• Dec. 28, 2007
A Homeschool Family

 

Wasn't that cute!?!?! This video was made by Comedian and Homeschool dad - Tim Hawkins. Tim plays the dad in the video and his wife plays the mom. Only half of the kids are theirs, while the others are friends children. You can find more of his videos on You tube or on his website. Be prepared to not accomplish anything for the next half hour, if you click that link :0)!

 

(1 Comments) (Permanent Link)

• Oct. 9, 2007
My Monthly Update :)

I have good intentions. I really would like to come on here more and post- the time to do so just seems to elude me. I am such an unorganized person by nature. I really need to implement a solid routine (routines- ick I hate em- But I know my children will thrive off of one!).

Anyways onto school- It has been going rather smoothly. I am now the proud homeschooling mother of two! We have started to do some work with Jeremiah this year (Mainly because he wanted to so badly). Our original plan was to wait until he was five. But he is doing great. His request everyday is to do "More then Maria". LOL! I'm not sure why he feels he needs to do that. Perhaps he wants more one and one time with mommy. Whatever the reason- I'm trying to keep it to a half an hour four times a week. And if we miss a day with him- No biggie.

Maria is also doing great! We have added Science and History this year. We started last year doing them, but a couple lessons in we decieded that the curriculum was just a little above her.  Other then that- not much has changed :).  Here is what our days look like.  (FYI- we are on a four day week- all year round)

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Math ------ Jeremiah	Saxon Math 3 ------- Rod and Staff Preschool	Saxon Math 3 ------- Rod and Staff Preschool	Saxon Math 3 ------- Rod and Staff Preschool	Saxon Math 3 ------- Rod and Staff Preschool
Spelling	Spelling Workout B	X	Spelling Workout B	Spelling Workout B
Grammar	First Language Lessons -Grade 2	First Language Lessons -Grade 2	First Language Lessons -Grade 2	First Language Lessons -Grade 2
History	X	Story of the World- Volume 1	X	Story of the World- Volume 1
Science	X	God's Design for Life Series (The Human Body is the mod we are on)	X	God's Design for Life Series (The Human Body is the mod we are on)
Bible - ALL	The VOS children's story bible W/Dad and Mom	The VOS children's story bible W/Dad and Mom	The VOS children's story bible W/Dad and Mom	The VOS children's story bible W/Dad and Mom
Handwriting	Handwriting with Prayer	Handwriting with Prayer	Handwriting with Prayer	Handwriting with Prayer
Activities/Piano	Piano Lessons	Practice Piano	Practice Piano	Practice Piano
Craft	Varies from day to day	Varies from day to day	X	Varies from day to day

 

 

(1 Comments) (Permanent Link)

• Feb. 22, 2007
Extending the school day... More Subjects AND another Child!

And besides adding Jeremiah, I have decided that Maria's school days are just too short. In the beginning of the year her school day looked like this:

 

Subject	Curricula	Time	Days Per Week
Bible	Bible Truths- Grade K5 (BJU)	30	4
Science	God's Design For Life (3 books- Plants, Humans, Animals)	30	2
Math	Saxon Math- Grade 2	45-60	4
History	Story of the World	40-45	2
Spelling	Spelling Workout- A	20	4
Handwritting	Writting With Diligence	10-15	4
Grammar	First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind	15-20	4
Reading	The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading	15	4

Note: Time is in Minutes.

 After a few short weeks I decided I was not happy with the Science, Bible AND History Curriculum. The Science books I plan to use in the future but it just seemed over Maria's head at this point. I highly recommend them for older children. The history book I may also use in the future- I'm not set on what I will do with these. So I just deiceded I would completely cut out History and Science this year (as Maria would only be in K-5 this year)

Lately though, I've been regretting that decision. Our school days where just going to quickly. Here was our current schedule:

Subject	Curricula	Time	Days Per Week
Bible	Bible Truths- Grade K5  Replaced with Leading Littles ones to God and the Child's Story Bible	30	4
Science	God's Design For Life (3 books- Plants, Humans, Animals)	0	0
Math	Saxon Math- Grade 2	45-60	4
History	Story of the World	0	0
Spelling	Spelling Workout- A	20	4
Handwritting	Writting With Diligence	15	4
Grammar	First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind	10-20	4
Reading	The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading	15	4

Note: Time is in Minutes.

