How Our Homeschool Journey Began

“Dinner time!”  Momma’s voice echoed down the hallway.  I sighed.  I didn’t want to leave.  I was having too much fun.   I was a teacher, giving my first reading lesson.  My students were amazingly perfect.  They shared incredibly well.  The one piece of paper and pencil was passed with my help from student to student.  They waited patiently, too.  Listening skills were optimal.  Silently they looked on, fully attentive as I outlined their tasks.  Amazingly, my students never made a mistake, or at least one that I caught.  They did everything exactly as I asked. 

“Dorie, dinner is ready!”  I heard her call again.  Time to go.  Climbing over the circle of stuffed animals, I descended the ladder from my top bunk and made my way to the kitchen.

“What were you doing?” she asked.

“Playing school,” I answered, and quickly added, “Maybe I’ll be a teacher when I grow up.”

Years would pass and I would dabble in teaching as a reading tutor in high school and a calculus tutor in college.  However, by then the dream to teach was replaced several times by various aspirations.  Eventually, I would graduate college and work as a therapist for elderly who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.  I worked in this field for several years before the birth of our first child.  Then, when he was four months old, I took a part time office job.  A year later, our daughter was born.  With two children under 16 months of age, I stopped working outside of the home. 

It was then, two months into my new role as a full time, stay at home mom that I first heard about homeschooling.  “Is that really legal?” “Why would anyone want to do that?” and “Aren’t schools better equipped to educate a child?” were among my first thoughts.  I was speaking to a friend from high school who had just told me she was currently homeschooling her two oldest children.  At the time, her children were in second and first grade.  I remember bombarding her with questions that bordered on accusations.  She was exceedingly patient, answering all me with truth and kindness.  Still, I was unconvinced.

We moved, and began a new phase of our life in a new state.  When our oldest was two, it occurred to us that we needed to start looking into preschools.  We searched the area for a ‘good Christian preschool’ that we could afford.  We found several possibilities, but did not commit.  We started to ask if the benefits outweighed the costs for us.  Was it really necessary to do two years of preschool?  Could we replicate schooling at home for less money and time?  We decided to try it for one year, the first year of preschool.  Mind you, we had no intention of homeschooling.  We were no longer opposed to the idea for others, but had still deemed it ‘not for us.’  We had every intention of sending our children to a school starting in Kindergarten. 

The year progressed and our son was an ideal student.  It was during this time period that the Lord began to change our objections and opposition to personally homeschooling our children.  He placed more families in our lives who homeschooled.  We asked them questions and did research.  Finally, after much prayer and time, we made the decision to homeschool our children.  It is a decision that we have made each spring ever since.  Every year, we reevaluate our educational choices, and each time, so far, we have found ourselves making the same decision to homeschool for another year.

Monday began another ‘official’ year of school for our family.  This year, I’m guiding our four children ranging from preschool to seventh grade through their lessons.  The days aren't at all like my childhood teaching dreams.  It isn’t always exciting or fun.  My students don’t always share incredibly well, wait patiently, listen attentively, or do everything exactly as I ask.  As their teacher, I’m OK with that.  For I know, from experience, my students aren’t perfect, but they are amazing!

We Started & I Didn't Know It!

I tend to over think pretty much every decision that I make. 

I always have.

I also tend to think out loud - and if you are in the vicinity you will most likely be asked your opinion on whatever it is I'm pondering.

When I started thinking about homeschooling the girls it was all I could think about.  I thought about the pros and cons, as well as the reactions that I thought we would get from family and friends.  I thought all the work that would be involved, and wondered if I had enough energy.  Enough knowledge.  Enough time.

It was a process.

During these months my wonderful mother in law was privy to lots of these thoughts and conversations.

A few days ago I was rambling about how to pick a date to officially *start* to homeschool and she said......

"You are already homeschooling.  You have been for over a year.  You just didn't realize it."

I stared at her and I finally got it.

We really have been homeschooling for over a year.

We have been working with letters and numbers and colors.

We cook together - and Sophie can actually make muffins and cupcakes by herself with minimal help from me.

