Learning New Things

I can hardly believe that we have been homeschooling for 8 weeks as of tomorrow.  We are just completing our study of North America and are heading to South America on Monday.  We have studied an overview of the world and learned about the colonization of the United States, Mexico, and Canada.  The kids have learned to locate all of the countries in North America on a map by playing geography games.  We have studied the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Inuits, and our founding fathers.  We have learned about biomes, ecosystems, food chains, food webs, deserts, and forests.  And so much more,  that's just all I can remember right now.

We have learned about all the different major world religions and how they differ from Christianity.  They have also learned about and prayed for different people groups and missionaries from all over North America.  We have read stories about George Muller, Cameron Townsend, William and Catherine Booth, Harriet Tubman, and Dwight L Moody.  They have learned about character traits that these people had such as creativity, boldness, discipline, repentance, boldness, compassion, joy, and perseverance.  It has been such a joy to spend every morning in the Word with my children.

And on top of that, Aria is reading!   This is so crazy to me because I was so stressed about being able to teach her to read that I considered sending her back to school through the first grade because I really didn't think I could do it.  She is also doing simple math, and can locate Greenland, Canada, the United States, and Mexico on a map.

Micah's spelling has improved a ton and he is reading a lot more.  We have discovered his love for comic books so we are at the library every 3-5 days getting new books for him to read.  He is also doing multiplication and loving it.  He is still struggling to focus but because I can put him in a quiet room when he is working he can focus so much better.  He is learning that some people can do their work in a noisier environment and some people can't.  He is someone who can't and the fact that he is learning that now is wonderful.  It is a study skill he will take throughout his life (hopefully).

Bella is doing fantastic.  She has been moved up to the 6th grade level in all of her subjects.  She wasn't being challenged enough so we bumped everything up.  And while it has brought about a few more tears because she is now being challenged more she is loving every minute of it.  She is my high achiever so this makes perfect sense.

The most amazing thing about it all is that they are learning all of this with me as the teacher.  Most days I feel completely inept to teach them.  You see, I did horrible in school, at least until college.  I barely graduated from high school and still to this day do not have a college education.  My children have taught me to love to learn.  Every night before I go to bed, I study and prepare for what we will do the next day, and then the children and I learn all kinds of new things together the next day.

All of this is by the grace of God.  I have never relied on God so much in all of my walk with Him.  I get frustrated with the children and myself, I have pity-parties every now and then, and some days I even feel like quiting.  But, then God reminds me of why we are here, how well the children are doing, how much I enjoy being with them, and that just like them, I am learning.  I am learning how to be a teacher.  I am not expected to just "know" how to do this.  I am not expected to be perfect.  I need to extend grace to the children and to myself while we all learn new things.

What Homeschooling Is Teaching Me

I am constantly amazed at my ability to teach my children things like math, languange arts, science, and geography.  But, what amazes me even more is what God is teaching me.

You see, I am a big picture girl.  I see the world through a very large lense, or some people would say "from 10,000 feet".  And for many things that is wonderful.  It has helped me so much in my walk with God.  My faith has always come quite simply to me because I don't get bogged down in the tiny details.  I don't spend an enormous amount of time worrying about how something is going to work out.  For instance, when Michael lost his job a couple of years ago, it wasn't hard for me to "rest" in the idea that God would provide because I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the "how"...the details.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't like this for everything, but it is like this for most things.

I consider this a blessing, but it does have it's disadvantages too.  Because I don't see the details in most things, I have a very hard time accomplishing things that require alot of attention to how to get it accomplished.  I have told Michael many times that I hate that I have so many great ideas but don't possess the skills to turn those ideas into realities.  There are many things that I will not do because the how requires too many steps to get to the end result and I get so frustrated with the the details that I quit.  For example, sewing, scrapbooking, planting a graden, playing the piano...I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

 So, imagine my surprise in the past few weeks when God began to show me that teaching my Kindergartener to read was going to require me to follow a step-by-step, detailed road.  That I couldn't just show her words for her to memorize and expect her to be able to read.  I just see the big picture...the ability to read; not the process that it is going to take to get her there.  To be very honest, it has been a struggle for me.  Not because I don't want to work hard to get the end result, but mostly because I have never been patient enough to allow myself time to get there.