Now I have decided to add history and science back in.  Today I am going to order Rod and Staff's 2nd Grade Science and Social Studies Curriculum.  Here is what our new schedule will tentatively look like:

Subject	Curricula	Time	Days Per Week
Bible	Bible Truths- Grade K5	30	4
Science	Rod and Staff- Grade 2 Science "Patterns of Nature"	30	2 or 3
Math	Saxon Math- Grade 2	45-60	4
History	Rod and Staff- Grade 2 Social Studies "Our Father's World"	40-45	2 or 3
Spelling	Spelling Workout- A	20	4
Handwritting	Writting With Diligence	10-15	4
Grammar	First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind	15-20	4
Reading	The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading	15	4

Note: Time is in Minutes.

And as for Jeremiah's Curriculum- We will be using all of the preschool curriculum from Rod and Staff:

•  Preschool - ABC Series - complete set of 7
• Set of 4 Preschool Activity Books

Now I must go vent the house- Our eldest just sprayed an enormous amount of perfume **choking**.

(2 Comments) (Permanent Link)

• Jan. 21, 2007
So excited!!

It has been quite a while since I've had an entry about how our homeschooling is going- I figure its about time- as this IS a homeschooling community- .

We'll as of right now we have been taking a break since the baby arrived. We will be resuming school next week. And I cannot even begin you tell you how excited I am to start again.

We have changed alot of our curriculum and eliminated some subjects since I last posted. The two subject we eliminated where history and science. The history I was just a little frustrated with- So I decieded it could wait till next year. And the science- Maria did not seem as if she was retainning nor understanding any of what we where talking about. So we decieded that again- it can wait till next year.

The one subject with which we changed our curriculum was Bible. The curriculum we formely had was not what I expected or wanted. So I deceided to purchase some new material. I just recieved them both today- and thus far- I'm thrilled!! The The Child's Story Bible  is great!! The pictures are beautiful- and the stories and explanations seem very child friendly and still very informative! The same goes for the book "Leading Little Ones to God."  I cannot wait to use them!!

As far as the other subjects go- we are pretty much right on schedule with where I'd like to be. Maria is doing great with all of the subjects- and the only subject with which I desire she do a little better is her handwritting. And I think that she could- if she'd only "slow down" a bit. I've had to have her redo it many times because of her rushing.

Time to go- baby's calling! Hopefully it will not be too long before I post again.

~Chrystal

(1 Comments) (Permanent Link)

• Sep. 21, 2006
What homeschooling is like in our family

Our only child whom is currently officially homeschooling is Maria, 6 years old in late October.

 

Her current schedule/curriculum

• Math: Saxon Math 2- Aprox. 50-60 minutes daily
• Grammar: First Language Lessons- 20 mintues daily
• Spelling: Spelling Workout: 15-20 mintues daily
• Handwriting: Writing with Diligence: 15 minutes daily
• Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading: 10 mintues daily: we are nearly finished with this.
• Science: God's Design for Life: We are starting with the "The Animal Kingdom" per Maria's Request. There are 2 other textbooks to the series: "The world of Plants" and "The Human Body" - 30-40 mintues daily (I'm thinking of changing that to twice weekly.
• History: Story of the World History Series: 50 minutes  twice weekly. Although- I will say- from a christian standpoint I am not that happy with this curriculum- and would love to find one that is more biblically accurate. I am considering combining Veritas Press with this just like Heather did
• Bible:K5 Bible Truths :  35-40 mintues daily
• Art- UNFORTUNATELY- I have yet to put some lessons together for this. I do have some books and need to sit down and look them over. I would like to do art at least once a week. We do, fairly often, have art projects in many of our other subjects- I suppose that is why I am not in that big a hurry to start it. Right now we are just trying to get use to doing so many subjects. Last year, the only subjects we had where math, reading, handwritting, and bible.

