Our Homeschooling Journey – Part 2

Before I really begin with part 2 and the 1st-grade year of my oldest, I wanted to take a moment and share something else.  Over the years, I have seen the homeschool movement really explode.  Back in 2007, we weren’t in the pioneering generation of the modern movement, but we really were the odd ones out in a lot of ways, at least in my family and, for the most part, my community.  There were a few others around, and just knowing we weren’t alone on this journey was a blessing.  This was before most of our modern social media.  A few email loops and forums were a help, though. Some of our family really didn’t like the idea, and some of those still don’t.  Some have been vocal about it over the years. Some never said much about it or seemed to care one way or another.  Some, like my mom, who passed away a few years ago, may not have really understood it, but she never was critical about it.  I find it funny that in my small town, I still am considered a bit odd.  A few months ago, I was in line at the funeral home, and an older lady who has known me all my life and I really respect, asked me if I was still homeschooling.  I told her, yes, I’ve graduated 2, and one of those is in college, with the other probably going to start vocational training soon.  Also, I have two in 10th grade.  I don’t think it was the answer she was expecting, but the conversation was fine.  We just look at the situation differently, but I can respect her point of view.

Moving right along, when we started our school year in the fall of 2008, my oldest was 6 and starting 1st grade.  My next son was 3 and getting into everything like a 3-year-old boy does.  My twins would have been about 8 months old.  We were trying to do a lot with the A Beka curriculum because, well, honestly, I didn’t know much about anything at the time.  I didn’t realize there were different educational philosophies or even more than just a handful of curriculum publishers.  I thought we had to do all the bells and whistles in the curriculum, and there was so much seatwork because it is designed (at least was) primarily for Christian schools.  Trying to get a little boy who was very smart but getting more reluctant to do his work (especially math) on task, keep the second son occupied, and the twins nursed, changed and napped, and keep up with the house.  Well, as you expected, none of this was going very well!  After several months of this, and with several of us in tears by the end of the day, I knew there had to be a better way.  There were people (somewhere) who successfully homeschooled.  Before that spring, I really began to dig and look and research every chance I got about how to make this homeschooling thing work for us.  I knew that my only other option would be the local school, and I really didn’t want to go that route.

That’s when I found Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.   What a breath of fresh air!  I really tried to get a handle on the concepts, and I’m sure we didn’t do everything right, but 2nd grade looked a whole lot different than 1st.  It honestly was a happier year.  We read some really great books, did some cool projects, and made real progress.   This continued on through 3rd grade, but as I was adding my second as a kindergartener that year, it did get a little more complicated.  After that year, I tried adapting a few things and adding and such.  It was during this time I found My Father’s World, Mystery of History and Story of the World, and so many other great curricula.  For several years, we frequently used My Father’s World as something of a guide and altered as needed or as supplies demanded.  It gave us something to shoot out from as my second son did more, and the twins got older and started schooling as well.  For other subjects, we did so many things!  We did Math U See, Teaching Textbooks, and Christian Light for math, we did Rod and Staff, All About Spelling, and many other things for Language Arts.  Though I tended to weave in out Charlotte Mason a bit, we could be considered more of an electric mix at that point.  A few times, we tried Lifepacs for various subjects as well.  That all lasted for most of my oldest son’s early years. As he got closer to high school, we changed things up a little more.   We occasionally met with other homeschool families in the area for a while, but that kind of ran its course, I guess, with our family.  When my oldest was about 4th or 5th grade, he started doing 4H.  This gave us a monthly outing and was helpful.  The other boys started 4H as they got old enough to.  I had wanted to get involved in a co-op, but life was crazy, and I just didn’t feel like we could commit to a weekly activity at the time.  At least in the early years, and then co-op got put on the back burner for a different reason.

On a more personal note,  daily life was a struggle in the twins’ first few years.  As they neared their 4th birthday, I began to feel like we were pulling out of survival mode.  About that time, though, my mom was diagnosed with dementia.   This started about a 4-year journey of her staying with us at first a lot, then all the time.  Also, this included her stopping driving and usually me taking her to appointments and such.  For a while, we just really had our hands full.  As mom got considerably worse, we had to transition her first to an assisted living, then her health decreased, and she had to go into a nursing home.  It was not the best of situations, but I was there often.  The facility was only about 5 minutes away, so I was there probably 5 days at least a week.  She passed away a few years ago, and let me just say that dementia is such a sad disease.

So those years were challenging.  We all have our struggles, and I have come to the conclusion long ago that there is no perfect situation when it comes to homeschooling.  It is a home first, and we have to deal with whatever comes up.  During those years especially, I probably felt like I could be doing more, something better.  I’m not saying I have it all together now, but I guess I’ve just come to accept some things.    Also, something else that I haven’t really focused on is how God has been with us through all our ups and downs.  Sometimes I have felt so overburdened, but God is there to turn to.  I’m going to try to make a part 3 to this series to bring us up from about the time my oldest started high school to the present time.  If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.