End of Eight Years

When I began the homeschool journey, Caleb was just entering middle school (6th grade) and Zach was still at the local public school for 5th. If I were to homeschool all the way through high school, it would be a total of eight years. Not as long as many, but that seemed SO FAR AWAY. But here I am in April of 2013 and that eight-year-mark will arrive next month. Color me stunned.

What ever will I do with myself with no homeschooling responsibilities?

I've decided to start a list. Because I like lists. Mostly I like lists because I like to check or cross things off of lists. (Do you like to check them or cross them off? I'm sort of random, so I'll do both. But not on the same list.)

1. I will lighten my cyberlife by unsubscribing from any remaining homeschool lists, unfriending and unfollowing people with whom I have no relationship beyond homeschooling, and I will remove myself from any other online homeschooling ventures. Not because I don't love homeschooling any more, but it won't be relevant.

2. I will round up all the curriculum, resources, and other such stuff, and sell it or give it away or whatever it takes to get it out of my house and free up some space around here. And I will write long, run-on sentences just for the fun of it because I don't have to be in teacher mode even though I am always an editor at heart.

3. I will stop attending the meetings of the homeschool group I've been a part of for these past eight years. But I still get to meet with them afterward just for fun.

4. I will convince my boys that we should still have Bible and prayer each morning just because I love that time with them. Unless, of course, they don't live here (ha! ha!) as that might be a little inconvenient.

5. I will engage more in my photography business.

6. I will do all those things I never had time for (cleaning out my junk in the garage, purging the closets, finish painting the family room and trim throughout the house, etc.).

{sorry...I just fell out of my chair from laughing so hard at the idea of "doing all those things I never had time for"...bwahahahaha!!!}

7. I will do whatever else God has in store for me of which I know nothing right now.

Doesn't that all sound lovely? I highly doubt it will go that way. Life rarely goes according to plan. I'm pretty sure that #1-3 will happen, but the rest? We'll see how that goes.

Homeschool Prom

Yesterday I mentioned not really pulling any April Fool's Day pranks for the past few years. Apparently, I forgot about last year. This was classic - to John and me, not really the boys so much.

It was a Sunday morning and the boys were sleeping in. We got them up and had them come upstairs fairly soon so they wouldn't have time to realize what day it was. I proceeded to tell them that since we were nearing the end of our homeschool journey and we didn't want them to feel like they'd missed out on anything, we were going to plan a Homeschool Prom. A little back story here - the boys haven't had any interest in girls or dancing or anything remotely prom related. So already this sounds pretty horrible.

I went on to let them know that planning and decorating would be part of their school since we had a month or more to put it together. We'd hold it in the garage. John has a stereo out there, so no problem for the music. There's a refrigerator, so we could set up a table with refreshments. There's plenty of room to dance. They know more homeschooled boys than girls, so in order to even that out, I said we could invite some girls from the bowling league.

I went on and on about the entire event and at one point, I heard Zach quietly saying, "No thank you," repeatedly.

Caleb eventually figured out what day it was and what was going on. Shortly after that, I let Zach know, too. Oh, I also let him know that I'd been recording it - first on audio, then video. I think he said something about how mean I was. Really, Zach? I offered to let him wear shorts with his tie and jacket.

So apparently I'm not quite as nice as I thought yesterday. John and I thought it was rather funny, though. Caleb remained fairly calm, though I doubt he wanted to see it actually happen. Zach, on the other hand...he had much more of a reaction. But I think he was pretty relieved to find out it wasn't real.

And no, I'm not sharing the audio or the video. The boys will thank me for that.

Life Still Happens

This post is from August 7, 2009 - three years ago. I thought it was a good perspective reminder as I begin to prepare for my last year of homeschooling. Hard to believe it's here already. But I think I've learned a lot along the way with my boys. Maybe I'll dig through some of my journals and older posts and see just what I have learned during these past seven years.

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I can't believe we're about to begin our fifth year of homeschool! My word, it goes fast. Having not begun until 6th grade for each of our boys, my journey will only be a grand total of eight years (they're a year apart, grade-wise). In the beginning, I remember listening to people who'd homeschooled longer than me and thinking that I couldn't fathom being that far into this. It appeared much longer than it really is. I'm right at the half-way mark of this season of my life. Three more years with ClayGuy and four with the Comedian.

How I think homeschool should look - organized, attentive, and color-coordinated.

By the end of each year, I usually feel as if I did a pretty crummy job. Thus the Slacker Middle School references. Somehow, it's too often human nature (and maybe mom nature) to see the worst because we know what we should have or could have done. I only include others, because I've heard too many similar stories.

How homeschool usually looks!

Not to excuse my own poor choices, but one thing you learn quickly about homeschooling is that life still happens. And sometimes it impedes upon your school plans. The first year of homeschooling (2005-06), we moved out of our house of 11 1/2 years (October). I also had one child in public school and one home with me. Being my first homeschool year, I was just trying to find my way in this new phase of life. ClayGuy and I had both educational fun and serious tempers and head-butting. While moving didn't take the entire year, when things get off-track early on, it can be a challenge to recover that ground.

