My Home School Blog

Austin's curriculum

2011-08-14T09:57:00.000-06:00

Well, for Austin, we are also using Sonlight. He is working through Core F which is the Eastern Hemisphere. And Science F; Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy.

For History there will be about 15 books that he should go through. I am sure we won't get to all of them, but that is OK. The Easter Hemisphere also has a workbook and a new (2011) version CD-Rom World Book Encyclopedia.

Right now just finishing up with an overview of the South Pacific Islands. Did you know that there are more than 30,000 islands and 8 million people that make up that area? Next week we start a more in depth look at Australia. Some of the areas of study will be the Great Barrier Reef, Captain James Cook, and a brief look at climate, and a few important dates in Australia's history.

A couple of other books for history are:

The core of unreached (Christian) people live between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. This book covers 100 cities and gives a brief history of each.

Another one is:

This is a true story about one missionary family and the adventures they have New Guinea. A bit advanced for Austin at this time, but working through it. I think we might put it aside and come back to it later.
For Science the last couple of weeks we have been using these books:

We have been working on the digestive system, which I think is a favorite one for kids. Learning about sphincters and why people have gas. I bet you didn't know you have a sphincter around your lips! It is your kissing muscle. That was good for a laugh for quite a while at our house! LOL!

Bible study for Core F is mostly all this work book. Check it out here. It is a little hard to follow, so for sure need adult assistance, but so far it is not too bad. Here is place to review what it is all about from someone who used the entire program. We have just started.

Austin is reading:

Not everything has to do with following the history curriculum :). And for someone who 'hates' reading, is almost finished.

And for Read Aloud, one of my favorites;

Austin is doing the same math and spelling as Ryan. As well as typing, daily journal, Wordly Wise, and handwriting. Next month we will start some art.

Ryan's curriculum

2011-08-10T17:13:00.005-06:00

We are using Sonlight this year for everyone, and Ryan is using Core W and Science G. Core W in one year World History, and the Science is

Geology, Physics, and Origins.

Here is a look and what he starts out with:

Science

This is a really great book on how evolution cannot prove life on earth. You can read more about it here.

A good read for children and parents alike.

Ryan reads a chapter and then answers questions like:

What is the theory of applied characteristics?

How was the law of disuse finally proved false?

For History, he is working through these two main books:

Basically, we just read through these and have discussions about it. To go along with these two, the novel Ryan is reading right now is

And the one I am reading aloud to him:

Although both these two books are fiction, they are beautifully written and give the reader a real sense of what life was like during that time in history. There are 20 more novels Ryan will work through an his own, and at least 9 more read aloud. Busy year!!

Bible study includes the following at this time:

These last three really stretch the mind and make you want to learn more about what is really means to be a Christian. It's much more than blind faith.

For spelling we really like:

Check it out online here. I like it because there is ZERO prep time! There are no spelling tests, but the student does 25 words every day.

Typing:

About 15 minuets each day. Easily adjustable for different skill levels. All the kids are using this and me as well. Can always get better!

Now for math. Ahh math, that strange subject that can be so subjective. This is still a struggle for me. I was never very good at math, so I think that is still haunting me. We are using a mix of curriculum this year.

Right Start Math is asian based math that uses an abacus to help children visualize what they are working on. We are lower than grade level on math right now, but I really want to make sure the kids are getting it before we move on. I will also be using:

Teaching Textbooks is a great resource. This math is done on the computer and it is like having a personal tutor and the kids can work on it on their own and it keeps track of how well they did. For each lesson there is a real 'lesson', then some practice and then the questions.

Also this year I have found a good web site called Xtramath. This I am using for review and practice. It is a free site, and you can have multiple children signed up. As the parent (or teacher), you choose which grade level you need. You can adjust the questions later to focus more on one area, like just addition, or just division. You can then review your students and see where they may need more work.

