Thinking About Homeschooling?

I've been dragging my feet at writing this post. Not because I don't want to share my homeschooling experiences with you, because I do! But there's just so much that goes into homeschooling. It's hard to get it all out in one place. I hardly feel like I'm qualified to offer advice, as I'm still asking other "veteran" homeschooling moms questions all the time. So, I'm going to do my best to share what I can from my own experiences and try not to overwhelm you. Because if I'm being honest,  homeschooling is a lot.

Ok, so you’re thinking about homeschooling! You never ever thought you’d be that mom, did you?! [Neither did I!] It's funny how different things in life can bring you to places where you never thought you would be and thinking about things that you never thought you'd even consider.

Most people think homeschooling is weird. Homeschooling moms are really weird. And homeschooled kids are definitely weird. Am I right?! Honestly, this is the way that I used to think. I mean, I was a public school teacher! Why wouldn’t they want to send their kids to school? Well, as you are now seeing for yourself, there are a lot of different reasons. Right now there are more people considering homeschooling their kids than ever before, and you all have your own reasons.

I'm not going to get into what's going on in the world right now. There's no need for that here. We all are very well aware. What I am going to do is share some helpful things that I've learned over the three years of homeschooling that we have completed as a family.

And I will also say before getting too deep into all this, that this is not an easy job. I went into it thinking it would be all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns. It's not. It's hard. It's hard to be mom and teacher. And chef. And house cleaner. And baby caretaker. And all the other things. And one thing that I hadn't really thought through before starting homeschooling, was how much it would change my life. And by that I mean that I went from being a stay at home mom with a somewhat flexible schedule, to basically working full time as a teacher at home. No more play dates for the little ones. No more late morning grocery trips. No more coffee dates or playgroups with friends. That was hard. Giving up a lot of flexibility to make sure the schooling got done.



Ok, now we can talk about the logistics.

Our Homeschool "Why"
First of all, you're probably wondering why we chose to homeschool our kids years ago. All I can really say to that is that I felt called and convicted to do it. I prayed about it a lot. It wasn't my plan. I actually tried to pray out of it, but clearly that didn't work. Before having kids, I was a public high school teacher. I graduated with my Masters in Education weeks before finding out I was pregnant with my first baby. My plan was to be a teacher and a mom. I hadn't even planned on being a stay at home mom. And I never thought that God would lead me down the path that He did. I sent my oldest to our local public school for a year and the whole time she was there, there were many different things that happened, but there was a small & steady voice that just kept telling me to bring her back home and teach her at home. It got to the point that I couldn't deny it, so we embarked on our homeschool journey. And I fully anticipate that the same small voice will make it clear when it's time for us to end our homeschool journey.

Along with the calling & conviction there are some other big reasons we chose to homeschool. We wanted our children to be able to have their faith interwoven with their education and be taught with a Biblical worldview. We hope that we can give them a strong faith base to bring out into the world one day. These things may not be important to others, but to us, they are important. We also wanted more time with our children. More time together as a family. A more flexible schedule. More time to play outside and explore nature. And the ability to move through material at a pace that works for each child, whether that be quickly or slowly. These are just some of the big reasons that we chose to homeschool.

There are a few other more logistical reasons though. As many of you know, we lived in a two bedroom condo for almost 10 years. We had 4 kids in that condo! We talked about moving for many years. We never thought we'd be living there for as long as we were, but God had his own plans. We also didn't know where our forever home would be. We didn't want to limit ourselves to a home in a single town because we were invested in the school system. Homeschooling gave us the flexibility to find the right home at the right time in the right place and to move easily. We didn't need to limit ourselves to moving based on the school schedule, we could move anytime. And that we did! And that story will come later ;)

And I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the baby & toddler factors. They factored in to the decision too. Before the pandemic, I was generally on my own managing the kids and their schedules. My husband was gone from approximately 6 am - 6 pm every day. Managing the kids & getting them all ready & getting out the door & the schedules & the drop offs & pick ups & bus times & babies & naps all on my own was a lot. A real lot. The bus stop was out of sight from our house, so that just added to the stress of getting there and having sleeping babies, or having to wake babies. Homeschooling let us school on our schedule and that could be adapted to the baby.