The second year (2006-07) brought my youngest son home. I was to discover that his learning style and perspectives are completely different than mine or ClayGuy's. That, in and of itself, presented some challenges. Add to that the oftentimes poor interaction between the two of them and my need to referee, and there were days when it seemed as if we did nothing more than deal with behavioral issues.

That year there was also an outside commitment that quickly became an over-commitment. I found myself entrenched in something that bumped homeschooling off the top of the priority list, which was incredibly frustrating and guilt-inducing.

In our third year (2007-08), we got off to a pretty decent start. Once we passed the holidays, however, we made the decision to start looking for a house to buy (part 1 and part 2). I have no idea how many houses we looked at, but we made seven offers. It was a long year. Of course, when you're planning to move, you also have to plan on packing. So in addition to school, regular life, and house hunting, I was now purging stuff (so we'd hopefully have less to move) and packing. We still had no contract going into summer, so this continued.

Our most recent year (2008-09) found us still house hunting and eventually moving in September. Obviously that does put a dent in the school plans. No matter how good your intentions are, they just don't pan out the way you anticipate. On a good note, I think my boys learned something about teamwork, lifting, moving, organizing, and such. Again, it didn't waylay the entire year, but it significantly altered life. In addition to getting out of the old house, there's so much to do when you arrive at the new house. And then the holidays arrive. And then you find that it's January and you're finally getting back on track.

I don't say this to be depressing or excuse away the times that I didn't do what I should have, but it's more a reminder that life will happen. I know there are others who had even more significant disruptions. But as I begin planning the upcoming school year (2009-10), I need to remember this. I need to schedule some downtime here and there. I need to cut myself a little slack sometimes, recognizing that not everything will go according to my plans. While that can be more than a little frustrating for a control freak like me, I am comforted by the fact that I know and serve the God who does have everything under control. He's not surprised by these life events. My future is safe in His hands. I need to not be stressed out when they happen, but trust in and seek Him and what He would have us do.

A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Proverb 16:9

Wordless Wednesday - Chemistry

For more wordlessness, check out Live From Waterloo and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

Homeschool Report: Day 1

We started back to homeschool today. I'm happy to report that we had a terrific day, even though plans weren't one hundred percent in place. Of course, there's always a number of administrative-type things to discuss - how this year will be similar to last year and how it will be different, what my expectations are, and such things. We also didn't get a very early start, as hubby needed some help with some business items, the boys didn't get up as early as they should've, and whatever other craziness was going on first thing.

I forgot to get a first day picture of the boys, so it will have to be a second day shot this year. I did, however, measure their height since they keep getting so tall. ClayGuy (my oldest) is 5' 10-1/2" and the Comedian is 6'. I've never felt particularly short because I'm a little on the tall side for women, but that sure has changed, hanging out with boys who are taller than me. In addition, most of their friends are taller then me. But I will say that it's handy to have tall boys - they can reach stuff that I used to have to manage myself.

So there you have it. A swell first day back to school and tall sons.

Life is good.

Virtual Nerd - a Review

It seems like math and science are two of the more difficult subjects for many families to teach in homeschool - particularly as the kids move into the higher grades. Private tutoring can be a huge help, but it can also be a huge expense, which some families just can't manage. If you're looking for some assistance for your kids, particularly in 7th - 12th grades, you should definitely check out Virtual Nerd.

Virtual Nerd is an online tutoring program that I've found to be pretty awesome. They currently have Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and Algebra II and Physics videos available (1,000+) and plan to add Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Physics with Trig, and Chemistry in the next year. Biology will be following that.

You select the concept that you want some help with and a new window opens to a video with an instructor at their patent-pending Dynamic Whiteboard™. On the right side, you'll see a step-by-step script which follows along with the instructions.

If you don't need the first portion of that concept explained, you can skip ahead to the part you want, by clicking on that section in the script. Or, if there's something you don't understand, a term or concept, you can mouse over it in the script box and it will show a pop-up window that provides you with other tutorial videos which will explain that term or concept. In the meantime, it puts the original video you were watching into the background, but remains in the same place, so you can return to it. You can continue to bring up new videos over and over, as you review or learn about portions of a concept. Once you're done with that, you can close it, and go right back to the previous video.

The videos are presented in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. I love the fact that your child can skip right to the portion they need help in; they don't have to sit through a video of information they already know. This helps to keep them engaged and interested. I think the individualization is an incredible feature of Virtual Nerd.

Virtual Nerd is available on a subscription basis and there are four different options, so you're sure to find one that meets your needs. You can take a look at those choices here. And in case, you think you'll have to sign up for something long-term, there's even an option for a single day. Sometimes that's all it takes to get your student back on track.

You'll find an introductory video as well as a lot of other information and FAQs. It's definitely worth taking a look at - for both you and your student.

If you need more proof, take a look at what other TOS Crew members had to say about Virtual Nerd at the TOS Crew Blog.


Disclaimer: I was provided access to the Virtual Nerd site to utilize their program for review as a member of the TOS Crew. The opinions stated here are my own.

Illuminations - A Review

As much as I like to make my own way, there are certainly times that having things planned out for you is an wonderful blessing. So it is with Illuminations from Bright Ideas Press.

