Yep, We're Okay

I know that a few people in my life are a little...concerned...about our choice to homeschool. And I don't blame them, really. Heck, most of us homeschool parents get concerned about it, too--"Am I really pulling this off? Can I produce an educated, well-rounded person from this?"

Well, we've only officially been homeschooling for one year. So we're not quite done with the produce-an-educated-person experiment. But if you're concerned, here are some examples of what The Boy can do, without having gone to public kindergarten*:

• read at a 5th-grade level
• write sentences clearly
• add and subtract 
• play well with his friends
• raise his hand politely in Sunday School
• build rockin' LEGO vehicles

...and so on. In other words, he's doing fine.

The kid isn't perfect. Neither am I. But we're making it work, and I have a feeling that we'll continue to do so. 

**Not real glasses.**

*Not that there's anything wrong with public kindergarten. I loved going to kindergarten, and I have nothing but admiration for the kindergarten teachers that I know. Just sayin'.

Tues-day, Sew-day.

First of all. It's been a while.. and a lot has changed.

In a last minute moment, my husband applied to a different University. He got accepted, and so we moved. It's been a stressful, very eventful, and we're hoping things will start calming down.

What's your favorite part of homeschooling? One of my favorite parts is seeing where my children interests are. I've focused a lot on my Scientist's interest. I figured it was educational so I should really encourage it. However I felt like I wasn't really reaching my Fashionista.. For Christmas she wanted a sewing machine. What 6 year old do you know that wants a sewing machine and fabric??? My awesome mom found a smaller sewing machine, bought different kinds of fabric, and gave it to her for Christmas. On Christmas day we sewed a pillowcase together. She was SO happy.

We decided that Tuesdays would be our sew days. Sadly last week, she misbehaved and lost it. Today is going to be our first official sew day. I'm excited. We're going to use some old clothing and make baby doll blankets out of them.

I love that I am able to help my children develop the talents that they are interested in. That is why I home-school. To strengthen my kids in areas that they have talents. (yes along with to strengthen their struggle areas too) I've learned that each kid is SO different. I don't know how public school could even work. I think children learn so much through experiences. Each kid needs to learn through their own experiences, the ones that they are interested in. Home-schooling lets me plan accordingly!

We'll Be Right Back...

...after our lives settle down a bit. Melissa and I are both dealing with major family changes right now, and we apologize that we haven't been able to post lately. We'll be back after the holidays!

Flexibility.

I have this lovely homeschooling room. I love it to death, and feel very very blessed.
Though.... Lately we've been doing homeschooling at the kitchen table.

 I've learned homeschooling is all about flexibility. My little homeschooling room is downstairs. The kitchen is upstairs. I've found lately, if I want to get the housework done and the homeschooling done, I have to combine it some where. So the girls do some independent work while I do the dishes.
The best part of homeschooling is finding out what works. Some people do homeschooling on the couch. Some people only do it in their special room. Some people do it on the porch outside (on nice sunny days) I love the ability to make my schooling work for me and my children.

Where to start?????

Fashionista making a "stone" tablet

Where do I even start when I decide to home school?

I’m still fairly new to homeschooling. But here are some of the tips I feel will help.

1.       Talk to friends around you.
I wish I had done this first. Talk to others around you and find out the different resources they use. Find out about co-ops that they are part of. Find out what curriculum they are using.  Ask what programs they are using.  After a year of living in the state I am in, I learned that there was a program where I could get help paying for books and other programs I wanted my children to participate in.  Home schooling can be expensive. It’s nice to know about the free and inexpensive programs in your area.

2.       Research. This point probably is a no brainer. But it’s an important part. I really enjoy going into an actual store and spending and hour (or way more) looking through books and seeing what I want. I don’t have a ton of money to buy supplies and find out I hate it. I am particular about what we use. I need to get my hands on it before buying it. After I have found what I want, I research it more. Then I find the cheapest place to buy it, which usually aren’t the stores I investigate the book at.

3.       Teaching Styles. Figure out how you like to teach. And then figure out how your children like to learn.  I needed first to know what kind of teacher I was. This is also an area you need to research. There are different styles you can read books about. For me personally I just needed to know what would keep me going in home schooling.  I am a very craft oriented teacher. If I am bored, I find that I can only teach boring. I try to engage my children in things I enjoy also. I then figured out how my children like to learn. Luckily they like crafts also. But my scientist REALLY likes to read where as my fashionista hates when she has to read too much without pictures. I’ve taken the curriculum we have and adjusted it to fit both of their needs.

4.       Decide for yourself (with your spouse). There will be MANY people telling you why you shouldn’t or should home school. You know yourself. You know what you are willing and wanting to put into your children’s education. Yes, there are some weird home schooled people (have you seen America’s Next Top Model). But there have been so many times where after getting to know someone I find out she/he was home schooled. You’re not going to ruin your child. Just try to ignore comments that make you doubt your decision. Surround yourself with people who are going to support you in your decision. And don’t bring up the subject in people who are going to be negative about it.

5.        Fun. Have fun. Don’t take yourself too serious. You’re going to mess up. You’re going to get burnt out. You might even yell at your students. Take a break. Breath and then start again. Homeschooling can be so enjoyable and so fun. As long as you remember to breath.

Now that you’ve read my advice. What is your advice to the beginning homeschoolers?

Who am I?

Yes, I know who I am.. But for those who don't, here's a little about me. My name is Melissa. I have four children. A scientist,a fashionista, a princess, and my boy (yes only one boy).  I’ve been homeschooling for 3 years now. This is our first year that counts. Last year I had a daughter go to kindergarten every other day, and we homeschooled on her off days. I’m not against public school, however it just isn’t what is right for my family. I love homeschooling, reading about homeschooling, and talking about homeschooling.

My homeschooling style is my very own. I use a little of The Well-Trained mind ways, a little of Montessori style, some of the Classic… But mostly it’s Melissa Style. I have a love for adding crafts to as many things as possible. We get things done with as much fun as possible.
Here's a little of what we like to do:

                                                 We like to make cave paintings, with our fingers

Towers out of sugar cubes Sadly our Leaning Tower of Pisa leaned to far.

 

                                      And occasionally we create our own rain clouds....

                                       But mostly we try not to take ourselves to serious.

        

I’m very excited to be joining Andrea in blogging. She’s not only extremely smart but she is the funnest (yep, I said it too!) person I know!

HI! I'm back!

It's been a long day, but I'm finally here for our big "first" day! We're having a technical issue with Melissa being able to post, but I think we'll have it fixed soon.

Most of you guys know me from when I blogged here before, but here's a little update. The Boy (he's six years old now) and I started his kindergarten year in April. It's going really well so far; we're about halfway through. I'll tell you all about what materials we're using...in another post. For today, I want to give you some visuals of what school life is like at our house right now.

We do some of this:

A whole lot of this:

We're trying to do more of this:

And I wish we could do this all the time:

[But we can't. We live in the Northwest, and it will be raining from now until May.]

So that's a glimpse. There are also a lot of dirty dishes, arguments about Nintendo, and days that we do the bare minimum, so don't get the wrong idea. But we love what we do, and I'm really excited to start sharing it with you again. 

We're hoping to get Melissa's post up soon--you guys are gonna love her. She's one of the funnest (yeah, I said it) people I know. So stay tuned!