Your "Why" is important. You need to figure this out before you really start digging into different curriculum, because it could affect the decision.

What to Teach?
As a homeschooling family, ultimately, you decide what you want your children to learn. You are the master of the curriculum. The state [at least in Massachusetts] does not tell you what you need to teach your children when you homeschool them. It is up to you. You submit your intent/request & curriculum plan to your town's superintendent's office for approval. They will either approve or deny your plan. [I've always had my plans approved easily.] This should be a written letter with a detailed outline of your curriculum plan [i.e. what you plan to cover in each subject that year.]

For more guidance on getting started and the homeschool laws in your state, check out the Homeschool Legal Defense site: https://hslda.org/

There is often a lot of confusion and overwhelm in getting started though. There is so much to learn! How do you pick & choose? Again, this is where your "Why" comes in to play. Why are you homeschooling? To keep pace with public school but be at home on your own schedule? Ok, then cater your curriculum to that so that it addresses & meets the same standards as the public school. Are you homeschooling to slow down and have your children enjoy learning more? Cater to that. Do you want nature to be a big part of their learning? Do you want to read a lot of books? Do you want them to be doing workbooks? Memorization? All things to consider in picking a curriculum.

For me, I knew that I needed a plan. I needed a curriculum that laid it all out for me and gave me a day-by-day plan. I needed them to recommend what subjects I should be teaching and how many days a week. I also knew that the teacher in me wanted to be teaching my children. I wanted to be an active part of their learning. I didn't want to be just a guide on the side while they watched DVD's or sat in front of a computer screen. Not that there is anything wrong with those! It's just not the vision we had for our family in homeschooling. This is why I went with what's called a "boxed curriculum." There are a few different ones available.

We chose to go with My Father's World. I had friends recommend it and it checked a few of our "Why" boxes - teaches a Biblical worldview, has Bible study & scripture memorization woven in, the weeks are all planned out for the teacher, I get to be the teacher and learn alongside them, AND it kind of teaches in unit studies, meaning that the subjects overlap and connect with one another.

You can check out My Father's World here: https://www.mfwbooks.com/


What "School" of Homeschool?
If you've been doing any research on homeschooling methods and schools of thought, some of this might sound familiar. If not, that's ok. There are several "schools" for homeschooling methods. They overlap in some ways, but in some ways they are very distinctly separate. Deciding on a specific "school" also goes back to your "why." And also, you don't have to stick to one school of thought! You can mix it up and teach from multiple schools. It's your homeschool, so you can pick what works best for you and you can even vary by subject.

The schools of thought that I'm referring to are Traditionalist, Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unit Studies, Distance Learning, Unschooling, and more. To find which school you most align with , you can take this little quiz: https://homeschoolon.com/the-homeschool-style-quiz/

This was something that was confusing & overwhelming for me as I began our homeschool journey. I didn't know where I belonged and I thought that I had to know. I knew people who were following a couple different schools of thought and I just couldn't fully identify with their styles of learning. It was hard for me to find a good fit. I thought I had to belong to one. What I didn't realize was that it's ok to be a mix! As time has gone on and I've found what works for us, what we need, and what my kids' strengths are, I've been able to discover what my my school of thought really is. I'm mostly Traditionalist with some Classical and a tiny bit of Charlotte Mason. None of this is all that surprising, considering I was a public school teacher ;)

What Curriculum Do I Use?
I really only feel qualified to talk about what we've used and liked , and not other curriculum. As I mentioned earlier, we primarily use the My Father's World curriculum and that covers our Bible, History, Geography, Science, Music & Art [Music & Art aren't very rigorous.] For Math we have used Christian Light, but I am also looking into another option for this coming year. For Phonics/Reading, I have used Explode the Code & Beyond the Code. For Language Arts I have used Christian Light. For Handwriting I have used Handwriting Without Tears. Those are the main sources we have pulled resources from. Below, you'll find links to their sites to check out more.

