Trusting The Experts

Thank you for visiting our site. We are all growing a homeschool with our own families and wish you the best in doing so. This is a place to share ideas and experiences, but also friendship and camaraderie. I'm Jessica, and we recently finished our second full year of homeschool (I've been married for 13 years and have three kids). I try to keep sane by writing at closeenoughblog and would love for you to stop by if you want to hear more. I'm a farmer's daughter who, to her great surprise, became a farmer's wife. I'm a public school kid who, to her absolute shock, became a homeschooling mother.

For me and my family, homeschooling began as a seed planted when we weren't even aware of it. I became close friends with a mother dedicated to homeschooling her children when they became old enough. My own had already started (what they refer to as) "regular school." But I suddenly had a front-row seat to a beginner's homeschooling experience, and someone to talk to about all the things I had read and wondered about homeschooling.

Educating my own children started to sprout and grow in my heart, and the perceptions - and prejudices - I had of homeschooling began to realign with reality. The more experience we had in school and the more I saw of homeschooling, the more I could see the drawbacks of one and the positives of the other.

Suddenly, I was alive inside with ideas blooming everywhere. New concepts and invisible doors were opening in my mind and heart.

Just as with any new experience, I started noticing things. Remember when you were pregnant and suddenly everywhere you went there were people with babies and toddlers? I bumped into homeschooling families all the time. Suddenly I began realizing that people I had known for years were (gasp) homeschoolers!

The deeper I looked into homeschooling, the more fertile the concept became. The more adjusted I became to the idea that, just like so many other things about the way we wanted to parent - birthing, breastfeeding, gentle discipline, loving guidance - this was something we could learn to do together as a family and expert advice may or may not apply to us. I understood that it would be different for us, just like it is different and special for everyone. I began to borrow ideas and inspiration from other homeschooling families, listening to what worked and didn't for them, evaluating what the specific needs of my own children were.

Parenting has been like this for me since the beginning. Each time I went against my instincts and did what the 'experts' said, I realized afterwards that I had been right. I was bolstered each time I was brave enough to go against 'expert' advice and saw positive results with my children. When we decided to try homeschooling, it was the biggest parenting risk we had ever taken.

But we had realized something, you see. By this time our oldest child was eight and in second grade at a school we dearly loved, with wonderful teachers and a caring, exciting learning atmosphere. It took all those years until we finally realized that we, his parents, were the experts. Not as someone who has written a book or received a prestigious degree or authored scientific studies is an expert. But we were experts of this child. We had spent the previous eight years studying and experimenting with him and no one understood him like we, the parents, did.

I did not need a degree in teaching. I did not need to know about classroom management. The more I read and saw, the sooner I came to the realization that everything I needed to know was right at my fingertips. Of course I could choose an appropriate curriculum. Of course I could teach them how to read/write/do long division. Of course I was going to make mistakes and wish there were some things I had done differently. Of course it is the same for the lovely people who had been my children's teachers up to this point: They made mistakes, had bad days, sometimes didn't like certain children and wished there were some things they could do differently.

But they could not adapt to the needs of my particular child. They had to take care of the needs of everyone in the class. They could not change curriculum when it was obviously a poor fit for my child. They could not let them skip ahead when they already knew something or spend extra time when something wasn't clicking. They couldn't teach them 3d grade math and 1st grade reading in second grade. Here was my advantage. I started paying attention to the statistics of homeschooling. There were so many more homeschooling families than I realized, and their children were doing so well academically and emotionally.

We pulled the boys out of school for the last quarter of that year (we had a second grader and kindergartner at the time, along with our three-year-old daughter still at home). Our thought at the time was to "give it a try" before summer time in case we needed to evaluate our options again before autumn.

We have never looked back.

Homeschooling may not be something we do forever. We try to look at how well every one's needs are being met on a six-month basis and remain open, because as they grow, they may have different needs. We have certainly proven ourselves to be brave enough to take the road less traveled and may end up doing that again at some point. But homeschooling is something we have enjoyed so much for the last two-plus years.

You are the expert on your children. Teachers and administrators are experts on children in general. They are also usually terrific and caring people. They still may not be able to meet the needs of your child along with all the others under their care. There are things about the "regular" school experience that I cannot replicate for my children, however we are still convinced that the pros outweigh the cons at this time for our family.

We trusted our instincts and it's been one of the very best parenting decisions we have ever made. I encourage you to have confidence in your family and in your abilities to parent. You know your children best. You are the expert. Good luck!

Tilling The Soil

A thousand different topics have gone through my head as I have brainstormed over exactly what to write about in my starter post… I finally settled on telling you about tilling the soil.

You see, I’m a newbie homeschooler in every way. I attended public school most of my life, and until I was in my late teens/early twenties, I didn’t even know any homeschoolers – let alone anything in regards to what homeschooling was about. I mean, I’d heard of it, but beyond that, my knowledge was non-existent.

Then, my kids and I had the opportunity – the blessing, really – to go stay with some family on my husband’s side who happened to be homeschoolers. We were with them for a few weeks, and my eyes were opened to this amazing new world. 

I brought the subject up to my husband, who, to be honest, is still on the fence about the idea, but he has conceded to let me give it a go. Of course, to me, this means the pressure is on – haha! I began doing some research, which, to be honest, has been quite overwhelming. There is so much information out there; so many different sources all pointing you in a hundred different directions of what the best homeschooling style is, which curriculums you “must” have, what kind of schedule you should be on, etc… It left my head spinning!! Over time, God has brought several homeschooling families into our lives, and in countless small ways, I felt His reinforcement of His calling to home school. Eventually, I found that one of my greatest sources of information has been actually talking with those homeschooling families who have “been there and done that”, so to speak; Those who have gone through it and those who are currently going through it. They are the ones who can share the nitty-gritty details of what they have found that works and what doesn’t seem to… While each family’s experiences are going to be different in little and in big ways, they all have something to offer – tidbits of information here and there, that I am able to slowly piece together to help form my family’s own unique picture.

That is exactly why I have joined this blog: I am just starting to figure things out, not unlike many of you, I’m sure! Forget planting seeds and watching them sprout, grow, and bloom… I’m just getting started tilling the soil… Scratching and digging my way through the weeds, finding some pebbles here and there, trying to sort out the things that will hinder the seeds I’m preparing to plant from flourishing…

It’s not a pretty sight yet, but if you’ll be patient, and bear with me as I do the work, I’ll look forward to rejoicing with you when my – and your - seedlings begin to sprout, and will gladly share with you any and all trials and triumphs along the way. And I know we will triumph, because homeschooling is not just a decision made. It is something I feel called to do, and although I’m just figuring things out right now, I know that God won’t ever call you to do anything that He will not equip you to accomplish.

Keep reading… These ladies I have the privilege of writing with have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share… I am so excited for the opportunity to learn with and from them, and hopefully, I’ll be able to bring a little harvest to the table myself. So, pull up a chair - or a garden bench - and let’s get digging!

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!