We sing songs and dance and make up silly rhythms.

We read {and read and read}.

We are learning how to share, to talk politely, and to consider other's feelings.

We build bridges and tunnels and miles of track for Thomas and his friends to drive on.

We build castles and roads in the sand box.

We weed and work in the garden together.

We visit the Please Touch Museum and the Zoo and the library.

We pray and talk about Jesus and the world around us.

We color and draw and paint.

We have bubble parties and talk about where bubbles go when they float away.

We run and laugh and play.

I can not tell you how freeing it has been to realize that I'm already teaching my girls lessons and I never even knew it. 

Wow.

This is awesome.

We will be using the Little Hands to Heaven cirriculum in the fall to help us get a feel for a bit more structured learning, but at the moment we are simply having fun while learning through play, and really - that IS what it's all about. 

Is there something YOU have been pondering?  Have you made a decision yet?

The link to Heart of Dakota's website is if you'd like to see what choices the company has.  I have no afflication with them, and will not receive any compensation if you visit them.  The End.

My Biggest Struggle

Homeschooling is a journey that I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be taking. In fact, just a few short years ago my best friend who was trying to conceive her first child, told me she planned to homeschool her children and my response was "why would you do that to your child?!" I planned to send my children to public school. I mean, I was a public school child and I turned out fine, right? Wait, don't answer that.

My, my how things have changed. I realize more and more each day that God has a plan that is not our own, and His plan is so much bigger and so much better than we could ever fathom. But first, we must let go of our plans. Looking back, I can pinpoint the time that God planted the homeschooling seed into my heart. It was 3 years ago and both of my daughters were in preschool. Times were rough. We could no longer afford to pay $200 a month for preschool. So I thought, I'll preschool them at home, and I did. Never once did it cross my mind that I was homeschooling. We continued "preschooling" them for the remainder of that year.

The next year, our circumstances had changed. Our oldest started Pre-K and our youngest(who is only 11 months younger, but couldn't attend pre-k because she missed the age requirement by 11 days) went to daycare. My oldest cried every single day of pre-k. She hated going..luckily my husband was the one who dropped her off. At the end of the day, she was fine and she said she had fun, but she wasn't learning anything. Everything they were attempting to teach her, we taught her the year before. About halfway through the year homeschooling started creeping into my thoughts. I checked out a book from the library, read a few chapters and returned it. I convinced myself there was absolutely no way I could homeschool. I had to work full-time. My husband had to work full-time. Sadly enough, I was going to send them to public school because I needed a babysitter. Typing that hurts.

A couple of months later, we found out my husband would be laid off and would be going back to school. That's when the light bulb came on. He could plan his class schedule around my work schedule and we COULD homeschool. Isn't God awesome? The girls finished out the year at their pre-K/daycare in May and we began homeschooling both of them in Kindergarten in July.

We've just finished our Kindergarten year and our entire family loves homeschooling. It has worked out so well for us. I can no longer imagine waking the girls up at 6:00 a.m. to catch a bus to school by 7:00 a.m. We love the flexibility that homeschooling provides.

One of the biggest struggles I've had during our first year has had absolutely nothing to do with teaching my children. My biggest problem has involved me comparing myself and our homeschooling family to others. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me out: reading blogs and speaking with other homeschooling parents is a great way to find new ideas and get advice, but please let it stop there. Don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself or your children. Trust me, if you do this, your homeschool will fail. It's a natural tendency (especially among women) to compare yourself to others who seem to have it all together. Let me share a secret with you. They don't. Their life is just as chaotic and disorganized as yours. Their children are no smarter than yours. Their husbands/wives don't love them anymore than yours. We all have issues. We all have strengths. We all have weaknesses. There are two possible outcomes of comparing ourselves. 1.) We look at others and *think* we're much better off than they are. I mean we've done x,y,z this week. We must have something right. Then we fill ourselves with self-righteous thoughts and pride. Or, 2.) We look at others and see all the ways that they are better than us and doubt begins to creep in. We think we aren't meant for this job of being a homeschooling parent. We think we are ruining our kids and they aren't learning anything. And these are lies. God has equipped each of us with all the skills necessary to educate our children. He doesn't call us to do a job and not give us the needed equipment to complete the task. Really Moms and Dads, look at everything your children have learned from birth to age 5. You taught them everything they know. You did that and you did an awesome job. Why stop there?