My Father's World: https://www.mfwbooks.com/

Christian Light Education: https://www.clp.org/christian_light_education

Explode the Code: https://www.explodethecode.com/

Handwriting Without Tears: https://www.lwtears.com/


Other Curriculum Resources
Here are some other curriculum resources that are not listed above. These are sites that may be helpful. Some of them I've poked around on before and use some of the things offered. I've referred to these places for additional supplements & support.

Starfall: https://www.starfall.com/h/ - We use this for a lot of preschool and pre-k learning. Totally worth the $35 per year subscription! My preschooler can go and do some of their "school" on the ipad while I have some teaching time with the older kids.

Read Aloud Revival: https://readaloudrevival.com/ - We read books aloud all the time. Even before homeschooling, reading was a big part of our day. This site is a homeschooling mom who is passionate about books and reading. Lots of lists of books for different ages, seasons, etc.

Salsa Spanish: https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/salsa-spanish-for-children/ - I'm teaching my kids some basic Spanish. They took a weekly private Spanish class last year, but we've decided to try it at home this year. I'll be using these videos and resources as well as some grade level workbooks.

YouTube: There are soooo many videoes for so many subjects that you can find on YouTube! I have different folders with videos for different subjects and age levels. We use it to supplement whatever we are learning at the time.

Christianbook: https://www.christianbook.com/ - This is a great place for homeschool curriculum and resources! I've found many curriculum items to be less expensive here than other sites. Check here first!

Usborne Books: https://n6507.myubam.com - We use Usborne books A LOT! Our curriculum actually uses a lot of them as the main resources. We love them and learn so much from them. [This is my friend's personal site, she's a rep!]
Health Education from a Christian perspective: https://www.tyndale.com/authors/brenna-jones/2994

eBay: I get a lot of my curriculum resources secondhand in eBay. It helps to keep our budget in check.

What a Typical Day Looks Like
As I mentioned earlier, a large part of our schooling has been catered to the baby and toddler the past couple of years. We do as much school as we can when they are sleeping in late in the morning or napping. As well as doing it during other parts of the day. We also moved during this school year. Selling & buying a house during a global pandemic with 4 young kids and not much help is no easy task, so our schedule had to be flexible around that too. As we settled into the new house and got our rhythms, we did start to fall into a bit more of a schedule and routine, so that is my plan for this coming school year.

7:00 - 8:00 - Wake up & eat & play

8:00 - 8:30 - Shower, get dressed, brush teeth 

8:30 - 9:00 - Morning school time with mom at the table (Bible lesson, scripture memorization, calendar, daily questions, mini journal entry, art study, notebooks)  Macy uses iPad to do Starfall

9:00 - 10:30 - Abby & Bryce work independently on Math, Language Arts, Spanish, with mom’s help as needed. Macy plays and does a few pages of her workbooks. Joshua is entertained in any way that is possible. 

10:30 - 11:00 - Morning chores (Make beds & pick up rooms if needed, unload & load dishwasher, fold & put away laundry)

11:00 - 11:30 - Snack & Hymn study 

11:30 - 12:30 - Play outside (Physical Education)

12:30 - Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 - Abby & Bryce read, listen to audio books or watch a video that goes along with what we're learning while mom gets little two in for nap & rest time. Reading may be assigned or free based on the day. 