I reviewed the High School, Year 2 edition. Illuminations is a wrap-around program designed to be used with Mystery of History or All American History (also from Bright Ideas Press). It's available for grades 3 through 8 and high school. The flexibility of this program is so cool! It has lesson plans all laid out for you, just ready to print when you need them. But the terrific part is that if there's a particular subject that you have different curriculum you prefer to use, you just click in the box and type your own plan, replacing what is there. Then you can print it out, all nicely modified and personalized for your own students.

The weekly schedule prints out in a grid format and they lightly color each subject in various shades for easy readability. My boys and I all love having a weekly plan at a glance, so this is a great format.

Just what does the product cover?

History - Mystery of History (or All American History)

Bible - reading plan that includes memorization and journaling

Writing - WriteShop 1 & 2 or The Write Stuff Adventure

Literature - Literature Guides are included; you'll need to purchase specific works separately, although some are from the Bible, and some are available online or at the library. There's a nice variety of literary works included.

Vocabulary - English from the Roots Up, Volume 2

Grammar - Winston Grammar

Geography - The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide

Humanities - The Art of Poetry

Life 101 - Cracking the SAT, Do Hard Things, Hollywood Worldviews, Precepts: Finances

You provide your own math program, which makes the most sense since student can be in so many different levels at this age.

The program runs in Adobe Reader 9 (free!) and is very simple to use. Everywhere you need to go has a clickable link. The start-up screen offers you the following choices:

1. Quick Start - Provides an excellent introduction and instructions. Here you will find directions for individual subjects. There is also a User Guide, Book & Program Checklist, Notebook Spines you can print out, and a Literature Evaluation form to assist you in grading literary assignments. You will also find Supplemental Activities and an Evaluation/Grading Rubric in this section.
2. Browse by Subject - Specific lessons related to each subject. Also included are Supplemental resources and Graphic Organizers (a tremendous asset, particularly for visual learners).
3. Browse by Date - Click on any week of the year to see that week's specific plans.
4. Contact Info/License - Contact Bright Ideas Press through a variety of means, take a look at their catalog, or read the license agreement.

The high school program is priced as follows:

Full year download = $95.00
One semester download = $47.50
Full year on CD = $115.00

Pricing for grades 3-8 can be found on the Illuminations site. Many of the necessary resources can be purchased from Bright Ideas Press.

For a look at the actual product, check out their sample pages.

If you want to have well thought out, organized, yet flexible, plans for your homeschool, I highly recommend looking into Illuminations. Bright Ideas Press, check out the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I was provided a free copy of Illuminations - Year 2, High School to review. The opinions stated here are my own.

The Write Foundation - a Review

The Write Foundation offers three levels of writing, recommended for ages 11 - 17.



Level 1: Sentence to Paragraph Writing (ages 11-13)
Level 2: Paragraph Writing (ages 12-15)
Level 3: Essay Writing (ages 14-17)

While my boys are of the appropriate age for Essay Writing, I chose Paragraph Writing, because writing is one of those topics that hasn’t had much attention in our homeschool. Of course, it’s hard when you have a child who despises writing in any way, shape, or form. Fortunately, the Write Foundation doesn’t throw your kids into things like creative writing, compare and contrast, etc. right off the bat. Their focus is primarily on first building a solid foundation of writing skills, which is precisely what we needed.

From The Write Foundation website:

Many writing curricula focus on the different types of writing, such as creative writing, story writing, poetry writing, persuasive writing, argumentative writing, informative writing, descriptive writing, book writing, fiction writing, novel writing, but the basic foundation of writing is assumed. The Write Foundation begins with the writing process, how a student formulates a topic, then a thesis, then supporting points, and by incremental teaching drills in the basics. In most grammatical subjects, we have found that failure is almost totally because the basics have not been learned.

The Write Foundation writing curriculum is a result of 8 years of successfully teaching homeschooled students in a one-day-per-week co-op setting. It has been adapted for a homeschool and used by numerous homeschooling parents to give their own children the tools of how to quickly organize and write an essay with excellence.

One of my favorite things about this curriculum is that my kids didn’t have to come up with their own ideas for what to write about. That can be an enormous hindrance in the writing process when a child is trying to remember all they need to know in order to write, which leaves little to no room to consider what topic they might wish to write about. In the beginning, this program use existing paragraphs and your child has to pull important information from which to generate an outline and then write a new paragraph based upon the outline. They’re not expected to perfectly replicate the original paragraph, but demonstrate the ability to create a good paragraph from block outline notes.

From there, a variety of lessons are presented which systematically increase the student’s writing skills, such as using quality adjectives to some fun poetry forms. When I normally mention the word poetry, I have one son who’s ready to head for the hills. But the poetry presented in the Paragraph Writing curriculum is much less intimidating than many programs. I hope to move from tolerable to enjoyable one of these days.

The student’s paragraphs and poetry are to be typed, which is a bonus for anyone who struggles with putting pencil (or pen) to paper. Every week’s lesson follows a similar format, adding new skills while including previous skills, so the students become familiar with what to expect. Each child has a well-organized binder, complete with checklists and guidelines, making it easy to access necessary information for assignments. This organization also makes it helpful for the parent to review and grade the completed work. They also provide a standard grading system, so you’re not on your own in figuring out grades.

Each Write Foundation level has 30 lessons. There are a few different options for how to purchase this product. You can purchase a complete package which includes the Teacher's Guide, the Student Worksheets, and an Additional Resources CD for all 30 lessons for $100*. Or you can purchase the same items for just 15 lessons for $65*.