Now for L.A. This year we are taking a break from the BIG assignments. Like story writing. We will do some of these, but later on. For now we are just focusing on narration, dictation, and copy work. I am following the formula in this book:

You can check out some reviews here. This comes from the 'Well Trained Mind' series. It will really help us get our words onto paper much better. There are workbook for the kids that come with this, but for now I am just following the directions in this book. Mostly because I have used all my funding for this year :) For vocabulary we are using Wordly Wise. Pretty good, but all the kids hate it. LOL! I think it's funny because it's not hard at all.

Handwritting:

Practice for cursive

So that just about covers it for now, I will add in the different books as we use them. Most of these books can be found at Christian Books. It is a great web site for ALL types of christian books, including a very large home school section. I like this site because you can view the inside of all books, they have great sales, and ship very quickly. Check them out if you get a chance!

Thanks for reading and good luck to all who are homeschooling!

Our Big Box Day

2011-07-03T12:17:00.000-06:00

   "Time to get ready for our next school year!"
   "Already?"
   "Yes, already."
   "Sigh. OK then, let's do this!"

   That was my internal conversation not too long ago. It felt at first that my break had just started, and was over much too quickly. But once I realized that wasn't really so bad, I got right into it.
Since we have started our home school journey, I have tried a TON of curriculum, as most homeschoolers do, trying to find the 'magic' one. There is no 'magic' one. And I have also tried to create my own. Too hard with 4 kids. I need to get some sleep.
   The best one I have found for us is Sonlight. Great subjects, great books, easy to follow for me and the kids.
   Placed my order. A huge order as each of he kids is getting their own 'core' this time with no sharing. Didn't have to worry about the mail strike as they send all their stuff by Fedx. (pricey but effective). It only took a week to get here, and then the real fun begins. Unpacking and organizing!!

Only 4 boxes for all that money?? LOL

Box number 1

These are from one box

All the boxes have been unpacked

It took me one whole day to get them sorted out and grouped together where they belong. We are now ready to start full swing again in August.
   Evan is doing Core C, intro to World History/ with geology, meteorology & mechanical technology for science.
   Sarah is doing Core D, American History, first year (I know, but we will put with it Canadian history)/ with biology, taxonomy & human anatomy for science.
   Austin in doing Core F, Eastern Hemisphere/ with heath, medicine & human anatomy for science.
   Ryan is doing Core W, World History/ with geology, physics & origins for science.
   Everyone also has math, typing, spelling, art, bible study, LA, and a load of novels (both historical and for fun) to go through.
   I think we will be busy.

Summer Time

2011-07-03T09:29:00.000-06:00

   Summer is here, and who wants to do school? Not me! (or my kids) So what do we do with all our spare time? We relax. We sleep in, even more than before. We watch our favorite movies if it's raining outside. We play. We cut our grass, and the grandparents grass too. We color. We ride bikes, and play in the sandbox. We help Dad with fencing, and splash in the pool. We listen to the Rooster and the Gold Finch outside the kitchen window, having a singing contest. Rooster wins for volume, Gold Finch wins for composition.
   Many people try to get so much done in the summer. Vacations, family get-togethers, etc. Cramming as much 'quality time' in as they can stand and their budget allows before school starts again in the fall.. I've been there and done that as well. I must admit that it was fun at the time. But on this side of the fence, where I spend every day with the children, I am learning what real relaxation is for us. Just being.
   We have been done school now for only 2 weeks, but for some strange reason, we are starting to miss it. The kids would deny it in an instant if you asked them outright, but they are. Don't get me wrong, we are all enjoying doing 'whatever' during the days, but that routine is gone for now and it leaves a strange feeling behind.

Owl Pellets

2011-05-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

The day of dissecting the owl pellets had arrived. The older boys were not as excited as I thought they might be. It was kind of gross.

You need to let them soak for about five minutes to help the pellets come apart more easily. We picked up the pellets at our local home school convention. This is our first time dissecting anything, and now the kids are not sure if they are ready to do any more things. I am hopeful that they will change their minds later on.
Well after they were soaked up, then came the gross part. You need to pull them apart to see what bones are inside.

