Raw Confessions of A Homeschool Mom

We are kicking off our 15th year of homeschooling.  I can't believe we've been doing this for that long. In some ways it seems like we just started and in other ways it seems like it's been an eternity.

I must admit that my original reasons for homeschooling were not for religious convictions ~ as they are now (Lord knows if it weren't, I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago!). The reason I began homeschooling was for two main concerns #1 I really didn't think five years old or six years old for that matter were old enough to be away from the nurturing love and 'safety net' of a mother AND #2 the negative influences from the non-parented students to the anti-christian environment that makes up our current public school systems. Those reasons alone are enough to make my stomach church and spur me to do whatever it takes to keep my children away from such entities.

Despite my current laundry list of reasons as to why I homeschool now, there are days (okay if I was being truthful ~ weeks, maybe even months) where I do not want to homeschool anymore. I have zero desire to do it. My heart simply isn't into it, and I would do anything to put my kids in any school system so long as their education wasn't solely resting on my shoulders. Sometimes the truth can be harsh and not-so-pretty, but that's just where I'm at these days.

When folks are touting all the awesomeness of homeschooling they have a tendency to leave out the nitty gritty details that homeschooling isn't always so glamorous. Sometimes, it downright stinks. There are some days when the non-stop character training (i.e. disciplining), refereeing, and pleading with children to just sit still and finish the one assignment put in front of them (that should have only taken 10 minutes to complete ~ but has droned on into hours) is enough to drive Mother Teresa to have a nervous breakdown. And when those awful no-good days become the norm ~ homeschooling just doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

If you have been homeschooling for any length of time and haven't had a rut of bad homeschool days ~ congratulations (I rejoice with you!!), but I have a feeling most of you have been there and many of you may find yourselves dreading the up and coming homeschool year. Trust me friend you are NOT alone! I have been there and this year has been one of those years. Even though I went through the motions of planning and prepping for our 2019-2020 homeschool year; I also spent and exorbitant amount of time researching a local private christian school. {{sigh}}

YEP, I am that mom. I won't lie or sugar coat it. I'm feeling the homeschool burn-out, and my desire to homeschool just isn't where it needs to be. But, I know there's really no other option for us and in my heart of hearts I do want my children to be at home and I really do love homeschooling. What really has me teetering on the edge of insanity is all the other stress that distracts from our homeschooling. Like the non-stop disciplining, appointments, external family drama, cooking, cleaning, you know.....life. And to add to my homeschool struggles; this year I'm officially teaching SIX grades plus two in preschool. To say I'm stretched thin, is putting it mildly!

I'm really not complaining. I know I have a great life. I know without a shadow of a doubt I am 100% called to this perfectly imperfect messy homeschool life. But, I want to be real. I want to share my trials as well as my triumphs. I want all you struggling homeschool mamas to know YOU are validated and it's okay to not have it all together, to not really be sold out to homeschooling (all the time), and that the only reason you keep on keeping on boils down to the simple fact that you KNOW you're called by God to homeschool.

I'm here to let you know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are in this together and we can do this. Even if the journey isn't as pretty as we thought it was going to be WE can finish the race God has set before us.

The never-ending, ever-draining, unappreciated task of educating children from home is certainly not for the faint of heart. The huge task cannot be undertaken without the strength and wisdom of the Lord. There's nothing like an emotionally draining day of child training coupled with trying to impart some sort of knowledge onto ungrateful children to bring you to your knees, broken before the Lord. When we feel like we cannot go another inch, correct another child, clean another mess, or teach another lesson; He can. 

I'm not telling you that if you follow a serries of suggestions it's going to magically fix your homeschooling woes and restore your love affair with wth the art of homeschooling. Sheesh, sometimes wading through the muck and mire of the homeschool trenches can drag on and on with no easy fix, and that's okay. Don't think you're failing because homeschooling isn't easy. There will be times (even extended seasons) where it's really hard; but I know for a fact that if you're truly called to homeschool, God will sort the details out and carry you through.

