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Is Our Family Still Homeschooling?

July 14, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Today seems like a good day to update you on whether or not our family is still homeschooling…

I’m not great at keeping you updated on life, and for good reason. Here’s a small scrapbook to show you what takes up our time and energy these days:

And oh yeah. Asa’s getting married next month!

When people ask me, “How many kids do you have?” I absurdly stutter around for several awkward seconds like a weird-y weirdo because I honestly don’t know how to answer.

The breakdown:

One of our foster babes went back to live with bio family, but he’s still with us three days a week and we still claim him as our own. We’re adding a daughter-in-law to the mix, and she totally counts as ours. Justus also has a serious girlfriend; she is our girl too. We currently have four foster daughters. We have four bio sons and two adopted sons. And there are at least 2o young adults/college students that come and go from our house regularly for food, laundry, and hugs.

So Laura. How many kids do you have?

I don’t know. 27?? 32?? Eighty-twelve??

Currently, though, I’ll go ahead and land on the number ten. That’s the official number as of today, which includes our bios, adopted, and fosters. Today, we have ten kids.

I guess I still haven’t answered the original question though:

Is our family still homeschooling?

The short answer is yes, we are. But also no, we aren’t. Eh?

I’ll explain.

About a year ago, I shared how God led us to put Brayden (our now 7 year old) in public school to help meet his many academic and emotional needs. Head here to read more about that.

How’s it going?

So, so well. Our public school in York is fantastic and is offering Brayden so much of what he needs right now. We are so thankful!

He will start 2nd grade there in August, and his 5yo sister (our foster daughter) will join him as a kindergartener.

Meanwhile, our 16yo Malachi will be doing a hybrid-type of schooling for his junior year. He’ll take two classes at our public school, which will allow him to participate in extra-curricular activities (soccer, tennis, show choir, one-act, and whatever else our extraverted child decides to become a part of). He’ll also take three college classes per semester this year to knock out as many dual credits as possible. And he’ll finish up any regular homeschool credits he needs to meet high school graduation requirements.

So technically, we’re still homeschooling Malachi. But really, we’re just guiding him through college courses and equipping him for adulthood.

But here’s the big truth about homeschooling:

We. Are. All. Doing. It.

Or at least we’d better all be doing it. Officially or unofficially.

No matter who is the main academic educator of your children, as parents, we are all and should be still teaching our kids. We teach them about loving and following Jesus first. We teach them about loving and serving people. We teach them to work hard and share and care and take turns. We teach them to put others before themselves. We teach them to be responsible and for goodness sake please take your dishes to the sink and your trash to the trash can.

And what else? We turn everything into a teaching opportunity. (Ok, not everything. Sometimes by the end of the day, I cop out with “good question I don’t know go brush your teeth” because my mouth is so very tired of talking to so many people all day long. I admit it.)

But (in the morning after I’ve had coffee) when my kids ask a question about the bug they find on the leaf outside, we have fun finding the answer (because there’s an app for that). When we scoop flour into the mixer, we count out loud. When we realize that every kid got to crack three eggs to help with breakfast, we add them all up to see how many that makes altogether.

I read books to them. They read books to me. They read books to themselves. We talk. We explore. We memorize scripture. We talk about budgets, money management, running a business, running a home, running for office, running a race, running for cover (tornado drill, anyone?).

You don’t have to be a homeschooler to homeschool.

Does this make sense? Call it whatever you want, but know the truth: You are your child’s teacher. You are their best teacher. Their first teacher. Their most important teacher – no matter who teaches them to sound out words or explains the finer points of Algebra (and shall we all now take a moment of silence to appreciate these professionals who pour into our kids so that we can avoid having to hurt our brains trying to understand exponential equations?).

Will our family ever homeschool again?

Again, we are still homeschooling. We’re just currently sending our younger kids to public school, and we are so grateful for this wonderful option for our family right now. ;)

But will we ever homeschool again in the traditional sense?