So, what am I learning?  To be patient in the process.  To find the right people and programs who can teach me the right way to teach her.  And then to be patient.  To be patient with the process, to be patient with my daughter, to be patient with myself, and to be patient with God.  Thank you, God, for being patient with me!  Boy, I thought I was a patient person...apparently not.

Storing Up Treasures in Heaven

     For a long time I struggled with my significance as a stay-at-home mom.  When I left the corporate world almost 11 years ago to stay home with my first born I had no doubt that it was what I wanted to do.  Being a wife and a mother was what I had wanted from a very young age. But, in a culture that places so much emphasis on career and money, my decision to stay home wasn't always well received during the transition from that world to this one.  People didn't understand why I would want to give up my life or the money (not that either were that glamorous in the first place).  And after coming home I felt very insignificant most days because I didn't feel I was leaving my "mark" on the world.  But Michael and I knew that it was what God wanted for our family and whatever sacrifices we had to make for me to stay home were worth it.
     Fast forward to today.  Almost 11 years and 4 children later, I have had many instances that make me so glad that I have chosen this life.  The other day the kids were talking about jobs and money, and they said to me, "Momma, you don't work."
     I replied to them, "Oh yes I do.  I work very hard, everyday, taking care of your daddy and all of you and this house."
     "But, you don't make any money, "  Bella said.  At which point the other children responded in agreement.
     So my response was, "You're right, I don't make any money.  But, I have decided to store up my treasures in Heaven.  The bible says that we should not store up our treasures here on earth where moths and rust can destroy or where thieves can break in and steal, but to store up our treasures in heaven.  So that is what Mommy is doing."
     After that there wasn't another response until yesterday morning.  I had taken two of the children to the doctor and was waiting at Wal-greens for their prescriptions to be ready.  Micah had made his way to the toy aisle where he had found his favorite thing that he plays with, Pokemon cards (and btw, if you can explain the fascination of trading cards to me I would love to hear it).  He asked me if he could by them.  After a lengthy conversation that involved questions like, "don't you have enough?" and "is that REALLY what you want to spend your money on?"  I conceded to allow him to spend his money on them.  We got the cards, the medicine, and we were on our way.
      Then it happened, one of those moments that I store in my mental Rolodex as a small win in this life of mine.  As we are driving back to the house Micah says to me, "Mom, I really need to pray about something tonight."
     I say, "what about, buddy?"
     Then he says, "well, I really need for God to help me learn how to store my treasures up in Heaven.  I mean, I really like Pokemon cards but I need to be storing up my treasures in Heaven."
     My heart swelled up so big and I felt so thankful.  I agreed with him that we would pray about that together.  Of course, then he followed up with, "Does that mean that when I die I get to take my Pokemon cards with me?"  That's my boy!  He was sort of serious and sort of joking, like he does so often.
     I just said to him, "No, buddy, the Pokemon cards will not go with you.  But, when you get to Heaven you will never look back and think, 'man I sure wish I had those Pokemon cards'.  The treasures in Heaven will be SO much better than our favorite things here on earth that we will never look back and wish we could go back and get our stuff."  At that, he was satisfied...for now.
     It was such a wonderful reminder of several things.  One, they ARE listening, even when I feel like I am talking to a brick wall.  Two, I AM making a mark on the world.  Four marks to be exact.  And three, this earth is not our home.  Christ has prepared a place for us where our treasures will be far beyond what we can even fathom while here one earth, where moths and rust can not destroy and thieves can not break in and steal.  Praise God!  Amen.