They were pretty nasty and smelled real bad.

Both the boys found what we think are mice or voles in their pellets. Ryan just had one bigger one, and Austin had a bigger one and then at least three small ones. We hypothesized that the owl must have found a mouse nest.

We will for sure be doing this again in the future. Even though the kids thought it was gross, they enjoyed themselves. It's always fun to try something new.

All in a Day's Work

2011-05-16T20:26:00.000-06:00

     What do you remember most about when you went to school?   That can easily be a loaded question. Most people have a few good memories, but more than a few they would like to forget forever. A precious few only have great memories. For them, it was one of the best times in their lives.
     Ahh, to be one of those people...

     As you may, or may not know, the biggest reason we decide to pull our kids out of school was the fact that they were NOT having a happy time. Getting picked on and beat up at school AND on the bus makes for a very long day.   All those bad times are just a memory now. I am thankful every day for that.
     So here is a very small glimpse into what some of our school days look like.

attempting to catch frogs out in the slough

Those frogs are soooo annoying! You can hear them, but can never see them.

We chased them for almost 2 hours with no luck.

Ryan learned a math game and then taught it to Evan. This was part of their math for the day.

The start of a great art project.

Even though the complain about doing school, EVERY DAY, no one has ever, ever asked to go back to public school. We have made the right choice. My house may not be as clean as it could be, there is always laundry waiting to get washed, and some projects have been on the back burner so long now that they are burned beyond recognition. There is nothing that could make me change my mind that home school is a great thing!

Spring

2011-04-25T09:22:00.000-06:00

I do believe that it is spring time in Alberta, finally!!! The snow is melting, but taking it's sweet time, the birds are singing, and we are working outside.

Evan

Even though the snow is almost gone, it will be a while yet untill things start to get green.

Dad raking, Austin riding

As you can see from the picture, there is still quite a bit of snow left. Mostly in the shady areas.
Next week sometime we are going to shear the sheep. They are starting to get kind of hot with all that wool.

Since the snow melted enough now, our fire pit is open and we had the first fire of the year on April 24th.

Evan and Sarah

Ryan and Austin

We are looking forward to many more hours around the fire this summer. Hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did. :)

The Path of Freedom or Finally Organized!

2011-04-19T17:34:00.000-06:00

Well, the last blog was just the start of getting my stuff together. Since then, I have been to a 2 day home school convention and came home feeling fully refreshed and encouraged! One of the talks I went to at the convention was about 'workboxes'. This was the system I am trying to figure out as well. Very informative, as the lady who was presenting stated to make sure you do what works best for your own family. She also gave a ton of ideas to use in the boxes, and I plan to post some of those later.
We are using Sonlight, so all the work of figuring out what to do each day is already done for me. This is a very important part of using work boxes. You can also go day by day, but I think that way is a lot more work for us. So here is what I have done:
~I didn't buy too much new stuff, but used what boxes, bins, and shelves I already had. I think this saved me a small fortune!
~ Dollaramma is a God-send to parents on a tight budget. They actually have quite a bit of stuff that you can add in to your daily routine. Even if you only use it once or twice, the price is right.
~ I did buy some bankers boxes (cardboard), hanging file folders, and 4 different colored regular folders to help keep the kids work separate.
~The biggest part of the job was just sorting through all of the stuff I had acquired and grouping them together in separate boxes. Eg: History, Math, Science, Bible, LA, Arts and Crafts etc.
Here is a look at that:

It's starting to come together.

We brought up another smaller bookshelf that was just in storage. Now our school area is looking good. Everything in it's place.

So here are the bankers boxes with the kids work in. The one on the left for Sarah and Evan, on the right Ryan and Austin. Each hanging folder for each subject, and inside the hanging folders, color coded regular folders for each child. The little notes that say: Start Day on the front are used to 'punch in' for the day.

