There has not been a dull moment around here all day.  While my oldest 2 were gone to tennis practice my youngest 2 were playing in the playroom.  Our playroom is actually a closed in porch so the windows from our school room look out onto the porch.  I was sitting at my desk working and watching them play.  When all of a sudden the wooden hutch that holds their toys and their tv fell over.  Thank God they are ok. Bianca who is 5 was scratched on her arm and Maya who is 3 was just startled but untouched.  Once we calmed down from that we went to get the older girls from practice.  The oldest had won "Queen of the Court" and the 8 year old had twisted her ankle.  The girls sat down to lunch and I tried once again to finish up some work only to get a phone call from my God daughter that she was on her way to the hospital in labor.  So I ask my neighbor if she can watch the girls until their Dad gets off work and rush to the hospital. After a whole lot of waiting they sent her home because it wasn't the real thing. So we had a busy day, but nothing much got done.  How does that happen?

Since we have started homeschooling I have learned so much.  Sometimes I wonder how I made it through high school and a few years of college without learning some of the things I have learned while teaching my girls.  One of the most important things I've learned is that it is not too late for me.  I was never real big in the homemaker skills department, but I desire to be.  For years I have wished someone had taught me to sew.  I have 4 daughters and I would love to make dresses for them or even to mend something that has torn.  Well today I was looking at another blog and admiring the dresses she made.  I said to my oldest daughter for the umteenth time "I wish I knew how to sew." and my wise child said to me "well why don't you learn".  Why hadn't I thought of that?  Why did I think that because I hadn't learned as a child I would never know? Well (pretend you hear a drumroll in the background) I called a local community center and will be taking my first sewing class next Tuesday morning.   I am so nervous in an excited kind of way.   

On the homeschool front we are taking a mello let's enjoy summer kind of approach.  We are doing lots of reading, a lapbook on our state, and working on The Global Puzzle.  I still need to find a good Math program.  I am leaning towards Math U See.  Please feel free to leave suggestions. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

This is the question I get most often.  The socialization question would come in a close 2nd.  When I first started out (one long year ago) I would answer with what I thought others wanted to hear.  I would tell them how I felt the school system was failing our children and how my children were bored in a classroom full of students and not getting enough stimulation.  All of that was true, but none of it was the main reason or even on my top 5 list.  We after a successful year of ups and downs I am now ready to say why I homeschool.  I know that it is safer to say it here than anywhere else, but hey you gotta start somewhere.  We homeschool because my children were mimicking the attitudes and behaviors of their classmates.  We homeschool because they didn't have time to just be kids.  My oldest who was in the 4th grade at the time was going to school all day and coming home doing 2 hours of homework.  We homeschool because I wanted my children's education to include learning the word of God.  We homeschool because I wanted my children to be best friends and to love and feel like an important part of our home.  Most importantly we homeschool because I prayed about these things and God told me to homeschool.  So there I said it.

I thought that I should share the meaning behind the name of our homeschool.  My grandmother who was the owner of a childcare center and more importantly an awesome grandmother and great grandmother.  Passed away a couple years ago.  My grandmother, Helen Ross Turnquist, was always very insistant that we read daily and spend our summers learning.  I remember doing projects during summer breaks and not understanding why noone else on our street had to study during the summer.  Now I know and am so thankful. 

When we decided to homeschool and sat the girls down to let them know that they would not be returning to public school we decided to let them name our school as a way of giving them some ownership of our new school.  My oldest daughter who was very close with her greatgrandmother (my grandmother) immediately asked if we could name it our school after "Grandma Helen".  Of course the answer was yes and that is how we got our name. 

I often hope that she is somewhere proud of the little school with 4 students (I should say 5 because I am learning right along with the girls) that bears her name!

Hello All.  I just wanted to introduce myself to the blogging community.  I am the mother to 4 wonderful little girls.  Aleyah 11, Tatyana 8, Bianca 5, and Maya 3.  This is our very first year homeschooling and some days (quite often actually) I am not sure I know what I am doing.  I have never second guessed my decision to educate my children at home, but I am often left feeling overwhelmed.  I read lots of the blogs on here and you all seem to have it all together.  I am not even sure what our homeschool style is.  This year we have mostly been doing unit studies and some work books purchased from WalMart.  The girls also took classes at a coop we have here, but I would really like to find a good fit for us to use next year.  I just really don't want to fail at this.

Thanks for listening/reading!

Be Blessed!