We have been homeschooling since Hannah was born. We started researching
it before she was born. Let me tell you, there is a lot of information
out there on homeshooling! We hope this page will give you an idea of what
we do and what our days are like. Be sure to visit the Homeschool Links
page where you'll find some great links we have found useful.
First off, let me tell you that homeschooling is not for everyone. We are
not against the public or private school systems. We believe this is what
God would have us do for now. We will continue to homeschool as long as
we believe and feel it is what He wants us to do. Pray about it,
and then decide as a family if it is what you believe you are being called
to do. Homeschooling is not an easy task, but is a wonderful
experience. If you are not a very organized person, or a very
disciplined person, homeschooling may not be for you. It must be
supported from all. This can't be a decision of one parent and not the
other. Again, pray about it before jumping in full throttle.
We homeschool for several reasons. The main and most important is that we feel called to
homeschool. We feel that God wants us to homeschool and we feel that we would be
sinning against God if we didn't. Homeschooling is a way of life around here.
Anything and everything can be turned into a "schooling" experience. We
don't always call it school, or say, "We're schooling now while fixing
dinner", but we use as many activities as we can to teach our children.
Doesn't sound much different than what you do at home already? It might
not be that different. Learning begins at home from birth. We teach our
children so much from the beginning that teaching them to read and do
their math is just an added bonus, to us. Watching Hannah first learn
to read was so exciting and rewarding at the same time. Rewarding
in that we taught her; exciting in that we wouldn't have missed
it for the world. We were together when she learned, we've watched her
progress, we've watched her struggle some, but we've also watched her
smile and radiate as she realized that she read it! Such a beautiful
experience and we're beginning to watch it in Rebekkah. We look forward to it with
each child.
We homeschool using
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.. I would encourage you to visit their
websight to see if Sonlight is for you. They have many discussion
forums, an eight-week, risk-free trial of their basic curriculum, and
an online catalog. Just as homeschooling isn't for everyone, Sonlight
isn't for everyone. We like Sonlight for several reasons. One of the
main reasons being that they have a teacher's schedule with all of their
curriculum. Having four children, I don't really have the kind of time to sit down and write
a schedule each day or even each week for each subject. With Sonlight,
it's all done for me! And the cool thing about that, too, is that I can
pick and choose which lessons I want to do ~ one of the joys of homeschooling. I usually
always do all the
lessons, but some days I don't find it necessary to do them all, or I
might find one that I think is too difficult for the kids and they are
not ready for it yet. Use your judgement and pray about it. That's one
of the really cool things about homeschooling--you can pick your course
of curriculum, but you can also pick your lessons.
One of the other
main reasons we like Sonlight is because it is a literature based
curriculum. The science and history/geography use literature books for
many of the lessons, there is a daily Bible reading and there are many read-a-louds.
Sonlight is a curriculum that brings you together. You spend much time
together reading and talking about what you've just read. Sonlight also
helps your children get an understanding of other cultures and countries.
For instance, in first grade, Hannah learned about many different
peoples who don't have the Bible in their own language. We read about
them and prayed for them each week. This year we are using a book called Window on the World.
It discusses different people groups and then tells how we can pray for them. Hannah and
Rebekkah really enjoy learning
about these people, seeing on the map where they live, and praying for them. What an awesome
opportunity to foster compassion for other people in your kids!
These are just some of the reasons we like Sonlight. Again, Sonlight is
not for everyone. Visit their website to find out if Sonlight is for you and your
family.
As for our day and how it goes, where do we fit schooling into the day,
how do we get everything else done around the house? Here's an example
of our homeschooling day.
| 8:00 AM |
Rise and Shine
Time to get the kids up! |
| until 10:00 AM |
Breakfast, baths, getting dressed,
the kids' chores and starting the laundry. |
| 10:00-12:00 |
School! |
| 12:00 PM |
Lunch |
| until about 5:00 PM |
We finish up school that didn't get finished in the morning hours. Usually only math
needs finishing for Hannah. Then we finish laundry and other chores, do crafts some days,
and much playing, etc. |
As you can see, homeschooling fits right into the day. Hannah is in second grade now and
Rebekkah is in Kindergarten. Sarah and Joshua are doing Preschool work. The really neat thing
about schooling more than one not too far apart in ages is that you can use some
of the same curriculum with all the kids. Like with Hannah and Rebekkah
right now, Rebekkah does Science and History with Hannah. All the kids listen in on
Hannah's Bible time and read-a-louds. They love it. It may be a little above their heads
on some of it, but
you'd be surprised what they retain! With more children, the main things
to cater to their age is the reading and math. The older the kids get,
the more they can begin doing on their own, with a little less supervision.
Another thing to consider is getting involved with a homeschool group. We are a part of the
Peninsula Vineyard Homschool
Group. We have monthly meetings, Mom's Nights Out, craft days, community outreach, field
trips, and park days. The Support Group is a wonderful way for the kids to fellowship with
other homeschoolers and a great way for you to have some adult interaction. Find a support
group near you!
Homeschooling has been wonderful for us. I'm not going to kid you...there are days it's rough
or days we don't feel like doing school, but that's the joy of schooling at home. We can pick
our own holidays and days off. Sometimes I just need a teacher work day to catch up on some
things around the house. We school all year long, taking breaks when we need them, so taking
a teacher work day every now and then doesn't hurt. On days when Daddy is home from work, we
usually take the day off. (But a lot of those days we're going to museums and such...so school
gets done anyway.) Just be sure to check your State's laws
on homeschooling. Some states require a certain number of days of attendance per year.
We hope this has helped you some
in deciding if homeschooling is for you. Feel free to email us if you
have any questions and be sure to visit our homeschool links page. Thank
you for visiting and have a blessed day!