One day all our hard work will be rewarded, even if it isn't on this side of heaven. I've learned over the years that answering the call and being obedient to The Lords commands doesn't always reap instant rewards. When it comes to homeschooling, I'm afraid for the most part, us mama's are storing up treasures in heaven. It will only be when we meet the Heavenly Father and hear those beautiful words: "Well done my good and faithful servant," that we will truly grasp the extent of what we did through the strength, love, grace, and mercy of The Lord. It will be in that moment where we will finally understand why we were one of the few called by God to educate our children at home.

Here's to putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best we can to make this an awesome homeschool year ~ we got this my dear sweet friends. 💗

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Summer Homeschool Schedule

Summer is finally here! And the chaos begins or rather intensifies; its always pure chaos at my house these days regardless of the season, lol. To help keep the crazy to a minimum I like to implement a summer homeschool schedule.

We still homeschool year round but summer is much more relaxed and I like to allow for each of the children to have a little more free time in the summer. Plus, any schedule I implement must be majorly flexible to accommodate the summer garden. Even though I call this our summer "schedule" it's more like a routine, an order of events to give some form of structure, accountability, and stability to our summer days; especially for my sensory processing disorder kiddos.

During the fall, winter, and spring I break up our days into 30 minute slots; in the summer I'm using mostly 1 hour slots. This broader time range gives the bigger kids time to really get involved in projects they may want to accomplish each day.

I always buddy my children up with siblings. This gives them an opportunity to become close friends without snubbing other siblings. One of our goals in raising our children is to instill in them healthy lifelong relationships with their siblings. Plus learning to interact with different people and their unique personalities is a key lifeskill important for adulthood. And lets face it, all of our children have their very own individual personalities, and some children just natural gravitate towards certain people. We want to make sure all the children are equally invested in each other's lives.

Our Summer Homeschool Schedule

6:30 Everyone at the kitchen table. 

Big kids are doing reading and journaling while the little ones are coloring.

7:00 Little ones switch from coloring to listening to bible songs and reading books from a book basket that I change out weekly. Big kids are cleaning their rooms and getting ready for the day.

7:30 We eat breakfast as a family. 

8:00 Little kids play blocks with sibling. 

Big kids free time if all 'house assignments' (our family word for chores) are completed.

9:00 Little kids play outside with sibling.

Big kids continued free time.

10:00 Little kids educational movie supervised by sibling. 

Big kids free time.

11:00 Little kids play games and/or puzzles with sibling.

Big kids free time.

12:00 Lunch together as a family.

12:30 Little kids story time/song time with mom.

Big kids free time.

1:00 Little kids nap time or quite time on blankets in the living room.

Big kids free time.

2:30 Snack time 

(Daddy home)

Once my husband gets home the children typically go off to work the homestead with him.

As you can see this summer schedule is mostly reflective of managing the little people in our family. In our house if the littles (currently anyone 7 and under) are not under 100% constant supervision they are getting into trouble. (sigh) Keeping them occupied allows me to be devoted to my day-to-day tasks which in the summer is mostly spent preserving the garden harvest. I also do one-on-one school lessons with some of the children, as well as a focused efforts on tackling neglected projects.

My older children spend their days: helping around the homestead, reading, playing outside (mostly!!!), creating lego cities, as well as a plethora of other constructive activities. My second and third oldest children manage a property maintenance and lawn care business during the summer which keeps them fairly busy. Our children do not have any tech gear, so their days are not spent on any device. We do allow for some minor T.V. gaming on the weekend evenings and for family T.V. watching (but that's a topic for another day).

Summer is my favorite season. I'm extremely cold natured and having the summer warmth surround me is like an extra-special hug from the good Lord. It is my intentions to enjoy the summer and keeping a scheduled routine helps make our days more enjoyable. When everyone, especially my little people, know what and where they're supposed to be, life runs so much better.

So, do y'all create summer routines and schedules? What are your best mama tips and tricks to make summer low stress and fun for everyone?

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Be Anxious For Nothing

As I am building my blog and combining Modern Mommy Mentor with Country Mama to Many I'm trying to come up with a plan for how I want to post and share my thoughts. After all life seems to run so much more smoothly when there's a plan, at least for me it typically does. 

