Homeschool: how we started

I just finished a review of an e-book called turning points (It, along with all the other reviews I've been doing lately are found here: SimplySchoolingReviews). In the book over 25 families share what led them to start homeschooling and what keeps them homeschooling. As I read about their "turning points," I started to reflect on why we started homeschooling, my goals for our homeschool, and how homeschooling has been a blessing. It was reassuring to feel that I'm not alone with the struggles and frustrations that come with homeschooling and to be reminded and remember all the joys of homeschooling.

After reading "their" stories, I wanted to record mine.

I never would have dreamed that I would homeschool my kids. It wasn't even on the radar screen. When Ryan was 3 (2003-04), I looked into sending him to HeadStart, but we didn't qualify, so I joined a few other mom's in putting together a rotating preschool that was 2 days a week. We each took a turn teaching every 6 weeks. I enjoyed planning for my weeks, but felt frustrated with some of the other moms who would do a short activity and then turn on Sesame Street or a movie for the kids to watch. I also didn't like driving for 15 minutes to drop him off, driving home 15 minutes, then turning around an hour later to go pick him up.

I started looking into other options and decided to start a preschool in my home. I had plenty of background from college (my MS degree is in Human Development and I'd worked with Early Head Start Research observing and working with preschoolers). That was a fun year. Ryan and Tyler both learned a lot and I enjoyed working with the other kids. My goal for the kids was to have them learn everything that year that the state expected them to learn in Kindergarten, so they would be ahead. Ryan did that, and more. The only problem was, his birthday missed the cut off deadline, so he still had another year to wait before he could go to kindergarten.

I talked to the school district about having his start early (not an option), looked into private kindergarten (too expensive), and then started reading about homeschool. I wasn't willing to just not teach him anything for a year and I had enjoyed teaching him preschool. Ryan had also done well learning from mom, so it seemed like a viable option.

I started collecting information about homeschooling, reading everything I could and joining a local homeschool group and going to some of their activities. The moms I met were amazing! I wanted our family to be like that. We did hit some resistance from family members. My sister told me I was crazy and my brother-in-law sat down and step by step went through a list of concerns--- but either they've all given up on changing our minds or they've seen this is a good option for our family. :)

Initially, it was a one year experiment, then we would see from there. The first year (2004-05) went pretty good. I pushed a little too hard and experienced mom burn-out a bit sometimes, but overall we enjoyed it. There were enough blessings and positives that I knew this was exactly what our family was supposed to be doing. I also got to know other homeschooling families better and I really liked the lifestyle I was seeing.

The next year, when Ryan was officially supposed to be starting kindergarten (2005-06), he was reading chapter books and learning multiplication. Public school kindergarten was not an option, I knew he would be bored and act up and be labeled a troublemaker. (And in Idaho, you have to be 6 by the deadline to start 1st grade, so skipping a grade wasn't an option either.)

In Idaho, there are several different virtual public schools where the state provides resources and the parent teaches at home. We looked into all of them, and most looked dry and boring and tedious, but one option showed promise. I-DEA gave parents a set amount of money to spend on resources to educate their children at home. The money could be spent on books and supplies or lessons. In return, the students had to take the state tests and submit work samples. For Kindergarten the allotment was $600 and I was willing to jump through the hoops for the extra money. That year we took spanish classes and swimming lessons, and bought some really neat resources and books.

We've continued working with I-DEA and had a very positive experience. Because the boys are ahead in most areas, I can pretty much homeschool the way I want. We've already covered the things they are expected to know for grade level, so collecting work samples is really easy. The extra money has allowed them to do things we otherwise couldn't afford, like horseback riding.

There are days when homeschooling is exhausting. Especially when I was pregnant and tired. There were days when the house was a mess from projects, the kids were not getting their work done because they were either daydreaming or tormenting each other, and I was getting really tired of hearing "mom, I need help."

But, the good by far outweighs the bad. The days when they work hard to get their work done so they can build a blanket fort in the family room and read all afternoon. The days when they spend the afternoon collecting leaves to pile on the trampoline and I hear them laughing and playing and just having so much fun. The way the boys look out for the little ones and include them, and get to spend time with the family. There have been so many times when we have been able to go do something fun (and often educational) as a family that we wouldn't have been able to do with the public schools' schedule.

I love seeing them learn and watching something click-- like Ryan deciding algebra and story problems are fun and spending our "non-school" days right after the baby came reading all 7 Narnia books. Seeing Tyler finally get to the point where reading is fun, not a chore, and watching his confidence start to bloom. I love knowing their friends and being able to answer their questions.

Homeschooling may not be the best option for every family, but it is for us, at this season and hopefully for a long time. And I'm grateful for the turning points that led us to even consider it a viable option.