2:00 - 3:00 - Mom does Science, History & Geography with Abby & Bryce together while little two nap (MFW curriculum allows me to teach them together for these subjects)

3:00 - 4:00 - Free time for Abby & Bryce while little two still nap/rest - TV time & Messenger kids time - Free/Work time for mom

4:00 - 5:00 - Play outside

5:00 - 6:00 - Dinner Prep & Dinner

Not every day goes as planned. Not every day stays on schedule. With little ones, things are very unpredictable, so we just have to be flexible! And if you were looking for the solution to keeping toddlers entertained, sorry, you won't find that here. I'm still trying to figure it out and working on it all the time! I have found though, that they like to be involved with everyone else's learning. They often join us at the table and color while we do school work.

Abby will also need to find time during the week to complete her weekly assignments for her co-op classes.

What Does Preschool/Pre-K Look Like?
To be honest, this is the first time I'll be teaching Pre-K at home! We sent the older two kids to Little Lambs Preschool, but that's no longer open and also the world right now... So, at home it is! What I learned from the older two kids going to Little Lambs, was that there was a lot of play-based learning going on. Kids learn so much through play. So we'll be doing just that! She also loves to do arts & crafts, so I'll provide her with lots of supplies and let her create what she wants. I'll read a few books to her each day, we'll do puzzles and other learning games and we'll work through some workbooks that go over each letter and its sound for some early phonics and pre-reading.

Socialization
This is the biggest thing that is brought up when talking about homeschooling kids. How can/will they be socialized? I’ll admit, it’s not always the easiest thing, but we’ve found ways that work for us over the years. Are they with kids every day? No. But we have a lot of family time and there are four kids here, so they get all that sibling socializing! And my older two kids are so great with the younger two. It’s really sweet to watch them sometimes. 

We have tried out a couple of homeschool co-op groups at different area churches over the years. None were very local to us, they usually involved about a 30 minute drive, and that just made it harder to connect outside of the group. They also rely on the homeschool moms to help run the co-ops. Moms teach classes, watch babies in the nursery, etc. This was hard for me to balance. When I have a baby who only wants me and doesn’t want to go into the nursery or we’re at co-op during a nap time, I’m stuck dealing with cranky baby and trying to volunteer. It’s not easy! I realized we just couldn’t do those full family co-op groups with little ones. I had my hands full enough already to try to balance that.

Our solution has been drop-off homeschool co-op classes. It’s like private tutoring for large groups. It’s been so so great. I don’t have to volunteer (we pay tuition), the kids get experience in a classroom-like setting and they get to see & socialize with other kids one day a week. We have loved these classes and will do the 30 minute drive for all of the great things that have come out of them! 

We have also tried to make sure our kids are very involved in our church’s children’s programming (when it takes place). They see friends here & make friends here and learn a lot too. They’re also involved in Cub Scouts & Brownies as well as gymnastics. We’ve tried out some town sports and will likely try out more. We’ve also done different sessions of art classes. We try not to overload their schedules for the sanity & well-being of all of us, but we want them to have a balance. 

Where to Start?If you’ve read this far, you’re amazing! You’re really wanting to know more and do this! So here are some starting points:1. Determine your “why”2. Let your “why” help you to pick your curriculum (figuring out what school of thought you most align with may help with this!)3. Write a letter to the superintendent of your town telling them of your intent to homeschool and detail your curriculum outline for each child4. Breathe & pray for wisdom. You CAN do this!

Stay Tuned...If you’re local to me and you do decide to homeschool, let’s keep in touch! I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve that I’m ready to run with for this coming school year! 

A Story We Never Could Have Written - Part 1

It has been a really long time since I last wrote here on this blog. I've wanted to and thought to write so many times, but life has been quite busy the past couple of years. I'm literally laughing at the title of my last blog post, "Seeking to Simplify" because it was probably within days of that post that I found out I was pregnant with our fourth baby. And then we decided to pull our kids out of school the following year to home school. Hah! So much for simplifying. Our life is very full these days, but it's also really, really good. And we are so thankful for all that we have.

