Can I Homeschool My Child?

Over the last several years, more and more parents have considered homeschooling their children.  The reasons vary; different learning styles require a child to have more one on one instruction, school violence, religious convictions, (wanting to avoid indoctrination,) there are many more valid reasons out there.  You may ask, “Would I be able to homeschool my child?”  Some parents may be concerned that this idea is impossible because they do not have training in education or an education degree.  With the number of various resources available this concern can be greatly diminished. 

Look back a couple hundred years ago, the responsibility of schooling usually fell on the parents shoulders.  It wasn’t till the last 50 - 60 years our federal or state government took over the education of our children.  Who knows better how to raise our children, us as parents or the government and an unknown bureaucrat?  I think we all know the answer to that one. 

The Bible states: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  (Proverbs 22:6)  Your job as a parent is to spend time with your children and to give them the tools they need to head down the path toward their future.  To instill the morals and standards your child needs to grow into a responsible adult.  In order for a child to succeed in whatever he feels led to do, as parents we need to instill a sense of respect and honor for their parents, elders and themselves.  The supplies parents had available to them many years ago may have been meager, but most parents made sure their children had a slate to write on and some chalk.  Some of the reading was done from classics written by the likes of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, if they were available to the family.  Otherwise, the most common resource available to most families was the Bible.  Consider Abraham Lincoln, according to some historians most of his reading was done from the Bible beside the fireplace at night.

The children also learned basic skills such as wood working, plowing a field, harvesting wheat, growing a garden or caring for animals on the farm.  These were life skills that were taught on a daily basis in order for families to survive but it also taught a good work ethic and a sense of responsibility to children at an early age.


Times have changed since then haven’t they?  With the advancement of technology with both electronic and paper resources a parent considering homeschool has many if not thousands of options, and the ability to research and make an informed decision.  One good source which is a must have is Cathy Duffy’s 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.  In her book Cathy Duffy not only gives you the top 100 picks for curriculum choices but she also helps you to identify your child’s leaning style so that you will be able to better teach him/her.

Numerous statistics and studies have shown that "homeschoolers, on the average, out-performed their counterparts in the public schools by 30 to 37 percentile points in all subjects. A significant finding when analyzing the data for 8th graders was the evidence that children who are homeschooled two or more years, score substantially higher than students who have been homeschooled one year or less." As determined by a 2007 study entitled "Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers' Across America."  Another important finding of "Strengths of Their Own" was that the race of the student does not make any difference. There was no significant difference between minority and white homeschooled students. These findings show that when parents, regardless of race, commit themselves to make the necessary sacrifices and tutor their children at home, almost all obstacles present in other school systems disappear.

There are millions of families who have been homeschooling for many years and have had children graduate and move on to college.  These families have seen the need to reach out to new homeschooling families and create resources to help parents get started and point them in the right direction.   Rainbow Resource Center is a family owned business with just this idea in mind.  They offer thousands of different curriculums along with reviews of certain products and a detailed description of what the curriculum contains.  They also offer teaching aids, learning aids and quality toys for children.

There are a few things to consider before you make your decision.  The first is to ask yourself, do you have the time to commit to teaching your child?  Your job as a parent is to spend time with your children and to make sure they are headed down the right path.  To get to know your child’s learning styles and encourage them to learn, to help your child reach his or her greatest potential.  Teaching your child will require time and effort from you. 

Another item to consider - is your spouse on board and supportive?  If both of you aren’t together on this, it will not be easy.  Teaching your children at home requires a lot of time, sacrifice and effort.  If your spouse is not on board it could cause a strain between the two of you or your family.   If you have multiple children there may be times that both of you might have to tackle the teaching responsibility.  Your spouse might help you to see things you might over look or help you to teach something in a completely different way that helps your child to really “grasp it”!

Check out your states laws regarding homeschooling.  There are many websites out there that break legal requirements down by state.  This will let you know if you are able and willing to tackle homeschooling from the legal perspective.  Homeschool Legal Defense Association is a great place to start; they have all the current news on homeschooling and the laws for each state.  They also have links on how to get started homeschooling, articles regarding specific age groups, a curriculum market and so much more.  Click this link if you would like to check out their website.  Homeschool Legal Defense Association

Talk to other parents who have or are currently homeschooling in your area.  They can give you guidance and point you in the right direction.  They may even be able to answer questions you may have or make certain recommendations.  They can give you ideas on what to expect, however know that each family approaches homeschooling differently each according to their needs. 

Above all, the most important aspect of your decision is prayer.  The decision to homeschool is not an easy decision.  With a lot of prayer, thought, research and family discussions it can be the best decision you make regarding your child’s education.  