You can also purchase just the Teacher's Guide (Instruction Manual) for all 30 lessons for $70* or 15 lessons for $45*. The worksheet sets (200 pages, 3-hole punched) run $25** for all 30 lessons or $15 for 15 lessons. The Additional Resources CD is optional and can be purchased for $15*.

They provide a recommended daily schedule for five or ten days per lesson. The 15-lesson program can taught over a semester or a year, depending upon which schedule works best for you and your child(ren). You can go here to take a look at sample lessons.

Mind Benders® are also incorporated into each lesson, though they are optional. They are deductive, logic puzzles which helps the students learn to organize their thoughts in a sequential and systematic way. If you want to include Mind Benders® you can purchase them from The Critical Thinking Co.™

If you decide to purchase any of The Write Foundation curricula, be aware that you will need to allow for plenty of time to review the product and prepare. It took me a little bit to follow the instructions because there’s a fair amount of page flipping within the teacher’s guide and the student worksheets until it began to come together for me. Once I had done a couple of lessons down, it made more sense.

* prices exclude S&H and tax

You can also go here to check out other reviews of The Write Foundation.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I was provided a free copy of Paragraph Writing Lessons 1-15, Teacher's Guide and Student Worksheets to review. The opinions stated here are my own.

More Homeschool Encouragement

Just a quick link that ties in nicely with my earlier posts this week - a post by Carol Barnier. I know I need these reminders and encouraging thoughts.

Homeschool - the Good Side

After yesterday's post where I bemoan my terrible homeschooling skills and the struggles that we have by comparing us to the seemingly Perfect Homeschool Family, I decided that I should be fair and present the other side of things.

Because if it's really all gloom and doom, I should probably just sack it, right?

My boys with my mom

I have two teenage boys - ages 16 1/2 and 15. Most of the time when someone hears that, there's a certain perception that comes to mind. You probably know what kind of stereotype I'm talking about. However, in many ways, I'm grateful to not have sterotypical teenage boys.

While I'm sure some of it is just their own personalities, I believe that a lot of it is because we homeschool. We're together all the time and they still actually like to be with me. And their dad. These aren't boys who are wanting to take off all the time and never be home. They still have friends and participate in outside activities. But they also have a good time hanging out with us playing Settlers of Catan, watching a movie, or going to Sonic for ice cream.

They're not sullen and moody. They smile. They're friendly. They can talk to other people, be it adults, children, or any age in between.

When there are subjects that we struggle through, it's exciting to see them get it.

I have enjoyed learning with them. I know that I don't remember a lot of what I learned in school (I'm sure they won't, either). Mostly because I never used a lot of that information once I was done with a class. So it's been a lot of fun for me to look at things through a microscope, refresh myself on algebra (yeah, that sounds kind of sick), and learn about historical events from a Christian perspective (something my schools didn't teach).

I also love to snuggle up on the couch and read aloud to them. And do the voices. It's still fun!

I like that their education includes practical living skills - laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, etc.

I love talking off for a walk over to the bread store. Or wherever else. We have some good conversations during those jaunts.

I am so grateful that we're not having to deal with things that take place in the public or even private schools. I won't even go into listing them - we've all heard so many stories. That's not to say that everyone who goes there has a bad experience, but there's enough going on in life without having to face those as well.

I love my boys immensely and am so blessed to have this time with them; to see them grow into godly young men, to be able to pour myself out for them, to disciple and love them. It will be over much too quickly, but at least I've had this time, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

Summer Homeschool

The plan was to continue doing a lighter schedule of homeschool through the summer. Here we are, more than a week into July, and that hasn't panned out so well. Where does the time go? The local public schools will be headed back in about 5-6 weeks! It's time to sit down and get those lighter plans together so we can still get something accomplished before summer is over. I had all these great reasons why we would do this, but I will say that it's hard to break the habit of just taking the summer off. Maybe even more for me than for the boys! Of course, there are always so many projects and tasks I'd like to accomplish while we're out for summer break, but if we're working with a somewhat light schedule, I can still get to some of them.

I'm not sure why I don't really blog much about homeschooling here. I've been doing it for the past five years. Well, I probably do know why. Because I don't think I'm doing a very good job. I'm not disciplined and structured enough to stay on track (lost on a bunny trail or something) and the last thing I usually want to do is point out my shortcomings. Especially to the whole world. Especially when it comes to parenting/homeschooling.

Reading other HS blogs can be an encouragement, but it can also be intimidating and make me feel even worse about what I do...or don't do. We have the homeschoolers whose children have learning disabilities, so that's a completely different category, of which I'm not a part. Then we have the The Perfect Homeschool Family.

The Perfect Homeschool Family has anywhere from three to ten children and they have it all together. Or so it seems. They live out in the country and the kids get up the crack o'dawn, do chores, have their devotions, help prepare a delicious and nutritious homemade breakfast, and then clean up. This delicious and nutritious homeschool breakfast consists of fresh-baked bread (Mom gets up an hour before the crack o'dawn to grind her wheat and bake it) and butter (churned the day before by the young 'uns), scrambled eggs (plucked bright & early that morning from beneath the hens), bacon (cured last winter from the hogs they raised), and milk (straight from the cow out in the barn, thankyouverymuch, Pa).