God really can seem like a mystery sometimes. Like when we don't hear and see and feel him in the ways that we want. We are sometimes unsure of him. But often, when we look back, we see that his providential care & provision are remarkable. A couple Sundays ago, we heard a sermon through our church's Livestream in which our pastor was talking about the story of Joseph. You know, the guy with the colorful coat. His main point through his sermon was that God always provided for Joseph, through everything. Yes, there were likely times when Joseph doubted if God was really there and if was actually hearing his cries, but God took care of him through it all. God provided. Pastor Trav said it like this, "Once you hear the silence of God, you begin to appreciate the mystery of God." And if that doesn't describe our life over the past couple of years, I’m not sure what does! 

The story I want to tell is one that's been in the works for longer than I ever could have imagined. It probably started back in 2005 or maybe even before that, when I first met my friend who is now my neighbor. I was at Gordon college and had a friend who had a best friend from childhood at a nearby college. She told me multiple times that I needed to meet this friend because we were so similar and we'd get along really well. I don't even remember when we were first introduced or exactly how, but we definitely got along well and became easy friends. And our mutual friend was right, we were very similar in so many ways.

As time went by, we graduated college, I started dating my husband and she started dating her husband around the same time.  We have wedding anniversaries that are within days of each other, different years. We drove the same car, different colors, for at least five overlapping years. We would get together and get pedicures together and often pick the same color. She moved to my local area, I invited her to my church. We go to church together. We have kids all around the same ages. So naturally, when she knew we were looking to buy a bigger home than our two bedroom condo, she recommended her neighborhood and told me how much she loved living in her little town.

When I first got pregnant with our fourth baby [which yes, was actually planned for all those in question!] we knew that it would be tight in the condo, but we knew we could make it work for at least the first year with a new baby. We had enough room in the master bedroom for a crib and the other three kids shared the other bedroom really well. As in, they all slept through the night, hah! 

You’re probably wondering why we were even still living in a two bedroom condo with four kids? Well, when I quit my full time job as a high school math teacher to stay home full time with our kids back in 2011, it obviously reduced our household income significantly. But we both agreed that being home was where God had called me to be. We also felt that God would make it known to us when it was the right time, both practically & financially, for us to move our family into our “forever home.”

While I was pregnant with this fourth baby, I kept my eye pretty close on our local real estate market. We had a list of wants & needs in a town, neighborhood & home. It was maybe a long list. But we knew that wherever we moved to, we’d be staying for a very long time.

The summer I was pregnant, we went on a 4 day camping trip with lots of friends and little electronics time [the best kinds of trips!] and coming off the camping trip, I saw a house that had come on the market while we were away. It seemed like it had all that we wanted, except for the town that it was located in. We were willing to compromise though. I went to the open house within hours of when I first saw it. It had its flaws, but had most of what we wanted. We saw it again. And again. We were ready to put an offer on it, but during that last visit, we saw some things that we just couldn't overlook. So we decided not to make an offer. 

After that, we decided that I was getting really pregnant and the timing of everything just wouldn't be ideal with a really pregnant mom or a very new little baby and three other kids and colder weather approaching... So we put our housing search on hold for some time.

About six months later, I was feeling more like I could handle things again, and the spring real estate market was ramping up, so we decided to start our house hunt again. But at this point, some things had changed and we were a bit unsure as to where we wanted to live. We had gone through another New England winter, and we were now wondering if this was an opportunity for us to head south as a family. The real estate market was much more appealing down there, there were hybrid home schooling models that we really liked, we had visited areas that we loved and had friends and some family already living down there, so it seemed like an easy decision. 

But there were a few other important things we needed to think about like all of our family here, a job for the primary income provider and our amazing church family. We were torn. We sought advice from some friends who are in the next stage of life from where we are. They were once in our place. They gave us some great advice. They said, "Pray for reasons why you should stay up here."

