Cade just finished reading his "Read with Me Bible", a NIrV Story Bible for Children. This school year he has read a story to himself or outloud to me and Geoffrey each morning and yesterday he read the last story in this Bible.

This morning he asked if he could start reading a 'real' Bible now and was delighted when I gave him his very own Bible. He is sitting at the table reading Genesis (he insisted on starting on page 1!) and underlining his favorite verse to write for his Promise Box*.

He is growing up and I couldn't be prouder!

* Each child has a recipe box with index cards, their Promise Box, where they write verses that are special to them. This year we have been focusing on individual quiet time and searching the Bible for nuggets that speak to us. They are all accumulating quite a collection of special verses and quiet time is much more meaningful to them as they see verses leap of the page and grab their attention.

I am leaning more towards 'unschooling' my youngest children. I have read lots and lots and continue to research the best way to educate our children. When we began this journey into homeschooling our oldest, Preston, was in first grade and all I knew about homeschool was Abeka. I also knew I did not have enough money to purchase all I "needed" for first grade, so we bought some $1 workbooks from Wal-Mart and began our quest. I felt at the time that I was giving him an inferior education but was doing the best I could with the resources I had. I truly believed that he needed a full'real' curriculum that came neatly packaged in a box. So we saved our pennies and the next year my mom and I drove to Pensacola, FL to shop at the Abeka bookstore. Oh the joy of fresh workbooks and 'real' readers! I packed up everything available for second graders (minus the teachers manuals bc I figured if I could not correct his 2nd grade papers with out a manual - I had no business homeschooling him!)

We began the year with a bang! We were living 30mins from town and had 3 children and the 4th one 'baking'! Preston was 7, Catherine was 3, Cuyler was 1 and mom was tired! But we persisted. I had him doing 1-2 pages in each workbook everyday and reading aloud to me everyday. Math was torture, he would cry almost every day, he absolutely hated it. And so did I, but it was all there was, the only way, right? He did not care if he could not multiply (he was SEVEN!! but it was on the page, so he must do it right?) Catherine could not even count to 20, so why did it matter if he could not multiply (his justification) In March we welcomed Cade home and pressed on with school. Every day was a struggle and by the end of the school term Andre' and I decided we could not do this anymore.

So I went to work to pay for his tuition and put the three little ones in daycare, a very difficult decision, but the ps's in our area were awful and obviously I could not homeschool this child! He went to our church's small private school for 3rd and 4th grade. And I got pregnant for our 5th child the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. Andre' got a new job an hour away from home, so we moved. In our new community there is one Christian school and the tuition is out of range for our budget. And Catherine was beginning school. Preston went to the local ps to finish out 4th grade and he hated it, so did I, but I vividly remembered 2nd grade, I CANNOT homeschool him, the others sure, but not him.... he asked to come home.

We agreed to try it out and I knew we could not return to a boxed curriculum full of workbooks and textbooks, btdt - never again! After many hours of research and prayer we found Sonlight - it sounded too good to be true. I did not want to overwhelm him with the amount of reading required and I wanted our year to be an easy transition, so I chose Core 2 World History. We had a great year, stress free and he (and I, and the little kids who listened in) learned a ton. And we were on our way to being a true Sonlighter. However, I was still a perfectionist box checker. I loved that Sonlight gave me a schedule and I faithfully checked every box, which worked great for a 10 year old doing Core 2.

We have since completed Core 3+4, Core 5, Core 6 and Core 100 and the check every box philosophy has not worked as well. I have learned to trust myself and make decisions on how deep we delve into a topic and which areas or books we skip. And it is working so well, we are all loving school and learning so much.

I have learned so much in the 8 years I have taught my children at home, and now that my youngest 2 are in K and 2nd grade I see how much I have grown.  Homeschooling families have options ranging from "school at home" in which the family has a traditional classroom setting with a black board, educational posters, desks and textbooks to "unschoolers" who allow their children to follow their own passions in the pursuit of education.

Our family began with the "school at home" model (Preston even had the little school desk) and now are endeavoring to give the children more of a say in what they learn. There is no way to for anyone to learn all there is to learn in 12 years of school, indeed we continue to learn our entire life. Andre and have realized that we have learned far more teaching our own children than we ever learned in a classroom. Think of your own life, any situation where you were 'forced' to learn something that did not interest you (most of what I experienced in school) you only learned long enough to pass the test, then most of that information was forgotten. But when we are interested in a topic, we retain so much more of that information - for good. Why would we think our children learn any differently?