Homeschooling-First week down

     So, we had a good first week of homeschooling.  The kids were very excited about it and wanted to get started right away first thing Tuesday morning (Monday was a holiday).   Bella, especially, wanted to get started right at 8am like she did in public school.  The only difference is that her teacher in public school didn't have a 19 month old following her around all day, laundry that needs to be washed, breakfast dishes to be cleaned, or any of the other 20 things that I do on any given day.  Needless to say, she wasn't thrilled at first with the lack of "schedule" on our first day.  If I am allowed to be honest, I was pretty stressed at times, feeling that I was failing.  One time Bella said, "Mom, this doesn't feel like school at all."  Another time she said, "I don't think this is going to work."  And yet another time she said, "I am so afraid I am not going to learn anything."  All of these statements did not help my feelings that I was somehow failing my children.
     On Wednesday, it was another somewhat stressful day because Micah had a relapse of his stomach bug, so we did school very unconventionally, as we spent most of the day in the bed or on the bedroom floor while we did most of our work.
     After Wednesday, Michael and I decided that we were definitely going to use Time4learning for Math and Language Arts supplements and so on Thursday the kids were signed up for that and it helped A LOT!  They are able to log themselves on and do their work for a designated amount of time and for the most part they are pretty self-sufficient.  It is during that time that I will work one-on-one with one of the other children.
     By Friday the kids were getting used to the new schedule that we are forming.  We get up and begin to get reading around 7am.  (Aria and Victoria sleep until 7:30 since they are younger and require a little more sleep.)  Once the children are dressed, fed, and ready for the day then we sit in the living room to read our Bible lesson, discuss it, and pray.  Can I just say that this is my favorite thing so far about homeschooling the children?  We have ended their day for a long time now with reading the Bible but to begin the day with that and actually have an open-ended time to sit and talk about what we are learning is absolutely wonderful.
     After Bible, we straighten the house.  The kids help me clean the kitchen from breakfast and then they straighten their room and the living room.  Micah even washed his first load of laundry the other day, I was so proud.  This has been a big adjustment for the children because since we now have more time to get things like this done my expectations are higher for them.  It may take some time but eventually they will get it.
     Around mid-morning the kids do things that they can do pretty independently, like handwriting, reading, P.E. (they play Just Dance or they play outside) and math on the computer.  Then after lunch when the baby goes down for her nap we do Science, Geography, and Language Arts.
     A few things that I have noticed after this week is that I am SO much more tired at the end of the day and getting the laundry folded is impossible.  The children seem to be getting along MUCH better than they did when they were in school, probably because they are no longer so tired all the time.
     For the most part, I am very pleased with how things are getting started and look forward to seeing how things fall into place over the next days and weeks.

Homeschooling and Time4Learning.com

Two days from now our family will embark on a fabulous and terrifying journey into a whole new world.  The world is called "Homeschooling".  For all of reasons for homeschooling you can refer to my earlier post, that was the WHY?, this is the HOW?  I have read up on many, actually too many, curriculums for homeschooling.  There are WAY too many options out there, like deodorants and scrapbooking materials, the options are endless and daunting.  After years of research I finally settled on a curriculum, My Father's World.  I bought the curriculum and then something happened.  I began to think that maybe we needed to take a hiatus from "traditional" learning and try something a little more laid back and child directed.  A fellow homeschooling friend who has three boys turned me onto www.time4learning.com.  It is a computer based curriculum that is based on grade and/or level.  The children log into their own personal account and then follow the path through different topics.  After all the assignments on a particular lesson are completed, they are then tested on everything they have learned.  The website keeps track of all their assignments and grades which I can print out at report card time and turn into my cover school.  It will be used mainly for math assignments and also used as a supplement for Language Arts, History, and Science.  I haven't changed my mind about My Father's World, I plan to begin that in the fall when the new school year begins.  But, for now, I think this will be the easiest for all of us.  The transition from public school to homeschooling is a BIG one for everyone, so if we can do things that are fun and uncomplicated that will be best for all of us.  Also, another plus to using computer based learning is that it is VERY portable.  If we decide to go out of town, we just take the computer and some library books rather than a whole suitcase full of curriculum.  And they can move as fast or slow as they want/need to.  We are very excited about this and look forward to letting you know how the next 6 months go.

It's Official-10 Reasons Why

Well, I guess it's official.  Today I received the homeschool curriculum that I ordered and as I pulled each book out of the box there was a feeling of excitement and I must admit a feeling of fear.  I believe with all of my heart that this is what God is calling me to do at this time in our family but I must be honest and say that I am scared to death.  The battle between flesh and spirit is very evident right now.  My flesh cries out, "No more quiet days, no more alone time, no more running errands while the kids are at school."  But my spirit says, "The days are long, but the years are short."  

