Home Education

24
Aug

Homeschooling: How it looks in our family (Introduction)

August 24, 2010

I have gotten lots of questions about home schooling since beginning this blog (Do you think it has anything to do with the title? lol). With that in mind, I have been wanting to do a series on how homeschooling looks in our family. I just wasn’t sure how best to present it. With school beginning just around the corner, I have decided to just dive in and take it one child at a time. Starting with how I’ve changed as their teacher, I’ll then be following “age order” from oldest to youngest in each post, giving an overview of each of the kids’ unique needs & the materials we use.

Keep in mind that for us, this will be our 10th year as homeschoolers. We’ve weathered lots of ups and downs. I think the best thing I am able to share is that each family has its own unique make-up and what works for us may not be the best thing for any other family.

As always, feel free to e-mail or comment with questions, or better yet tips if you’ve got ’em!

2 Comments

28
May

Everyday Randomness

May 28, 2010

I know random is the tween catch all descriptive, but these days it just fits our lives. So, in an effort to catch up on my blogging before our big adventure begins, here goes…

“I guess we’re all done training wheels in this house…” Said by Steve. Reason enough for both of us to pause momentarily and feel a little nostalgic. Grace and Garnet have officially figured out how to ride their two-wheelers. We tried and tried to help them (including several on and off manoeuvres with the training wheels) and then one day they both took it upon themselves to figure out how to balance and pedal fast. Braking came next. Only a few band aids later and there has been no turning back. The two of them are a force to be reckoned with when they work together!

Happy Birthday Grandma! The family put on a fun weekend for my Mom’s big birthday a couple of weekends ago. The weather was beautiful. The cousins were happy and had a tremendous time playing and dousing Grandma with water balloons. Other than a smoky restaurant and a few shrill chirps from a smoke alarm, the whole weekend was beautiful. A great family time for us to come together and celebrate with our much loved Mom / Grandma.

6 months with our Grace Yes, this should warrant its own post. And yet, when the day passed we were together celebrating Grandma’s birthday weekend. She was just one of the grandkids. Her English is blossoming. Her accent and slightly husky voice is charming. She had the chance to sit on her Grandma’s lap a whole lot and play with the amazing contents of Grandma’s purse on more than one occasion. She ate ice cream twice in two days (something she tells me,“I no have this in Chwina. Never, never in Chwina.”). And I think that sums up how she is doing quite nicely don’t you think?

School’s Out Yes folks, we made it. Our first school year with four at home. It has been a defining year for each of our kids in one way or another and I am so incredibly proud of my kids. Really. They all outdid themselves.

Our patio. This was our first experience hiring a contractor to do work. It’s been educational and overall I think the patio itself is a vast improvement over our ill placed, overgrown trees and dead, patchy grass. It was just poured today, so we’ll get to enjoy it more fully when we return from our big adventure.

End of an Era – Goodbye Ayi Sherri Garnet has been attending Sherri’s preschool for two afternoons a week since shortly after coming home. This was a huge deal for us. We had committed wholeheartedly to homeschooling our older two kids. We had absorbed much material on building healthy attachments. So when our little man came home from from China, we were all set to carry on as planned. God used a few well placed observations by some foks who didn’t even know Garnet to soften my spirit. Sherri was referred to us by a friend of my sister-in-law and after speaking with her on the phone I was amazed at the peace I sensed. God used Sherri in so many ways to not only help Garnet learn, but also to develop trust and relationships in a safe testing ground. As I wrote in the front of the Curious George book we gave her, “Sherri, you have been such an encouragement to our entire family…” We’ll miss her very much!

Faith’s Year End Dance Production Months and months of tapping around our house are about to be displayed for all her adoring fans grandparents to see. Yes, the year end production is set to begin tomorrow. She’s braved blocking and dress rehearsal and is now catching some beauty rest before the big day. We can’t wait to applaud our girl. Way to go Faith!

Our Big Family Adventure (And yes we have housesitters – just in case anyone out there is getting any funny ideas about an empty house! lol) We are heading out in a few days and taking a long road trip. We’ll be camping some. Doing some touristy things. Spending lots and lots of time squished together in small confined spaces. And you know what? I can’t wait! There will definitely be those tense moments that always happen on a trip like this, but we sort of planned it that way. Life since returning home with Grace has been its normal full, busy, packed, crazy self. Lessons and activities and work and friends and church and therapy and medical appointments and volunteering are all great things, but they leave little wiggle room for working out some of the issues that crop up more readily under the pressure cooker of 3 weeks together on our own without distractions. So, I’m excited! I know God has some big growth planned for all of us and I’m ready for a fresh breeze straight from Heaven.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 This is the verse that God has really been speaking to my heart about the last couple of weeks. I won’t kid you that I have been quite exhausted for some time. Health issues and life, not to mention adding a spunky new seven year old to the mix can be physically and emotionally wearing. When I think to myself that I simply can not step up and be consistent, be a translator, be a mediator, be an instructor, be a mentor, be an advocate one more time, He reminds me of this verse and speaks it to my deepest soul. May I offer His encouragement to you as well?