Which brings me to the title of this post, Unschool? We have been studying history extensively since we began using Sonlight (it is really my favorite subject) but Catherine was tired of "wars and dead guys". We had a conversation about what she would like to study and she wanted to learn more about her body. So we spent last semester reading lots about anatomy and how our bodies work, also did a s*x ed study (using Passport to Purity -amazing stuff) and read Beautiful Girlhood, all about being a godly girl inside and out. It was great, we all enjoyed it.

This semester we are studying Japan in preparation for 'Mega-fest'. Mega-fest is put on by our local hs group, it is like a giant social studies fair. Each family studies a different country and presents a project board and food from their country. We are having a great time learning about Japan (the boys are loving the sumo wrestlers!) We ordered candy from Japan and will serve real sushi and kid friendly sushi.

So I suppose for us, we are somewhere between the textbook approach (Preston is using textbooks this year that he chose, and is doing great; the others also have a few workbooks they use for math and phonics) and unschooling where they choose what to study and I provide the encouragement and materials. With the youngest two boys though, we are leaning more toward unschooling with our approach to their education. They do a little workbook study, but the majority of their education comes from life experience. For example, weeding the garden (science), making pancakes (math and home ec), comparison shopping (more math) and building with lego (problem solving, following directions). Most of the time they are learning they don't even realize they are learning - they are just having fun being little boys exploring their world!

I just finished reading The Way Children Learn  by John Holt and truly enjoyed it. His research with children proves that they will figure out their world and learn a ton if we allow them to. When children have a reason to learn something there is no stopping them. But it has to be their reason, not just because "I said so." Don't get me wrong, I know there is a place for obedience, we teach our children to obey the 'first time'. I am excited to see where their learning takes them as they have more say in what they want to learn about.

Life is good!

*the following link directs you to youtube to view - I can't figger out how to add just the video wo the youtube stuff - sorry*

One more reason to keep the kids safe at home! I am glad they have a dress code and oh so sorry that our times require one. And I do realize he could not walk packing all that heat - I think the point is that lots could be hidden and it only takes one. Btw - my dh is a card carrying NRA member with an active concealed carry permit that he uses daily. I am not afraid of guns, just concerned about them being in the wrong hands with the wrong motive.

In our little suburb just this past week we have had several bomb threats including one at our only area Private Christian School. The threat at the cs was written by two sophomores who claimed that what they were planning would make the tragedy at Columbine pale in comparison.  It breaks my heart to realize that this kind of garbage is going on even in the seemingly safest places. Now those two young men, who thought they were being funny (turns out is was a joke - whatever) are now in our local juvenile detention center with a federal charge hanging over their formerly bright futures.

This is where we seriously considered sending our oldest this year (the school not the detention center!). I am so thankful we kept him home - not to keep him sheltered. Our children are active participants in their world. But home where he is learning and earning his education and not being pulled into foolishness like this with his so called "friends". Home where his dad and I are available to discuss the issues of his life and are able to help him navigate these rough waters called adolescence. We know where he is, who is with and what they are doing. I wish I would have had parents who were more involved in my teen years, lots of regret and sorrow could have been avoided. My parents loved me, still do  and they did the best they knew; but I was allowed way too much freedom, way too early.

Moms, be encouraged and challenged. Stand up for what you know is right! Do not be intimidated by what your childs friends are allowed to do. Know what you believe, why you believe it and stand ready to enforce it. Your teenagers will thank you! Even at 15 my son has shared with me gratitude for our boundaries as he sees friends of his allowed to roam and do as they see right only to be wounded and stray from Christ.

Proverbs 12:15 'The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise.'

Be strong, be the mom and keep your sense of humor! Teenagers do not have to be the rebellious tormentors our society leads us to believe. I have thought that, and said that for years (even before I had a teenager) and many parents of teens would roll their eyes with a look of  "Just wait till you get one then you will be singing a different song." Well I am in the thick of it and while we certainally have had our issues I stand firm - they do not have to rebel. Rules are important, but without the loving support of a strong relationship a child would tend to rebel. My teenager (although I prefer young adult) is a blessing to our family and we are thoroughly enjoying walking alongside him as he becomes a man.

Geoffrey has asked us to call him "Lefty" since he only had a left hand to work with this last week! We went to the orthopedist today and he took a new x-ray. All is healing well and doc said the sling is just there for moms comfort and to serve as a red flag reminder to Geoff and others that his arm is injured! Huh - thanks, my comfort!