I'm not saying homeschooling is for everyone. I'll be honest, for some people homeschooling would be a detriment to their children. But if you WANT to homeschool your children, you CAN do it.

We are a year into this incredible journey and I have so much to learn. Every day I discover something new about myself, my children, or life in general. It's fascinating. Not only am I educating my children, they are educating me. Seeing your child truly grasp a new concept is a feeling nothing else can compare to. I can't imagine missing those opportunities.

I'm here to tell you that there are good days and bad days. There are days when I feel like super mom and days when I feel like I should've stayed in bed. I'm going to share those days and all the days in between with you. I will be transparent and real. You may not agree with everything I say and by all means, call me out. I look forward to your comments and suggestions. I can't wait to learn from you guys, like I said I have SO much to learn. So come along, buckle up and hold on tight, it's going to be a wild adventure.

Welcome!

Welcome to Growing Your Homeschool!

First, let me tell you how exciting it is to embark on this journey with these wonderful women. All of us our homeschooling at this point, though a couple ladies plan to put their children in school once they are of age. We’re a diverse group—from military to farmer to life in the big city. Some of us have older children, some so young we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of their education. We come from different background, different cultures, different opinions on everything from politics to religion, but we’re united under one common interest.

The education of our children.

This blog is aimed at parents wanting to participate in the education of their children, whether that be as all-encompassing as homeschool or as simple as getting them ready for the school years, even ideas for children who are in school but the parents may want to add a little something. So, pretty much, if you have children and you’re interested in their education on some level—this blog is for you!

The subjects discussed here are not limited to homeschool. Life, family, organization, craft ideas, recipes, and more will show up, I’m sure. We want to provide fun ideas, interesting how-tos, general opinions, great products, life experiences, and whatever else pops into our fascinating minds!

Here’s a quick peek into the setup of our blog:

Mondays: Ralene and Marla
Tuesdays: Shamberly and Auire
Wednesday: Jessica and Nessa
Thursdays: Sam and Heather
Fridays: SEEDS OF WISDOM
Saturdays: Tracy/Beth
(We alternate weeks, which is why there are two people listed by each day.)

What is “Seeds of Wisdom”? We are hoping that you, the reader, will send in your questions (you can email me at raleneburke at yahoo dot com). Each week, we’ll select one, and a few of us will weigh in with our responses—a panel, if you will. Discussion is important, we learn and grow as we discover the opinions and knowledge that others possess.

And who am I? Well, nobody really—but since you asked. My name is Ralene. I am a lover of Christ, a military wife, a homeschooling mama of 3, and an aspiring Christian suspense writer. Bored is not in my vocabulary!  I’m a horrible housekeeper, but a great encourager. You won’t typically find me outside, but rather curled up with a good book/movie.

My children are three of the biggest blessings in my life (next to Christ and my husband!). I love them to pieces. Our son will be a year old this month. We do homeschool, and our two girls, who are a year apart but might as well be twins, just started Kindergarten (at their request). We have a fun and exciting lineup for curriculum. Our learning style mostly falls in the category of Charlotte Mason. I don’t use one specific program for our school, but rather have chosen different ones for all our subjects. But you’ll hear more about that later!

Being a military family offers its own set of unique challenges. While it does allow me to stay home with the kids, it also means we move around a lot (4 places in 5 years), and it’s not always a guarantee that my husband is going to be around. He’s deployed twice since we’ve been married (though only once when we had kids), been on TDY countless times, and in his last unit, he traveled around the country training soldiers and was gone 2-3 weeks of every month. Yes, this life can be challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my husband and am so proud of him and his dedication to our country.

So, that’s me in a nutshell! Now it’s your turn—share a little something about yourself with us!

Shamberly is up on deck for tomorrow, check back in to learn more about her!