I have so many thoughts and ideas I'd like to share, and I am excited to get them out there. I'm thrilled to finally be writing again, I didn't realize how much I had missed it. This blog is the perfect outlet for a woman who more often than not finds herself isolated with limited adult interaction. (I'm not begrudging it, it's simply my season of life right now. But, sometimes, I'm just lonely and have so much to say.)

While I don't want to live in bondage to a writing/posting plan, I do want to organize my posts so that folks can know when and what to expect. It doesn't mean I'm posting three times a week or only on those days, this is just a guideline to help me process my thoughts. So I'm thinking something along the lines of this pattern:

Matters of Faith Mondays

What Works for Me Wednesdays

Friday Fellowship

So with keeping to this plan I'd like to share on this fine Monday about a topic that I struggle with quite often: Anxiety. Despite knowing that anxiety is wrong in the eyes of God, I still often find myself over come with it throughout the difficult trial of life. 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

But with Christ I have the freedom to break free from this bondage of anxiety and to replace it with peace and acceptance in that whatever happens is God's perfect will.

"Whatever is lawful is legal. Therefore whatever is legal is lawful. 

Whatever is lawful is ethical. Therefore whatever is ethical is legal"

I recently watched a movie where these words were being recited, in the opening scene, over and over again. Apparently, a very successful finance man was trying to convince himself that the business deal he was in the process of making happen was indeed ethical ~ it wasn't. But, because what he was doing wasn't illegal he'd convinced himself it was indeed ethical. Sadly, he ended up losing his job and so much more from just this one deal. If only he'd listened to his conscious.

We are in the process of selling our house. Mercy what a long and painful story, that I most likely will share one day, but that day is not today. We currently have a tentative contract based on the buyer selling their current home. But, as is due process for the purchase to be finalized when they do sell their home we must have a home inspection. 

Today is our home inspection.

To say I'm nervous is an understatement! to say I'm anxious is an understatement! My current state of affairs is a pure hot mess of gut-wrenching-I-seriously-can-NOT-do-this crazed woman! But, we have no choice, it has to be done. 

The sell of our home is dependent on this one man inspecting it. To make matters worse our realtor has warned us that we got the 'bad luck of the drawl'. This specific inspector, coming to inspect our home, has been the cause of many deals gone 'south' for our realtor. (insert massive sigh and the onset of hysterical crying)

Thankfully I am a woman of faith and I've got this, or more likely God has got this! He knows all about our financial woes and our fears, struggles, and anxiety in regards to the NEED of us selling this house ASAP. Trust me The Good Lord has gotten an ear full every.single.day. for months from me in regards to the sell of this house! But, we all know God does things in His own timing. So, I must remain patient and trust that He has my good will in the forefront of all His doings and either the inspection will go well or it will not. Either way it will be God's will and He will carry us through.

Funny thing is our realtor made some suggestions for us to do in the hopes of making the inspection go more smoothly. Are you kidding me? Seriously, is this legal? Is this ethical? Why should anything I do effect the outcome of the inspection of my home? Is this really happening to me? Why is adulting so hard?

Then my thoughts rush to our home inspection. Did the same thing happen to them. Is that why so many things were not what they said they were to be once we took ownership of the home? Did they sway their inspector and that's why we suffered the consequences of a really bad deal? (Oh, but the difference from us to them is that we've fixed all those issues that were 'missed' during our home inspection!)

I'm finding that throughout this mess that if I keep my eyes on Christ and continuously lean upon His Holy Word; my fears are as water rushing under a bridge. But, I'm not going to lie, when I stop and think about anything other than those precious bible verses I've memorized the anxiety nearly over comes me making me vehemently ill and unable to catch my breath. 

"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Isaiah 41:13

Lord willing at the close of this day our home will have passed inspection and we will be well on our way to finalizing the sell of our home. If not then it just wasn't meant to be and I'm sure the Lord has something else all the more better for our future. We just have to keep remembering that simple truth! 

We are His and He is ours!

(through the good times and the not so good times)

So, how do you handle anxiety and stress? What are your favorite bible verse to quote during times of overwhelming fear? 