Lefty is so happy to have two hands again! He does not want to wear the sling because it has teddy bears and balloons! He is a big boy ya know and that thing is "for girls and babies". So he is free, please pray that he does not fall again till it is completely healed and that he remembers NOT to run with his arms in his shirt! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragment.

We are studying Anatomy and today we covered the major bones in our bodies. I had the 3 little ones put on shorts and labelled all of their bones with washable marker and we played "Simon Says" ie. Simon Says touch your metatarsals (toes) to your cranium (head!) It was great fun, they even encouraged eachother - Geoffrey suggested they touch their femur (leg) to their spine. They tried, failed and giggled.

We had a few errands to run and they proudly marched around with their bones clearly marked. They were playing tag on the concrete while waiting for Catherine's ballet class to end. And it was cold (for the south ) Instead of wearing his sweater (that I was holding) Geoffrey pulled his arms into his shirt and continued the game of tag. Until he tripped on his shoes, and could not break his fall, and broke his clearly marked clavicle! The ER doc asked him if he wrote the names so he would not get mixed up.  Geoffrey handled his injury very well. In fact we were not sure if we should waste a visit to the ER bc he was not complaining (unless you tried to move it) but he kept still on the couch and would not use his arm. Here he is all wrapped up and still clearly labelled. Only in our family would we top off a bone study with an actual broken bone!

This is not his xray - but the break is the same - almost clean through!

We had decided that we would not do *formal* school with Geoff. He is five, sure most kids are starting kindergarten at five. But he is our baby, we are not ready for him to grow up. Besides he is so. very. busy. He has two speeds - full speed ahead, knock over everyone and everything in my path and sleep! Thank God he sleeps!

So to the point, well we will get there. Geoff has spent the last 10 weeks running up and down the uncarpeted runway, I mean hallway; teasing his cousin and brothers; whining that he can't play computer games or watch tv all day; and generally making life difficult. He does not play well by himself and is constantly trying to get one or more of my students to entertain him. Well that is normal - he is the baby - though don't let him know I told you that! I whined sought the advice of my wise husband and being the wonderful problem solver that he is told me to make Geoff do school like the rest of the kids. Oh, of course, thank you.

I cautiously informed Geoffrey (who is known for his *ahem* strong opinons) that he would be doing real school like his big brothers and sister. I braced myself for the fight I knew was coming, but what is this, he is beaming from ear to ear. Really mom? That is great! (Who are you?)

Well that was easy, now the hard part. He needs books and a math program and and and..... Hey, I remembered, my sister just got a math program (here begins the comparison - it must be good, I need to use what she is using, blah blah blah) I began to research different maths for his level. Comparing one program to another confusing myself totally. If I get this and I like it - should I switch ALL the kids? Hmm this could get pricey. But he must have a workbook, right?

Between sessions online to find the perfect math program, I read (again) Ruth Beechick's "You Can Teach Your Child Successfully" and I found freedom. I read that book during the first years of our journey in to this sometimes overwhelming world of homeschooling. Must admit, I found the information a bit hard to implement - back then - but now I read it with new eyes. A perspective of educating my children for many years and I was excited! I CAN teach Geoffrey successfully - without spending lots of money on programs that promise to work and leave us always wanting. Within the walls of my home I have all of the resources I need to teach him.

I began to make a mental list of what he needs to learn this year. Recognize numbers and count to 100. Begin to add and subtract. Odds and Evens. Skip count by 2, 5, 10. Recognize all of his letters and their sounds and be able to write them legibly. Learn to use scissors more effectively. This list is just the beginning, but I have all I need to teach him - in my house - today. So we started, and he is loving it. And so am I!

Here he is reading about snakes with Cade.

Wednesday, the first day we can really buckle down this week and get to school. Monday we spent getting the house in order after a too busy weekend. Tuesday we had a quick bit of school then co-op, ballet and frog dissection! Finally time for actual pencil on paper schoolwork.

Oh silly me!

9:30am Rush everyone out the door (without breakfast or spending time with a hairbrush - the kids not me ) to bring my neice to Mom's Day Out.

On the way home we stop at the grocery for a bag of sugar donuts because it is almost 10am, we all are starving and I really don't want to deal with breakfast mess when we get home. I was out of the store in under four minutes - with donuts but whoops no milk - oh well drink water! Off we go.

10:15am Home and time to start school. But the pediatrician called back (of course they were unavailable while I had free time in the car!) Sure the sweet nurse says, we can get your kids in - can you come now? Wonderful - ok kids get your hairbrushed and pack your bags. Two of the boys have the hacking nasty cough that is keeping us all up at night and one of them is having daily headaches. Off we go - again!

