2012 school year off to a great start...

With the new school year starting I've been interested to see people also interested in home education.  I've had the privilege of helping a few make the decision and transition to this lifestyle.  I hope many more will make this decision and that moms will choose to stay home with their kids if possible financially or take on the task of teaching their kids if they already are "stay-at-home".

One lady who I've assisted is a certified teacher who taught 'at-risk' kids.  She wanted to develop her child academically because the private school was not doing an adequate job.  The teacher was rude and overbearing to her daughter so mom & dad pulled her out.  (Children who are stressed are not going to learn at full potential.) I had the opportunity to home school her daughter, along with my children, until the current school year was out, and she could resign properly.  My new friend saw the value of a mom teaching her child at the kitchen table and out-of-doors.  She saw the value of ensuring she knows basic facts and figures and can think critically on her own.  She saw the value of ensuring her child is at the proper reading level.  My friend saw the value of showing her how to come up with solutions beyond simple "yes" and "no" answers.  My friend wanted to influence her child instead of rushing around trying to accomplish more than is humanly possible while doing an excellent job at each role. She decided motherhood and educating her child was worth the 'excellence'.  We discussed home cooked meals and having dinner on the table when dad gets home.  We discussed rearing a child who is responsible to make correct decisions and has values similar to her parents!  These thoughts and value systems cannot be established easily - especially if the child is learning a separate set of values (or a compromised set of values) when they are away at school.

Field trip to Honeysuckle Hill Gardens / Kids are in a Bamboo Maze

The second sweet lady is a nurse.  She has taken on extra shifts since her husband is currently out of work.  These parents want the best education for their kids.  At the same time, mom wants to be there for them all the time.  She wants to be "mom"!  This sweet lady sacrificed working extra so she could pay me to home educate her kids.  She felt unsure of the process of homeschooling, and thought that she had no option but to work more....and pay.  I sat down with mom and dad to discuss how homeschooling would look at my house. We went over spelling lists, online math programs, grammar books, reading lists, home school requirements, and a schedule.  I was so happy to have them.  After two weeks and seeing what the kids were experiencing at my house, she got the fever to learn to home school for herself.  She quit her second job and will cut back hours so she can be the major influence of her children!  I'm so excited for her.  I know what she has to look forward to each day.  She will look forward to the spark of her child learning his multiplication tables, about George Washington, or hearing her child say, "What are we doing for science today?  I love science!"  Her child actually told me he loved math last week!  That is because we incorporate math together time where we learn counting $$, story problems, telling time (which another friend said her public school 5th grader could not yet do), cuisenaire rods, and graphs.  After this together time, the kids break out into their own level of work.  I will miss them coming to my house!

Reading quality books and Ranger Rick or Highlights magazines during 'centers'

Another accomplished mom, who is a counselor and a long time friend, was concerned that her daughter was going to 'learn' to not love learning anymore.  After second grade this precious girl loved school, but her mom was seeing issues that led her to believe homeschooling would be a better option.  She wanted to foster a love for learning that surpasses middle school (when the love for pure learning usually fades).  Mom wanted to make sure she had the right type of learning - fun learning that is meaningful, not busy!  This mother also wanted to see that her daughter received the one-on-one time in daily reading.  She wanted to have her read on her own, act out plays, write for fun, and enjoy stories for their educational value too.  Sometimes the readers at school have no real meaning or value beyond a story - fantasy....(which is OK occasionally).  We read stories that teach character, history, science or other fields.  Her daughter is having such a great time with my girls!  I home educate her and can see the desire to learn increasing; she talks about how much she loves school.  We had a lesson on George Washington and learned about Mt. Vernon as well.  The next day she brought a book for us to see all about Mt. Vernon.  She could explain to me every picture in the book.  She was so excited that she inspired the other kids to look at the book with her.  I sat back while she taught the others!

Centers - learning about geography / other cultures...

Creating a model floor plan of Mt. Vernon out of shapes; they did this on their own - not as an assignment!

There are many more stories that I've heard about regarding homeschooling; however, these are the dearest to my heart, because I had the privilege of assisting in their home school journey....