The JOY of Learning at Home

Whether you are new to the idea of homeschooling or are right in the thick of it and need a little inspiration, The Joy of Learning at Home will encourage you that the investment in your kids’ lives is worth it.

The beginning of August brings with it my favorite “package” day when UPS brings three boxes loaded with a year’s worth of learning and a window into a world beyond our walls. Math, algebra, science, art, handwriting, phonics, language arts, creative writing, American Constitution and Government, nature study, geography, history, drawing, and of course beautiful, wholesome reading books fill my table with educators’ bliss.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes, by March, I don’t want to see another book and neither do my kids, but today, with the bright possibilities of all we will learn, I am on cloud nine. I LOVE learning and will forever be a life-long learner. My hope is to instill that love of learning into my children as well because although we will never be able to teach them everything, if they know how to learn, they will never stop learning. After all, we need to be reminded that we are raising adults, not children. It is important to always keep their future selves in perspective.

What I love Best About Educating At Home

When my husband and I first decided to educate at home it was because we believed it was the best way to “train up a child” and be the biggest influence in their lives. Unfortunately, we weren’t too happy with where the public school system was leading in the curriculum department and homeschooling became more about protecting them and less about education. We were desperately trying to align our lives with God’s Word because we were first-generation homeschoolers and I was a first-generation Christian.

Truthfully most of the decisions we made early on in our parenting were out of fear because we didn’t want to mess up. We wanted to give our children a happy life with lots of love and support but didn’t realize that God actually had a plan for our children. A plan to prosper them and not harm them. Plans to give them a future and hope, according to Jeremiah 29:11. Eventually, we learned to trust God and release their education to Him as we filled our minds with His truth and not our fears. It wasn’t until years later that our shift turned from homeschooling out of fear to actually loving learning alongside our children.

I Taught Her That…

When my first child learned to read, I had the privilege of saying, “I taught her that.” Reading opened her up to a world of possibilities that I was instrumental in giving her. As our home began to fill with children, it was fun watching the older ones teach the younger ones. We learned together and each subject bonded our hearts together.

An Investment in Relationships

Another reason I love learning at home is that it affords you the time to invest in your relationships with your children as well as their relationships with each other. Emphatically, we are big fans of not segregating our children by age. There is something so beautiful about watching the different ages play and work together. The older learn to serve and the younger look up to the older siblings and will listen to them in ways that are uniquely their own.

Help with Difficult Relationships

I remember the advice from an older woman once who was instructing another mother on how to deal with a difficult relationship with her child. The mother suggested sending the child off to school, but this older, wiser woman encouraged her that the child she was having the most difficulty with was exactly the one that needed to stay home so they could work on their relationship. Brilliant! Homeschooling definitely gives you plenty of opportunities for sanctification.

My 1st, First Day of School

I will never forget the start of my homeschooling journey. Personally, I had gone through the public school system and mostly had a good experience, so in my mind, homeschooling was just recreating the public school system in the home. With a shiny apple on my desk, a whiteboard, and an American flag standing tall for the morning Pledge of Allegiance, we began our day. After thirty minutes we were both bored to tears. Why had we all of a sudden changed how we were learning about life all around us just because today was the first day of Kindergarten?

Train Up a Child in the Way They Should Go

We had started our morning with a Bible story but my daughter wasn’t engaged. She asked if we could take a break and play chalk outside. What was I to do about my schedule? I had the entire day scheduled until 3 O’clock and it was only 8:30. Chalk would throw the whole schedule off. Or would it actually be the answer to how I was to train up my child in the way she should go?

Thankfully, we went outside and proceeded to draw chalk drawings all over the front walk. Ashley drew the Bible story and narrated the whole lesson with chalk pictures. This is what she had been doing for five years. Why should we change it now? Did I think sitting her at a desk would make it “officially” learning? Ultimately, who were we being held accountable to anyway? Ashley loved learning and if I had continued cramming materials down her throat on a schedule to please the education system, she would have lost that spark.

The Classroom is Not the Only Learning Model

I have had many lessons to learn on my homeschooling journey, as we all do, but what I learned that day was that learning at home should be natural and flow from the pure JOY of discovery as it started from birth. I highly recommend reading Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child’s Education, A New Way to Homeschool by Ainsley Arment for a beautiful perspecitive on learning at home.