I’ll update if I get the chance. We’ll have a laptop along, but Steve’ll be keeping up with the goings on at work, so my computer quota may be limited. Take care everyone!

4 Comments

30
Apr

Decisions, decisions

April 30, 2010

We are in the midst of our annual two day homeschool convention.

I so look forward to going every year. It’s so affirming to literally walk amongst a large group of like minded families. The kids have their own mini, Christ centered educational camp. The youth have workshops and receive hands on teaching from a number of the keynote speakers from the adult conference. And Stephen and I have a chance to share a tea and puruse great books, seek out direction for our next year and take stock of how the past year has gone.

This year has been challenging in a new way though. Last year I remember being curious as to where the kids would be at, particularly our newest addition. What would she know already? What would her interest bent be? What is her learning style? How quickly would her language be at a level that we could move beyond the basics to all the fun projects, etc.

And here we are. One year later and still many questions.

I shouldn’t be surprised about this. Each year brings new questions regarding the next year’s direction. In many ways I enjoy the discoveries we make and the ways that we tweak their learning paths. But, yet again, I am reminded that my family is not the “norm”. Is there a norm? You know, I never thought so, but somehow the reactions from others suggests to me that there must be.

Each vendor booth at the curriculum market makes me think this when they begin searching for details about our kids in order to begin to narrow down what they might be able to sell us offer us for the benefit of all of our children’s educational goals.

They begin by asking our children’s ages and genders. This is followed by questions to gain an understanding of what they have studied prior to this. Sometime soon after this we find it necessary to divulge just enough about our kids that they begin to visualize the specific needs of each of our four and then they begin to either:

a. Scratch their heads.

b. Look at us in disbelief.

c. Begin to convince us that no matter the wide variations in our children’s learning needs and backgrounds, theirs is the o.n.l.y. curriculum that will not only gain our children entrance into an elite university of their choice, but do it while allowing me to have time to catch up on my housekeeping, pursue a degree of my own and gain back all the blonde hairs I’ve been trading for grey as of late.

Anyway, we seem to pose a bit of a problem to others. We don’t fit into a neat and tidy little curricula box.

And I like that about us.

I think it is what makes our family just that – our family.

Over the years it used to stress me out a lot more than it has today and I am really thankful that He’s brought me out of that dark and weary land of curricula chasing and into a new era of realizing that He knows what my kids need and box or no box, I’m the woman He’s chosen to use in their lives to bring them into closer awareness of their part in His – story.

Did I mention that I think I have the best job I could ever imagine myself doing?

(This is not the job I dreamed of, but He knew better. Anyway, that’s a post for another day.)

So, tonight I pore over catalogues, click through the review sites, fill in my spreadsheets and pray and ask for wisdom. He knows my kids intimately. After all, I am only a tool in my Potter’s hands.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In another answer to a prayer I prayed many years ago, we were able to meet with the Independent Graduation Counselor from our school of registration. In our province it is widely expected that students will enroll in the publically funded distance learning programs, as a home edcuated, Ministry of Education supervised student. The family will receive a portion of the funds allotted to that student and by completing the required provincial outcomes, that student will receive a highschool diploma. It is assumed that a teen will need the diploma to enter a program of further study at a college or university.

However…

After meeting with the Grad Counselor, we have been told that by collecting samples of the work that our kids complete along the way, the school will approve that an appropriate level of work has been maintained (an informal rather than formal evaluation). The school in turn will create a completion transcript for the student and recommend to the admissions counselor that the student be given entrance into the college or university. The only requirement for entrance beyond the transcript? An English placement exam that is designed for English Language Learners and for which there are numerous online samples and ministry supplied preparation materials.

He directed our steps in this when so many of our peers have gone the mainstream route. We have been going on faith that God would be faithful as we headed down the unknown path. And today He showed us His faithfulness in the flesh.

I’m so thankful.

6 Comments

15
Apr

6 weeks + 2 days until…

April 15, 2010

Summer Vacation!

And this year, the teacher is possibly more excited than the students.

Oh, okay. So I feel this way every Spring. 😉

I am so amazed at how the kids have grown in their ability to learn and perhaps even more amazed at the fact that *I* have grown as their teacher.

Perhaps after 10 years of home educating my kiddos I am finally finding my groove.

I guess we’ll see.

After all, we still have 6 weeks + 2 days left. LOL

The flags are something spontaneous Faith drew about 3 years ago and I love them so much that I have never taken them down. The rings are our weekly countdown that we use to motivate ourselves through our formal book work. See? I have proof that we are nearing the end of this school year! Some of the kids are getting concerned about finishing and others think it isn’t moving fast enough. Any guesses on which kids fall in which group?