With Love and Hope,

Jennifer

Taking Back Your Evenings: Why We Do NOT Do Extracurricular Activities

Once folks find out that we purposefully do not do sports or other extracurricular activities I'm typically inundated with questions of curiosity. And then usually comes their defense as to why they choose to do them. I'm not here to convince you one way or the other, but I am here to share why we choose to do things counterculture. AND to let you know there is an alternative, you don't have to follow the 'crowd' - you CAN raise children unto the Lord without participating in extracurricular activities. So here's another post I wrote at Modern Mommy Mentor....

The family unit is a true gift from God. Our current culture makes it mighty difficult to cultivate healthy family relationships. Families barely see each other long enough each day to have a conversation much less build lasting relationships with those who should matter most. Parents both work outside the home, children are sent away all day to school, and then evenings are filled with a myriad of activities for all members of the family. With these types of schedules its no wonder the family unit is struggling.

There's a misconception these days, that extracurricular actives are necessary for raising well-rounded children. While children may be more adept to team work and nurturing a competitive nature; they're missing out on key skills to thrive in marriage and parenting. We all know children learn best by what they see and experience first hand. When a child witnesses the daily interaction between their parents, they are gleaning valuable resources for when they establish their own families. The more the family is separate from each other the harder it is to create those valuable teaching moments.

We knew when we began having children that we wanted something different for our family, especially for our children. We wanted to pursue a home life that enabled us to develop close relationships with our children. It was our hearts desire to give them adequate training in maintaining healthy family relations. Relationships that would go so much deeper than just 'folks who share a house'. We searched the scriptures and the wisdom of the few families we had encountered who were purposing to live counter-cultural to today's norms. As we prayed and studied God's word we realized there was so much more to choosing NOT to do extracurricular activities.

5 Reasons We Do NOT Do Extracurricular Activities

1. We financially could not afford the high costs of extracurricular activities for a large family. The costs of equipment and materials required to do most extracurricular activities is very costly and not conducive to a modest single income.
2. We wanted to eat our family dinners together every night. Eating meals together and sharing the events of our days is just something special we cherish and we don't want them interrupted by practices, games, lessons, etc.
3. We wanted to have family worship in the evenings. Teaching our children the word of God is the most important aspect in raising our children. To consistently join in family worship we knew we had to plan our evenings to where we were at home and not spread all over town in different directions.
4. We didn't want our children confused as to whom their authority belonged to. We are all ultimately accountable to Christ, but God places parents over their children. When we start adding in other adult authoritarian figures, confusion can easily become an issue. If a coach or instructor tells a child to do something that is against the parents teachings, the child is put in a difficult situation that could have been avoided.
5. We didn't want to undo the purposeful sheltering we were doing through homeschooling. We homeschool for many reasons, but one reason is to shelter our children from ungodly influences until they are more grounded in the faith to handle situations which are contrary to the teachings of Christ.

There are many defenses as to why children should participate in extracurricular activities, but for our family we believe there are far more negatives to separating our family in the evenings. We value the time we GET to spend together. We've found that simply replacing traditional extracurricular activities with intentional family adventures is sufficient in filling in the gaps of not doing sports and other lessons. We are a not against athletics, the arts, or other special interests that could fill our evenings. On the contrary we are a very active family and enjoy learning plenty of new and interesting recreational activities; we just prefer to keep our evenings as a special time for encouraging healthy family relationships.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

P.S. Picture is of my sweet Titus taken by me, we may be anti playing sports ~ but little baby boys in ball caps with a ball and glove is just too cute. :)

Organized Chaos: Homeschooling with Babies & Toddlers

Yes, I'm going to go ahead and share three posts in one day! I'm anxious to get all my posts moved over and start adding fresh stuff, so here's another one I wrote over at Modern Mommy Mentor. And hey y'all this one also includes my first freebie for over here at Country Mama to Many!

Homeschooling can pose many of it's own challenges in the best of circumstances; add a baby, a toddler, or both and it can quickly become a complete nightmare. Don't fret, mamas, you're not alone and there are ways to minimize the distractions. Yes, it does take a bit of juggling, and adapting; but by this point in the game I'm sure you're quite experienced in those departments! Take heart and keep reading to help get some ideas to make your days less stressful and more productive. Especially make a point to scroll to the end of the post and get your FREE Mama's Homeschooling checklist!!