The public school system or classroom setting is not the only model. In fact, the public as well as private setting, even with all its teachers specializing in their given subjects, still has holes. They can’t teach everything and either can you. The joy of learning at home is that you, as the parent, get to choose the holes they have. Give them a love of learning and they will spend their lifetime filling in those holes and discovering what makes them come alive.

Ever Thought of Homeschooling?

As I said, I wasn’t homeschooled growing up. Like many people, I thought I would just do the next thing: marriage, babies, and send the kids off to school in the big yellow bus. That’s what everyone else was doing. That is until I moved to the East Coast and all my friends were homeschooling their children. There was a huge support system and I loved the fruit I saw in their families.

Maybe I could do this homeschool thing. Weren’t we already learning at home alongside our kids from the moment we find out we are pregnant? I mean think about it. As soon as you know you are pregnant, don’t you make better choices in your diet and take better care of yourself? You begin the learning process and now have a reason why you do all that you do…someone else depends on you. The stage is set at home for learning and growing.

You Actually Get to Learn Things!

The best part of learning at home is exactly that. We get to learn at home…together. No, it’s not just for the kids. Even grandma loves participating in learning at home when she comes for a visit. It wasn’t until my children were going through phonics and grammar or algebra and chemistry that I realized this stuff actually makes sense and I understand it. Growing up, I had never been taught to think. Nor did I love learning. Education was a grade point average, fact-feeding, and tests you crammed for the night before. I had a 3.2 GPA throughout high school, but can’t recall a thing I learned except mascot routines and choir songs (I was more in it for the social life). How unfortunate. Learning at home is a way to redeem your own education.

Personally, not only has homeschooling made me a better writer, but I get to pass on my love of learning to my children and discover life with them. You don’t have to have a college degree to homeschool. What God calls you to He will equip you with. I am not going to pretend it is always a breeze, but it is SO WORTH THE INVESTMENT OF YOUR TIME!

What Homeschool Model is Right For Your Family?

With twenty years of homeschooling under my belt, you would think I would have it down to a science. Nope. Every year we pray about what materials we will use and what education we want our children to leave our home with. Because we are home with them and have watched them grow all these years, we have the privilege of observing their bent and direct their education appropriately. Who are they in the future and what steps do we need to take to align them to their future self?

There are five main approaches to homeschooling: traditional, classical, Charlotte Mason, unit study, and unschooling. By law, states require you to teach specific core subjects but how you teach them is up to you. We have found the style that works best for us is a combination of unit sturdy and Charlotte Mason approach. Below is a video from Sonya Shafer, of Simply Charlotte Mason giving you an overview of the 5 Flavors of Homeschooling.

You Don’t Have to Stress About Teaching High School!

Many parents choose to home-school their kids for their younger grades but may feel intimidated by the prospects of teaching high schoolers. How do you teach Algebra 2 or Chemistry when you barely passed it yourself in high school? And, do you even need those subjects? How many times as a parent have you been asked the question, “When will I ever use this?” Ultimately, if you can have the courage enough to think outside the box and ask yourself what the point of education really is, you will uncover the answers to how best to homeschool, including your high schoolers.

The video below is from our homeschool umbrella and major support system, Home Life Academy. I don’t know what we would do without them. Margie Abbitt from Home Life Academy put together a webinar on how not to stress out about teaching High School. Insert a deep sigh of relief. Truthfully, it is well worth the investment in time to watch.

What We Use For Curriculum

We have incorporated many curriculums, from many different sites over the years. Simply Charlotte Mason and The Good and the Beautiful have been two of our favorites. I have even written a children’s curriculum myself through Wealth with God on Kingdom Finance and identity.

I thought it might be nice to show you what was in those three boxes this year as we begin another year of educating our children. With two graduated and four to go, this year I will be teaching 1st, 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. Yes, you can do them all together. And yes, still have time to shower and make cookies for your bunnies…maybe not every day though;)

Highschool 10th Grade

• The Good and the Beautiful High School Language Arts 2
• Math-U-See Algebra
• Biology 101 According to the Days of Creation (Westfield Studios) I have never tried this company. This is our first year so I will give an update later.
• The Good and Beautiful US Constitution and Government
• PE (Volleyball)
• Art

Middle School 8th Grade

• The Good and Beautiful Math 6
• The Good and Beautiful Creative Writing
• The Good and Beautiful Language Arts Level 6
• The Good and Beautiful US Constitution and Government
• The Good and Beautiful Science: Motion and Simple Machines
• Wild & Free The Young Naturalist
• Handcrafts