I have had several conversations since finally making this decision about "why" I have chosen to homeschool.  Unfortunately if I tried to write them all down, you would stop reading this blog about halfway through.  But, I thought I would try to give just a few.  Once again, not to convince anyone that what I am doing is right but to explain, and hopefully encourage anyone who might be on the fence.  You see, for too long I did not feel that I was qualified to teach my children.  I am not a teacher.  I do not have a teaching degree.  I am just a mom.  But, I have realized that makes me just as qualified, or even more so, to teach my own children.  For those of you who might be contemplating homeschool, but don't feel qualified, just remember this...noone knows and loves your children the way that you do.  And no matter what anyone tells you that makes you more qualified in my opinion.  Should everyone homeschool?  Absolutely not.  But, if you are feeling the call and don't because you are afraid, I am here to tell you, so are the rest of us.  Welcome.  Jump on in, the water is warm.

1.  My children are learning to do ONLY what they HAVE to do and nothing more.  I do not feel that they even realize their full potential of what they are capable of learning and the school is not pushing them to that.

2.  Bullying and social exposure- need I say more?

3.  Homework, in addition to the hours they already spend in school.  Not to mention that most of the time they haven't grasped the concept at school so we are spending additional time researching the method (because much has changed in 30 years) that they were taught so I can continue to teach it to them until they get it.

4.  They are not learning very important life lessons, like how to wash/fold clothes, clean up around the house, and cook because after being at school for 8 hours and then doing an hour of homework the last thing they want to do or I want to ask them to do is to do chores.  I feel they need to have some time to just be kids.

5.  They hate school but love learning.  I want my children to realize that they don't necessarily need a teacher in order to learn.  They are very capable of learning on their own and that when they make mistakes, that is good.  Mistakes are portals to discovery.

6.  I love the idea of being able to travel throughout the year and take our schooling on the road.  I also like the idea of being able participate in performances, scouts, sports, etc and not have to worry about them missing school or being too tired the next day because they didn't get enough sleep.  

7.  Being able to move at the child's pace and not the school or classrooms' pace.  Micah love science and math, but struggles with reading and writing.  Being able to spend more time on reading and writing and allow him to explore further the areas that he loves is very important to me.  

8.  I want to be able to teach my children about sensitive subjects like sex and drugs.

9.  I realized that I was already homeschooling my children with homework, and having a preying mantis as a pet, and all the other things I teach them every day.

10.  I love my kids and since I only have them for a few more years, I want to spend as much time with them before they are off on their own doing whatever it is that God will call them to do.

New Directions

It is amazing to me how true the Scripture is "The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps".  I have made so many plans for my life that much to my delight did not turn out as I had planned.  I planned to marry my college sweetheart, God directed me to Michael instead.  I planned to be married by the time I was 25, God didn't bring Michael into my life until I was 28.  I planned to be done having babies at two children, God surprised us with two more.  I planned to NEVER come back to Birmingham, God changed my heart and brought me "home".  I planned to live the American Dream, God is showing me His dream.  I planned to homeschool my kids from Kindergarten on, God didn't call me to homeschool until now.  This is just a small list that proves Proverbs 16:9.  I would love to say that I am done with planning my life and my kids lives, but it is in me, in us, to "plan" for the future.  The world tells us that it is smart to do just that.  Plan for children, plan for buying a house, plan for retirement, plan for a career...plan, plan, plan.  But, I am beginning to get it.  I need to stop planning.  The fact of the matter is if I had married my college sweetheart, I probably would be divorced by now.  If I had had children as young as I wanted to I would not have been a very good mom.  If I had stopped at two children I would have missed so much joy that my 3rd and 4th children have brought into my life.  If I were living the American Dream, I would be a slave to my things rather than free to serve.  And if I had begun to homeschool my children 5 years ago, well, who knows.  I am not really sure why God waited so long to give me a peace about homeschooling but He did and I am trusting that He has a very good reason.

I must say that I am SO excited and SO scared about homeschooling all of my children.  I want so much for all of us to just love everyday of it, but I know that is an unrealistic expectation.  I know that there will be days when we don't enjoy it at all.  But, I have had confirmation after confirmation that this is the new direction that God is taking our family.  I have no idea how long it will last, but we are taking it one year at a time.  My plan is to begin blogging more about this journey, and other journeys that God has us on.  Not really so much so that other people can read our story, but more so that I can have a record of the journey.  And if it winds up helping someone, then that is an unplanned blessing.