Good to us!  Keep the Publishers of this neat magazine in your prayers ok?

You all have a great week, ok?  And don't forget to stop by the HSB Front Porch on Thursday and say hello........and lets see....there is another contest over at TEACH Magazine's blog---my dear friend Lorrie. 

©Nancy K. Baetz

Homeschooling Is Life !

2006

"I don't have the patience to homeschool." 

Have you ever heard that statement before?  I was told that recently, by a sales person who asked us if we homeschooled.  She said she wished she could have done it. She had several other reasons why she could never homeschool----some of them perfectly legit, but some were just excuses. ( Forgive me if I seem like I know it all, I don't, this is just my humble opinion.)

I told her that you don't have to have patience to homeschool, but like anything else, you will improve in the area of patience, if that is what you need. 

You probably have heard that if you pray for patience, watch out!  It is the trials in our lives that produce patience.

  Well, I believe that is true to a degree, but the Bible says that patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:22)  So, if you have a heart seeking hard after the Lord, then He will produce the fruit in you, His fruit.

And one of those is patience. 

Now, here is another statement I heard recently:

"You must really sacrifice yourself and your time to teach all those kids at home."

This was a really well meaning, nice lady who told me this.  She somehow recognized that we were homeschoolers.  I don't know why she would have equated us with homeschooling.  We were disheveled, our clothing didn't match---we had paint splotches on us in various places.  (We have been painting the house.)  My youngest son had his shoes untied.  (And he knows how to do that!)  And lets see, part of the kids needed a bath.  Or parts of some of the kids needed a bath.  LOL.  Actually, she did say that they looked like a bunch of happy kids, so they must be homeschooled.  Aahhhh.  I guess that works for me!

You know, I don't look at this as a sacrifice.  It only seems like that to me when I am battling selfishness.  Homeschooling to me, not to be cliche or anything, but it is everyday life.  This is just child-rearing.  This is my job.  It is what I am called to do. 

The Lord said to obey is better than sacrifice, and I am trying my best (and failing at times) to obey  His word.  And so I am not to be put up on a pedestal for homeschooling or not homeschooling my kids.  I am doing what I can, at times it's not my best, but it's mine to do.  It's the day-by-day working with and raising up and partnering with Christ (and my husband) on how these kids are to be dealt with. The Lord God created them, gave them to us for a short while and we need to do what we can while we can.

  But we aren't perfect, and neither are our kids.  We are doing the best we can, and by golly, we are enjoying it at times..........and at other times, not.

But this is life.  Yea tho we walk through the valley.......but then sometimes we will shout from the mountaintop!  There is an ebb and flow of life, and we are just doing what we believe is right.  Whatever the circumstances are.  It's all right there in the Word.

"These things I have commanded you...."

So, does this mean that we are not to be praised at all for what we are doing with our children?  It's nice to hear good things.  But there is one whose opinion really matters, the one who put us to the task in the first place. If I am constantly at odds with my job as a mother who is teaching my little ones character, and the three "R's", then it may feel like a sacrifce, but only because of my own sin. 

There is JOY in obedience!  And this, is one more fruit of the Spirit, along with patience, that I will bear as I seek the Lord. 

Stop sacrificing, and start seeking----and obeying.  Doesn't it sound wonderful?

So before you put me up on that pedestal, or anyone for that matter, think about this:  I don't want to be up there.  In fact, I want to decrease, so He may increase.

A seed has to fall  to the ground and die before it will grow, and then if the conditions are right and the gardner does the proper tending.....it will produce fruit.

So stop sacrificing, and start obeying......and there are a whole lot of "fruits" waiting for you in that basket of blessings.  We can bear much more than just patience and joy, there is also love, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control...

doesn't that sound wonderful?

Homeschooling Is Life!

Nancy

For some people, success is equated with status.  This can be professional status, earnings or position.  For some, success is gained through "popularity" or fame.  For others, success is gauged in material wealth.  Success as Jesus taught it is this:  For those of you who desire to be the greatest, you must become a servant.  (My paraphrase.)

Homeschooler's have a combination of success---outwardly.  We see them winning awards and spelling bees.  We read about them making zillions of dollars on e-bay and through other entrepreneurial avenues.  But what is the measure of success?  Even though it is spelled out in the Bible, unfortunately, many don't grasp the teaching.  Many people could care less about success being measured by a pure heart, a servant style of leadership, or a loving touch.  Success in my mind is a gentle and quiet spirit, and children who obey because they love me and our God.