We're in our 13th year of homeschooling and we have run the gamut of distractions, disorder, and pure upheaval during our homeschool days. Enough to make me romanticize about the glorious yellow cheese wagon that passes my house twice a day, and how easily it could whisk my crazy kids off to a day of someone else teaching and training them. And with that fantasy includes my toddlers going to daycare for someone else to potty train, clean up after, and corral all day long. My house would be clean and organize and my stress level would be drastically reduced. But, nope that's not what God has called me to, that's simply not the path for our family.

God called me to homeschool a long time ago. I fought it for some time, but literally had no peace and became vehemently ill after putting our oldest into public school for kindergarten. After three weeks we un-enrolled him and never looked back. Oh, I can assure you, I've threatened to send them all back, but they were always just empty threats. The days are long but the years are short. It sounds so cliché, but I can't believe we're about to graduate our first-born child! Has it been an easy road, absolutely NOT, but it has been 100% worthwhile and exactly what we were suppose to do.

Over the years we have developed a system which works to help keep the chaos to a minimum during our homeschool days. The more children we have had, the more we've had to adapt and adjust our homeschooling to accommodate the range in ages and the myriad of needs each child 'brings to the table'. While there are many facets to our system, today I'm particularly addressing how we handle the babies and toddlers of our crazy crew. Trying to educate older children while entertaining and containing the youngest members of the family can be mighty difficult, but with these few tips I can assure you homeschooling can be done with babies and toddlers.

Homeschooling With Babies & Toddlers

1. Give your day over to the Lord. Pray for your homeschool day and trust the Lord to orchestrate it the way that He sees fit. Get done what you can get done and don't worry about the rest.
2. Recognize and accept that you will have distractions. Plan accordingly for phone calls, visitors, minor accidents, and discipline needs. There are a multitude of interruptions that can occur in a day, simply acknowledge this and plan to adjust your day.
3. Minimize scheduling events such as doctors appointments and extra curricular activities during your typical school time. Creating a consistent school schedule that children can depend on is beneficial for all ages.
4. Don't compare yourself to the public/private school system or other homeschooling families. What works for one family will most likely not work for another family. Evaluate your family and determine the best schedule, system, and plans which allow YOUR family to thrive.
5. Group as much academic lessons as possible. Our family combines bible, history, science, writing, projects, art and all field trips. We start our day doing 'table time' which alternates these subjects throughout the week. I add more advanced material for the older ones and make adjustments for the younger ones as needed.
6. Utilize all 'restraining' devices (lol). Such as high chairs, booster seats, play pins, bouncy chairs, swings, etc. We take advantage of these  baby items often, especially during table time. The younger ones can typically be entertained for quite some time in a highchair with some toys or baby snacks.
7. Take advantage of nap times. Schedule lessons, especially one-on-one time during baby's nap time.
8. Assign sibling play time. We schedule each of the older children to take turns playing or reading with the younger kiddos, while I'm doing one-on-one with other children. This allows the older ones a small break from school and it encourages a special connection between siblings.
9. Set the toddlers to play close by you with quiet toys such as blocks, sensory boxes, and other educational toys which do not make noises. I require my toddlers and preschoolers to play quietly near my feet while I am doing one-on-one with other children. This allows me to keep a close watch on them and helps them to learn to play by themselves.
10. Consider homeschooling year round. A year round homeschool schedule has been a major blessing to our family. With this type of system we are able to reduce our workload through high stress seasons and pick it back up after life settles back down. We can easily keep our daily school time to 3-4 hours, which gives us plenty of flexibility and reduces the stress of trying to get so much done in a day. I love that I can plan for a few hours of school, a few hours of home management, and then still have plenty of time leftover to devote to the little ones.