Following this delicious and nutritious breakfast, they get themselves clean, dressed, and ready for the school day. And all of that happens before 8:00 a.m.

My boys don't often roll out of bed until 9:00 a.m. Even with my nagging, harassing, and shaking gently waking them from their slumber. Yes, they're teenagers. Yes, they need adequate sleep to function well. Yes, they have alarm clocks that are sometimes used and mostly ignored.

Then the PH Family digs into their lessons for the day. By lunchtime, they've accomplished the following:

• taken turns reading Shakespeare aloud (except the baby whose vocabulary hasn't quite advanced enough)
• dissected worms, frogs, and cow's eyes (obtained from their own property) and sketched incredibly accurate drawings of each
• discussed world politics, written (or drawn) a compare and contrast paper on the various worldviews
• completed a chapter in trigonometry, geometry, or algebra - depending on the individual child, probably out on the patio in the gorgeous morning sunshine
• practiced handwriting by completing a grammatically correct letter in cursive to either their Compassion child, state representative, or missionaries in Africa

My kids have had a sugary lovely breakfast of chocolate (antioxidants) cereal in a bowl with 1% milk (none of that high-fat stuff) that came from a store. Although it is hormone free and in a recyclable jug.

They get dressed . . . after asking me where their clean clothes are, since the drawers are empty. They brush their teeth . . . after I've harped sweetly reminded them. Did I mention they are teens? I do random teeth inspections. They think they can get away without brushing. Scum and yellow give them away.

At last, my boys have arrived at the table to begin the school day . . . promptly at 10:18. Or maybe lunchtime.

We pray, read God's word, and then have a lively discussion about life application they listen to me tell them what I think God is telling me they should know and do. Oh, don't get me wrong, I do try and engage them in discussion. It's just that they're teenage boys. Discussion usually sound like this:

Me: So what do you think about the way he responded to God's request and how does that apply to you?

One of my two boys: That I should obey.

Other boy shakes his head in agreement in case I look at him.

It's very stimulating, I tell you.


When we're done with Bible, we pray. I seem to be the only one praying for God's word to be rooted deep into our hearts and lived out in our lives. But that's okay. I'm modeling for them, right?

Then we move to the couch for read-aloud time. Yep, you heard it right. My teenage boys still like me to read to them. So we hoist out War & Peace, er, The Door Within. No, I doubt that it makes any high school reading list. But it's fun and engaging to read. And there's the more than one book. They appreciate a series. I still do voices for all the characters. They like it that way.

By now, we probably need to have some lunch. Wow - that was quite an educational morning!

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Okay, I really shouldn't complete this comparison. For one, it would make my blog post INSANELY long. Although I may already have surpassed that point. Two, I think it would just depress me. And I think I've made my point:

EVERYONE else has a happy, successful homeschool with happy, successful children. Everyone, except me. One of my children just wants the school day to be over. As quickly as possible. Not even because he severely dislikes school, he just wants to do something else. Like play video games. Of course, some days I want to do something else. Like play on Photoshop, Facebook, or Twitter.

One of my sons hates to read. He absolutely, positively will not do it unless forced. There's no reading for entertainment going on in his life. Unless it's Calvin & Hobbes.

Although I know how to do Algebra perfectly well, I have a son who can't learn it from me. So we battled for quite some time. Now, I have to send him to the Khan Academy videos to learn. But he still doesn't want to have to spend any more than 15-20 minutes on Algebra. And writing out his work? Ha! Ha! Ha! His hand and the pen (pencils are so passe) are like two magnets with the north ends together - they strongly repel one another.

Oops. I said I wasn't going to continue. So I'm done. For now. And there really are successes and positive sides to our homeschool. I guess I'll have to share that in another post for more fair and balanced reporting.

My children are not disabled. They're not dumb. They're also not just about to graduate from college at ages 15 & 16. They're just in between. Could they do better? Probably. Do they want to? It's probably not an issue to them. Are they motivated toward higher education and a future career? Not so much.

Could I do a better job of homeschooling (and parenting)? Of course. Am I the worst mom ever? I'm pretty sure that I'm not, although lately I've been telling one of my sons that I'm working hard on that award this year! I have my moments of brilliance and others that are selfish or lazy.

But here's what I DO know (yes, I really will wrap this up . . . eventually):

God gave me these boys to raise, nurture, disciple, train, and educate. And most of all, to love.

He called me to homeschool them. That includes the fun and blessed times; the battles and frustrations; the monotony, mediocre, and laziness. But He will be with me (and us) through all of it. He promises to never leave nor forsake us and that He is our helper. (Hebrews 13:5-6). He knew that we would be precisely where we are. He also knows exactly where He wants us to be in the future and how it will all turn out. His plans are for our good and His glory. In this I am truly encouraged.

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

Help Lord I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to review Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler! Even though I’ve already been in the high school trenches for almost two years, this was an incredibly encouraging e-book. I think everyone who has middle school to high school aged homeschool kids should read it. I imagine that I will read it more than once. I don’t know about you, but I am in definite need of ongoing confidence, motivation, and encouragement in my own high school homeschool journey and there’s plenty to be found here.