But there are many smaller successes that we look for during our days as homeschooling mothers.  We thrill in our hearts when our sons are kind and protective of our daughters, instead of teasing them.  We are happy when they do chores without being told.  We are excited when we have been seeking a certain "end" and it comes without a lot of weeping and wailing.  Concepts become solid in our children's minds, and we didn't have much if anything to do with it, except for modeling correct behaviour, used gentle leading, or prayed for a positive outcome!

Success can come in many forms.  Of course we want them to be able to read and write, for without those skills they are lost in a word full of words and voices.  But have we failed if they don't read at 5 years old?  At 6?  At 7?  Who decides?

Mothers and Fathers know what needs to be done and taught......or wait, do we?  Aren't we just discovering that as we go along sometimes?  Working out our children's values and educating them with fear and trembling too? 

The proverbial "unschooler," who may just be relaxed in their form of education---has many successes that can't be determined by the latest "standardized" test.  Many of us are dis-enchanted by the public school mantras.  We woke up and decided who the real experts are.  We are.  And to many people, success has many forms.

What one event recently has defined success to you?  Would you like to share it?  I would love to hear it.  Please leave a comment and let me know what it means to you, and what has happened to illustrate a victory in your daily life!

Blessings!

Nancy

Hello!  Thanks for dropping by.  I thought I must might do a "day in the life" kind of post, just to let you know what we have been up to!

First of all, I love the quiet time I can have first thing in the morning, with my cup of coffee and God's Word.  Now, I would be lying if I said that I am faithful to do this every day, I am not.  I know how important it is, but sometimes I am off and running in forty different directions before I realize I don't even have an inkling about where I am going!  But on a perfect day, yes. 

Once the kids get up, and sometimes they even get up before I do, they are really good about getting going.  This morning, they were all up, clustered together in one room crocheting!  Before breakfast, for goodness sake.  You see, they are trying to come up with a way to earn some money, so they are making these adorable little crocheted purses.  Even the boys are in on this.  The youngest is just learning how to do those kinds of things, and before you jump on me and tell me I am demasculinizing (is that a word?)the little guy, I assure you, he is ALL boy.  But back to our day:

I had to rally them up for breakfast, and then grooming and chores.  That means wash and look presentable, feed the animals and then we eat together most mornings.  Then off to the living room for our devotional time.  We are reading (again) Leading Little Ones to God, and it is a good book, but we have found out that we have to go to the Bible and double check for accuracy.  That has been such a neat thing to see the kids do, they are finding that a lot of books, videos etc, are watered down Bible stories, and they are wanting the meat, and not the milk anymore, and certainly not the sour milk.  They want the real thing! They are catching the mistakes!  I am pretty pleased to see they don't take everything at face value.

So today, my ds who is 11 read the whole thing to us, and we talked about it.  The subject of today's chapter was about reading the Bible!  God's word is the most important "curriculum" you will ever need to have.  Then we talked about the solar eclipse that could be seen in Africa, Turkey and India---and had a lively discussion about that.

After that, everybody kind of went their own way.  Now, mind you, my kids are older and when they were little, they needed more direction.  They are getting pretty self sufficient in a lot of areas.  That is the neat thing about homeschooling!  But we are still working on a lot of areas of academics, as each child is able to do the next thing.  Oldest dd practiced for her piano lesson, and the other kids worked on their projects for their "business"  getting inventory made for it!  I told them that they have to have 100 purses made before we go "public" with it!  ( I want to make sure they are serious before we do anything like set up a sale or advertise)

In the meantime whenever I had something for them to do, they helped out.  Take out trash, sweep, vac, or mop.  Unload dishwasher.  They are pretty good at helping most of the time. Then when it was time to make lunch, we worked on that together then the boys went out to play while our piano teacher (a homeschool graduate!) came over and taught.

My 11yo ds worked on his computer art program he has, and then he read books.

After that we were surprised by a visit from some homeschooling friends from out of town and so we visited and that was a blessing. One son showed them our venus flytrap, and I stuck a stick in one of the leaves to try to make it "snap" but it didn't do anything.  So I tried another, and BAM it clamped down and scared the living daylights out of me!