We’re waiting for God to tell us that answer.

Right now, we feel 100% confident that public school is necessary for our kids and also for me with all I am juggling (four kids ages two and under, court, caseworkers, baby’s medical needs and physical therapy, etc).

However, I also sometimes look at our shelf of books with longing. I look back at our years of homeschooling memories and I miss it.

But I also remember how much work it is. It was good, meaningful, worthwhile work, but it was hard work. And I don’t miss that right now. I don’t have the bandwidth to do it well right now. Our kids need more academically than I am able to give.

We are confident that God will make our kids’ educational needs clear in the coming months and years. So while we’re gratefully turning their academics over to the public school teachers, we’re still teaching them at home as God leads us to.

We hope you are too. No matter what educational route you’ve chosen for your family. :)

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Affordable Printable Curriculum for Families

August 8, 2019 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

We’ve been working hard this summer to put together more awesome, affordable, printable curriculum for families. You’ve seen some of these before. But look at all that’s new! Even if you don’t homeschool, you may want to use these for your family.

There’s so much for our kids to learn, but we believe in learning with a purpose. While reading, math, and geography are very important, nothing is more important than teaching our kids about our Creator and how to love and serve Him and others.

That’s why we continue to create simple, inexpensive printable curriculum options for our family and for yours. Learn academic basics together with a Kingdom focus!

It all started with our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve Pre-K curriculum. We taught our kids the alphabet and letter sounds by helping them learn to think of others and serve others. (Bake brownies for Bob on Bb week, etc!) The idea was so successful that we put it all into a huge, wonderful curriculum kit for you!

Then came some books that helped teach your kids to cook…

Then Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve and Learn Your Colors, Learn to Serve appeared:

Somewhere in there, we put together a super fun supplement to Charlotte’s Web (and this summer we recreated it to make it beautiful!!):

Along the way, we’ve put together many wonderful free and super inexpensive printable packets!

And last summer, we rolled out our Family Scripture Printables Pack:

THIS YEAR we’ve been working on several more brand new curriculum options that we want to use for our family and make available for yours too! Check out all that’s NEW!!

30 Journal Page Prompts

Have kids of all ages? This will work for all of you!! (See details here.)

Farming Fun Unit Studies

This one is geared toward kids in Pre-K through 1st grade, but as we all know, you can get older kids involved in discussion and research as your younger kids work through the simple and fun activities. (See details here.)

Travel the World, Experience the Creator

Your entire family can use this packet in some way as your younger students learn the basics and your older students go more in-depth. ALL of you can enjoy learning more about what scripture says about God’s wonderful earth and His plan for creation! (See details here.)

Fall Family Fun

Parents and kids of all ages get to enjoy this one together! Fall Family Fun is a printable book full of 40 pages worth of fall recipes, activities, games, and ways to serve. Study scriptures with a harvest focus, eat apple nachos, bake chocolate chip pumpkin bread, gather mittens for the homeless – you will love working through all these great ideas together!

Below you’ll find all of our wonderful curriculum options, and you can bet that we’ll keep adding as we keep creating!

Save 50%!

While our curriculum is already super affordable, for one week we’re going to give you a coupon worth 50% off if your order is $20 or more!

Buy any of the products below, and if your subtotal is $20 or more, you’ll receive 50% off when you use the code FAMILYLEARNING.

Don’t forget to grab the Dollar Deals and other great discounts in there while you’re at it!

Affordable Printable Curriculum for Families

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The coupon FAMILYLEARNING is good only on the products on this page. Happy shopping and learning!

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Gratituesday: Spring Formal, Spring Fever, Spring is Here!

April 28, 2014 by Laura 12 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

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This time of year is super full and super fun. The older the boys get, the busier our days are – especially in the spring (and also in the fall, winter and summer, so really, don’t listen to a thing I’m saying about this time of year being busier).