Here is a look at how each child keeps track of what they need to do each day. I drew out some boxes on fancy construction paper and put them in page protectors. Some people might like to laminate, but I found that too expensive. Also, I already had a full box of protectors with my scrapbook stuff. Then I added Velcro stickers. Each number or subject corresponds to a hanging folder in their box. These hanging folders have the matching number on the front. I used Velcro sticker on them as well to make it easier to switch things around and change the schedule. In their folders is the work for them to do each day. I copied the Sonlight guide for the older kids, and just wrote out directions for the younger 2.
They look in this book, find the folder that matches the number, do the work in that folder, take off the number sticker form this book and put it in a little box on the side, (notice how the number 1 is missing in the photo) and go on to the next step. They can see at a glance ALL the work the have to complete each day, and can manage their time as they see fit. Although I encourage them to get as much done in the morning as possible. I think that this will take some tweaking on my part, after we have used it a bit.
We have using this new method for a whole 2 days now, and everyone really likes it. LOL. They like knowing when their day will be done, and finding surprises in their folders from me. In the fall, each one my children will be working on their own core from Sonlight, so then they will each have their own box and not have to share.

I Need to get Organized

2011-04-14T12:22:00.000-06:00

Argh! So many things in so many different places!!! I really need to get more organized so since it is snowing again (yes, it is the middle of April) now is a good as time as any. I have been looking into work boxes. I will not go into it here of how it is supposed to work, you will have to research that for yourself for now. But I think it would really improve our day and keep the kids busy on their work, and stop wasting so much time looking for stuff. And also free up my time as well. As all mom's know, if the kids can't find something, what happens..?
"Mom, I can't find it!!!!"
Then I have to leave what I'm doing and go help them search. So this is the beginning of getting it together! Stay tuned, to see how it turns out!

Some stuff here

and here

and more here

and spread out here.

I do have a few things sort of together, but it really could be so much better. this would also free up some more space for our growing number of games.

So here is the very start of the organization:

Chicken Puddles

2011-04-11T18:25:00.003-06:00

The start of the GIANT puddle out in the pasture.

If you look close you can see the dog on the far right.

Even chickens like playing in the mud!

A bad reading Day :(

2011-04-11T15:26:00.001-06:00

Well, my youngest son, Evan, had a very bad morning. I did too. We were doing some reading, and he just wasn't getting it. He couldn't seem to remember any letter sounds, or blend sounds or anything. It was almost like starting over from the beginning again. Needless to say, he got very upset. I am sad to report that I also got upset. By the time we were finished, we were both crying. Not good at all.
Since we started home school, I have been reluctant to push too hard with reading. I have read everything I could on it and talked to many people. They all say to just give it time, and he will ready when he is ready. I was fine with that for a long time. But this past year I have started to feel the pressure. From family members, friends, and even from other kids he plays with.
" You can't read yet? Wow, you must be stupid." That is what another child said to him.
We also get questions like,
"How's your reading coming? Want to read me a story? Why don't you work harder on it?" These only cause more frustration on both our parts.
I know this my fault, since I reached out to people to get some advice on what to do to help him learn. But looking back now, that was a mistake. For those people only have experience with the traditional school system. All the books and advice that tell me the opposite seem very far away when one of your friends or family members is forming a judgement in their mind right in front of you. The sad thing is that it is not only a judgement about me, but about him and all homeschooling. I feel like I am letting down a lot of people.
So the question now is, do we keep struggling along? Slowly and painfully? Do we just leave it completely for a while, or just do a little bit? Sigh. There is a home school convention coming up here in Alberta this weekend, April 15 &16th, and I am going to be talking to a lot a people to find out how they have come through this struggle. I know in the back of my mind I should just leave it, and it will come, but the rest of my mind won't seem to let me. The struggle continues...

