Our Homeschool to Unschool Journey, Part 1

Our journey through homeschooling began in the fall of 2006. This post will be an introduction into that journey and will be followed by a series of posts which will take us through the winding paths of it.
Without going into too many details, we had heard about homeschooling while we were living in Texas c.2000-2004. There were a couple of families at our church who were homeschooling. It didn't interest me at all at that point, although we briefly considered looking into it at the end of the 2003-04 school year. I was easily convinced by my oldest 2 children that we didn't need to do that.
It wasn't until the fall of 2006 that life threw us a curve-ball and it became necessary to pull our oldest son out of school at the beginning of his 11th grade year. The other children were in grades 8, 1, and preschool/toddler aged.
We began with just the 11th grader doing a correspondence program, following a traditional educational approach via DVD lessons. Throughout that fall and winter, our 1st grader kept asking why he couldn't homeschool too. He wanted to stay home and do school like his older brother. He was doing well in school. He was keeping up with the expectations just fine and got along well with the other kids. But it wasn't home and he  had experienced a couple of uncomfortable situations and small complaints that he'd shared with us, and we just chalked it up to normal school experiences. In the meantime, I was learning that I really could do this. I had always volunteered in the schools, always spent lots of time invested in my kids and their education, so seeing how simple it was to do with the right tools, I began to consider bringing the first grader home too.
Soon after he returned to school from the Christmas break, he came home upset. He had a friend that he used to talk to on the playground. Both he and his friend were from Christian families and liked to talk about God together at recess. They had been told by their teacher that they were not allowed to do so. I gently explained that the teacher was wrong. He was allowed to talk about God at school, she wasn't. But I could see the doubt in his eyes, and knowing what an obedient child he was and how much he liked to please his teachers, I was immediately impressed with this thought, "No matter what we say at home, he will listen to them and try to please them there." I realized just how much the other adults in our so-called "village" could have an impact, for better or worse, on our children's beliefs and I wasn't ok with that. Especially since the aforementioned curve-ball fell right into that area of behaving one way away from home and another way at home and church. I shared my concerns with my husband and he agreed.
At the beginning of the Spring semester we brought him home. We purchased a 1st grade traditional curriculum, built him a desk and I started teaching him myself at home. Soon afterwards, I started purchased a pre-K curriculum to start teaching our 5 year old to read. Within weeks not only was she reading, the 3 year old was too. All doubts as to whether we were cut out to teach our kids at home were gone. At the end of that school year, the 11th grader got his GED and finished his high school education at that point.
In the fall, we started our 9th grader on the same DVD correspondence course that the older one used. She continued with it through graduation. It was a good fit for her and helped her achieve her goal of attending University to pursue a degree in music.
As for the rest of us, we began an enjoyable exciting adventure into exploring so many of ways an education at home can successfully be accomplished. Those ways will be explained in more detail in this series.

X's

X's

Do you draw X's on your calendar?
Is it just a way to cross off another day that's passed?
Or might those X's be symbols of treasure and the calendar a map?
Amid the common combination of  sentimental remembrances and
necessary reminders are the treasures that make up real living: dinners with family, game nights with friends, parties, dances, and romantic dates.
Look back on your calendar and relive the memories of the gold in days gone by,
then start dreaming of the next adventure and the gems that you will find.

Walking

Walking

My family has been doing a lot of walking lately. I've been taking my grandson for walks most weekdays. He likes to watch the world go by as he rides along in his stroller. Sometimes he sings his favorite songs as we stroll. Victoria often joins us on these walks and she and I have good conversations.

If I go for an evening walk Grace and Victoria both come along. Grace usually brings one of her plushies from her vast collection and poses them for photos. She's developed quite a collection in her portfolio. Victoria likes modeling in her own photos whenever she sees a pretty flower bed, flowering tree, or interesting wall to pose with. 

Joaquin has been able to join us for lots of these walks, which is a treat, since he normally works evenings. He enjoys inspecting the outsides of the houses we pass and points out different features and flaws. Along with his evening job, he is a home inspector during the day so he notices a lot of things we wouldn't see on our own.

We have been blessed with really great weather during our time in social isolation, making it super easy to get outside. I will miss these walks when the weather turns hot and humid and our lives get back to normal.

Video Games

Video Games

What do you think of when you think of video games? Do you think, "waste of time?" "Negative influence?" "Too much screen time?" "Frustration and discord between parents and kids?"

