HOME SCHOOL ADVENTURES 3

"We don't have to worry so much about educating children; a normal child would have to be locked up and away from life itself to keep from learning."  ~Education Reformer, John Taylor Gatto

My children are now 27-36.  We home schooled from the beginning to accommodate my sons characteristics which may have made conventional school a disaster for him.  It did not deter me from living life more relaxed and in a joyful manner.  It was the best way at the time to make life work for our family.

We concentrated on a lot of reading and letting the kids follow their interest as best as can be.  This was backed up by a husband who basically did not enjoy school growing up but had an adventurous spirit.  His mother happened to be an elementary school teacher.
 You pray a lot and trust God to give you answers as you need them and then chill out.

Future Scientists or chefs

Baseball

I tried to help my children focus on skill development and encouraged them to make spiritual life important.  I wanted to foster the idea that learning is fun and enjoyable.  I wanted them to love learning and that there need to learn. what ever they need to learn,, when it becomes important in their lives.

First Ride in airplane out to Ventura

Advice:  LIVE AN INTERESTING LIFE!  Some years we joined ISP programs and other years did it independently.  We took advantage of the free tuition at the local college during junior and senior high.
We seldom followed a rigid school schedule.  We stayed up late and slept in late, more out of convenience than anything.  I found that each child woke up at various stages of the morning.

Tea Parties and dress-up

Mother's helpers

Oh, yes, the teacher part of me was tempted to create color-coded charts and yes I did at various times in my enthusiasm.What was I thinking?  I could create structure on a piece of paper?
When you are in the throes of morning sickness with a third or fourth, the first thing you want is to forget those color-coded schedules.  When you have a baby or a toddler there is poop when there should by vocabulary, math, or science.
For the most part we used an a-la-cart, hodge -podge of curriculum, Abeka,Bob Jones, Alpha Omega, Saxon Math and educational curriculum available at the time.

My daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals turned into yearly goals.  We schooled year around and tried to keep it at 180 days each yr.  We did a lot of logging and journaling.  Made lists of all the books read and what was studied.

Barbie Sofas

Some days I was pleased with what we accomplished and other days we decided that building elaborate cardboard houses  and furniture for Barbie, Ken, and company or Lego architecture would dominate the day, Imagination at full throttle.

Keeping the Barbie Doll in the latest fashions

Micro mini town

Barbie and company were the best dressed dolls in the neighborhood, my oldest daughter designing and sewing their tiny little outfits.  We obtained cloth from our "missionary barrell" or El Ba-rr-ll.  For those of you not familiar it was kind of a mini thrift store but we did not have to pay for anything we took, a fun place where you never knew what kind of treasures you would find, dress-up clothes abounded.

Micro Mini vehicles in a rock quarry

 God knew the struggles and blessings that I needed to forge on.
  My children were very creative.  I tried to supply the children with "open-ended" toys or projects to spark creative moments.  I attempted to capitalize on every teaching moment.  Learning was happening all the time.  Financially lean years necessitated creative ways for obtaining our school supplies.

THE VOCABULARY WARS -We made army battlefields with the army men and jeeps and made vocabulary ammunition

ALPHA BET AMMUNITION READY FOR A VOCAB BATTLE

LOOK WHAT THE STORM DID? A fort in the middle of the street for a few days

Our first child, Baron Von Schoof, a Keeshond

AWANA BIKE RACES

AWANA BIKE RACES IN THE PARKING LOT

AWANA BIKE RACES IN THE PARKING LOT AT GCC

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
 3 John 1:4
 
HOME SCHOOLING-OUR JOURNEY 2 CLICK HERE


HOME SCHOOL ADVENTURE 1  CLICK HERE

HOME SCHOOLING, OUR JOURNEY 2

The wonderful thing about homeschooling was its flexibility and ability to meet learning styles.

“Children know how to learn in more ways than we know how to teach them.” ~Ronald Edmonds(1991)

SCHOOFIES

I wanted to live at a slower pace and savor life with my children.
I felt that my son’s energetic nature and tendency to physical expression was more easily accommodated by home schooling. 
Home schooling become our way of life.  It was life changing.  It was our family’s journey.
I loved to read aloud to them.
I loved to spend time with them.
I loved to see them learn new things.
Home schooling requires a pioneer type spirit as no two children are alike and the path is like no other families.
Did I get weary of it after the “honey moon” years?  Of course I did!  But just the thought that I only had this season with them spurred me on.  Those years sped by at an alarming rate.