Elementary School, 4th Grade

• The Good and Beautiful Math 4
• The Good and Beautiful Language Arts Level 2
• The Good and Beautiful US Constitution and Government
• The Good and Beautiful Science: Motion and Simple Machines
• Wild & Free The Young Naturalist
• Handcrafts

Elementary School 1st Grade

• The Good and Beautiful Math 1
• The Good and Beautiful Language Arts Level K
• The Good and Beautiful US Constitution and Government
• The Good and Beautiful Science: Motion and Simple Machines (participation)
• Wild & Free The Young Naturalist
• The Good and Beautiful Draw Vintage Images Level 1

Recommended Resources:

Full Curriculums

The Good and the Beautiful: This is the curriculum we are using this year. I love how beautiful and simple it is to use and the scope of what they learn is holistic and practical. We have especially enjoyed their reading books, history, math, and high school language arts.

Simply Charlotte Mason: we did their entire program for several years but especially loved Laying Down the Rails habit training, wonderful living books such as A Castle with Many Rooms read aloud (living history of the Middle Ages), and Enrichment Studies.

Specific Subjects

Institute for Excellence in Writing: we did their writing program for several years. It is intense but we learned a ton. The kids and I especially enjoyed Fix-it Grammar.

Math-U-See– Steve Demme is a phenomenal math teacher! I wish I had him as a kid. I actually learned math alongside my children (sometimes we know what to do but not why we do it…just say’n).

Christ-Centered Curriculum (Phonics) We taught all our children to read using their beginning phonics curriculum.

Constitutional Literacy: The Complete 25-Part Series on 5 DVDs by Michael Farris – Every American family needs to watch these 25 video lessons on our Constitution. The lessons are fun and engaging for the whole family and can be done at the dinner table. The Constitution is the document on which our entire system of government is based. As a parent, I feel so strongly about the importance of passing on our Christian heritage with the original intent and foundation upon which the Founding Fathers created this important document.

Online Education

The Potter’s School: My eldest children completed their high school English and Science through Potter’s School online academy. Definitely college-bound level, but it made them excellent communicators. They did very well and it took a load off of me with the little ones.

Great Books, Audio, & Family Devotions

Lamplighter Publishing: Great books focusing on building character. We are building our library every year with these beautiful books. My personal favorite book is The Hidden Hand. Their Lamplighter Theatre productions are PHENOMENAL and perfect for road trips.

Our 24 Family Ways: We used this for family devotions helping lay a foundation for the vision of our family. We tweaked it to fit our family, but have enjoyed it for years.

Jonathan Park Audio Adventure Series: Fantastic family-friendly audio adventure in apologetics.

Courses & Electives

Wild & Free: I wish I would have started here. This is not a curriculum but rather a perspective and support for mamas locally and through rich content. Call of the Wild and Free was a great book to set a beautiful foundation in home education, enforcing how children naturally learn. We are trying their 12-week course The Young Naturalist this year as an elective. Through monthly content bundles, local Wild & Free groups across the country, and yearly conferences and retreats, their focus is on creating a space where children can experience the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood.

Wealth with God– Kingdom wealth building. I wrote the children’s curriculum along with my friend James Baker. This is a great discipleship curriculum on the Kingdom, identity, and how wealth is a part of intimacy with God.

Cindy from the Blog, Our Journey Westward, is a great homeschooling resource as well as a curriculum developer with wonderful courses and masterclasses you can enJOY.

Herb Fairies and Wildcraft game – teaching about plants and their remedies. A great introduction to botany. Lots of amazing projects and recipes…and hours of fun. Check out my post on Foraging for Spring Violets with Children for an example of Wildcrafting and Herb Fairy fun.

Homeschool Umbrellas, Co-ops, and Legal Counsel

HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) – If you choose to homeschool then I HIGHLY recommend joining HSLDA to get the benefits of their legal support (especially in this day and age).

Faith Center For the Arts – when we lived in Northern NJ we joined this co-op. There are many kinds of co-ops and they are great for support, elective classes in the arts and sciences, drama, and music, as well as a great place to socialize and make friends. If you like social interaction then a co-op is the way to go.

Home Life Academy – This is our umbrella school in Tennesse that not only helps us maintain attendance records, grades, testing (if necessary), and support but they have wonderful guidance counselors that help you plan your child’s educational path.

In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!