There has been a lot of discussion lately about homeschooling and how it has changed over the years.  Because of the age span between my children I have been homeschool since 1992.  Not quite long enough to be a pre-law pioneer but almost.  Further my youngest is only 6 so I have quite a few more years before I can hang up my homeschool hat.  So it got me to reflect a bit on homeschooling over the years and I thought I would share a few thoughts that crossed my mind.

I'm on the board of our local support group and it was my month to do the newsletter greeting.  I already had an outline before our board meeting Monday and it seemed that some of the discussion we had at the meeting was really in line with what my outline was so I fleshed it out and submitted it this morning. 

So I decided to share it here as well.  I'm also curious to see if other homeschoolers in other areas see or feel a similar thing.  The whole discussion got started because 1 our group started in 1990 with 8 families grew to a high in 2003 of 165 families with a slow but steady drop to 91 familes this year.  But what we have noticed was in the past at our quarterly parents meetings, monthly mom meetings, field trips, ect there has been a stead drop in the percentage of members participating.  When we had 50 members our Christmas Tea in December had over 80 attendees with about 80% of the membership plus guests.  This year 91 families we had 50 people at the tea with 32 being members which means only about 33%o of the membership.  And this same percentage numbers are playing out across the board.  Plus a lot less "grassroot" activities even being planned.  For example no one has planned a spelling bee, geography bee, international night, craft day, recognition night for the last few years. 

We talked about a lot of factors being the cause from people can connect and stay informed via the internet, less disposable income, more working moms, more variety in homeschoolers in lots of different areas, gas costing $3 plus a gallon in an area where everything is usually 10-30 miles from where you are.  Our county is bigger than the state of Delaware.  We started noticing the decline after our 2004 hurricane seasons that just left a lot of people weary so for the first few years year post Charlie/Francis/Jeanne we attributed lack of interest on people still in recovery.  But now just not so sure if that's even a factor.  Or maybe people pulled away to recover and realized they just didn't miss it so they never really plugged back in.  Anyway all that to say here's my article and I'd love to hear some feedback.

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There has been a lot of discussion lately about homeschooling and how it has changed over the years.  Because of the age span between my children I have been homeschool since 1992.  Not quite long enough to be a pre-law pioneer but almost.  Further my youngest is only 6 so I have quite a few more years before I can hang up my homeschool hat.  So it got me to reflect a bit on homeschooling over the years and I thought I would share a few thoughts that crossed my mind. 

When I started homeschooling I was one of the few that I knew that did homeschool for religious reasons.  We started because of behavior problems.  While now there seem to be as many reasons as why someone starts homeschooling are much more varied.  There has always been a variety of ways to homeschool and materials to use but these increases every year.  Homeschooling seemed to be more small grassroots and now has a more big business feel.   There is a whole lot more information and technology at our fingertips then even 10 years ago.  With this increase in technology and internet use has come new and different ways to connect with other people.  It’s pretty awesome to thing about the fact that you can interact with homeschoolers across the state, country, or even world.  The flipside of this is a less urgent need to connect with people in our own backyard. There seems to be more people shopping for what the need instead of investing with what they have to give.  More consumerism less heart in both vendors and homeschoolers.  

So is all this bad; not necessarily.  Change happens.  Some of it is wonderful, some a little bit sad for those of us who have seen it happen.   But I think the single most important thing those of us who have been around long enough would want to pass on to those who are newer is don’t take any of it for granite.  Remember that 20 years ago there was no law; 10 years ago you tried to avoid going out during the day because of questions, 5 years ago many places did not offer so many activities geared just for homeschoolers.  No matter how you stay connected – stay connected and informed.  Invest a bit now to have from having to work really hard later. 

In conclusion the best advice I have for all homeschoolers no matter how long you’ve homeschooled, what curriculum you use, your religious affiliation or lack there of, your location, your political leanings what we all hold in common is our love for our children and the desire to provide the best for them.  All homeschoolers must feel that homeschooling is what is best for our families or we wouldn’t be doing it.  So don’t let difference cause us to be so fractured as a group that we loose sight of the fact that to protect our rights as homeschoolers we must stay united on homeschooling. 

Here are our new house rules for 2008. 

House Rules

1.                No entertainment devices used until after 3:00 pm unless special permission is given except when being used to complete an assignment.  One exception is the use of iPods for listening to music while completing your school work.  

2.                All chores and school work not completed by 3:00 pm are considered homework and must be completed before entertainment devices can be turned back on.

3.                Be considerate of mom’s time.  The longer you take to complete your assignments the less time mom has to complete her own projects.

4.                Be considerate of your siblings.  Do not interrupt unless it can’t wait and even then use the interrupt rule. 