Remembering the Camera

2011-04-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

I have always been one of those moms that takes a lot of pictures. I mean A LOT! There are many others out there just like me. You know who you are!! I am also an avid scrapbooker, so I think that's where it started. Anyway, now that I have started this blog, I seem to have miss-placed the camera. Today the kids were cleaning out the chicken pen in the barn, and picking bottles and cans in the ditch, but the camera was in hiding. I also did a bit of sewing, some pillow case dresses for my neices, and again...no camera! Well I found it finally, but of course at the end of the day. I think I am going to get some bright ribbion to tie on that pesky thing!.

Some Fun Pictures

2011-04-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

homemade butter

Wild animals

Making sugar cube igloos

Quilring Pillow Tops

Baby lamb triplets

Summer storm

Stackin hay, summer 2010

Spooky.....

So Much Snow

Lets Talk School...

2011-04-06T17:10:00.000-06:00

Well, since this is a home school blog, I guess I better talk a little about what we are doing right now in our home education. I am only going to share what we are currently using and working with, otherwise I will be up all night typing!

Evan and his pottery bowl

I am going to start with my youngest son, Evan. He is 7 years old, LOVES anything to do with tractors, likes math and science and hates everything else about school.
His experience at the public school was very limited to 2 great years of playschool, and 4 months of kindergarten. To him, school is nothing but an interruption to his day. He is still learning how to read, which is the one subjects that daily brings him to tears. He has the ability, but just doesn't have the confidence yet. It is a slow journey for us. Daily there is improvement, but it is taking it's sweet time. Having said that, I am very proud of him for struggling along with something he hates to do. I know in my heart that when it clicks for him, he will devour books by the basketful! He loves looking at books now, but just has no desire to read them. To help him on his way, I am using 'Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons' by Siegfried Engelman. We are on lesson 66, and he is doing well. Then there is reading from some very simple readers. He does small spelling tests with words that we have already covered in the lessons, and we try to spell all 10 words every day. I should say here that we don't really do spelling 'tests'. I have a list of 10 words that he spells out for me every day, I just mix up the order. I hated spelling when I went to school. You know the way it was. Look at the words and have a pre-test on Monday, then study the words all week, and the big test on Friday. I always hated that method, so we just don't do it. We are also workingon Five In A Row- Volume 1,but onl once in a while when the mood strikes.
For math we use 'Right Start Mathematics' by Jaon A. Cotter, Ph.D. This is an asian aproach to learning math with the focus on mental math. All my kids are using this program and we all really like it. It was, however, a bit challenging at first for the older kids who had to switch their thinking from what they learned at school. We do one lesson each day and it comes with a ton of math card games the the whole family can do. It also has a great geometry section and money skills.
Science this year we are using 'A Reason for Science'. We like this science very much. It comes with a kit that has everything you need for every experiment in the workbooks. It is a christian baised program that has related scripture readings for each unit. You can easily expand on these as much or as little as you like. Each lesson is ment to expand to a full week, but we can easily do the entire lesson in 1-2 hours, depending on how much we talk about the lesson and how long he experiments take. Evan and his sister are both working in level B right now. This works well for us since the lessons are geared toward 'reasearch team' learning. Each level in this seires covers 4 main areas. Life Science, Earth Science,Energy & Matter, and Forces.
'The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times' by Susan Wise Bauer is the history curriculum we are following. It comes with a book filled with stories and then an activity book that expands on what your reading. There are naration exercise for the kids, coloring pages, and some really cool hands on stuff like making a mummie from a chicken! (we didn't do that one though, too weird for me)
Evan also has a few workbooks the he is doing. These include: Explode the Code: 1 1/2, Printing Power by Handwritting Without Tears, Plaid Phonics-level A, and Complete Math Smart-grade 1.

