Who says

Posted on August 27, 2008
Filed Under home education | 5 Comments

that homeschooleers do no work? Box day has been and gone. Take a look at what we have to get through this next school year - and this is not everything! Now, I just need to find some place to store it all!

All ordered

Posted on August 17, 2008
Filed Under home education | 6 Comments

I’ve spent the past few days making my final choices for our home ed. curriculum this year. We are now waiting for what is affectionately known as “Box Day” within the homeschooling community. I don’t know about the kids, but I can’t wait :-)

We are still following Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. We are trying out Sonlight this year using their Core 2 which takes us from where we nicely left off at the end of last school year - the fall of the Rome through to present day. We will only use Sonlight for history and geography plus readers. In science this year we will be using Apologia’s Zoology 2 which focuses on water habitats. For language arts we will continue with copywork, Karen Andreola’s Simply Grammar, narration and dictation, Explode the Code and Sequential Spelling. We will also have lots of nature study, art and will be learning the recorder together (cover your ears!)

I’m still thinking about adding a second language but the courses available are so expensive. I have English from the Roots Up (Latin and Greek root words and their English derivatives) that I may introduce later in the year - mmm, we’ll see.

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End of the School Year

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under family news, home education | 2 Comments

Just over a year ago I started to homeschool Ben and Grace joined us last September. Today we have reached a milestone, we have completed our first full year of homeschooling. Back in September I really wasn’t sure how all of this would pan out. Would both of the kids respond to me? Was it the right decision for both of them? Would they become isolated? etc.

There have been days over the past year when I haven’t really been sure if I would make it until the end of the school year. These days, I’m told are normal, and we obviously overcame them.

I’ve been reflecting on our school year for the past few days and I am amazed at what we have learned together - I write together because I am continually learning new things through the studies they do. I am chuffed to bits when I think of the problems the children have overcome and when I see them “get” something they have struggled with and realize that I have helped them to achieve this. My daughter really struggled with reading at school as she wasn’t quite ready to learn. Back in September she would cry every time I brought a book near her and say “I can’t do this, I’m stupid”. Now in July she is not a fluid reader yet, but she is getting there in leaps and bounds and she sits in bed at night looking at books and working out the words.

In themselves they seem so much more confident in who they are. They want to try new things. They enjoy mixing with all sorts of people (adults and children) and are not isolated at all. I love the conversations we have together about anything from God to salt dough. We have had countless visits to places to learn things. We are experiencing a different kind of family relationship.

I’m ready for the summer break, but I’m looking forward to September, though, of course, everyday is a learning experience. I thank God that I am able to teach my children.

The teacher got a nice box of chocolates this morning! She has given herself a pat on the back :-)

Community Hub

Posted on April 17, 2008
Filed Under environment, home education | 6 Comments

We went on a home ed visit this week to a self sufficient holding in a village nearby. It was a really wonderful and eye opening visit. Learning about how they live on the land they have, producing their own energy, food, water (via rain!) and all of the bureaucratic tape they have had to get through was fascinating.

They are totally off the water system and recycle all of the water waste they produce, through an enlightening system of filters, reeds, ponds and willows. They even have a composting toilet! Their energy is produced via wind turbine and solar power, which produces enough for them to be able to sell some back to the national power grid.

The community element they are building up was like music to our ears. A few years ago they began to make weekly vegetable boxes up for people to buy. These are only open to people within two miles of their farm, as they want to serve the local community. They have never advertised these boxes, word has just spread around the area. People collect the boxes on a Friday, and a little community forms, with children running around the farm to see what is growing, and adults conversing - if only for a while.

Over time little connections have built up for the family, for example, locally they will help out a friend they know in exchange for wood, another contact exchanges work for horse manure! Like wise, these same people will help out the owners of the holding we went to in exchange for vegetables, straw, chickens or eggs. They met their best friends through helping to rebuild a bridge!

The owners vision was that more holdings like his would spring up in communities across the country, thus benefiting the communities they are in and becoming part of a community hub.

I’m not sure if they owners are Christian, but what they are doing in the area around them is so kingdom. It was a real encouragement to us.

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Talk-a-Latte

Posted on November 6, 2007
Filed Under home education | Leave a Comment

Most of you know that I home educate our children, and I know some of you who read my blog home educate too.  I have been really blessed with listening to Cindy Rushton’s audio’s about home education.  They have been so encouraging and have equipped and enabled me to walk through the past few months of transition, with Grace now joining us at home.  My style of home education still remains eclectic, but is heavily leaning towards Charlotte Mason’s methods.

This weekend (Friday 9 - Saturday 10 November) Cindy is hosting an online workshop about home educating through High School.  This is part of her Talk-a-Latte seminars.  I took part in her language arts workshop a few weeks back, and I can’t recommend them enough.  Here’s the deal - Cindy is offering complimentary tickets to this weekends seminar, that means it’s free folks!   You can listen in from the comfort of your own home and chat online with fellow participants.  If you are home educating a high schooler at the moments or will be within the next few years then do take advantage of this seminar.  The web address for tickets is http://www.cindyrushton.com/HighSchool.html

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