Speaking of the boys getting older, Asa (16.5 – a junior in high school) went to Spring Formal last weekend. We are so thankful the homeschoolers in this area put together such a wonderful event for our youth. Asa headed off for the evening with some of the greatest kids on this planet. What a blessing it is to have such good friends! Several of them came by afterward to hang out, eat pizza, and watch a movie. After all, why end the evening at midnight when you can stay up until 4 in the morning? We loved it!

asa's spring formal 2014 sm

Asa is back left, just in case you weren’t sure.  :)

There is a lot of excitement at our house this week because we’re hoping to officially wrap up our school year by Wednesday. We still have some books to read, and we’ll tackle some special projects we haven’t had time for, but THIS is the reason we begin our school year the first week of August. Just about the time we all have spring fever, we complete our math and English assignments! It’s been a great year, and the boys are excited to have almost all their subjects completed. Now they are doubling and tripling up on assignments in order to be completely finished in a few days. Can’t wait!

So what have you been up to? When will your school year be finished? Are you planting a garden this spring? We haven’t even started yet, although we do have asparagus and spinach coming up on its own. Awesomeness. :)

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Homeschoolers Always Never

March 19, 2014 by Laura 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Homeschoolers are brilliant, hard working, and mature. They always do well on standardized tests. They each play at least one musical instrument, beginning at the age of three. They can each speak at least two languages fluently. They always graduate early and become neurosurgeons at the age of 22. They always come from huge families.

Homeschoolers never get enough social interaction. They never have opportunities to participate in group projects or have class parties. They never eat Doritos.

Homeschoolers Always Never

I always cringe inside and I never feel like conversations like this build anyone up or glorify God. So can we stop with stereotypes and generalities already? Statements about what homeschooled kids always or never do is painful, ignorant, and downright silly. I’m not just talking about what those who “don’t get homeschooling” say. I’ve heard some of these statements from homeschooling families too.

Is it true that public schoolers always get into trouble, do drugs, disrespect their teachers, and slough off during high school? Of course not.  Just like there are all varieties of students in the public school – ranging from scholarly to bully to godly to needy to athletic to healthy to highly intelligent to drama queen – so it is with homeschoolers.

Can I tell you a homeschooling truth? Some students are only “average” (which, for the record, is defined as normal, typical, and common – and therefore nothing to be ashamed of). Some of them struggle to read and write. Some knock the socks off the ACT and other standardized tests, but some do not. Some are musically inclined, while some are completely tone deaf. Some love learning foreign languages and some barely master speaking the English language using complete sentences. (Like, yeah. I know right? Totally.)

Homeschooling does not ensure that kids will grow up to follow the Lord. Public schooling does not turn out robots. Homeschooling does not make kids anti-social. Public schooling does not provide more opportunities. Raising kids, no matter how you choose to do it, takes work, patience, and an immense trust and reliance on God – the One who created all of us uniquely for His glory. I am raising four boys in the same house, feeding them the same food, passing down jeans from one boy to the next, reading them the same books, teaching them the same math, and talking the same talk daily to all of them at the same time. Would you believe that all four of them are all very different in their talents, interests, learning styles, and personalities? I’m fairly certain that none of them have any interest in becoming a French speaking, cello playing, neurosurgeon. Thankfully, I realize that this doesn’t mean I have failed as a homeschool mom. I see their God-given talents shining in other ways.

Homeschoolers, public schoolers, private schoolers, adults, children, men, and women are individuals with unique talents, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Each one of us is always never anything less than God created us to be. Let us never make a generalized statement that might belittle that truth.

P.S. I thought it may be of interest to note that last night, our family ate a meal with a group of homeschoolers. We all shared a bag of Doritos.

 

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If You Give an Eight Year Old Boy a Math Lesson…

January 8, 2013 by Laura 60 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

malachis_bday_cake

If you give an eight year old boy a math lesson, he will sit right down without hesitation, work diligently without interruptions, and accurately complete the lesson in record time.

