.Because You Asked - Homeschooling Part Two.

Here is the second part of "Because you asked" - home school addition. Thanks for the great questions! My inbox was inundated! {grin} To see part one click here.

1.What materials are you using in your home school with your 4 year old?

This year I am using Hands on Homeschooling. I really struggled to know what to use our first year. I chose this curriculum because it was so hands on and involved cooking and chores and a lot of movement type activities. It was perfect for Cadi from September to about November. Lately I have been noticing that she has kind of surpassed the curriculum. The activities seem to be below her, but she still seems to enjoy them. I just feel as if she is not being challenged as much as she was in the beginning. I still use most of the activities and the lessons, but I am adding stuff as well. I also purchased the Idea Book that went along with this curriculum. The Idea Book has been amazing. It is well worth the money. I really like it because it is not age specific, and I will be able to use the ideas for years with Cadi and Scotty. I completely recommend that book, even if you are not going to home school. It has wonderful, creative ideas and activities to do with your children, plus practical ideas for moms. I also use Abeka K4 Phonics. I am very familiar with Abeka, and while I do not agree with nor use all of the worksheets (busy work in my mind), I think their methodology is spot-on and works! Cadi has just started reading three letter words with short vowels, and that blows my mind! I use the bare bones of Abeka, and then we do our own fun stuff with the curriculum. Cadi loves it and so do I. We have really majored on the phonics lately. Reading is so very important to me, and I really want my children to have an excellent foundation and to truly love reading. I plan to continue with Abeka until second grade,and then reevaluate from there. I am NOT a fan of their {boring} basal readers, and I do plan on incorporating real books when the time comes. Our library is a wonderful resource. I am looking into Five in a Row for next year. It is a unit study that is literature based. The basic concept is that each week, the student will study a book - usually a classic, and all subjects revolve around that book - even Bible and their memory verse! My best friend shared it with me, and I am beyond excited to research it out. From what I have looked at so far, I am in love. Like I said I will continue Abeka next year, and I will start Saxon Math with Cadi.



2. How do you stay organized? I am not an organized person, and feel as if I would be doing my children a huge injustice if I tried to home school them.

Let me just say that I am not an organized person either. No - my house is not a mess, but if you look in my closets and cupboards their is little to no order. I was not created with an organized mind, I thrive on organization and long for it, and am good at keeping something organized, I just cannot figure out how to do it most of the time. All that to say, organizing is a big key to home schooling, though. I was nervous about this, and I prayed about it before starting. My best friend, Bethany, whether she knows it or not was hugely instrumental to my success in organizing school. She was created with an organizing mind. I truly believe it is a spiritual gift even. One piece of advice she gave me was storage containers - baskets, bins, containers, etc. I took this to heart and spent a whole day organizing top to bottom.


This is our homeschooling base. Almost everything is kept here and handy for when I need it. This dresser was getting thrown out and just given to us, I like the rustic-ness of it in my living room.


Here is a peek inside of one of the drawers. (These photos were from this fall.)

We also have a cupboard organized with home school stuff.


On the weekends, I organize everything I need for the coming week. I make any manipulatives/ visual aids/ games that I will need on the weekend as well. I use a system similar to what I used when I taught school. I have five filed folders labeled Monday - Friday, I put the corresponding lesson plans, activities, stickers, books,cards, etc in each folder. I put other supplies I might need (cotton balls, paper bags etc.) in a crate. That way everything is all set for me, and I just have to pull it out for that day. This has worked well for me.

I think the biggest thing is to find what works for you and be committed to sticking to it, yet at the same time if it isn't working try something else, until you find your system.

3. My husband is not on board with homeschooling, but I feel God tugging at my heart.

Oh, this is a toughy. Definitely be bathing this situation in prayer. I fortunately was blessed and my husband and I came to the decision to home school at the same time. As Christian women, we definitely need to be submissive to our husbands, but at the same time I think it is fine and good to have a conversation with him telling him exactly why you feel led to home school - try to have a non-emotional conversation. Then after that, it is something that will really need to be left in God's hands. If home schooling is really what God has in His plans for your family, He will change your husbands heart, and if not, He will change your heart.

4. Do you worry about your children not getting enough socialization?

No, I really don't. My children attend church with us each week. Cadi is involved in the mid week children's program at church as well. Both of my children are exposed to other children on a regular basis. Cadi has NO problems with socialization, lol. She could carry on a conversation with a tree. Scotty seems to have a much shyer personality than Cadi, and we will just need to give him opportunity to grow and develop his social skills. I definitely do not think that has to happen at a formal school.

5. What do your parents and your husband's parents think about home schooling? I know our parents would disapprove!

Jim's parents are very supportive. They home schooled their children through most of their formative education. They did things a bit differently than we do, but at the same time have offered us nothing but their support. Honestly, I was nervous about what my parents would think. I was reluctant to tell them, and actually it was not until just recently that they knew of our plans to continue homeschooling past these first few years. My parents are very supportive of our local Christian school, but they have been extremely supportive of our decision as well. They may not completely understand, but nonetheless they support us.

6. Isn't home schooling a huge expense?

Just like anything in life that you value, home schooling is an investment. Our first year has not been too expensive, but then again, we are just starting off. I think, like anything else, it has to be budgeted for. If it is something that God is leading you to do, you will be committed to making it work, and God will bless that.