Maybe you enjoy video games but feel the shame that our society has stigmatized them with if you play "too much" or after you've become "too old"?

I don't really play video games, but they have become an important part of my joy in life. I am so thankful that I was willing to take another look, to try to understand the reasons my kids were so absorbed with them. I now see the value they can bring to family relationships and individual growth.

When I chose to pay attention to, rather than just put up with, my kids' video game playing, I realized that video games can nurture sibling bonds, holding fast despite long-distance and large age gaps. They foster art and music appreciation, and encourage creative expression in the forms of writing, drawing, vocal and instrumental performance, and acting. They increase critical thinking and problem solving skills. They develop the ability to achieve collaborative solutions. And they make our wide world a little smaller by connecting people around the world in networks based on common interests.

As I listen to my kids talk to each other about their games, work together or compete with one another on certain tasks, challenge each other to learn to sing or play a piece of music that inspires them during game play, or hear them chatting online with friends from Australia, Brazil, and other places far away from ours, I am amazed at what a blessing video games have been for us.

There is so much more to video games than I ever thought possible. If you struggle with a loved one's fascination with them, I encourage you to take another look. Open your eyes and mind to the magic they possess.

Unanimous

Unanimous

I was struggling to find something to write about, using the letter U as my prompt. As the days rolled by, I began asking my family to throw some U words at me, but none of the words inspired a story or a poem. Finally we decided, maybe instead of a story or a poem I could make a list. Not of U words, but of things our household could unanimously agree upon.
We are a close knit family. We support each other's ideas. We listen well to one another's thoughts, struggles, and dreams. And don't forget that we are homeschoolers, so obviously my husband and I have indoctrinated them into all our ways of thinking. (insert wink here). Surely, we could come up with a long interesting list of Unaniminities. Haha! I just made that word up, but I like it so it will stay.
We started throwing out ideas.
Tea! Hmm, that gets a minus 1. 1 person in the household isn't as enthusiastic about tea as the rest of us.
Coffee? Minus 1
Japanese curry? That would have been good at one time, but it's a minus 1, as 1 of has grown tired of it.
Daily walks? Minus 1.5
Interesting, even those simple, less important things couldn't get a unanimous vote.
We didn't delve into bigger issues on this occasion, like politics, climate change, abortion, and the COVID-19 response. But having had numerous conversation around those things, I already know that although we agree in general on most of those, there are nuances that would keep us from calling our beliefs unanimous.
Apparently, a unanimous list wasn't going to be such an easy one to make. It turns out, that we are a family of individuals.
What did make it on the list? Only 3 things!
1. Jesus is Lord.
2. Pineapple belongs on pizza.                                                                                        
3. Homeschooling is THE best.

*Photo by Miguel Andrade on Unsplash

Tea or Tears

Tea or Tears

I really wanted to make my T post one about Tea. My family's love of tea and my personal love of tea. But the closest I could come on this day is to take comfort in a cup of tea as I write about my tears.
I haven't written much about the coronavirus or its impact on our family. Mostly because it hasn't had as much of an impact on us as it has others. Although our college/high school aged children have lost their incomes, the major bread winners have continued to work and earn. All of our physical needs are being met. Due to the generosity of others towards us, we are able to be generous to others in our area who need the help. God is good.
Even so, there have been a few times that I have felt the strain of the changes in our world. Times the tears flowed unbidden and unrestrained.
Tears when our Governor put an end date on our stay-at-home order. A date that said my daughter's Senior prom and Graduation ceremony would be cancelled. A date that seems so far away; that adds weight to the heavy feeling of isolation.
Tears the first time I saw a friend in person, 6 ft away. Able to share a smile, but not a hug. A quick update in passing, rather than a cozy time of catching up over coffee.
Tears after some friends drove by, honked and waved from the street. We stood on the curb, desperately holding on to the fleeting moment of personal care shown by their going out of their way to drive by our house.
Tears as a I stuffed down the panic rising inside me when I went to work cleaning up after an Air BnB guest. Not knowing whether they had left any illness in the apartment. Reminding myself that there was more risk to going grocery shopping than in that apartment.
Tears this morning. My pastor giving an update on the future possibilities for our congregation to meet in person again. The bleary forecast that it may be up to a year before that can happen.
Tears as I type this.
Tears with my tea.