Homeschooling is truly a gift from the Lord, even when your family dynamics create challenges. Learning to ebb and flow with those challenges is perhaps the greatest lessons of the day. Teaching your children to be involve with and help with the babies and toddlers is a life lesson that will stay with them for a lifetime. Building a strong family unit through a homeschooling system which includes all the family members, even the babies and toddlers, will only improve your children's overall academic experience. So, mamas it's time to relax, create a simple schedule, delegate junior mama's helpers, and enjoy your homeschool day.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

P.S. To help you keep the chaos to a minimum and stay productive throughout your homeschool days. I've create a Mama's Homeschooling checklist which you can print to help keep track of your one-on-one time with each of your children. I simply print off a sheet for each of my kiddos at the first of the week.  I write in what I plan to do with each child for the week. Then after we do their lessons I can check off each subject to make sure we're staying on target for our academic goals. Sometimes it's the simple things which help us simplify the most, but we've found these little checklists to be a super awesome asset to our homeschool days. I hope they will bless you as well.

Mama's Homeschool Checklist

Homeschooling With Learning Disabilities

Homeschooling is an extension of who I am and where my heart is. It is one of my deepest desires to encourage all mothers that they can and should home educate their children. Here's another one from Modern Mommy Mentor talking about how even children with learning disabilities deserve a home education.....

I have been told by parents, on more than one occasion, that the reason they can not homeschool their child is because their child has a learning disability. I find this all the more reason to pursue a home education, and I speak from experience. Today I’d like to share something that has been heavy on my heart lately. I want everyone to know that home education and learning disabilities can beautifully coincide, even if it doestake a lot of prayer and hard work.

To be perfectly honest, all of my children have experienced some form of learning obstacle(as I prefer to call them). We have addressed each one with prayer and trusted in God to sort out the details. My husband and I have worked tirelessly to help our children overcome many of these learning obstacles. That’s what parents should do! Nobody has my child’s best interest at heart more than me and my husband and I will never trust someone else to adequately address their personal needs and that includes the gift of learning.

We have encountered color blindness, speech impediments (2 children), severe speech delays, and a child with high functioning autism. We have never used the ‘free’ resources provided by the government, but we havedone our ‘homework’ and learned how to address each learning obstacle with God’s grace, mercy, love, and prayer. I have been overwhelmingly inspired and encouraged by God’s hand in each and every situation.

We recently experienced a glimpse of the miracle God is working in our six-year old’s life as he struggles with autism. Everyday, I consistently do his lessons with him; which includes working with numbers, writing, and reading. I have to sit with him and help him through every question, number, letter, and word. Sometimes I have to help him hold his pencil to write, but we do it, everyday. All my previous children have done the same work and could do it independently, but not him (and that’s okay). My prayer is that one day he willbe able to do the lessons independently. Well, this week he surprised me by bringing me two assignments that he had completed by himself! Can we say Hallelujah!!!

I send all the praise to the Lord above, for it is only by Him that we can be the parents our children need us to be. Unfortunately, more days than not I fail at this one simple task, even with God’s grace, but that is not God’s fault, but mine. Most days it would be far easier to put my child into a public school system, take advantage of all the “free” programs, and let someone else deal with the challenges that come with educating and tending to a child with special needs. But, that wouldn’t be God’s plan for our family. God didn’t give these children to anybody else, but solely to me and my husband. God’s word says He will not give us more than we can handle and that He will provide a way for us to address every need we will ever have.

Through our efforts of home educating children with learning disabilities I have learned a few things to make the journey a little more peaceable:

1. Pray over your child before lessons
2. Maintain a routine and stay consistent with academic requirements
3. Seek to have quiet during lesson time, remove distractions
4. Set realistic goals
5. Be cautious with ‘advise’ from others
6. Take things slow and let your child set the pace
7. Don’t let your child sense any frustration on your part (trust me you’ll experience it at one time or another)
8. Don’t compare your child to other children, especially academically
9. Do lessons orally, sometimes holding a pencil can just cause problems when in actuality your child really does know the subject matter
10. Give lots of love and praise

Having a child with learning disabilities is not without many challenges, but with those challenges comes the opportunity to practice faith and watch God work. God has created all of us special and unique and I think that is awesome! I wouldn’t change any of my children if I had the chance; each one is a blessing and has enriched my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I praise the Lord for giving me each one of my children and allowing me to home educate all of them. I will go to the ends of the earth to insure each of my children are given every opportunity to learn the lessons God has for them.