 

About the Student

Maria would be in K5 this year. Her homeschooling work ranges from K5 (bible) to 2nd grade (math). She is an extremely fast learner- and is truely spoiling me. I can only hope my other children have the attention span, dedication, and obedience that she does at such a young age!

 

 

How we picked our curriculum

The Well Trained Mind is our main point of reference for our curriculum choices. It is a wonderful book, full of LOADS and LOADS of useful information- From what subjects your child should be learning at their age, how often/long they should be doing them, to who has the best curriculum for each subject (along with their negatives and positives!)- But that description does not even begin to scratch the surface.

 

Besides the The Well Trained Mind- I try to find other homeschoolers reviews through all the websites I can. And then of course- picking the minds (or BLOGS ) of other homeschooling mom's that I know (or in the case of blogs- don't know )- Doesn't hurt either!

 

WHY are we are homeschooling???

1. For those of you who know us- Obvious religious convictions is one of the primary reasons we homeschool. We want our children to know and love the Lord with all their heart and mind.  Deuteronomy 6:7-9- And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

2. Simply Put- We don't Believe that sending our children out of our home- especially at such an early age- Is in their best interest (Socially, Spiritually, Emotionally- and the list goes on)

3. Our children will not have their beliefs ridiculed, mocked or contradicted before they are fully prepared to join the battle.

4. Christ-Centered Curriculum!!!

5. There is more time together to build a strong family and good Christian character in our children. An 8-hour school day, sports, music, homework, etc. does not leave much time for family.

6. We can work on mastering areas they are weak in, and encourage them to dive into areas that they LOVE and enjoy!

7. Having the opportunity to teach our daughters that being feminine is a good thing and that it is their duty to obey God with what He calls them to do. And Training our son to demonstrate courtesy and honor to females without fear of condemnation from the politically correct crowd.

I could go on all night- LOL!

 

Wait, What About SOCIALIZATION!?!?!?

Our Children will be, have been, and are involved in a wide array of activities (Awana's, Gymanastics, swim lessons, kids club, yearly summer vacation bible schools, sports (when they become of age), and music lessons.  Even so,  Solid social and emotional development is based on interaction with a variety of people and ages in many different settings, not on the stultified peer group setting of typical institutional schools.

 

Some Statistics and Quotes

• Will your children believe in Jesus when they graduate from high school?

  Homeschooled: 94%
  Public Schooled: 15%

  94% of homeschoolers keep the faith and 93% continue to attend church after the high school years. But a shocking 75% to 85% of Christian children sent to public school drop out of church, and do not hold a Christian worldview after high school graduation.

• By grade eight, the average homeschooled student performs four grade levels above their public and private school counterparts.

• We've Got a whole lot of Falshehoods associated with schooling. We have weird rites of passage that are... quite dysfunctional" Says Gary Knowles, a University Of Toronto Researcher. He has found homeschoolers to be more self-reliant and focused. "They're able to move into adulthood with a much better sense of self and have a very good sense as to what they want to do............ Where did we ever get the idea that 2,000 13 year olds were the ideal people with which to socialize other 13 year olds? (Fox News, "First Wave of Homeschoolers Comes Of Age" April 5, 2002)

• Homeschoolers "are the epitome of Brown students," Says Dean Joyce Reed. "They are self-directed, they take risks, and they don't back off." (Brown Alumni Magazine)

 

Our Mindset On Education

Education ought not to be seen as an end in itself. Nor should it be viewed in terms of mere academic or social preparation for life. Knowledge, by itself, is nothing and leads only to pride (Knowledge puffeth up... 1 Corinthians 8:1). We could give our children the very best academic preparation in the world, and only end up making them more effective instruments in the devil's hands. No, God has something higher in mind. 

Understood in its broadest terms, education is character training. God is in the business of transforming people. He is creating a people who have a living relationship with Himself. The beginning of the process is simply to take God seriously in everything or, as Scripture has it: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge ... (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). The end of the process is mature people who know God; and who, knowing Him, love him; and who, loving Him, obey Him in all things. 

The path of safety and blessing is always that which adheres most closely to the revealed will of God.

 

 

 

 

 

(2 Comments) (Permanent Link)