Our Newest Student

2011-04-05T15:44:00.006-06:00

A couple of days ago, some dear friends brought us their cat, Pekoe. They were unable to keep him any longer, so we agreed that he could come here.
We already have 2 house cats, (named Fuzzy and Oreo) so we weren't really sure how it would work out. The first 2 days there was a lot of hissing and growling, and our new friend had to be rescued twice from behind the hot water tank! But this morning, he was upstairs with us and was acting like he has lived here all his life. He jumped up with Sarah and Evan while they were working and it looked like he wanted to learn too! The other 2 cats have also started to accept him. Well, at least the is no more growling. I think he is going to fit in very nicely with our family!

Killer Bunnies

2011-04-04T21:08:00.000-06:00

We have discovered a great new family game called "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot!" It is for 2-8 players and is rated for ages 12 and up. However, my youngest son is only 7 and a non-reader and loves to play. Once we read the cards to him he got it in no time! This is a quote from the back of the box, just to let you know what it's all about.

'Killer Bunnies is a fast paced, action filled card game in which you must try to keep as many Bunnies alive as possible, while eliminating you opponent's Bunnies. The problem: You opponents are armed with weapons and will stop at nothing to keep you from winning the game, which can get dreadfully vengeful, horribly nasty hilariously messy, and just plain fun!'

The game comes as a starter pack, and then you have the option of purchasing additional 'Booster Packs' to add to your game. These must be added in the proper order, but really add a lot to the game. There are some references to T.V. shows and movies on some cards, so if you are sensitive to these issues, you may want to preview these. As with most things these days,"Discretion is Advised." One more word of caution; If your children have a hard time losing at games, they may not be ready for this one yet.

We play this game at least twice a week and have added 3 of the booster packs so far, and I believe there are 10 in all. That makes for a LOT of card shuffling.

This game is by Playroom Entertainment. all rights reserved.

If anyone has any suggestions for any great family games, please share them! We are always on the lookout for fun things to do as a family.

Something to Ponder

2011-04-04T20:15:00.000-06:00

Amazon.com Widgets

Winter is almost over!!!!

2011-04-04T19:54:00.003-06:00

Living in Alberta almost my whole life has made me aware of just how long winter can sometimes be. Many times there is at least a foot of snow by halloween, and it can be 30 below! That doesn't happen every year of course, but often enough! Once in a while we are blessed with a brown Christmas. Living in the Great White North, this can make viewing all the decorations and lights a strange experience. This year, however, the winter seemed to us to be exceptionally long and cold. There was a bit of snow at Christmas, and it wasn't really too cold, but January was a different story.

First big snow fall

It snowed almost everyday, any where from a couple of inches, to 2 feet! This combined with -20 to -35 really put a damper on our winter activities. February and most of March were not much better. The kids and I caught an extreme case of cabin fever, and tensions were running high most of the time. Combine this with only about 9 hours of daylight, and you get one grumpy family! School work ground down to the basics, and there were many tears. (I'm not going to say from who.) We had a few warmer days, and the sun would even attempt to break through on occasion. The kids spent some time outdoors, bundled up so much it made excess movement almost impossible. They usually only spent a few minutes outside as it was so cold. On the days that it was only minus15C, they would stay out for longer and come in with red cheeks, and ice cold toes. Time for a round of hot chocolate.

Adding to the snow pile

My husband and my oldest son spent quite a bit of time pushing and piling up snow from our drive way and yard with the tractor. When you live on a farm, that is by far the best way to deal with multiple feet of snow! The pile out by the barn where they pushed all the snow grew and grew and grew! According to records, the most snow we have had in the last 30 years. I have been teasing the kids by saying the we will be able to put the slip-and-slide on it this summer for some extra fun.