Matthew (in middle) receiving an award

Did I have recalcitrant kids?  Yes, of course I did on occasion.  Passive/aggressive?  Yes, of course, at times.
Before I began to work in the church nursery, I was one of those moms who was getting reports of how unruly my son was during church.

Sunday Morning nursery (Matt on the far right)

 One Sunday, between services, I happened to look up on the balcony of the Sunday School building (2nd grade) to catch my son and one of his trouble making buddies, directing their paper air planes from the balcony, their SS papers onto the passer byers below between services.

  We later realized the he just did not do well for both hours.  We began to have him with us during our fellowship group where he began to help his dad set up the sound system and break it down later and get a snack.

Baby Gym with Matthew

My cuddle buddy with a very pregnant mom

You know, when you’re a homeschool MOM, you relish that respite and I was not to happy with our new arrangement but it was just one of those things you have to deal with.

Crafting with a hammer

A Busy Son

Our schooling revolved around many activities the church offered, Christ,Mommi,& Me time (aka Masters Kids)  Baby Gym, Kinder Gym, AWANA, Sunday School, Sunday night SEARCH, Wed. night Bible studies for teen agers, summer & winter camps any other activities that came up.

TOPIC~HOME SCHOOL CLICK HERE 

My Three Daughters

WILL I EVER BE THE SAME? HOME SCHOOL

Will I ever be the same?  No!
Have I changed?  Yes!

My Little Unconventional Son~Watching

I had aspirations of being a mother. I had desires to work with children.  I had dreams of being a nurse.  I had dreams of traveling.  I had desires of becoming an author.  I had hopes of becoming a teacher.  I did not want to be a missionary but God in his providence led us into home missions for twenty years.

I became the mother to 4 beautiful children.  I became a nurses aid/care giver nurse of sorts. I got to spend 15 yrs. working in the church nursery. I got to travel the first five years of our marriage.  I became that  teacher by homeschooling my children.  Have I changed?  Yes!  All these adventures changed me.

Deep Into Nancy Drew

 The purpose of this blog is to focus on one of those aspects of my life, HOMESCHOOLING.
I had never considered homeschooling until my oldest daughter turned five.  I began looking at it through the lens of my own upbringing and schooling.  It was 1985 and  homeschooling was somewhat of a trend in my circle of friends.
I began by preparing myself by investigating my options.  Although we located out to the San Fernando Valley just 2 blocks from the local elementary school where we thought our children would attend, I did not feel comfortable handing my kid over to their peers and others for the majority of their days.  Each day I observed mothers, escorting their young children down the street toward school with unhappy faces.

My Little Banshees

 (Just a reminder from a previous blog that I was shuttled off to boarding school, with total strangers to me, at the age of six for months.) MY FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL

MY EARLY YEARS OF SCHOOLING 

We began attending CHEA conventions (Christian Home Educators Association) in the 80's when in the area and attending seminars.  We were awarded a charter member certificate. 

Now I know that home schooling is not for every families journey either by choice or because it is not logistically possible and I am not advocating it for every family.
I must confess that one of my reasons for home schooling was a selfish one.  I wanted to continue the parent-child relationship that I had developed since birth.  I just couldn't see a reason to end this just because my child reached compulsive school age.
I am so grateful God allowed me the privileges to home school and reap the results from those efforts. 

Teacher ID card

The motivation to home school grew out of the yearning for quality time and stability.  I did not want to "waste" my time at parent-teacher conferences and school related issues that may arise because of behavior problems, and time travel.
I wanted my children to have continued relationships with each other.  Something that I had not had, even though there were six of us. 
I wanted to foster life long learning.  I just wanted to enjoy my children.

My Little Gal of The Limberlost by her Swamp Shack~1991

I had some reservations to the secular nature of public schools and Christian Schools were beyond our financial reach.
Home schooling is part of our family legacy that I hope my children understand was made by choices made at the time with the limited knowledge, with an imperfect, sinful, inexperienced mother teacher.
 I do not resent the fact  that none of my grand children are home schooled.  I respect those choices.  As one that has been there, I know the sacrifices involved and I do not expect them to follow in those footsteps.
One becomes aware that we do not know the time or the place when our children will leave us.  This became a sudden reality a couple of years ago when our son passed away.  I was so grateful for all the time I spent home schooling my unconventional son and the bond we had forged.