Once the decision is made and you start your homeschooling journey, there will be days of smooth sailing.  Then there will be tough days that you may ask yourself, “Why are we doing this?”  When your child later looks at you and says, “I got it Mom!  I understand it now!”  That’s when you say, “And this is why I am teaching my child!”  So you may ask, “Could I homeschool my children?”  I say, “Yes, yes you can!”

Harvest of Friends Blog Party

Well, my friend Lynnette at Dancing Barefoot came up with this great idea of a blog party. I thought it would be fun to answer these questions and hopefully get to know y'all as well! I've enjoyed visiting some of the blogs from her site and hope to visit more in the next few days! So have fun!

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you're blogging? Since most of the time I blog in the morning, my big cup of coffee and toast.

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without? Assuming that family is a given. :-) My Bible and I guess my coffee.

3. Beach, Mountains or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice? I have never lived on a farm but would like to try sometime...however Chris and I have said we would love to live in the mountains then travel to the beach often. So I guess I couldn't choose!

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty? Cleaning bathrooms, not fun!

5. Who do people say you remind them of? Not sure

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying at home with the fam? I love to get together with family and friends but more often I'd rather stay home with my two guys!

7. What's your all time favorite movie? The Man from Snowy River

8. Do you sleep in your make up or remove it like a good girl every night? I have to admit that sometimes I am too lazy to remove my makeup at night. But I am definitely ready to get it off by the next morning!

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it? Yes, to paint or draw.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at? Hmmm, not sure about that one, I'll have to get back with you on that one.

11. What first attracted you to your spouse? His eyes and his smile!

12. What is something you love to smell? Roses...

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people. That I can't make up my mind sometimes!

14. When you have extra money (HA!) what's the first thing you think to do with it? Buy a farm! (As long as Chris agreed that is... :-))

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest? I am a loud laugher till someone tickles me then no sound comes out.... Funny stories and "America's Funniest Videos" make me crack up! Click here for one of my favorites, you may have seen this one. "Laughing Babies"

16. Where is your favorite place to shop? Anthropology (Although I have the worse time remembering the name, Apologia, Apothecary...One of those that starts with an A!) and I don't always buy stuff, a little pricey!

17. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time? I would sew or make a quilt. I love to sew and would love to learn how to make a quilt.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal? 90% of the time I am a frugal shopper or I try to be.

19. Who is your favorite character of all time (from a movie or book)? (Can't be real) Fanny Broadmoore from Tracie Peterson/Judith Miller's Broadmoore Legacy Series. She has a very quiet, sensible, yet strong spirit. She is not afraid to stand up for what is right.

20. Would you want to be famous? Nope.

Well, that's it for me! Thanks for visiting and if you leave a comment, post a link to your blog and I'll be sure to visit you!

There will be days....

We woke up to more rain today. We also had plans to go walk with some friends but had to make a rain check for another day. Which might have been a good thing because Riley also woke up with the sneezes and couldn't shake them! Zirtec to the rescue, but it was moving in slow motion too!

So we jumped into school and got things going so we could get done early and have the rest of the day free (still sneezing along the way...). After Bible, Riley tackled his Phonics test then a spelling test, and did well on both of them! Woohoo! We went over our new spelling list and then started math and that's when things started going down hill. He was trying to write a number on our white board while standing on a chair, but was having difficulty writing it the correct way. I had asked him to line it up under another number so they could be added together. Well, trying to get it lined up took a couple of tries, then he forgot what number he was supposed to be writing. As I was standing over his shoulder reminding of the guidelines I had set for him, the phone rang, he stepped left on the chair and it toppled over and he landed on top of it. It was a chain reaction of events and the results were not good in his eyes. I helped him up and checked him out, thankfully only a little scrape on his leg. After hugs and dried tears, we got back to writing that number and added it to the other one. Victory!!

Later just before lunch when of course we are starving and ready for a break. Our dog Heidi who is a 13 year old German Shepherd, has to be right beside us during school time. You know, she's got to stick with the pack... :-) Riley was trying to walk backwards away from his desk and tripped over a box and Heidi who was laying in the middle of the floor. Boy was that the straw that broke the camel's back, he was so frustrated. He stalked to the bathroom and got a tissue to blow his nose from yet another sneeze, and fighting to contain his frustration. Compassion kicked in and I said, "ok break time." As we went to the kitchen we both agreed some things needed to be put in their correct places, not the dog, but the box that didn't belong in the schoolroom.

When we finally finished after lunch, he said, "Mom, I think I need a rest..." I just smiled and gave him a nod of approval. Tomorrow will be a better day.

It's true that things that don't belong in the picture such as a box in a school room or a dog can really throw a wrench in the school day. There are days that we have to shut the door and not permit Heidi or Flash to come in the school room. Depending on what their motive is and how Riley is that day, the dog and cat can be a great distraction from school. Most of the time Heidi just wants to be close to us, which of course we don't mind.