Horseback Riding

For PE this year the boys have been taking horseback riding lessons. They have loved it and learned so much. Over the course of 12 lessons, they learned to walk and trot without a lead rope, have the horse step over a log, weave around barrels, and play games while riding a horse. I am so grateful for the virtual charter school options that we have here in Idaho that pay for them to do this type of activity.

At the end of each lesson, Jeanisha gets a pony ride around the arena, which she loves. At first, I would walk with her to steady her, but now she can balance on her own. Adam also insists on a pony ride too and grins from ear to ear while he is on the horse and cries when he has to get off.

We'll be taking a few months off for winter, but both boys want to do horseback riding again in the spring instead of a different sport. Maybe someday we'll even get a horse of our own.

This is Tyler trotting. He has to kick REALLY hard to get the horse to do it with his little bit of weight!

Please help me!

Dear Friends,

Today I would like to ask you to spend 5 minutes to help my family by contacting Horizon Organic milk company.

My parents recently became a certified organic dairy here in Idaho; they milk 50 cows on a small family farm, Halverson Dairy in Rupert, Idaho. It was a 2 year process costing several thousands of dollars to obtain the certification. During that time, Horizon Organic offered seminars encouraging dairies to become organic and talked to my dad about buying his milk once he was certified. They also promote a “Four Steps to Organic” program on their website which my parents followed faithfully. Now that the process is complete and my parents are ready to start selling their milk, Horizon is saying they won't honor their verbal commitment to buy the milk.

Horizon promotes themselves as a company made up of small family dairies, but most of their milk comes from factory dairies with thousands of cows. In fact, Horizon opened another dairy with several thousand cows in Idaho shortly after they told my parents they had too much milk to take the milk from their 50 cows.

I would like you to call Craig Fullmer of Horizon Dairy/WhiteWave Foods (the parent company of Horizon Dairy) and tell him that you would like Horizon to honor their commitment to organic family dairies and that you will not be buying Horizon Organic milk until his company stops misleading consumers and dairy producers. (Their milk is sold at Winco and their website is http://www.horizonorganic.com/) His number is 1-800-488-9283, select the option for employee directory and key in his last name. You will probably get his voicemail, just leave the message above with your name and contact number.

You can also contact Scott Toth, VP of WhiteWave Foods, and tell him the same thing. His number is 214-303-3400, you will get his secretary. Both of these men are aware of my parents' situation and were part of the decision to not take their milk, even though my parents had been working with Horizon for 2 years during the certification process.

Thank you very much for taking a few minutes to make these calls. If you have any questions, just add a comment or email me. And feel free to forward this to anyone else you think might be willing to help us.

I hope Horizon will realize that integrity is important and people are willing to take a stand for what's right.

It's a race

The kids love to make everything a race. And they love to get a head start before I say go. Tonight I told Tyler and Jeanisha I would race them to see if I could get ready for bed faster than they could take the dishes to the dishwasher and wash and dry the table.

Me: "Ready?"
Tyler: "Ha, ha" as he runs for the table.
Me: "Set?"
Jeanisha: "Ha, ha" she runs for the table.
Me: "Go."
Adam: "ha, ha" and he runs after the other kids, then stops and looks back at me like "what now?"

Lucky Day!!!!

I just got a 6 Qt Professional KitchenAid for $19.00, Yes, 19!!!!! This is the one that retails for between $350 and $499!!!!! I love my current KitchenAid, but I max it out when I make bread and this one is bigger and more powerful.

Amazon.com had a Christmas promo where customers could vote in 6 different rounds on which of 3 things was the best deal. Then, of everyone who voted in a round, they randomly selected people who would have the option to buy the items in each round. If you got picked for an option to buy, it was a race to buy one of the 500 available at the special price. And they sent the option to buy email to a lot more people than the 500.

But I guess my clicking index finger has had lots of practice-- at 7:30 am the countdown clock changed to add to cart and I managed to be one of the lucky ones. I was all the way through check-out and had my order confirmation email at 7:32 am!!!

It's noon and it's already been shipped and should be here by next Tues. YEAH!!! I never win anything and for this one I had to basically win the lottery twice! Merry Christmas to ME!!!!!

Missing Details

Lincoln's middle name is Alton after Stephen's grandfather. He weighed 7 lbs 12 ozs and was 20 1/4 inches long.

He is a super good baby, very calm and easy going. The kids all absolutely love him and love to hold him.

We had a good Thanksgiving-- Stephen cooked a turkey and we made all the traditional side dishes. Of course, all the kids wanted were turkey, rolls, jello, and olives. Oh well. It was different not having any family around-- the kids missed having lots of cousins to play with.