Spent many "Park Days" at The Ranch

  If schooling him in the present, he may have been labeled high functioning autistic or some other label due to his delayed development and learning style.  He thrived on a hands-on environment.
My three daughters all high functioning readers with a strong vocabulary, verbally and otherwise excelled in most subjects. 
I eventually gave up trying to bring "the school" into the home and gravitated to what may be labeled a "relaxed home schooler", leaning more to the "unschooling" approach for my son.

Alcove Academy temp campus in Highland Park

What I did not realize til after the fact was how much each child picked up from their siblings and how the older ones were teaching the younger ones. 
 The girls all basically taught themselves to read by about age 5.  They did not tarry on the primers but went straight to the interesting reads of their choice.  We made many, many trips to the public library and the library at The First Baptist Church of La Cresenta and came home with an arsenal of the max each one of us could check out for three weeks.  Oh how I enjoyed that quiet time when we got home as everyone found a spot to read.

NORTH HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY STUDENTS ~Matt & Hannah

Meanwhile, my son struggled or not, on reading.  I spent so much time trying to teach him and finally I gave up around six yrs. of age.  However,  around the time he turned eight, I found out he had been holding out on me and he began to read, not the simple reading for beginners but he was checking out "how to's" and computer manuals well beyond his age.  He learned much by osmosis.  I never knew what was spinning in that mind of his.

NORTH HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY STUDENTS ~ Amy

My book end daughter's did attend conventional school.  My oldest daughter was invited to visit her uncle and aunt who were teaching/house parenting/school nurse in Kijabe Kenya at Rift Valley Academy where she extended her stay to attend the latter part of her high school years and later the Masters U.
My youngest daughter was home schooled through fourth grade and attended conventional school also up through high school and eventually college.


 








 

BEFORE STROLLER & DIAPER DAYS

Long before we were burdened by strollers and diaper bags, we traveled blissfully on modest adventures for five years, from Los Angeles to New York and Washington DC. and points in-between.

1980

We traveled by car, van, plane, and train.  One most memorable trip took us by train to Chicago with the ultimate destination, Urbana, Illinois. Budget constraints forbid us  the luxury of a sleeper.
I settled into my self-entitled seat and soon attempted to make my pregnant five foot, three inch frame self comfortable.

1980

1980

  It was December.
  The train rocked back and forth whining and groaning.  As I finally settled into the rhythmic bumping over tracks, semi rocking, I continue to settle into a more comfortable position.
I drop my head and slip into a semi sleep only to immediately wake up again mentally taking note of the inability to sleep while six months pregnant with my first child on a train.

Proud Parents ~ July 1980

The heat of the compartment and motion again work its attempted sleep spell again and I doze off.  As we hurtle through the darkness across the plains and swaying from side to side, I continue to struggle to maintain some comfort.  I fall asleep.
The jolt of the train in the early morning hours woke me up with a start.
 The train began to slow down immediately and came to a sudden halt. All movement ceased.
I tried to peer into the pitch black out the window. Everybody’s eyes were looking confused sensing something had just gone wrong.  Several men were walking up and down the track on both sides of the train. The train had collided into a vehicle stalled on the tracks.
 We stood silent what seemed hours. The car lost its heat and we were freezing. Finally the train lurched forward again and it started to heat up.

This memory often comes to mind when I think about the earlier years with our first born. 

AMY ~ 6 mo.

Months before the above story, we were seriously beginning to wonder whether God would bless us with such a gift.  We were pleasantly surprised after five years that God would be so gracious to give us this daughter.

One Year

MEMORABLE TRAVEL MOMENT CLICK HERE

ROLLER COASTER ADVENTURES

After the care giving “honeymoon”, the journey is seldom a short term experience.  It can go on for days, for months, and even years.

The challenge becomes exhausting and draining.    One soon realizes you just can’t juggle all the balls.  Although wonderful things happen, they  add to the weariness and frustrations that arise.
Riding the roller coaster of care giving is sometimes heading up the highest hill, the feeling that everything is under control, never knowing when the down cycle is coming or how.  The twists and often sudden turns, the emotional ups and downs giving you the experience of a life time.
Intense stress from care giving sets forth a chain of events in the body leading to an sundry of health issues.
I encourage all care givers to know your limits and pursue realistic goals.
“The key is to remain open-minded. Besides learning as much as you can, seek out other caregivers to give and get support.”  ~Advice from a care giving site.
I am inclined to think that care giving was designed to help us fathom the limits of our humanness, yet experience the extraordinary fraction of our hope to come, a longing to be in the presence of the Great Caregiver.

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16