11:00 Arrive at the packed doctors office. We do manage to get some math and reading done in the waiting room. Our lovely doctor (really I love her she is great with the kids and patient with my many questions!) gives us six perscriptions and a diagnosis of sinus infection for the headache and nasty virus for the coughers.

12:30 and we are outta there. Call hubby with update on kids and he asks us to make a bank run and agrees to treat us to lunch. Drop by the pharmacy, run to the bank and sit down to enjoy lunch at the new Sonic right by Dre's office.

1:45 Back to the pharmacy to pick up the meds. Run to the house to pick up the teenagers back pack, drop off the teen and the girl at the library to get some schoolwork done and jump in the after school traffic to pick up the baby from MDO.

2:45 Got the little one and back to the library. Pick up the big ones and run to the house to get ballet clothes we forgot to grab earlier. Back to the doctor for 3:15 bc the baby is sick too! Get her meds, run to the grocery to pick up dinner and kill a few minutes before ballet starts.

4:45 Drop off the girl at ballet, bring the teenager to church for band practice and pull in the driveway for the last time today at 5:30pm. Thankfully Daddy will do the pickups tonight!

This was Wednesday right - the first day of the week to get some REAL work done!  I need a nap!

There's always tomorrow right???

This morning I was booting the computer for Geoff to do his phonics at Starfall but we took a detour to  this frog dissection page. We clicked through the process of mounting the frog, making incisions and locating the internal organs. Cool - the kids really thought that was great. And silly me thought that was the end of that. We did a little phonics, a little math, had lunch and were off to co-op.

When we get home Cade the seven year old BOY comes in and gets my cake icing knife.

Mom: Umm where are you going with that?

Cade: My friend and I found a frog and we are going to dissect it.

Mom: Not with my knife!

Cade: Well it is the only one I can find - what should I use.

Mom: (thinking - should I stop this - naw - where is that scalpel? - was the frog dead or did he help it along?)

Cade: Well - can we dissect it (he noticed the questioning look on moms face!)

Mom: Yes, but we need pins and something to cut it.

So I proceed to get the science kit tweezers and some kid scissors, pins and a cardboard box.

Cade, Geoff and their buddy mounted and cut the frog (he remembered where from the webpage) and were able to locate the liver, stomach, intestine, and heart. Too bad I didn't think to take a picture - it was adorable - well as adorable as frog dissection can be! Three little guys surrounding the frog on my porch and the air filled with exclamations of "Cooollll" "This is awesome" "Eww look at his guts" "No not guts, thats his liver!"

Unfortunately they did admit to killing the frog - but they did tell the truth! Which for us is a victory - being honest when you know you did wrong! And I did talk with them about what their life would look like if they killed another specimen!

Boys are interesting!

Here is Cade as we practice his math facts. A simple game of 'War' with playing cards. I removed all of the face cards and used the 2-5 cards only to start. We split the deck and each put down a card, he added the total and if he got the math right got to keep both cards. After each round I would add in another number card of his choosing until we were using all the cards (except the faces and aces!) He did not want to quit and beamed "This is the best math ever mom, lets do it every day!" He was especially happy when he found out this was the only math we would be doing today. Cuyler looked on with envy and asked if he could play the game "Except I could multiply the numbers." Amazing what a deck of cards can accomplish!

I posted the following as a comment to  cahanbury she asked "Am I a Quitter?" as I formulated encouragement for her I realized that I ask myself the same questin - usually every May. Thankfully Jesus is near and reminds me why I am on this crazy journey.

I just read a great post by oh jeez I dont know who something like crocuses and chrysanthimums I think. Anyhow all about how kids are kinda like plants, give em good soil and sunshine, plenty of water and they will bloom - when they are ready. When I was a mom with all little kids I felt the common pressures - hurry up learn math, read, spell etc.

Now that I have *oh dear* begun our 8th year homeshooling I am purposely NOT educating my 5.5 yr old. Sure he is doing stuff, at his pace, when he wants to, but finally by child 5 I have figured out that he will learn to read and do math and most importantly love Jesus and life.

Relax honey, give em plenty of time outside, read to em, play some games, teach them how to clean up and load a dishwasher (did you know unloading the dishwasher is math?- sorting and so is baking cupcakes - that is fractions and reading and home-ec) Take the time to slllooowww down and enjoy your babies - macaroni n cheese fingers and all!