One of the best things about this e-book is that there are stories from over a dozen families about their various high school adventures. With that many different stories, you’re sure to find someone you can relate to; whether it’s because they have a lot of kids or because they don’t, perhaps they started homeschooling later in life (like I did), or maybe you’ll find someone whose child has a very similar temperament to one of your own. No matter the make-up of your own family and homeschool, you’re sure to find stories here that will encourage you. Each of these families has graduated one or more children from high school and, believe it or not, these young adults have gone to college, begun careers, gotten married, and started families. They all survived and succeeded in spite of parental fears and concerns. It’s very much like a modern-day Hebrews 12; these families are that great cloud of witnesses having gone before us, sharing their stories, and letting us know that things will work out.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:1-4

Following the stories from the varied families, Deborah Wuehler (Senior Editor for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine) provides a lovely epilogue, complete with the speech her oldest son gave at his own homeschool high school graduation. There is also an exceptional resource list including books, websites, magazines, CDs, and other valuable information in the back. I firmly believe this should be required reading for every homeschool parent with children in middle or high school. I've already reread a couple of the stories just since beginning it. This e-book is truly a blessed encouragement from the Lord.



I was provided a copy of this e-book by the TOS Homeschool Crew. The thoughts and opinions are my own.

CrazyBusyDay

I know what they say. They say to never write on your blog about how sorry you are that you haven't been writing. They say you just move on, write something, and don't draw attention to your slackerliness inability to get anything posted besides Wordless Wednesday photos. So I won't.

Thursdays are a little crazy around here for us. The boys participate in a homeschool, pardon me, junior bowling league Thursday afternoons. So we have to have lunch on the early side and be out the door on time. Especially since I have to get to the bowling alley early enough to snag a strategically-located seat in order to watch both my boys. Particularly if they're bowling at opposite ends of the league lanes. Occasionally, we'll grab a bite out for lunch on our way to bowling, which means we have to leave even earlier.

Since research has shown that teenagers, especially teenage boys, aren't terribly alert in the mental department early in the morning, I let my boys sleep in. This is one of the beauties of homeschooling - I can work with their biological tendencies. This particular Thursday, they're sleeping in a little more than normal. But I figured that might be a good thing, especially since 1) ClayGuy has been sick this week, is finally getting better, and the rest helps him heal, and 2) The Comedian was up at almost midnight last night puking up his dinner. No, I did not cook it. That was courtesy of Jack In The Box. It's an ironic twist, though, because he's the one who was majorly craving some meat - a hamburger, specifically. So he's pretty much the reason I picked up JIB last night. Since there wasn't anything in the beef department around here to eat. Apparently his burger and onion rings preferred not to stick around, though. So a good night's rest seemed in order for him as well.

Thanks to the bartering system, I get free massages every three weeks from the best massage therapist on earth. I wash her sheets each week in exchange. The sheet drop and pick-up is made on Thursdays, after bowling. That means they need to be washed and folded before we leave. Of course, you'd think that would mean that I'd actually do this ahead of time. Like have them folded and ready to go by Wednesday evening. Because that would be efficient and make all the sense in the world. However, since I live in the great Land of Inefficiency, I prefer to finish drying them and folding them on Thursday morning, when we're scrambling to get some school in and get ready to head out the door (bowling ball? check. bowling shirt? check. socks? check.). Living in the Land of Inefficiency also means that I typically need to stop and get cash at the atm on the way to the bowling alley. Because getting it ahead of time would mean that I couldn't live there anymore. I'd be exiled.

We also get together with friends often on Thursday afternoons. And today, the kitchen is a mess. I need to go to the bookstore to pick up the next book in a series we've been reading. I know, everyone has these kind of days. The rest of my week is a little more...well, balanced, I guess. But not Thursdays. I've taken to calling CrazyBusyDays. Fortunately, bowling covers a good portion of their homeschool time, cause we sure don't have a lot of the rest of the day to accomplish a lot. We'll still get our Bible time in, plus a little more. Or we'll make it up in the remaining four days of the week. Because only so much can be squeezed into CrazyBusyDay.

Late night update: since it IS CrazyBusyDay, it's only appropriate that we ended up not being home until after 9:00 tonight. In a last minute change of plans, we were able to attend the Patsy Clairmont show. Which was quite enjoyable, even if it did mean a very long day out. And then there's men's skating to be watched. I'll get some sleep, I'm sure of it. Eventually.

A Miracle

Their voices carry easily up the seven stairs to my room where I work on the laptop. I hear them discussing phylum Firmicutes, Gracilicutes, and Tenericutes. I hear spelling help - "How do you spell Scotobacteria?" I also hear burping. But that's beside the point.

My boys are working on their Biology TOGETHER! They're NOT fighting, bickering, or otherwise causing trouble. They're doing this entirely on their own! You must understand that in our homeschool, this is nothing short of a miracle!

I will stay up here in my room and remain very, very quiet so as not to disrupt this amazing moment in our homeschool. The laundry and dishes can wait. As can my errands.

Thank You, Lord, for bringing this little miracle moment into our day!


These two angels? Bicker and fight?



Nah, never. Maybe monkey around a bit, though.