But the last week has seen blue sky every day! Sunshine, melting snow, and the shift from a snow filled yard to a mud filled one. That's just another benefit of country life. We go from snow pants and winter boots, to jackets and rubber boots. From an entry filled with melted snow to one filled with muddy boots. Sigh, more mopping. We have witnessed the return of some Canada Geese, the Crows are back full force, and we even saw a Robin on our front step! Poor thing, I have no idea what he will eat until the rest of the snow is gone. I was hoping that school would return to normal, but I am out of luck once again. The warmth and sunshine draws the kids out to play in the mud. The older two have started the gopher hunting season early this year (yes, they come out before all the snow is gone!) in hopes of keeping a control on their population and saving some of our hay crop.

Soon the snow will be just a memory, and I am hoping for enough water out in the slough this year so we can go out and try to catch some frogs. Then there will be the garden to think of, and all the yard work involved with farming. This year I am going to try something different for my garden, but you will just have to stay posted to find out what it is.

I hope that spring is well on the way in your area and you and your family will be able to enjoy all it's beauty!

Austin & 'Sugar'

How We Got Started in Home School

2011-04-01T17:54:00.000-06:00

So, some people know early on that they want to home school their children, or they themselves were home schooled. Sometimes they know of a family that is already involved in the home school life style. For me, it was a lot different.
I hope nobody takes offense here but, I used to think that all home schoolers were a strange cult, that lived off the land in communes, and sheltered their children so much that they grew up socially defective and unable to function in real life. Now, before you get upset with me I will explain. I grew up not even knowing about homeschooling. I had never even really heard of it until after I graduated from high school. Not one person I had ever known home schooled, or even knew anyone else who did. It was one of those topics that were really out on the fringes of my existence. As I grew older, got married and started to have children, it still was not even something I even slightly even considered looking into. My husband and I went to public school. Our parents and siblings had gone to public school. Every single person I knew went to public school, and our children would, of course, go to public school. We looked forward to our children's first day of school. Since we live in the country, they got to ride the school bus. That first day, we walked out to the end of the driveway with them, held their hands, smiled and assured them that it was going to be fun. An when that big yellow bus pulled up and stopped, waved to them, wiped a tear from our eyes, and watched as they were taken away. My husband and I both knew, of course, what public school was like. We knew that riding on the bus was not that we made it out to be. We knew that our children would probably get picked on at some time or other. We knew that there might be days that they came home crying. We knew that teachers were overworked, underpaid, and many times just going through the motions. We knew that lunches could get stolen, or older kids would expose them to words they were not supposed to know at that age. We knew all these things and more. But that's what we went through. And though we knew all this,(and for me at least it was the hardest time in my life) we willing sent out little ones out to face all those things with a hug, an extra treat in their lunch box and some lies that it would all be o.k. Sigh.
So, how did all this lead up to deciding to home school? Very simply actually. I worked at the school one year as a special needs assistant. That one year working in the environment that my children spent 6 hours a day in was enough for me to really take a step back and wonder if this was all there was out there. Now, the school I worked at was not broken down, or poorly staffed. They were not struggling with gangs, violence, or a big drug issue. In fact, I would have to say that as far as my experiences with schools go, it was at the top of my list. I did see a few things that upset me, and there were time that I had to excuse myself and go and cry in the bathroom. Nothing 'serious' mind you, just the slow and methodical breaking of little souls into the mould they are supposed to fit in. As his was happening, the mom of child I was working with was going to try home school the following year. A close relative of mine had decided to home school her children. The seed was planted. What made it all come together was this. My oldest son, Ryan, was getting bullied at school and on the bus. The bus driver tried her best, but her job is to focus on the road. If she didn't catch it in the act, there really was not too much she could do. At school, my son did all the right things too. He talked to teachers about what was happening. We talked to teachers about what was happening. The school did their very best to help us. In the end, nothing changed. So we knew what we could do. We could take responsibility back for our own children, and educate them at home. Scary. Very scary for me. I didn't have a clue about what to do or how to start. But I knew it was, and could be done! So, I jumped in with both feet and pulled all 4 kids out of school right before Christmas break in 2009. It has not been a easy road for us, but it is the right road. We have never looked back, and now enjoy looking forward. What a wonderful gift we have received.