5.                It is your responsibility to make sure all work gets completed, turned in, and graded.  Please bring your completed work to mom.  Not understanding the assignment is not an excuse for not completing your work.  Mom not reminding you to complete an assignment is not an excuse.  If it’s not done see Rule 2. 

6.                You are responsible for keeping up with your school materials including books, paper, pencils, and crayons.  Not having the necessary materials to complete the assignment is not an excuse.  If it’s not done see Rule 2.

7.                No whining will be tolerated.  Any time you whine more chores or school will be assigned not less.  And if it’s not done see Rule 2. 

8.                If all your school and main chores are completed during the week you will have more time on the weekend for fun.  But this is your responsibility.  See Rules 2 and 5. 

9.                While Caleb has the main responsibility of caring for the pets we can all work together to keeps our pets healthy and happy.

I'm going to try to put our schedule here but if it doesn't show up and you really want to see it let me know and I'll try to send it out in an email.

• Nov. 13, 2007 - Visiting My Grad

I got to have a wonderful time visiting with my oldest son a few weeks ago.  He took me on a tour of the Twin Cities.  The highlight of the whole trip was a night out on the town to the theater to see "Whistle Down the Wind".  How can tell if you raised a true homeschooling - You look at his shower curtain which was a world map.  He wouldn't let me take a picture though.  Here are a few shots - I met Minneapolis' most famous non-citizen Looking out over the city from Fort Snelling Jacob at Fort Snelling

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• Sep. 19, 2007 - Emerging

A couple of weeks ago we were blessed with a gift of nature from our pastor's wife.  She called and said she had quite a few caterpillars on her passion vines.  She remembered her children loved to watch the whole process of caterpillar to butterfly so she thought my guys would enjoy it as well.  She had a butterfly box that she has used in the past so we were all set to go.  So we started out with 3 caterpillars.  By the end of the first week 2 had spun into chrysalises.  We still have one of the larger caterpillars left.  You can see him in the background on the vine.  We also have a small little guy that came in on some the vine we brought in to keep our big guys fed.  This first caterpillar had hung himself from a leaf underside.  Unfortunately one of the other caterpillars almost ate up his leaf so we rescued what was left and used a push pin to hold the leaf bit to the top of the box.  The 2nd caterpillar was nice enough to attached himself to the box top so we don't have to worry about his leaf getting eaten.  Hannah discovered our butterfly this morning minutes after it emerged because I had checked it less than an hour before and nothing appeared to be happening.  By the time I got my camera his wings were already starting to straighten out although he is still sitting completely still.  Hopefully the rain today won't interfer with him being released to the wild.  We are in and out today so we will keep checking for the right time to release.  This has been so much fun to watch and a big thank you goes out to our pastor's wife.  Thank you so much for thinking of us. Edited to add two new pictures - Also I think I forgot to mention what type of butterfly we have.  It is a Gulf Fritillary.  Between errands today we noticed it was trying to fly around in the box so we took it outside.  As it felt the breeze you could see it testing its wings.  It finally flew out and landed on my (mom) shirt.  I had the kids quick take the camera and get a shot of the butterfly on my shirt.  After a few minutes the butterfly took off flying away free.  Also Hannah was excited to discover yet another very little caterpillar so we must have had an egg hatch out that we didn't even know we had so we may have several more times to witness this great miracle.  So current box count.  1- Big caterpillar, 1 - medium caterpillar, 1- small caterpillar, and 1 - chrysalis which should emerge in about 4 days or so.

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• Sep. 18, 2007 - Learning time for Mom

• Sep. 18, 2007 - Rainy Day Fun

The other day after a good rain we had water standing in our drive way.  Well Caleb, Hannah, and the boy from across the street had fun playing in the puddles.  Finally the called me out to see their creation.  They had use debris to create an island home.  They couldn't wait for me to take a picture.  They worked so hard that I decided I just had to share all their hard work.

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• Sep. 1, 2007 - Teaching Hannah