Yeah right.

Maybe that’s how it goes for your kids, but here’s how it occasionally goes at my house:

If you give an eight year old boy a math lesson, he will give you a confused look, then ask you where his math book is. You will tell him that it is (as always) in the basket with all of his other school books and that he needs to run get it quickly.

He will begin to run up the stairs to get the math book, but will see a Nerf bullet on one of the steps on his way up. He will stop, pick up the Nerf bullet, examine it, then fling it toward the glass doors at the top of the stairs. The bullet will miss the door, but will instead hit one of his brothers as he comes around the corner. The bullet will thus be flung back and forth between the brothers until you realize what is happening and remind the eight year old (and his brother) of the jobs they are supposed to be doing.

As the eight year old arrives back in the kitchen with his math book (yay!), you will ask him if he also got a pencil. He will reply by telling you that while he does have his new green pencil sharpener, he has no pencil and that he can not find a pencil anywhere and that we must not have any pencils anymore because they were all, obviously, eaten by aliens.

You will show him where there are (as always) forty two (give or take) pencils ready and waiting to be used. He will proceed to take way too long choosing a pencil and will finally, with much urging from you, find his spot in the kitchen and open his math book (by using “the force”).

He will complete two math problems right away because suddenly he is racing against the clock in true boy “everything is a competition” fashion. But then he will accidentally drop his pencil on the ground, where – look out! – the volcanic lava is about to bubble over. He will warn you to “step back” so that your legs are not engulfed by hot lava, and will then try to dangle from the kitchen stool without touching the floor to retrieve the pencil before anyone or anything is harmed.

Just as he almost rescues the pencil from danger, he will see that there is a bug crawling on the floor. Volcanic lava forgotten, he will grab his green pencil sharpener and work to capture the bug. After three to five attempts at this, he will manage to coax the bug into its new home where it will stay while the eight year old settles down, finds his groove, and finishes his math lesson (while giving his new pet an in-depth explanation of how to “carry the one” while adding double digits).

The end.

malachi_bug_3

malachi_bug_2

 

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Do You Have Time to Home School?

August 10, 2011 by Laura 112 Comments

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How do I find the time to home school my kids?

This is a question I’ve heard quite a bit recently from some who are considering home schooling – or from several who looked at our home school schedule for this year and felt overwhelmed.

Yikes, I sure didn’t mean to overwhelm anyone. Nor did I mean to make you picture me slaving away beside my children all day. I simply shared my schedule because many requested to see it, and because I personally needed to outline my day for the sake of my own organization.

What you need to know is that while we try to hold to this “ideal routine”, there is lots of wiggle room in there. I schedule in thirty minutes each day to read History/Geography to my two middle boys, but sometimes it only takes ten minutes of my time before they take off on their own to finish the lesson. Sprinkled all throughout our routine is plenty of dish washing, cooking, laundry folding and other household chores. I just school my kids around and during our daily life activities. And guess what? They are home to help me with these chores, which means I can actually accomplish more while we home school than if they were away at school!!! Mwoohaha – their laundry folding ability is the real reason I like having them home with me all day. (Not really.)  (Except that it really is nice.)

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I truly don’t believe that home schooling has created extra work in my life. Yes, it is work. Yes, I have to put forth the effort and spend dedicated time educating my children.

But I’ve been reading to and teaching my kids since they were newborns, and I didn’t consider that “home schooling”. I considered it parenting.

When our oldest son became a home schooled kindergartner, not much changed in our lives. We continued to read together and squeeze in all varieties of lessons and activities during the days, just like we had done before – working around nap times and meal times and play times and grocery store visits and all life activities.