A "froggy" day!

I remember growing up in Kansas that we spent a lot of our summer evening hours out doors. We would play kickball, kick the can and we also caught frogs and had frog races! Great fun! Thankfully I didn't end up with wort's on my fingers as a result of catching all those frogs! Of course, that could be an old wives tale for all I know.

You never know when you may have an opportunity for a nature study, big or small, keep your eyes open so you don't miss it. Yesterday our day started out a little rough, we woke to a broken coffee maker and our garage had taken in some water from the storm the night before so Riley and I were cleaning up the mess. After we finished cleaning the garage, I decided to trim the grass in the area below our faucet, the grass was so tall. As I tackled the small area something scooted through the grass to get away from the trimmer, so I put it down to go investigate.

Riley came over to see what I was looking for. As we looked and moved things aside we found a fairly good sized frog! At first I thought it was a bullfrog but then decided we should look it up. After looking at some pictures Riley thought it was a Southern Leopard Frog and Chris thought it was a Wood Frog. Y'all look below and see what you think.



We read they like to eat spiders, Moth larva, snails and meal worms. Later, just before we were getting ready to let him go, Chris being much more brave than I, found a spider to pick up on the lid of the bucket. He brought it over and laid the lid down in front of the frog, as he did the spider bounced off the lid and landed about 6-7 inches away from the frog. When the spider landed it froze in place, as if it knew it was in front of a predator! After waiting with the video camera for a few minutes we gently scooted the spider closer to the frog. As we did the spider got within 2-3 inches of the frog, rolled over and folded it's legs up as if it were dead! After it laid there a little bit I guess it became confident that the frog would not eat it because it got up and walked back to the lid it arrived on. Aren't God's creatures amazing?

In our efforts to feed the frog an earthworm wound it's way around the frogs legs and we laid a moth larva in front of it as well. He was not hungry, I'm sure we stressed him out greatly so at that point we allowed him to hop off. With some giggles and jigs as the frog hopped through our legs and under the truck he finally hopped into the grass and burrowed himself as deep as he could go. We enjoyed our little nature study on our resident Southern Leopard Frog/Wood Frog. We still aren't sure which on it is but it was a nice little diversion from the stress of a broken coffee maker and water in the garage!

Blessings

We were on our last day of our vacation driving back to Orlando from the Gulf Coast and we had had a day of observing God's wonderful creations on different beaches that day. We started out with our own plan but God had something else in store for us that day and it turned out far better that we had planned. Realizing how great the day turned out it caused us to recount the many blessings we had experienced over the last week.

The first blessing was on Sunday, we had spent the day resting at our resort. We all went to the pool and packed a lunch to eat poolside. Later that afternoon we decided to take a drive to St. Petersburg and St. Pete's Beach. As we drove into St. Pete's Beach trying to find access to the beach, I kept hearing birds squawk. It was a squawk I didn't recognize so I kept watching till I saw three parrots fly overhead and land on an electrical wire! How cool was that!? We finally found a place to park and ran to the beach. We got there just in time to feel the sand on our toes, stick our feet in the water and get a few pictures before a storm rolled in. We jumped back into the car and drove to the pier.

As we got there the shops were closing and we were hungry, but after asking around we found out the Columbia was still open! Once up stairs we found a two hour wait, we decided to stick it out and were so thankful we did. While we waited we met some very nice people, locals who lived there and shared bits of their life with us. The wait staff was very nice and helpful, answering our questions about the restaurant in spite of their long day. The food was very good and worth the wait. They had rolled their prices back to 1905 (like when they first opened). So we got an $80 meal for about $16, the entrees were $2.95, the salads were $1.95, a cup of soup was .50, coffee was .50 with free refills, and desserts were .50.

Riley in front of the Nemo fish tank there at the Columbia. I was so proud of him that night, he was so patient and well behaved. Considering our two hour wait and the fact that we all were hungry, he did great and seemed to enjoy himself. Chris, Riley and I were actually the last family to be seated that night!


This is the view of the sunset from the Columbia. That is the St. Petersburg skyline. As I was taking this picture one of the waiters came up and showed me the shot of the sunset he had taken the night before with his cell phone. What a great view! I wish my picture would have came out a little more clear but I'm still learning how to take pictures with our new camera and my 40+ year old eyes are struggling to see the LCD screen clearly! :-)

We were driving back to Orlando later that night thankful for the wonderful day we had and the good food that could have cost us a fortune but didn't! Chris had commented on the way down to Florida Saturday, "I wonder if Alligators are as prolific here in Florida as deer are in Alabama?". Well, Sunday as we were driving back to Orlando, we almost hit an Alligator crossing the highway! I was so thankful we didn't hit it, but it was so funny! The idea of an alligator crossing the road!?

I'll have to finish more later. Till then. Blessings to you.