• Aug. 7, 2007 - Jacob has returned

• Aug. 7, 2007 - SE Homeschool Expo - Atlanta, GA

I arrived home Sunday from the Expo and I had a wonderful time.  I took Hayden and Hannah with me.  Hayden needed to look over some material to make choices for next year and Hannah came because I couldn't leave her home with the other two boys.  So she got to celebrate her birthday in Atlanta.  It was a wonderful conference.  While it had lots of vendors and workshops it didn't seem as crowded or frantic as the Florida convention.  Also I think there were more small or newer vendors that I don't usually get to see in Florida.   I'm not sure if there were more hands on activities here or if the smaller crowds just allowed you time to really get up to try stuff out.  There were several science centers and science vendors that had things to do at their booth.  Hannah really seemed to enjoy the hands on things.  There was even an hourly short puppet show.  The hotel was outstanding and the location was really nice.  The kids were impressed the minute we walked into the lobby of the place.  It was attached to the convention hall with a small upscale mall that had a few places to eat.  (Sadly it looks like this mall is dying so not sure what will be there next year.  It looks like both a movie theater and a game place are already close.)  There was also a sky bride across the main road to another mall.  This was a full mall with food court and shops that was a great way to spend a few hours and get food for much less than the hotel.  These are shots of the lobby.  I just loved the teak bells.  There were just beautiful.  Our room was up on the 7th floor and we could look out on the two pools below.  The outdoor deck pool and the indoor pool.  We ended up just using the indoor pool.  Here is a shot of the kids getting ready to take the sky bridge and then looking back at over to the Center and Hotel from the Cumberland Mall parking lot.  For Hannah's birthday we ate at Jock and Jill's in the upscale Galleria Mall.  We shared one desert which they didn't charge us for as it was someone's birthday.  It was so funny when we left Thursday morning.  Hannah chose to travel in her party dress because it was a special day.  She also wore her dress up princess shoes but I did get her to switch to her sandals before we went out to eat.  Hayden really had a good time and really seem to shine on this trip.  He made friends and played with others every evening in the pool.  And on Friday he saw some boys playing their DS's (Nintendo Dual Screen - small hand held video game) so he went back to our room got his and joined in the group.  They played for over 2 hours together.  It was really neat to see.  I had him do all the talking to the Teaching Textbook vendor.  He has decided on Sonlight Core 300 (using Audio Reader program), Teaching Textbook (either Pre-A or Alegebra depending on placement testing), and Aplogia Physical Science (using MP3 audio CD and possibly Live and Learn lapbook).  He is also looking forward to applying for job locally in the next couple of weeks.  He wants to save up for a new computer so he can take advantage of two of the products he found at the convention.  One is a course on web design and the other is a computer animation program.  He was impressed with both but would need a better computer.  So he now has a goal to get save up for a new game system, then computer, then buy the programs he found at the convention.  Not sure how long it will take him but its exciting to watch him make goals and formulate his own plans.  I'm not sure if he is just getting more confortable with himself or by being somewhere without the other two boys to be the outgoing ones left him room to move out himself.  Or maybe a combination of the two?  In any case it was really great to see.  Also I realized on this trip just how much that boy can eat.  I guess I never noticed at home because either there's only so much food or since everyone is eating from the same pot you don't notice how much he eats at one time.  Although he did fill up enough on his huge double burger at the Cheesecake Factory that he was willing to bring his piece of cheesecake back to the room to eat later.  I also got to meet another friend my homeschool egroup in real life.  And like the times I've met up with other mom's from the loop we had a really great visit together.  I think her son was impressed with Hayden's video game.  Hayden also "impressed" him by going down the up escalator.  Never thought to say don't do that before.  It was really a wonderful trip and very relaxing.  Hayden and Hannah have already decided we need to return next year and bring the rest of the gang.  I'm not sure we can make this happen as we have a graduation to go to in May but I would love to have it work out.  I think I would add a few days onto our reservation and do some sight seeing in the area as well.  But we really, really had a wonderful time and I'm so glad I went.

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• Jul. 31, 2007 - In Loving Memory

I'm not sure why but for some reason this year I seem to be more teary eyed when I think about our Samuel.  He was a stillbirth 7 years ago today.  I already stopped by the cemetery this morning.  I think its helpful also to reflect on all the blessing we received as well.  Our homeschool friends and church family really rallied around us.   Our church family paid all of Samuel funeral expenses and gave us a check with which we bought his headstone.  Samuel is buried in the baby section so I always try to remember those other families as well when ever I stop by.  Its always so sad to see a new marker in place.  But we are not without hope.  I know at Samuel's funeral people asked how could we endure losing our child.  How could we be at peace?  It was only by God's grace and the hope we have in Him.  We had friends deliver meals and spend the day at our house so that I would rest and recover.  There were women who came to me and our pastor after the funeral who said that they we able to say good bye to their own little ones since they had never been given a chance to do so before.  I'm so thankful for the thoughtfulness of the hospital where Samuel was delivered.  They gave us time to hold him and then after we handed Samuel back they cleaned him up, got him dressed, and took a whole roll of film.  When we left the next day we were given a box which contained a lock of his hair, hand and foot prints, hospital braclet, the pictures, and the clothes used in the pictures.  Also we were given a giant teddy bear so that I didn't need to leave empty handed.  We were also blessed in the weeks following with my inlaws coming over and helping to install a butterfuly garden out front and my prayer group gave us a myrtle tree to plant.  All of which still thrive today.  It always amazing me to see the myrtle tree die back each year in the winter to burst forth each spring with new leaves.  (not many plants d