Posted in General

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 was our first day of school.  Anna and Breanna started 4th grade in public school. When I went to pick them up, I was so anxious to hear about their day.  I had to wait in line for 30 mins. to get up to where they were waiting for pick up.  That was one long line of loving moms and dads waiting to hear about their kid's first day of school.    They got in the car and they were very excited.  They both loved their teachers and had made a couple of friends.  They started telling me about their day.  I was so relieved that it had gone well and that they loved it.  I wish the honeymoon period could last forever. 

I started homeschool with Joseph and Emily.  I am so excited about our curriculum this year.  We are using Rod and Staff Math and I absolutely love it.  I wish I had used it from the get-go with all of my kids.  It is very simplified and yet thorough and teaches with mastery in mind, which is in keeping with my overall educational philosophy.

We are using Easy Grammar, Spelling Power, good living books and vocabulary for Language Arts. 

For history and science, we are using The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, Streams of Civilization by Christian Liberty Press and The New Answers Book by Ken Ham.  We are combining ancient history, archaeology and creation science and doing a thorough study of World History from Creation to the beginning of the Renaissance this year.

Last year, we did an independent study, Robinson type, literature based program.  We read good books which included history and Science, wrote essays and did Saxon math.  Joseph also went through an entire Abeka text book on American History and read and answered all of the questions in Christian Nature Readers (750 pages of Science!). 

They were so bored with working independently and so I decided to do more instructional teaching this year.  It interferes with my work day, but they really love it and sooner or later I will get into the swing of things and get more work done along with it all. 

Today is their first day of homeschool PE which is at a local rec. center.  We are very excited.  They get to be with friends for awhile and I actually get to sit and visit with other moms.  YAY...    I mean, as a mom, I like a little bit of positive socializing too, so I certainly understand why my kids crave it. 

I am looking for somewhere here in Sapulpa where Emily can do some acting.  She is just dying to get on the stage.  Joseph is doing Boy Scouts.  Then the kids will have Awanas every Weds.  We will try to arrange park day or play dates on Fridays.  Emily goes to church with her dad on Sundays.

Well, I will post some pix and things later.  I have to get these kids up for school.

Posted in General

I am an eclectic homeschooler.  I have used canned curriculum, relaxed schooling, Charlotte Mason methods, literature based studies, unit studies, unschooling, notebooking and much more... but I love being eclectic the best because I can incorporate all of these methods and customize them to suit the needs of each individual child.  Some say that being eclectic means "flying by the seat of one's pants".  However, I have found eclecticism takes a considerable amount of time, effort and planning, which is no small feat for a homeschool mom who also works 40 hours a week.    I have had a blog on Xanga for about a year which covers a hodge podge of all of my interests.  I decided to start this blog so I can chronicle our homeschool journey from now until my kids graduate.  My husband works from home doing tech support for a major cable company.

My two oldest children are 16 and 17.5.  They are currently in the process of getting their GED.  I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding this decision, but in our case, it just made sense for these 2 kids.  My 16yo started testing college level in most subjects on her IOWA 2 years ago.  When she was 11, she was put through a battery of tests by a professional and the experts say she is a genius.  (their words, not mine )  She is going to take her GED and then I will be encouraging her to attend our local community college via online courses and when she has 30 credit hours, the state of Oklahoma will switch her GED to a regular high school diploma.  Therefore, by taking this route, she will spend her junior year of high school obtaining her high school diploma and getting 30 hours of college credit out of the way.  She is interested in animals(she has a horse, 2 dogs, rabbits, hamster, cats, etc) sustainable agriculture, knitting, reading, learning new things, starting a cottage based business of some type, natural health care, marrying the man that God has for her someday and being a great homeschool mom! :)  I am so proud of her.. she has learned her lessons well.  LOL

My 17.5 year old son has never been too academically inclined.  His interests have been in other areas such as being a boy, tearing things up, putting them back together, fixing things of mine that I could not fix starting when he was about 8 or 9, activities that require eye-hand coordination (that is a nice way of saying GAMING-which I hate), spatial reasoning, throwing things like footballs, baseballs and furniture (oops did I say that- ok he stopped that when he was about 11 or 12), shooting his gun, fishing and well, you get the gist...  For the past year and a half, he has done apprentice work for a local mechanic and his boss is offering to pay for him to become a certified mechanic. So, extending his academic torture is not necessary or needful to his future career as an awesome mechanic (who will fix my cars for free-LOL) I am also proud of him as he strives to do what is right, is generous and has never done drugs, drank and things like that.

My 13 year old step son has natural ability when it comes to art and drawing.  He struggles somewhat academically (not as much as my other son did though), but we are directing him and guiding him toward a potential career in something where he will utilize his awesome artistic talent. (Graphic Art, Web Design, Logo Design, Branding?)  I will be scanning and posting some of his drawings on this blog and then you will all see what I am talking about.

My 10 yod and twin 10 yo step daughters are just typical little girls who are full of energy, love to play outside, swim, bike, eat ice cream, cake and candy, love Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers, their mice, gerbil and dogs, doing art projects, cleaning their room (oops... NOT!) staying the night with friends and having friends over to stay the night, camping, skating, singing, getting into things (well at least my twins love to get into things-what is it about twins?) LOL 

So... my 2 oldest are taking their GED this year. My 13yos and 10yod will be homeschooling and my twin girls will be in public school for now.  

My 13 yos is in 8th grade this year, 10yod is in 6th and the twins are in 4th in the government institution.  

So... now you know a little about us... please feel free to add me as a friend so I can get to know you as well.