The Ladle Story

I just realized I forgot to come back and share the rest of the story about the very long ladles from last week's Wordless Wednesday.

In biology, the boys were required to collect pond water for some cultures. They were instructed to go down a little deeper into the pond rather than right at the edge. We have four jars that have various types of food in them - rice, egg yolk (hard boiled), dried grass, and dirt. We'll be preparing slides to take a look at what grew in our cultures probably tomorrow. I'll be sure and get some photos to share.

So the ladle was duct-taped onto a broom (actually Swiffer) handle. Some people looked at us a little funny while at the park. Doesn't everyone take very long-handled ladles to the pond?

Day-in-the-Life Week

It's Week #4 in Darcy's Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop. I missed last week's Student Photo post. Pretty silly, considering how many pix I take. I may get some this week, though, and I'll be sure to post them.

We operate in FBTSOMP* mode around here quite a bit, but a day at High Altitude Academy typically goes something like this

*Fly By The Seat Of My Pants

I get up and have my iced chai latte (caffeinage) along with toast and peanut butter or an english muffin, while reading my Bible, praying, and journaling. Then a shower, get dressed, and make sure school plans are printed out from Homeschool Tracker.

There's a tv show that comes on at 9:00 a.m. which ClayGuy enjoys. While not conventional, I allow him that time - before school - to watch his show. If the Comedian's up in time, he joins in. Therefore, school starts sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m.

Because we're just starting our third week of school, the schedule isn't real set yet, but we always begin our day with Bible reading and prayer. We're starting 2 Samuel this week.

Next up, we often take a walk around our neighborhood. Sometimes we walk over to the bread store and do a little shopping before heading back home.

Upon returning home, my guys are usually a little hungry, so a snack is in order as they begin working on their assignments. They have a fair amount of flexibility in school, so they choose what subject to do from their independent work. Their current subjects (both independent and things we do together):

English - vocabulary, spelling, literature, grammar & composition, independent reading
Math - algebra
Science - biology
Language - Green & Latin roots (aligns with biology)
Computer - check email, typing, game programming
Art - read the Proverb that corresponds to the date and draw one of the verses, clay sculpture, sketching
History - haven't plugged this in yet
Practical Living - happens whenever I have something to teach them. In addition, they occasionally head to work with hubby and help him out.
P.E. - walking, biking, bowling. We're looking into joining a martial arts class as a family.
Music - the Comedian is playing baritone again with a homeschool band

There are a couple of other things in the works. I usually don't start out with everything in the first few weeks. That's not intentional, but it seems to work out that way every year.

We usually break for lunch sometime after noon. We'll take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the day.

I think that's about it. Sometimes we wrap up a little early on Fridays to get together with some friends.

Be sure to check out the other posts and take a peek into a Day-In-The-Life of other homeschoolers.

School Room Week

Here we are Week #2 of Darcy's Not Back-to-School Blog Hop. The focus is on your school room. Where does school happen in your home?

At our house, it's pretty basic. Anytime the three of us are doing something together, we're either at the dining room table, or perhaps in the living room. When the boys work on their own, it's the dining room table, the living room, or the family room. There really isn't anywhere else to go, besides their bedrooms, and I mostly don't allow that. Legos, clay, and other assorted items call out in a much louder voice than school work.



I'm not sure why no one ever works on the patio. It's quite nice out there. Oh well, maybe I'll sneak out there.

P.S. What color should I paint that big white wall? The curtains on the far end of the dining room are hunter green. Any thoughts?

Some Thoughts on Homeschool

I can't believe we're about to begin our fifth year of homeschool! My word, it goes fast. Having not begun until 6th grade for each of our boys, my journey will only be a grand total of eight years (they're a year apart, grade-wise). In the beginning, I remember listening to people who'd homeschooled longer than me and thinking that I couldn't fathom being that far into this. It appeared much longer than it really is. I'm right at the half-way mark of this season of my life. Three more years with ClayGuy and four with the Comedian.

How I think homeschool should look - organized, attentive, and color-coordinated.

By the end of each year, I usually feel as if I did a pretty crummy job. Thus the Slacker Middle School references. Somehow, it's too often human nature (and maybe mom nature) to see the worst because we know what we should have or could have done. I only include others, because I've heard too many similar stories.

How homeschool usually looks!

Not to excuse my own poor choices, but one thing you learn quickly about homeschooling is that life still happens. And sometimes it impedes upon your school plans. The first year of homeschooling (2005-06), we moved out of our house of 11 1/2 years (October). I also had one child in public school and one home with me. Being my first homeschool year, I was just trying to find my way in this new phase of life. ClayGuy and I had both educational fun and serious tempers and head-butting. While moving didn't take the entire year, when things get off-track early on, it can be a challenge to recover that ground.

The second year (2006-07) brought my youngest son home. I was to discover that his learning style and perspectives are completely different than mine or ClayGuy's. That, in and of itself, presented some challenges. Add to that the oftentimes poor interaction between the two of them and my need to referee, and there were days when it seemed as if we did nothing more than deal with behavioral issues.

That year there was also an outside commitment that quickly became an over-commitment. I found myself entrenched in something that bumped homeschooling off the top of the priority list, which was incredibly frustrating and guilt-inducing.