Fantastic Family Vacation

We packed our bags and loaded up the car last Friday to head to Orlando! We were on our way to vacation at the beach, at Disney, Sea World and the beach again on Friday. What a time we had! We were so ready to shake loose the worries, stresses and concerns of our daily lives and have some fun. We did not realize how we had gotten so wrapped up in circumstances of issues, work, school and other people and had let those things affect our family.

I think God expects us to do what we need to do to maintain a healthy balance within our families. It is up to us to keep things in check as we go through life. If we don't, all those outside things can start taking a tole on individual members or the family as a whole.

We left home with the intention of not doing school at all but it turned out that we had two days that were perfect opportunities to do some fun learning and nature studies. Our trip to Sea World was by far the best day, it was so much fun to see and touch creatures from the sea that Riley had never seen before. He was able to touch a Cownosed Stingray in the touch tank. Of course it took a bit for him to work up the nerve but after some gentle guidance from Mom, he put his hand in the water and was able to touch a couple. It was amazing how smooth and soft they were. They were so gentle as they swam by and would turn their nose up to see if you had food or not.

We were also able to feed and pet some Dolphins! How exciting it was to be so close to such a graceful creature! Riley was really excited and jumped in there to pet their chin and drop the dead fish in the Dolphin's mouth. He loved it! As they would swim up they would open their mouths, making their clicks and noises, it was as if they were smiling at us and saying hello! Such happy creatures!

From the multiple aquariums they have in the park to the touch tanks and to the wonderful shows at Sea World there were multiple learning opportunities for Riley that day.

Our last day in Florida we were really hoping to find a good beach where we could snorkel and find lots of shells and sea life, you know really study nature. We tried catching a ferry from Fort DeSoto state park to Egmont Island but missed it. Before we left that island we toured the fort and went out to the beach. There we saw a Southern Stingray and what looked like a Gulf Pipe Fish. We met a couple who also missed the ferry, they recommended that we try catching the ferry from Honeymoon Island to Caladesi Island State park. This is an island off the gulf coast of Florida which is uninhabited. It is a state park and ran by the rangers. The ferry goes every hour and is only $10.00 per adult and $6.00 per child. We made it there just in time for the 2:00 ferry! We grabbed our gear and got on board.


The ride over was a short but we saw lots of birds on the way. After we docked and made our way to the beach we encountered a Gopher tortoise. They dig a burrow several feet deep and willingly share it with other creatures such as the Southeastern Rattle Snake! Hmmm, I wonder if they make good neighbors!

As we got in the water which was so clear and calm, we quickly started finding shells and creatures. Chris found a shell with a large crab inside. Riley and I both found a couple of shells with mussels inside them. One of them didn't like us messing with him so he squirted us!


We had a wonderful time and were able to bring home a few shells from our snorkeling adventure. Chris found a huge clam shell that was about as big as his hand and was still connected. He also found a large Pin Shell that was still connected. He was willing to go a bit further out than Riley and I were. We were so thankful for the kind couple who gave us a great suggestion in going to Caladesi Island! We know God sent them our way that day!

I would say we had two good days of learning that we will count as school days. We will be printing pictures and making a scrapbook with info on each of the creatures we experienced on our trip to Florida. In asking Riley what his favorite part was, he started with the trip to Magic Kingdom but then the list grew and he had several favorites and our day of snorkeling was one of them! Amidst our days of learning we were able to relax, have fun, laugh, and get to know each other again. What a wonderful time we had!

Thankful

I was reminded the other day how thankful I need to be for those little things that I so often take for granted. If I am not paying attention they will slip right by me!

I don't know how it is for you but last year about this time as we started school I realized that I was really stressing about how school was going for us. Was Riley stressed? How was he doing? Was he doing well in these first few weeks of school? Should he be in public school? So many questions raging through my mind!! Then I realized here we are a year later and I'm asking myself the same questions!!

We had a day recently that we started out with our Bible lesson, as we typically do. I noticed that We were studying the Garden of Eden and how sin came about. Riley was thoroughly enjoying this lesson, he was asking questions and even anticipating where the next part was going. Before I knew it we were done and he said, "Are we done?" I told him we were and that we were going to move on to Math. He said, "Mom, can we do more Bible?" I was so elated that he genuinely wanted to continue on with more Bible. I told him, "You bet!" We ended up doing about 2 1/2 hours of Bible that morning and we both were blessed in the process! What a joy! By the end of the day I felt we had accomplished a whole lot and the day was a success! Being in the Word and seeing my son's enthusiasm to learn more of our Heavenly Father renewed us both and fed us for the day.

That morning reminded me of what my purpose is in teaching him. Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 The other stuff is important, reading, writing, and math. If we are striving to be where God wants us to be spiritually then the other stuff will fall into place. Thank you Lord for the reminder.