I do have to schedule home schooling into my days, so that we can be more productive. But what I don’t have to schedule in? Getting my kids up and out the door with matching shoes and combed hair each morning by 8:00 (or earlier). Driving my kids to and from school. Preparing and packing lunches. Figuring out how to be a room mom (especially back when I had napping babies at home). And homework. When I hear my friends talk about how much time they spend helping their kids with homework at the end of each school day, I often think, “Wow – we spend the same amount of time (or less) on our entire school day.”

Because we’re so flexible and laid back about our home school routine – I actually consider my life to be quite “cushy” and easy compared to moms who have to get up at the crack of dawn to get their kids off to school, and stay up late with them finishing the reports and projects have to be turned in. I personally consider my home schooling life to be easier than the alternative, simply because I get to run the day the way I want to run the day.

So yes. I have time to home school, and it’s not because I have more hours in my day or more patience with my kids or more energy than any other mom. I am simply doing what I’ve always done with my kids – except for instead of reading books about shapes and gingerbread men and the little engine that could, we’re now reading about the constitution and the way a marsupial feeds its young.

I love it.

P.S. Did you know that you could fit twenty baby opossums onto a teaspoon? That’s how tiny they are when they are born before they crawl into their mama’s pouch to continue their development. We read about that just today. See how smart I’m getting to be?

This post was written in an effort to dispel some of the many misconceptions or fears people might have about taking on the task of home schooling. As with all my home school posts, my intention is to simply share my thoughts and offer encouragement – not to convince everyone that home schooling is the best and only way to educate your kids. You do what you do, and I’ll do what I’ll do and we’ll all do it to the glory of God!

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Homeschool Hubbub: How Can I Do This (Along with Everything Else I’m Doing)?

June 15, 2010 by Laura 32 Comments

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After reading this post entitled, Homeschool Hubbub:  Am I Qualified to Teach? Dani left this comment…

This post was so encouraging. However, I have an almost 5 year old, a three year old, and an almost one year old. Is it really possible for me to home school? I really want to, but I’ve gotta tell you I AM SCARED. There are just so many little kids around here. I feel like I can barely go to the bathroom. Scratch that. I can’t go to the bathroom. How can I do this?

I’m gonna venture to say that as the mom of little ones, you may actually find it easier to home school than finding time to go to the bathroom! Really…it’s true. 

When you already have umpteen things to do during the day and feel ragged and worn out, it’s hard to see how you could possibly add something like home schooling your children to your day. When in the world would you do it? What will you have to give up in order to home school? Will you have to sacrifice even more sleep to add something else in?

My kids were 5, 2 and 6-months when I first began to home school our oldest son. In two years, we added another baby to the mix. Our lives were busy, crazy and yes…it was hard to find time to go to the bathroom.

And yet, I don’t remember that adding home school to the schedule really threw me off very much. I was hanging out with the kids all day as it was. Now…I just turned some of that time into our school time. We were already reading books together…now we read our “school books”. We were already exploring new things together (because little ones can’t help but do that all day long!). Now I recognized it for what it was…education in it’s finest form.

“Formal” sit-down school time with a child in his/her first few years of school can really take up about thirty minutes to an hour each day…and that’s it. And…it doesn’t have to be consecutive time! School work time can take place in five minute snatches of time all day long.

In fact…the longer I do this home school thing, the more I realize that “formal education” is not always where all the education takes place anyway.

Life is learning…learning is life.

Our kids are learning during all of their waking hours. It is just up to us to help focus their time on learning things that they need to know in life (and about the One who gave us Life).

So, if you choose to home school…will every day be easy? No way. Will you accomplish everything you want to accomplish every day? Nope. Will you have days where you don’t even crack open a book all day long? Yep. Will you occasionally forget what day it is, lose the science book, break your favorite pencil, spill milk on the couch and want to run to your closet to hide and get away from it all? Sure.

But will you get to watch the light bulbs go on in your child’s head when he/she first learns to read? Will you get to watch them as they discover a brand new concept? Will you get to be the one who enjoys their silly little antics all day long? Oh yes.

And some days…sometimes…you will even make it to the bathroom.

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