In our third year (2007-08), we got off to a pretty decent start. Once we passed the holidays, however, we made the decision to start looking for a house to buy (part 1 and part 2). I have no idea how many houses we looked at, but we made seven offers. It was a long year. Of course, when you're planning to move, you also have to plan on packing. So in addition to school, regular life, and house hunting, I was now purging stuff (so we'd hopefully have less to move) and packing. We still had no contract going into summer, so this continued.

Our most recent year (2008-09) found us still house hunting and eventually moving in September. Obviously that does put a dent in the school plans. No matter how good your intentions are, they just don't pan out the way you anticipate. On a good note, I think my boys learned something about teamwork, lifting, moving, organizing, and such. Again, it didn't waylay the entire year, but it significantly altered life. In addition to getting out of the old house, there's so much to do when you arrive at the new house. And then the holidays arrive. And then you find that it's January and you're finally getting back on track.

I don't say this to be depressing or excuse away the times that I didn't do what I should have, but it's more a reminder that life will happen. I know there are others who had even more significant disruptions. But as I begin planning the upcoming school year (2009-10), I need to remember this. I need to schedule some downtime here and there. I need to cut myself a little slack sometimes, recognizing that not everything will go according to my plans. While that can be more than a little frustrating for a control freak like me, I am comforted by the fact that I know and serve the God who does have everything under control. He's not surprised by these life events. My future is safe in His hands. I need to not be stressed out when they happen, but trust in and seek Him and what He would have us do.

A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Proverb 16:9

Curriculum Week

My friend, Darcy of Life With My 3 Boybarians and Graphically Designing fame is hosting the Not Back-To-School Blog Hop. The basic scoop is that every Monday you post according to that week's theme. Sign the linky over at Darcy's site and then go see what everyone else had to share about the theme.

This week is Curriculum Week. Since I'm in the throes of planning for the upcoming year, the timing couldn't have been better. ClayGuy is 15 and the Comedian is 14 (10th & 9th grade, if you're into that kind of age-grade relationship). That does, however, mean high school. This added an extra layer of planning, because now I have to consider things like credits and requirements and such. In Colorado, the homeschool laws are fairly lenient, which is nice.

At this point in time, I don't know if either of the boys will attend college, but our high school curriculum has to account for the possibility. I'm using the book, High School @ Home - You Can Do It! by Diana Johnson as a guide to planning. I have to say that this book has been an enormous help. If you're nearing high school with your kids, I highly recommend it. A couple of other plugs - HSLDA's Homeschooling Through High School is incredibly helpful. Also, Lee Binz at The Home Scholar offers a wealth of information from someone who's been there, done that.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

Because my boys are only a year apart, I am not going to teach two separate science courses, history courses, language arts, etc. So they'll be working with the same curriculum at times, which is just fine. By the time they complete high school, each will have covered what he needs. So if you're looking at my plans thinking, "Isn't he supposed to do that when he's a freshman?" don't worry about it. It's one of the beauties of homeschool; you can make it work for your family.

Bible - We start each day by reading through the Bible together and discussing what was read. We will also be re-implementing prayer journals. I would also like to have the boys participate in a Bible study/devotional on their own where they can learn to study God's word on their own. Still praying about that.

Language Arts - Grammar & Composition III, Themes in Literature, and Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry by Abeka. Interestingly, as I was perusing language arts materials, I found that much of the same material is taught in middle school and high school, particularly when it comes to grammar, punctuation, and such structural matters.

Math - LifePac Algebra for ClayGuy and Keys to Algebra for the Comedian. The Comedian will actually be done with his series probably by the middle of the year. Then he'll be moving onto Geometry and the curriculum will be determined closer to that time. Keys also has a Key to Tracker online which provides your child with further assistance and tracking. Given that the Comedian loves anything computer related, I think this will be a bonus for him.

In case you're wondering . . . they have different math programs because they both learn it quite differently from each other. They also are fairly independent with math, asking for assistance as needed. They'll be doing similar work, though different books.

Science - We're using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology this year.

Greek/Latin - We began using Vocabulary Vine last year, but didn't complete the book, so we'll be finishing that up the first part of the year. I've also ordered Science Roots, as Dr Wile of Apologia says that it is "a valuable study tool" to go along with their Biology course.

History - We'll be picking up where we left off in Mystery of History. While it's geared for slightly younger kids, there are things that can be added to bump it up for older students.

The Comedian is going to bowl on a junior league again this fall. There'll be other P.E. for both of the boys, as well.

That pretty much covers the core areas for us. More will be added, such as computer game programming for the Comedian, driver's ed for ClayGuy (he has his permit), practical living skills, and art.

{p.s. - Since hubby has his own business now, he occasionally takes the boys out on jobs with him. So they get to learn about various aspects of RV service and such.}

Ticket Winners

Quick Edit - Spooky (Beckie) already won a ticket yesterday. So a new random number was generated - #1 Leslie

Congrats, Leslie!!

Now I'll send your information in for the conference.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Thank you to random.org for choosing the winners of the two tickets to next week's 2nd annual Heart of the Matter Online Parenting and Home Education Conference.

Congratulations to:

Spooky

&

Lisa!!

I will send your information to the gals at Heart of the Matter, so you should hear something from them soon. If not, please let me know and I'll follow up. Enjoy the conference!