And oh, do not I repeat do not let anyone but your Father in Heaven and your dear husband lead you. Homeschool your babies because Dad told you to and your dh supports you. Take it a year at a time and have fun! They grow up so fast.

It is still really hot here - but the bustle of the school year is in full swing. Preston's band is still meeting here every Sunday afternoon (4-5 teenage boys and their favorite music at top volume!) Cici has dance four days a week this year, youth group, choir, and co-op fill our days - at least the afternoons.  HOMEschool - ha we are rarely home!

I took the little ones to the pool tonight - Preston was at youth group and Andre' had to work late. We had a blast and I was reminded how quickly the time passes.They can all swim unassisted this year which has made our pooltime much easier but is yet another reminder of how quickly they are growing up. There has been a baby or toddler in our home since 1992! Over a decade of diapers and sippy cups, they have all been replaced with markers and baseball bats, seemingly overnight. It is easy to miss the sweet smell of a baby when all of the kids are tucked in bed and sleeping like angels. Thankfully these feelings of longing pass when they wake up running from pillar to post all day long. Do you have any idea how much energy is packed into a single little boy body?

Cade smashed his finger a couple of days ago. It seems that he was moving a chair next to a tree and his finger got caught between them. I had to cut off the flap of skin that was now unattached to his body and clean out the dirt that always covers a seven year old boy! He bravely endured the peroxide rinse, neosporin application and bandaid. Being the ever so attentive mother of five that I am - I promptly forgot about the injury and did not watch to keep it clean. Tonight he proudly showed me how well his finger was healing and went on to tell me how he had been washing it with peroxide and putting neosporin on all by himself (So thats why the peroxide is on the counter - I knew I put it away - I think .) Yep, they are growing up WAY too fast!

I just responded to a poll asking for the top four reasons we homeschool. I get this question alot because we live in "the best school district in our state".

Here are our top 4 Reasons...

1. God told us to, truly, my husband and I have spent many hours seeking the Lord for direction and His plan for our family life. We have clearly (and numerously) heard from Daddy that our chiildren are to be set apart for His purpose. And for our family this is best accomplished through the homeshcooling lifestyle. So first, the decision to homeschool is an act of obedience. That is not to say all parents are called to homeschool, or that all parents should - however it is what we feel God is calling US to do.

2. Family time and relationships is a close second. We enjoy spending time together and desire our children to have close relationships with one another. If they were in the peer dependant environment of traditional school they would have developed close bonds with friends instead of siblings. I love that my kids love eachother and seek out eachothers company.

3. An extension of #2 is that we did not want the negative peer influences of our culture to be thrust upon our children at an early age. We want them to be able to know what they believe and why they believe it so that they can be salt and light to the world around them. We do not want our children in an environment that at best ignores and at worst denies and mocks our core belief system. The character of a person is critical to their ability to learn and interact with their world. With our kids at home we can better work on their character which in turn gives them the internal drive and desire to pursue academics, talents etc. Wthout godly character, what difference does knowing your math facts backwards and forwards make? The chief purpose of man is to know and serve God, we were created to worship our creator. If our children know and practice that truth- they can do anything God sets before them.

4. I love learning and love to teach! I always desired to be a teacher and homeschooling allows me to teach and have the very best students possible!

Those are *our* reasons to homeschool, listing them out helps me keep my perspective when we are having a really tough day and I am having visions of school busses dance in my head! Our school is far from perfect, how could it not be - it is run by imperfect me! But I would not have it any other way!

As we embark on another school year there were a couple of things "I" wanted to do differently. First I really am tired of the lack of disciplined devotional time I have with the Lord. It is so sporadic and I *know* how much my life is blessed when I am faithful. I am a faithful wife, mom, friend, daughter - why is my time with my Jesus so difficult? I realized a couple of years ago that I am way more like Martha than Mary - are you sick? I will feed you, take care of you etc. Sit at the feet of Jesus - umm no someone needs a meal.

This school year will be different - I will be different. I bought a coffee maker, the automatic one. The idea of a hot cup of coffee in the morning with my bible mmmm sounds so sweet. And it is working, my sweet teenager is setting it up at night and I awake to the wonderful smell.

That was my first goal, set and met! Now comes the faithful and diligent part... which brings me to the second differnece. My new blog. I am so new to this. Bear with me as I figure it all out. I think this blog will be a place for me to remain accountable as well as a spot to direct friends and family to all we are doing in the daily life of our school.

Enjoy the journey