 The kids worked on making dinner together (from our list of scheduled meals that we made) and we had homemade biscuits and hamburger stew.  Then I read a fun book out loud, "Owls in the Family"  while my 7yo videotaped me.  (scarey!) And now everyone is off to bed.

It has been a good day!  I am looking forward to tomorrow, and what it will bring.  Some days we spend more time doing seat work, somedays we just work at getting along and learning how a family functions.  Somedays I get stressed if we aren't doing particular things, but usually that is because I start comparing "us" to "them" and they aren't us.  Does that make sense?  I know that I am responsible for teaching my kids how to be learners, to love life and want to learn all there is about it to help them be the best they can be.  The best SELVES they can be.  And our goal is to glorify God and to point to Jesus as much as we are able. 

God has a plan, and we will continue to seek His will for our lives, and the lives of our children.  And we will enjoy each and every moment spent teaching them all there is that we can, in His timing.  But don't waste any time, once it is gone, it is gone.  Kids grow up tooooooo fast!

Homeschooling is Life!

Nancy

P.S., I see from my sitemeter that I get lots of visits from all over the world!  Thank you for stopping by.  I would love for you to leave me a comment and say hello, ok??

Another lovely day, another clean slate! 

Another day to work on an already full plate.

What will we do first? Reading, Writing, Math?

What if something unexpected shows up in our path?

Another lovely day, another quandary arises,

How do we teach these children of different shapes and sizes?

Shall we follow Book A, or Idea B, or the voice of the "pro?"

Can we follow our hearts on which way we should go?

Little Suzy wants to make a pattern for a doll,

but she's "behind" in algebra, and can't spell much at all,

And little Johnny is working on a project made of wood,

but what about his "social studies?"  And other things he "should...."

Grandma needs some help, but our workbooks are a-waiting!

There are other shut-ins with a visit anticipating.

And what about that neighbor with the baby on the way?

Can our "studies" suffer if she needs our help today?

There are many things that pull us daily

this-a-way and that,

And we can get so sidetracked, that our accomplishments fall flat.

The path is bright and our feet will go, if only we will pray,

And listen to the voice of God, who leads us the right way.

Relationships are more important, inside our homes, and out,

and how we treat each other is what homeschooling is about,

It's not wrong to be good spellers, but if we lie and cheat and steal,

And if we hate our brother, good grades are no big deal.

So dear homeschool Mom, don't worry and don't fret.

If little Johnny can not read as well as you think, yet,

and little Suzy will learn her math, while baking for the neighbor,

and friendships formed inside your home will strengthen, so don't waver!

If you will pray and seek His face for each question on your heart,

And read His word, and know His voice, you will know right where to start,

Don't be tossed to and fro by this world's ideas and plans,

Listen to your Lord, your lives are in His Hands.

Have a blessed day everyone! 

 Read Deuteronomy 6: 1-9. 

Nancy

6/10/09

Thank you Molly Green of Econobusters!  Here is a lovely pdf of this poem as my free gift to all of you.  (It will print much nicer than it appears on the pdf.  Enjoy!)

Blessings, Nancy

 This is a beautiful essay on homeschooling that you need to read! 

 Thank you everyone who commented on my unschooling post.  The beauty of our lives is in the variety---God sure knows how to make life fresh and interesting! 

 Not ONE of us has exactly the same ideas, the same way of doing things, the same goals or the same methods of reaching our goals.  But we can learn from each other.....not comparing apples and oranges within our homeschooling labels----but savoring the differences of the fruit we each can bear!

Blessings,

Nancy

CNN recently ran an article about an unschooling family.  If I had the link, I'd post it, but frankly I don't really have time to go search for it.  Oops, changed my mind.  Here it is.

The family wasn't portrayed in a very favorable light, but that isn't surprising to me.  A lot of folks out there who aren't pro-homeschooling, or pro-family or pro-anything really don't get it when it comes to real learning sometimes.

Unschooling is a very broad term, and a lot of people put it in a narrow definition.  Unschooling does NOT mean that you are not teaching anything.  It doesn't mean that your child isn't learning anything.  The only way, in my opinion, that a child wouldn't learn anything is if they didn't exist.  Children have an inner desire to learn.  And I think most adults do too, by the way.  That is why we read, explore the media, talk to people, make friends, volunteer, work, play.  We were made to learn new things.  Every part of our body is made to take in and process information!  Oh, the blessing of our senses and sense-ability is astounding!