So for the next few months, we prayed. We prayed just what they had suggested. That God would reveal reasons as to why we should stay in this area. It was hard as I was constantly comparing the real estate market in the two areas. What we could buy here versus what we could buy THERE. If a house was all that mattered, buying there would have been a done deal. But there is so much more! Every time we got together with friends for a hang out or a party or a shower, all I kept thinking was, "This can't be the last time I do this!" Or I'd think, "Well if we're going to move, at least wait until after we do ____." It was like I was trying to bargain with God for what I wanted. But that's not His game. He remained silent on the house hunt.

During that time, we also had so many great things happening at our church and within our church family that we kept thinking, "This is so good! Why would we want to leave this?" We knew that the community we have built around us over these past 7 years is unique and special. And to build that same type of community and life somewhere else would not be easy and would take time. Maybe lots of time. Why would we want to take that chance? God was speaking to us through these times.

Throughout that whole summer, when the real estate market is hustling & bustling, here in New England, God made us wait. He was silent. Different things happened in our lives over those months that made it clear that it was not our time to be looking for houses anywhere. We needed to just stay where we were and be patient and wait. Patience is hard for me, but I waited. During this time, my friend now neighbor, would tell me about homes in her neighborhood coming on the market. But none seemed exactly right for us. There was always something that wasn't exactly what we wanted. It was like God was continuing to tell us to be patient, while continuing to be silent.

Over Columbus Day weekend, we went on our annual camping trip with friends up to the mountains of New Hampshire. It is beautiful at that time of year. The foliage and fellowship are some of the best and it's a weekend we all look forward to all year long. But again, limited electronics time, which is great! While driving home that Monday, we were stuck in traffic and I did my usual real estate search. A house had come on the market that day just hours earlier. It looked like it had all that we wanted, except for again, the town it was located in. We could overlook that again though. I set up a time to go see it the next morning with our realtor.

The house and yard both needed a lot of work. It was very outdated and hadn’t been occupied for many years. But that was ok, we were ok with some updating. It had all the other things. It even had neighbors that we knew from church! And they had daughters that were of babysitting ages! We saw the house a couple times. We decided to put in an offer. Our realtor tried to submit the offer online and it came back as “cash only offers.” What?! Why was that not in the listing? Who has that kind of cash? Turned out it was bank owned. We weren’t sure how we could get around it, but it was a house we really wanted.

Our realtor, who is also a great friend, wanted to help us out. He has a friend who is in the business of flipping houses. He got his friend on board with this house. His friend worked out a budget with us and was willing to buy the house, flip it, then sell it to us. Could it be any better? Could this be God at work?! So his friend did all he needed to do and went to submit an offer on the house. 

Turned out that the house was actually up for auction. Again, not disclosed in the listing! Our flipper friend could obviously only bid so high to stay within our agreed upon budget. Sadly, he wasn’t the highest bidder. We lost the house. We found out on October 30th, which was our littlest one’s first birthday. I was all sorts of emotional that day and had a hard time keeping it together most of the day. 

Why was God continuing to be silent on our house search? Why was he closing so many doors? I continued to trust him, knowing that he always provides, but I was also just so sad on so many levels. Life was not easy with 4 kids in a three level, two bedroom condo while trying to homeschool! It was stressful in a lot of ways. But I continued to be patient and wait on God.

Sometime in November, I met up with my friend who’s now my neighbor for coffee one evening. We hadn’t caught up in a while since we both still had nursing babies and life was a bit crazy. We chatted about all sorts of things and I filled her in on our big house let-down from weeks prior. She mentioned there might be a house in her neighborhood.

Weeks later we were walking out to our car after church on a Sunday. Our church is so awesome that we have parking attendants to help us find spots and get us in and out of the parking lot safely. The two attendants just happened to be the neighbor of the house that unfortunately didn’t work out, and the husband of my friend now neighbor. One attendant said, “We’re so sad the house didn’t work out for you guys! We were hoping to have you as neighbors!”

The other attendant said, “I heard you might have a flipper to work with? There’s a house across from us that looks like it might be going on the market, but I think it needs a lot of work.”

And the next part of our story is when things really started to happen...