Don’t let learning disabilities be a reason not to home educate your child. I can’t imagine what would have happened to my six-year-old had we put him into public school. Fortunately, we will never know, for he will always have the sanctuary of his home as his platform for learning. There is no one better suited to educated a child than his or her mother, that is the way God designed it. Don’t be afraid of the unknown, live out your faith and trust in God to help you through the challenges associated with home education and learning disabilities.


With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

Unschooling With Purpose

Since it is the season of 'back-to-school' I reckon I'll post all my past homeschooling posts from my Modern Mommy Mentor website. Here's one sharing how we intentionally make learning a life-long passion instead of a brief season of life....

Our family views home education a little different from most folks. We didn’t come to these beliefs over night, but after much studying of the scripture, prayer, and research. Just like so many facets of our nation, the education system in our country is inadequate and broken. from the beginning of our home educating journey we knew we didn’t want to conform to the world’s ways just because that’s the way its always been done. That is why we choose to take education beyond the typical classroom and utilize something I like to call Unschooling with Purpose.

Recently, I saw on social media where parent after parent was plastering their children’s report cards for everyone to see. I’m sorry, but I just cringe at the thought of “grading” children. If a child doesn’t make straight A’s and B’ does that make them any less of a human being, are they not special or worthy of a parent’s praise? I would challenge parents that if their children are NOT making the “grade” than they need to evaluate their personal involvement in their child’s education, how well the teacher teaches the materials, and whether or not your child is being given every opportunity to learn said material through different venues and outlets. Not ALL children learn the same way! I truly believe children want to learn, do well, and succeed but they MUST be given every opportunity to do so. (which isn’t usually found in the realms of sitting at a desk for 8(+) hours a day with 15-30 other students the same age.)

I don’t grade or test my children. I am INTIMATELY involved with each one of my children’s education. I know whether or not my children grasp the concepts taught without grading them. We do not move on to new subject matter until I am convinced they fully grasp the content. The few textbooks we use are simply used as a springboard. We ONLY use them as a GUIDE to keep me aware of topics I feel are beneficial for my children to learn. And we don’t do every problem or even every lesson. Learning should not be tarnished by requiring children to learn topics so they can pass a test.

I really don’t understand why homeschooling families feel the need to recreate the public school system. I am not talking about having a school room, I actually think it’s beneficial to have a designated place to store all the home educating supplies that can be accumulated over the years. What I’m referring to is putting your children in a designated grade, making them do text books (workbooks) all day, completing 'so many lessons' in a year, etc. Our family does NOT place our children in a specific ‘grade’. My children begin learning at birth and Lord willing they won’t stop learning until they are called home to heaven. We do lessons year round and every day; every moment we are awake is an opportunity to learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge.

We focus on teaching godly character, inspiring the LOVE of learning, and teaching practical skills that will enable them to be competent capable godly men and women who can adequately manage their own households. I listen to my children’s interests, engaging them in conversations about their hopes, dreams, and desires. I purchase books and materials that will encourage them in their God-given passions. We involve our children in our daily lives, not giving them restrictions on what they can learn and do because of age. Given the opportunity children can learn to do most anything. We allow our children the freedom to be creative and use their minds. We limit their ‘technology’ time, trading it for a more constructive activity.

Learning shouldn’t be separate from our every day lives, but an extension of every moment we get to experience. The gift of learning should never be governed or restricted by anyone. Yes, there are certain topics that are important to learn, but they should never be force-fed for the sake of that’s what someone thinks should be learned at a specific age. Our time on this great earth is numbered and it is our sincere desire for our children to experience all that God has for them to the fullest. We’ve come to the conclusion that this can only be accomplished by breaking the bonds that come from the typical classroom environment.

I have truly been in awe as I’ve watched my children grow in wisdom and knowledge. We’ve given them the freedom to learn at their own pace. We’ve brought them along side of us as we’ve worked and learned new skills. But, most importantly they’ve been given the privilege to learn in a safe, non-hostile environment where the only expectations they have is to do their very best unto the Lord.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Colossians 3:23 (KJV)

As a parent I believe it is our duty to give our children every opportunity to grow in wisdom and knowledge. For our family, we knew that would be impossible if our children attended school outside of our home. We will not support a broken educational systems that ‘graduates’ record numbers of children each year who can barely read or do basic math; by placing our children in those programs. Praise the Lord we still live in a country where we have the freedom to home educate.