There are many, many lables put on learning styles, teaching styles, homeschool methods.  And that is because as people, for some reason we like to be "in a category."  We like to feel like we fit somewhere.  So according to who we are, what we "do", we give it a name.  If we like a sports team, we are "Bronco Fans."  (I had to say that, being in Colorado.)  If we go to a particular church, we are "Catholics."  If we use a particular program for homeschooling, we are "Sonlighters" or "Classical." 

When I went to public school there were the "Uppertown Kids" and the "Lowertown Kids."  There were the "Teacher's Pets."  In high school there were the "Nerds" and the "Jocks" and the other lables that will remain unwritten here.  We might choose to call ourselves "unschoolers" because we know that the public school model doesn't work for us.  It isn't working for a lot of kids.  It may work for some, and that is fine. I have to say that personally, it didn't work for me. 

Unschooling,  is a term to show that we think "schooling" (public school method and model) is a proven failure and danger to our children.  And we aren't going to do it that way for our family.  It is our God given responsibility to teach our own how we choose to do it.  (And I must add this---we are still under the state homeschool law.  Know your state homeschool statute, abide by it and know what is going on in your legislature! Don't be passive!  Or a favorable law might be yanked out from under your nose.)

We need to get out of the comparison mode and just be lifelong learners, which is hopefully who we are anyway!  Gee, I hope I never am too old to learn a new thing, or unable to.  I hope that because I "socialize" with a group that calls themselves unschoolers, doesn't mean we aren't learning anything!  Yikes, when you get right down to it, this whole world has become way to invasive as to what we should and should not be doing.  I am not opposed to labels, we just get to serious about them........they don't always mean what they say.

  Think of it this way:  Take a newborn.  What else can you call him?  Infant, yes.  Baby of the family.  Maybe.  There are a hundred or more ways to describe this little child.

So you have a family of 5.  You can tell them apart by saying " I have a 19 year old, a 16 year old, a 12 year old, etc."

Or you can talk about their physical description.  "My oldest is very muscular and likes sports."  My baby has red hair."

Or you can label their learning style.  " My Suzy is very kinesthetic." 

When we label what we do,  unless the person you are telling has no biases, then it's ok.  But if they are biased, they might think you are "faulty" in one way or another because of your label. Meanings of words have changed over the centuries. And just because we label someone an unschooler, doesn't mean they aren't learning.  Or being taught.  Labels can lie.

I have a friend who's child is in college.  They might say they unschooled.  But I tell you this, they are the busiest family I know.  Maybe they call it unschooling, but I have to tell you that it wasn't un-anything.  It was loving, caring, serving, sharing, talking, reading, helping, playing, making, experimenting, doing, praying, working.  And now, it's achieving.  And, the achievement is whatever that family wants the achievement to consist of. Attainment means different things to different people.  Their goals might not be your goals.  Hopefully, not.  Unless that is what they want.  Do you see my point?

So the next time you read a story about an "unschooling" family, and you think "how awful! They just let that child do whatever they want and call it school."  Just think of this.  You don't know.  You are just making assumptions based on a label. 

 And until you walk a mile in their unschooling shoes, you don't have a label to stand on.

 Homeschooling Is Life!

Nancy

p.s. get a copy of "Dumbing Us Down" by John Taylor Gatto and read it.  Here is a link to his essay, "The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher."  And then go do some research on Thomas Edison this week!  Here are some links on one of our very own blogger pages at HSB!

Hi Everyone,

If you just happened to stop by my blog because it was listed on the Homeschool Nation section of TOS's website, this one is my "personal" blog, and I do have a state blog that I would like to direct you to.  You can go here:  I need to get in there and do some updating, but you can at least take a look around, AND add some info via the comment feature, if you are so inclined!  At least stop in and say "hi" and let me know where you are in this lovely state and what kinds of homeschooling activities you are involved in.

But since you are here, go ahead and keep reading!  I wouldn't want to be disappointed.  Here is my "bio" and a bit of a description about the group I belong to here. I have been a state coordinator for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for several years now!  I can't even remember....about four?  How time flies!  So, grab your cup of green tea and enjoy, and oh, just a disclaimer......if you keep on reading after this post, you may find out that I am must a little bit nuts but do have some lucid moments.  Such is the life of a happy homeschooling Mom!

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