7. What does a typical day look like? When do you clean your house? Do you have any free time?

A typical day (not everyday, though!) looks like this:
6:30 - Quiet time and prayer with Jim
7:00 - Children up, everyone dressed
7:30 - Family Breakfast
8:00 - Children play, I start laundry and a little housework. Some days I catch up on reading blogs with my cup of coffee {wink}
9:00 - 11:30ish - Scotty naps and Cadi and I do school
11:30-12:30 - a little more housework
12:30 - lunch
1:00-2:00 ish - I play with my children and we read stories
2:00 - 4:00 ish - (some days this happens a bit earlier) the children nap, I exercise, finish housework, and have my free time
4:00-5:00 - Cadi wathes one show, I prep and make dinner, Scotty usually plays in the kitchen at my feet
5:30 or 6:00ish - Family Dinner
6:00-7:00 Family time - play, bath, devos
7:00 - children in bed
7:00 on - is time with my husband



If you still have more questions - feel free to ask - either in comments or in my email. If I only get a few, I will respond individually. If I have enough to do another post, I will. Thanks for making this so fun!

.Because You Asked - Homeschooling Part One.

The majority of questions that I get from readers, whether it be through email or comments here, pertain to homeschooling. Several of the questions have been duplicates, so rather than answer every email/comment question individually, I decided it would be fun to do a question and answer post. This is part one, these are from the questions I have already been asked. Part two is up to you! I will put together a part two next week that will answer any other questions you ask me pertaining to homeschooling and how it works for our family. You can leave your question in this comment section or email me if you feel more comfortable.

**Disclaimer: Our family has just begun our homeschooling adventure. My daughter turned four in September, and I am only doing the very basics this year. I am not uptight with it, and school fairly casually. I do not pretend to know a lot about the ins and outs of homeschooling, but because I had so many questions from readers it seemed like a fun thing to blog about. Just please know there are MUCH more educated people and mommies out there than I. {grin}**

1. What made you and your husband decide to home school?

This question is tricky for me to answer, as I can not pin point exactly when God softened our hearts and pointed us in this direction. I went to college and earned a degree in elementary education. I taught in two different Christian schools before Cadi was born, and I loved teaching. I loved having a classroom and students and watching these little children grow and learn each day. I was certain that as soon as my children were old enough to attend school I would go back to teaching. However, as Cadi grew and the months swam into years, my heart was tortured by the fact that once I sent her to school, and out of our home, that was it. I would never ever get the precious years of her under my wing at home again. And it saddened me and sickened me. It was all happening too fast. I wanted more time with her. And out of that desire God brought to my mind homeschooling. I rebelled for a bit. I didn't want to be that cliched home school family - you know the one that I am speaking of. I worried about all of the silly things like socialization and sports and other extracurricular activities. Then Jim and I began to seriously pray together about how homeschooling might fit into our family. I began devouring books on homeschooling written by other women, and I began speaking to other home schooled mommies and their children. At around this same time God was doing a work in my best friend's heart regarding homeschooling. It was an amazing blessing to go through the process kind of side by side, and then ultimately come to the same conclusion about homeschooling in our own hearts. So in a nutshell that is how it happened. {grin}

2. How long do you plan on homeschooling your children?

This is a permanent plan for us. We are committed to schooling our children, and we feel as if this is the best fit for our family. I do not foresee us ever sending our children to formal school before college. Can God change our hearts again, though? Yup! However, for now we are confident that this is where God has us.


3. What does Scotty do while you are homeschooling Cadi?

I am very, very blessed to have had two babies who were/are excellent scheduled sleepers. Because of this, I knew that for this first year, I could easily schedule our school day around Scotty's morning nap. We school from 9:00-11:30 (give or take some days). Scotty naps from 9-noon, so it has worked out beautifully. Next year . . . . well that is another story! Ha!

4. Do you think that every Christian family should be homeschooling their children? Is it wrong to send my child to a Christian/public school?

I think this is a big misconception regarding many home school families. No, I do not think that every family has to home school. While I think homeschooling is absolutely a perfect fit for us, it may not be for you. That is something each family has to seek out and answer for themselves. Yes, I do think the schooling children should always be prayed over and not just assumed that they will go to formal school, but again each family has to come to a decision for themselves. The same is true for sending your children to a Christian or public school.

5. How can I home school my children if I am not a teacher? You have an advantage and of course are qualified to teach your children.

Oh my, I really feel that at times I have a disadvantage! It is so hard for me to get away from the ideas of formal schooling - the methods, the practices, the applications. I think this is what I have struggled with the most this first year. I am so drawn to Charlotte Mason's method, and her gentle approach to learning. However, I cannot get away from a desk and structure and pencil work (a little bit). I am working on this, and I am praying that God would give me wisdom to be able to school a bit more naturally next year.
Anyway, yes, you absolutely CAN home school, if that is what God desires for your family. You do not need the education, all you need is a love for God, a love for your children and some tools. I think half the battle is desire, and if you have that than you are off to a great start!

6. Aren't there days when you just don't feel like homeschooling that day?

Well, yes! Aren't there days when you do not feel like doing laundry, wiping another snotty nose, exercising, picking up another toy??? Of course there are days when I wake up and don't really want to put the effort into a school day, but most of the time I push through, pray for strength and grace and patience and just do it. And you know what?? God usually blesses me with a really great day of school with Cadi. And yes, there have been days (very few) when I have decided to just skip the school day altogether and cuddle on the couch with some books. Cadi is just in preschool, and she still needs some unscheduled, unadulterated sweet moments with Mommy like that. {grin}

Okay those were the most repeated questions that I have been asked, and now it is your turn to ask - anything you want regarding homeschooling. I will {try} to answer - sometime next week! Hope this was helpful to some of my readers!



One of my favorite elements of homeschooling is fostering in Cadi a love for Jesus and watching her understanding of Him grow. I love listening to her sweet, little voice each morning asking God to bless our school day. It's priceless.