It is an honor to be used by the Lord to lead my children through their academic journey. Just today, my oldest son said he loved to learn and hoped to learn as many things as possible. Once a child develops a heart for learning and realizes they can learn anything, there is no stopping them! Education does not have to be bound to a classroom, Unschooling with Purpose enables our family to experience the true joy home education.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

Perks of the Year Round Homeschool Schedule

We are homeschoolers and have been for over 14 years! We've recently graduated our oldest son from our homeschool ~ it went so fast 😢 But, since it's apart of who we are I've always written about it. Here is a post I wrote last year about why we homeschool year round....

When you begin homeschooling there are an array of different aspects to review and evaluate.  Not to mention all the normal every day mommy responsibilities that must be continually addressed. All these crazy dynamics can quickly overshadow the joy of homeschooling. The days can seem long and overwhelming with the weight of wanting to 'do it all'. But, in reality the load is too great and impossible to achieve while working in the parameters of the traditional academic school year. Which is why I highly encourage the year round homeschool schedule.

It's so easy to get overwhelmed with the many demands of motherhood and homemaking without homeschooling. Add in homeschooling and it's a certain recipe for a mommy overload. Many mothers are quick to recreate the only academic system which they know once they start homeschooling: the public school system. And so begins the massive overload of schoolwork, extracurriculars, and general life demands. This system is broken, and will NOT work within the home setting. Give yourself a break mamas and ditch the system. Trade it for a nontraditional academic program rich in family and the treasures this world offers. There's so much to see and experience outside the classroom, which gives children a solid background to launch them into any career field their hearts desire.

With this nontraditional way of thinking homeschooling no longer looks like something we do each day for so many hours, but an extension of our lives. Instead of only recognizing 'school' as what happens when working through workbooks and textbooks sitting at a table; acknowledge it as something we do from the moment we are born until the moment we enter the gates of heaven. Learning happens 7 days a week and 365 days a year.  It is a privilege and gift from the Lord. People, especially children, are in a constant state of learning. Give them the opportunity to explore, listen to their interests and help them soar through the world of academics.

I agree that there is a time and place for traditional school texts and even workbooks, but they should never be the sole source of learning for children. It has been proven time and again that children learn best through hands-on lessons, preferable self-driven by their own initiative. As a homeschooling mother we would be wise to sit back and be simple observers; even helping to create and spark our children interests with as many 'learning outside the box' opportunities as possible. All the seasons throughout the year can be used as a learning platform for children. When we limit the academic year to just a few months and only to that which can be taught in a classroom; we are gravely limiting their options for true academics.

Once your academic platform is rooted in viewing homeschool as an extension of each and every day; it's easy to see why a year round homeschool is the best option for fulfilling the many demands of life AND educating our children.

Top 5 Reasons Why We Homeschool Year Round

1. Access to all the seasons to fully incorporate 'outside the box' learning experiences through field trips and hands-on learning.
2. Reduced hours spent schooling each day so that normal, every day activities can still be accomplished (like house cleaning and doctor appointments).
3. Relaxed holidays. Focus on academics can be traded for family festivities and truly enjoying the special season instead of  the drowning in the weight of school work.
4. Easier to plan for sicknesses and unexpected distractions. Sicknesses are going to happen and unfortunately so will other life-altering events. With a year round homeschool schedule it's easier to take off 'school' for those seasons of life.
5. Children have the time to be children. Their days should never be consumed with boring structured academics. They should be free to explore and enjoy their childhood. Adulthood and rigid schedules will be apart of their every day norm before they know it. Why not let them enjoy the freedom of adolescents to it's fullest?

I could continue on and on in regards to the many reasons we love the year round homeschool schedule. It just works for our family as does the nontraditional approach to homeschooling. I realize the year round nontraditional homeschool platform may or may not work for each family; but, the most important goal for each homeschool mom should be finding the balance which will allow her to find the true joy in homeschooling. The days are long, but the years are so very short. Don't waste them overwhelmed and bogged down with too much book work. Enjoy the time you have with your children, it truly is a special gift from the Lord.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer