Homeschooling Through Odd or Difficult Seasons

First a bit of background: If you’ve read some of my other posts you may be aware of some of this already.

Life has been difficult for our family for the past decade when my husband was first downsized from a high tech company he had been with for over a decade. After a nine month job search with little to no income, he went to another high tech company where there seemed to be great promise. He progressed there for two years – making more money than ever in his entire career, but then the massive layoffs came. This time he was out of work for an entire year. We lost everything that time, our home, our truck, my business, our retirement and investments — everything. It was so bad that we ended up living in the basement of my sister’s house on the other side of the state. I’m sharing this part now because I want to point out that we are veterans of hard times. Living on a shoestring is not a new thing for us — but this is something that we are actually grateful for considering the times we are presently living in. It helps during this season to have had some experience

Nearly seven years ago our family moved back closer to the area we had come from, and we brought my elderly, widowed mother into the household. My husband searched and searched for the right fit for a career change, and finally ended up at a decent place. Our income was reduced by nearly half from what it had been in high tech, but because it was steady we finally found some stability again. Since then we’ve bought another house and are rebuilding some retirement funds, we have enjoyed homeschooling, caring for Grandma and a simple lifestyle residing in a small, rural community.

I wish that was all I could say about our days of hardship…unfortunately the current economy has hit  bottom again, and for the past two winters my husband’s employer was forced to lay everyone off. Last year they said it would be for six weeks, but it ended up being three months. This year they said three months, and we found that hard to believe. My husband was only scheduled to work 8 hrs. per week while also drawing unemployment benefits. We held on, but didn’t know what to expect. Although my husband  has been earnestly seeking another job, we felt that the promise of going back to work in the spring was a lifeline — a backup plan — that at least gave us some assurance.

But then the shoe dropped. Two weeks ago dear husband was informed that the company was completely closing down the department he’d been in for nearly five years, and there was nowhere to transfer him to. He received a handshake and his last paycheck last Tuesday.

So there you go….ups and downs, difficult and odd seasons. You may be asking, how does this all relate to homeschooling? Some people may even be thinking right now that it is completely irrational to be homeschooling through these types of situations, but I don’t think so at all. This is life, and life is part of a child’s education too.

Granted, we have not been homeschooling through the full duration of the hard times we have faced, but I’ve shared it for a purpose. You see, we have learned first hand that through times of stress it is important to keep a routine going for the sake of the children. It eases a lot of the burden for them if Mom and Dad keep things going as normally as possible. Sure, things are different and I’m not trying to camouflage that in any way. But as parents we can try to keep as much of daily life together as possible. Sure, we have fewer choices when money is tight. Sure, Dad is home a lot and the the dynamics of the family are shifted for a time. Even so, there are things that we as parents can do to keep a routine going and help our children through it.

As I stated, in the early years I was not officially homeschooling our daughter, but I was at home with her most of the time. We kept things going on schedule as much as possible every single day, and she weathered through the storm very well. We did have “off” days of course, but when I did some soul-searching I usually found that those days happened when I was being self-centered. Not easy to face or admit, but true never the less.

Now that we are in the midst another slim winter, I will do as I did last year — I will keep plugging away with our lessons, and I will maintain our routine and schedule. The difficulties that we have faced and those that we are faced with right with now don’t change or diminish the fact that my highest calling in life is to raise my child and provide her with a Christ-centered education at home.

Because of what we’ve lived through already, I know that we will get through this. In fact, I have no doubt whatsoever that we will get through this! In the meantime,  I have learned to be content as I wear the same old clothes, go without vacations, and shop at thrift stores. I have learned over the years how to live frugally and within my means. We rarely go out to eat, go to movies, etc. and I have become very talented in things like getting three family meals out of one chicken. Despite this, I can honestly say that I am at peace and I am happy. Because I am, my daughter is too.

My family has never been without food, shelter, water and warmth — even through the toughest of times. I know from experience that adversity is the opportunity for growth. In fact, as I look back over the years I realize that the times of greatest growth in faith for my husband and I have been when we faced financial hardship. It wasn’t a fun time mind you, but a meaningful time as we realized that we were totally dependent on God to get us through. To be honest, I would not trade those times for anything!

I know that life is really tough out there for a lot of people and my heart goes out to all the families that hear about that are facing very difficult times due to our economy. I just want to encourage all of us to focus on the things that matter the most rather than on fear of what might happen. Focus on spiritual things, on love and on people. Those are the things that last forever. When we do this, we open the door to growth and opportunity that we would never have otherwise experienced.

I have lived this out, and I know it to be true.

Despite everything, I still believe…

Some readers may notice that one of the categories of this blog is Mental Illness Advocacy. Along with issues of homeschooling, art, family and various passions in my life, mental illness is a subject I ponder over and write about from time to time because I have a grown son that suffers from Bipolar Disorder.

My son lives in the city, about 35 miles away from where I live, but we stay connected by phone calls, chatting online, monthly grocery shopping trips as well as personal visits and family gatherings. For the past nearly two years, my son has maintained stability. I’ve been extremely thankful for this because periodic episodes he’s experienced have been heart-wrenching.  With the continued state of affairs in a horribly broken down, barbaric mental health care system, relapses of his illness can be life threatening – not to mention anguishing and painful to our whole family. But I advocate for my son right and left when episodes occur, even from a distance by talking to doctors and professionals over the phone as they are dealing with his care and situation. It is not easy to do this, but on the other hand it is the best that I can do seeings though I can’t watch over him constantly and we live quite a ways from each other.

My son’s situation is on my mind tonight and so I’m up writing instead of being fast asleep in my bed.  I saw him today when we had our family Christmas gathering, but there are a couple of other reasons I’m pondering over the subject of mental illness:

1. I’m really proud that he has maintained stability to the point that he is enrolled in university classes and wants to improve his life. He spends as much time with his four-year old daughter as possible and is even taking a parenting class so that he can be closely involved with her life.

2.  I’m deeply troubled over a book that’s been published that has included some references of my son’s life and his relationship to the writer. Although the author changed my son’s name, I know it is about him and it has caused me a great deal of hurt. The references about him in the book are very demeaning because of the nature of his illness.

I’m not going into either of these in depth tonight, but both points lead me to ponder over a few things.

There is so much misunderstanding in our world about mental illness. Unless you live close to it, you cannot understand fully the cruelty and inequities that abound in our society. However, once your life has been touched in some way by this terrible disease you become much more discerning and pick up on things that would have otherwise whizzed by you unnoticed. Slang words, jokes, attitudes and misconceived ideas are all around us, and people think nothing of it unless there is a personal connection. It is amazing how your eyes can be opened to this after your first visit to a loved one that is hospitalized in a mental ward. When its your own son, brother or mother hallucinating or acting out in their depression or mania, things take on a whole new meaning. You start to resent it when you hear someone loosely throw words around, like “psycho”, “insane”, “whacko”, “lunatic” and on and on…

I know for a fact that mental illness can be frustrating and emotionally draining. When a loved one is out on the street because the hospital isn’t holding them as long as they need to be held, it can be utterly frightening. Families have a particularly hard time dealing with this because the person with the illness cannot be kept in a home where there are children or where they (the patient) are not safe. Even a common household can be dangerous when a person is acting out in their illness. When the hospital won’t keep a mental patient, when its not safe for them to be at home by themselves or in the home of relatives or friends — what do you do?

Many people wandering the streets without homes or needed shelter are suffering from mental illness because they cannot be held in a hospital for one reason or another. Its a scary thing when it’s your own son or daughter going through an episode, when they are in need of intervention but refuse to cooperate and receive the care that would stabilize them and bring them back to reality. A parent’s pain and anguish over this type of thing is indescribable.

I am a seasoned veteran. My son has been shot at with tasers, been bean-bagged, handcuffed and shackled by the police during serious bouts of his illness. Added to this, he’s been jailed numerous times even though he is not a criminal. He’s been assaulted and robbed, ridiculed and laughed at, harassed and the latest — the book that describes him very cruelly as a lunatic, a misfit that the author tolerates. (This book, by the way, is already receiving raving reviews across the country and seems to be getting a lot of positive attention, partly at the expense of my son.)

Yes, we’ve been through the wringer. In one instance, my son was taken by secure transport to a hospital over two hundred miles from home because there was no bed available in a local hospital. The situation deteriorated even further when he was released from that hospital just three days later and placed on a Greyhound bus (while still delusional) in an effort to  send him back to the county he’d come from. He had problems, of course, and ended up being arrested for assault and sent to jail in yet another county where the bus had taken a rest stop. During nearly all of these situations he desperately needed to be in the hospital being stabilized rather than out on the streets.

I’ve had to take the stand and testify against my son more than once when he was unwilling to stay in the hospital and had to be committed. I’ve talked to countless doctors, nurses, police officers and mental health officials over the years in at least four counties regarding his medical needs and behavior due to mental illness. This is how broken our system is. My son suffers from a medical condition that he inherited and that runs in his father’s family. Despite the fact that it is a disease that causes chemical imbalance, and because this medical condition effects behavior, it is treated differently than all other diseases.

My son didn’t choose to have Bipolar Disorder, and there is no guarantee even when he stays on medication that he will not have an episode. Mental illness brands people as untouchable. It can be a cruel life, with a bitter, cold and lonely existence.

How do I, as his mother, deal with it? When I am confronted with these facts or  I feel passionate about the injustices we’ve experienced in our family, I hold tightly to my faith. The God that I put all my trust in has seen us through many harrowing situations. I don’t blame God in the least for my son’s illness. We live in a fallen world that is not immune from illness, danger and sorrow, and it will be this way until we reach Heaven. So rather than focus on the problem only, I have chosen to hold on to faith, hope and love.

• Faith that God will see us through every trial
• Hope that my son’s life will stay stabilized for long periods of time so that the quality of his existence will increase. Better yet, hope that he will be healed and free from this nightmare of a life
• Love that will endure and grow despite, and through, our circumstances

When my son was born I wrote a Bible verse on his birth announcements,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

James 1:17.

I wrote this because I had waited some time for him and had prayed that God would bless me with another child. He was truly a gift from God and was such a darling baby and little boy. He was wanted and he was cherished. Through all of the nightmares we’ve encountered over the past eleven years since the beginning of his illness, I’ve been reminded of this. No matter how difficult it has been, I still believe that my son has been a gift in my life. Because of him, I am more compassionate toward those that suffer, I have learned to battle in prayer,  I’ve learned how to depend on God for strength and I’ve been able to share with others about these very things.

On January 4th my son will be going back to school for the first time in over a decade. He tells me that he is studying subjects that will prepare him for a career in the field of mental health because he has a strong desire to help others that fight mental illness. When he told me this I was completely amazed. Will that work for him? I don’t know…but I’m so proud that he is setting out to do this! The fact that he wants to go to school and work toward a goal is amazing — something certainly worth hanging our hope on.

Blessings after blessings…

There are many stories I could share about how God has taken care of my family over the years. We have lived on faith through many difficult situations, yet there have been blessings after blessings. The holiday season is an especially wonderful time to share these stories, and some of them were actually born out of the spirit of giving during Christmas.

One such story was born just last week when my husband, Michael, was at work. Michael drives a truck for a living, but he works for a lawn company that has scaled the entire company back to working one day per week during the winter months. Like many families that are struggling along in a down economy, we have had to deal with reduced income and limited means. Although this is not a new thing to Michael and our family, it is particularly challenging during the Christmas season. Once again we are scratching our heads, wishing we had a little more to work with as we think about our family and loved ones. Giving out of the generosity of our hearts is a joyful thing to us, and its very hard on us when we are so limited. Even so, we have made it through other Christmases like this and know from experience that we only need to keep our eyes on Jesus. He is, after all, the reason for the season.

Back to last week, Michael was driving down the highway and up ahead he could see a truck with a load of Christmas trees. Now, keep in mind that we had only days before had a discussion on what type of tree we wanted to have this year. We were remembering how last year we had been able to purchase a live tree that we later planted in our yard. Regretfully, that would be out of the question this year. Then there was a interest expressed in having a fresh cut tree, but the conversation pointed us back to the fact that with limited funds we should probably just use the artificial tree that we already have. These thoughts were on Michael’s mind as he drove down the road following the load of Christmas trees.

Sometimes God shows His sense of humor at the same time He also sends a blessing — and this was one of those times. You can imagine the sense of wonder my husband experienced next as he watched what appeared to be a tree flying off the truck and falling to the side of the road. Briefly, he wondered if the driver realized he’s lost part of his load, but the truck just kept on going…moving along without a pause. He thought about this for a ways as he continued driving, but had a strong sense to go back to where the tree had fallen. Michael literally turned the truck around as he had a feeling that a blessing had just been delivered to our family. Then he pulled the truck over and ran for the tree that was still waiting by the side of the road.

I wish I could tell you that the tree was a 6 ft. Noble Fir with perfect symmetrical shape top to bottom, but it was an ordinary Douglas Fir like hundreds of trees we’ve had in the past. Yet when Michael brought it home, that tree brought smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts. Once again, God had blessed us at Christmas time in a way that was very personal and real. It didn’t matter that it was an ordinary tree — it was the fact that God knew our hearts, our concerns and He wanted to express His love to us at a time that He knew we needed it.

God is like that. He knows when the iron is hot and the exact time to strike it. He purposely sets out to catch our attention, and He loves it when we are alert enough to understand. Mike could have been daydreaming, not paying any attention that day, but he knew that God was doing something when he noticed the tree flying off the truck ahead of him. The Holy Spirit placed knowledge in his heart and mind at that moment, telling him to go back and get the tree. Mike could have driven on, he could have gone ahead and missed the blessing…but he didn’t.

There have been times in the past that God has chosen to bless us in our time of need. Long periods of unemployment that were agonizing to us personally also ended up being times of tremendous growth in our spiritual lives. Those were the times and situations where faith grew and deep lessons were learned. It has been during those times that God brought people and situations into our lives that caused us to know more about how much He loves us and wants to bless our lives. We have had amazing answers to prayer — things like unexpected checks arriving in the mail at the last minute at a time we were in great need, the provision of a car (a nice car) when our van was totaled, unexpected groceries arriving when no one knew the cupboards were nearly bare…and on and on.

With each blessing, God has taught us that it is important to learn to receive. In America, we find that so hard to do. We want to be the one giving. Sometimes in our arrogance and ignorance we just want to be the one calling the shots. But God has much to give each of us if we are willing to receive from Him. He gives us that choice.

The greatest blessing we could possibly receive is the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that if you have not yet accepted that precious gift, you would be willing to do so this Christmas as you hear the story of His birth once again.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

Christmas is a time for sharing. We should all be seeking ways to give to others who are less fortunate, but we also need to be willing to receive blessings that are intended for us. Let’s not be proud or arrogant. Listen to the voice of the Lord as He brings blessings your way, and don’t be afraid to run after them when they come.

Who says history has to be boring?

Two Egyptian Princesses

Some people would wither up at the thought of using history as a spine for unit studies, but not us. We’re the weird ones that love to read encyclopedias, history books and literature based accounts that bring history alive. This year my daughter and I are going through Year One of Tapestry of Grace – the unit study curriculum I referenced not long ago when I described our fifth grade program. As I mentioned, Year One covers an in-depth study of the ancient world.

Basing history on biblical accounts found in the Old Testament, Unit One covered the written accounts by Moses of the beginning of the world, the great flood, the escape from Egypt and the establishment of Mosaic law. During this unit we read great stories, poured over a lot of reference materials, visited numerous websites, watched movies, colored and labeled maps for geography, wrote short composition assignments, did related dictation and had hands-on projects that all connected to this period of history. It has been so rich!

You've got to get "the walk" just right, but it takes practice.

At the end of October we decided to create an Egyptian costume that would be a fun hands-on project for the Unit One study, and also serve as a costume for a harvest party my daughter wanted to go to. We invited her friend, another homeschool student, to join along, and it proved to be a lot of fun. Who says learning history has to  be dry and boring? I think the pictures I’m posting will attest to the fact that studying history can indeed be a lot of fun. As we move ahead into Unit Two, I can only imagine the projects and ideas that will come from ancient Greece, Asia, and South America!

Great News Feature About Homeschooling!

I was so pleased to see this video that I wanted to post it here for others to view. This is just one more support for previous posts I’ve written about homeschooling meeting the needs of many children and families. Here is a link to the video, “Do Home Schoolers Get What They Need?” featured on Fox News this week.

Some parents are homeschooling because of school budget cuts and various other issues. Ours was based on other factors. We brought our daughter home after she finished second grade in public school and negative socialization was the main reason. There was a group of girls that dominated her whole day, with nothing but constant drama. The focus was so much on the class group, the girls, the behavior issues, etc. that the primary purpose of attending school was lost in the mix. We wanted her to have a good education primarily — not a total immersion in American pop culture and what we consider to be “worldly” ways. Another important issue was that we wanted to be able to include our faith in her studies so she could have what we consider a complete education.

Enjoy the video! It is very positive.

Rainy season and a need for activity…

This morning is my daughter’s last soccer game of the season. As much as I’m relieved to have our busy schedule reduced to a slower pace, I’m sad to realize that my daughter will not have the physical activity she’s been getting these past months. It is now up to me to come up with a winter version of P.E. for her. The big question in my mind is, “What can we do during our PNW rainy season that will encourage regular exercise?”

This question goes beyond my daughter’s needs because I, too, need activity built into my life. I have a tendency to sit too much. (Yes, at this very moment I’m on the couch with my laptop!) Four days each week I sit mostly while I’m teaching my daughter, and during the evenings the best way to spend time with my husband is to sit in the living room where he is watching TV. (I am not a fan of TV myself, but he does not share my disdain for the “box” — so I compromise by sitting nearby knitting, reading or using the laptop.)

According to numerous sources, this is not a good thing. I know for a fact that I’m subject to winter weight gain, and I do not want to encourage bad habits for my daughter. The ball is definitely in my court on this one.

According to Fitness-Training.net, here are some important facts to remember:

Young people and adults are at risk for health problems when they are inactive. Physical activity declines dramatically during adolescence. Nearly half of young people between 12 and 21 do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity; participation in all types of physical activity declines strikingly as people age. Only about a third of adults meet current public health recommendations for regular moderate physical activity (five times a week for at least 30 minutes), and about a quarter report no leisure-time physical activity at all.

I want to encourage my daughter to establish healthy habits early. If I don’t help her with this now, she will not appreciate the importance of it. When I was young, physical activity was not promoted as heavily as it has been in the last twenty years in our country, and my parents did not push me at all. Therefore, I did not form good habits like I should have, and I have often regretted it. Now I realize that unless I’m  intentional about this, the chain of generations in my family that don’t take care of their bodies will continue.

So here we are in the rainy season, needing to move our bodies around a bit more in order to stay healthy. I’m thinking of a couple of things: exercise with a trainer via video and using our stationary bicycle. For me, that sounds all right. But would a ten year old be willing to join in? Something tells me that if I invite her to have P.E. WITH me, she just might do it. I think it is worth a try. I have thought of swimming at a nearby community swim center, and that may be an option to add in for variety as well.

If you have a suggestion for an older mom in her fifties with a ten year girl that both need exercise, we are eager and waiting to hear from you!

We can’t afford to miss the point…

During the past two weeks I have experienced some deeply felt moments — and for more than one reason. The first thing that touched me deeply happened a week ago Monday morning when the phone rang and my husband, Michael, informed me that he’d been in a car accident. He explained in the call that both he and the car were fine, but I could tell he was shaken up. He’d just been through something very frightening, and the first thing he wanted to do was call to let me know he’d made it through.

Michael’s call reminded me of stories I’d read of people on the 103d floor of the World Trade Center on that fateful day of Sept. 11th, 2001. Death was imminent, but had not arrived. In those sobering moments, people trapped in the building waited and pondered over life’s priorities. Calls were frantically being made home to tell loved ones they were loved and cherished. People clamored to hear the sound of their loved one’s voices…and then it was over.

The afternoon knows what the morning never dreamed. ~ Swedish proverb

Michael’s morning commute was disrupted that day by the screeching of brakes along a foggy road, a tailspin on slippery pavement and his car ending up in a ditch. When it happened, he didn’t think much about what he’d planned to do at work that day. Instead, he called home to hear my voice and tell me that he loved me and that he was all right.

I considered what happened to be a reminder not to take life for granted. Our days are measured out by our Maker, and we are to redeem the time wisely.

Days later another shaking event occurred that caused my family to pause. Our friend Phillip, a young man from across the street in our tiny rural neighborhood, suddenly died. Phillip had experienced a terrible injury a few years back, leaving him with surgeries and therapy for a severely dislocated shoulder. He had fought hard to win the battle over pain, but ended up addicted to his medication, desperately trying to pull his life back together. After years of trying to regain his health and strength, trying to make a living, struggling through relationships and simply trying to find some peace and joy, Phillip died in his sleep without any warning. He left behind a sorely grieving family, many friends and neighbors.

Once again I was reminded that life is precious and short. In fact, this time it was very clear that God wants me to realize that life on this plane eventually comes to an end. We have only so much time to live our earthly lives, and then we face eternity.

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ~ James 4:13-14 (NLT)

I love this verse! It is so humbling as it points out important realities. The New King James Version actually states that life is a vapor that appears for time and then vanishes away. We Americans especially are so focused on doing it all and having it all, that we don’t want to think about how short our life span really is, that sometimes life ends much sooner than we’d planned. Some of us don’t even want to deal with spiritual things. In our contemporary society and culture we tend to think that we’re entitled to live a long, healthy and happy life. This is an easy thing to do when we leave God completely out of the picture. We fail to realize and remember who, and who’s we really are.

Along with these very serious situations I’ve mentioned, I’ve also had the privilege in the past two weeks to hear presentations by two different men of faith and science. I was inspired as I heard them both speak about the awesome and amazing world that God created, and how science, as it continues to reveal more facts and information through the use of new technology, only provides more proof of the existence of God and the marvelous truth that the world is completely His design. As I consider these things along side Michael’s accident and Phillip’s death, I remain profoundly touched.

The world’s existence was no accident, and our short term here is but a fleeting moment — yet it comes together and makes some sense to me.

God is sovereign and He is truth. We were created in His image to glorify Him as we live, love, learn and trust. When we allow ourselves to focus away from these things, we miss the essence of life and its beauty. We fail to grasp the truth of why we are here and that life truly does have purpose and meaning.

5th grade program at Brown House Academy

September is now behind us and we are well into a new school year. This is our third year of homeschooling, and I can see how my daughter and I have both grown since beginning this journey. She had completed three years of public school when we decided to bring her home, which was after I had read that wonderful book, The Well Trained Mind. Since that time we have tried a few things, mostly based on what I read in the book and what was also recommended  by the teachers at a classical Christian school where I am a part-time teacher.

Saying all that, my daughter and I are now doing a number of new things this year, chiefly due to the fact that we just needed a change. (You know, sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit.) During the first two years of our homeschool experience we used nearly the same curriculum. Not that it was wrong, but looking back I feel that it took those two years to get into the rhythm of homeschooling and build a good understanding of how it all should work. Most of what we were doing was strictly based on recommendations rather than on what we found personally worked for my daughter and I. Because of this, earlier this year I did a bit of research and discovered curriculum that I thought would fit our needs as my daughter is growing and maturing and I, as her teacher, understand better what I am doing. Recommendations are good, which is why I’m sharing about what we are doing, but along with going by the views of others on such an important subject as education, a person really needs to try things out for them self.

While these are not formal reviews of each curriculum mentioned, here are the subjects with materials we have chosen and why we came to our conclusions.

MATH

The first thing we needed to do was change math programs. We had tried both Saxon Math and Math-U-See, and while we think that both are great programs that are highly recommended in homeschool circles, in The Well Trained Mind book and the school where I teach, they are not a perfect fit for our situation.

Saxon math had become a tedious ordeal that was just simply a wrong fit for our child. Next, we found Math-U-See was a relief in that it made math learning fun again. Long gone were the agonizing sessions at the table with my daughter nearly in tears. The video instruction and fun approach with manipulatives made a huge difference for her. But after completing two levels of Math-U-See,  I began to realize that when my daughter had questions in math, her video instructor (Steve)  was not able to answer her through the TV monitor. She would then bring her questions to me, and would get confused because I had very different methods of solving than Steve did and I found it hard to communicate what I was doing. I would try to watch the DVD’s as recommended, but I was just dying inside. As time went by we were both steadily ending up frustrated, and so it dawned on me that I might need to hire a tutor. I am, after all, an art teacher that also loves reading, writing, history and geography. Math is simply not my forte’, especially when it comes to teaching. So at the end of last year I was seriously ready to search out a better math teacher or a part-time tutor.

Then I heard the good news about Teaching Textbooks. This is the curriculum developed by two brothers, Greg and Shawn Sabouri, that specifically aim to help homeschool families. The lessons actually have a tutor built in! Teaching Textbooks provides step-by-step solutions to ALL problems in a multimedia form. While some have said that this curriculum does not keep up the proper pace that will lead to on-level achievement, many others have reported it to be a highly successful program. In my humble opinion, a program that adequately keeps my child interested in the subject of math while also teaching her the fundamentals gets a thumbs up.  The pace by which she progresses is going to be fine if that first priority is met. With Teaching Textbooks, I know that my daughter will have excellent tools to progress on to higher math levels. I’ve read enough reviews that convince me that this program has helped many a student get to where they need to be in math. After a month of use, my daughter also gives her thumbs up. So Teaching Textbooks 6 is our math program for this year.

MULTI-SUBJECT CURRICULUM – UNIT STUDIES

As a regular on the Well Trained Mind website forum, I became familiar with a curriculum called Tapestry of Grace. It came up so frequently on the boards there that I decided to check it out. What I found was a solid program that seemed would fit our goals and needs in the type of education I wanted for my child. History that is taught from a Christian world view was the first thing that piqued my interest, then the thought of unit studies based on the history lessons made it sound even more interesting. Added to that was the idea that all geography, literature, writing, and so on, would be connected to the history. Add to these things hands-on art activities PLUS the fact that the Sommervilles who wrote the program are really smart people with lots of experience. When I got all of this information together, believe me, I was digging in to find out more.

TOG moves along on a four year cycle. Each year takes one of the four periods of history that are covered. My daughter had never studied history this way, and because it dovetails into what our favorite homeschool book (You guessed it — The Well Trained Mind), I began to become convinced that it would be a great classical education program for our homeschooling. So I purchased a used copy of the main books and slowly began to acquire the resource books that would be needed. TOG is a bit more expensive than we’d used previously, but I knew it would be worth it in the long run. I would just have to space out our purchases since we could not buy everything all at once.

This year we are using Yr 1 The History of Redemption, which according to their website  “…covers the history of the world from the Creation to the Fall of Rome in 450 AD. Children pay special attention to the origin and nature of human civilizations, especially the great civilizations that form the foundations of our modern world.” Now in our fourth week of the first unit, we have both learned a tremendous amount of information and are slowly immersing ourselves into new books and ways of studying. The program is truly classical though, and I am convinced that it is a good fit for both of us.

GRAMMAR, SPELLING & HANDWRITING

TOG does not cover all subjects, although they come close. Along with the reading and composition components of TOG, students also need to have spelling and grammar instruction and so we have added Spelling Power and Easy Grammar to the mix. Both of these programs are widely used, have been tried and true, proven over many years to be thorough and complete.  I have very few comments to make about either because of this, but I will state that Spelling Power is an investment well worth the price in that one volume will cover spelling lessons over many years. I’ve already found the support to be fantastic, and my daughter is enjoying a strong start with it as she begins 5th grade. As to the grammar, we are finding Easy Grammar to make an otherwise complicated subject, well, easy.

For the past two years we have been using the Getty-Dubay method of italic style handwriting. This is a wonderful program, but my daughter struggles with her skills and needs to have some remedial training this year. I am a strong proponent for Getty-Dubay, but I also realize that some kids need to either take a break or try something new all together once in awhile. For us, when we stumbled on to the StartWrite handwriting program I knew it was the right choice. Not only do we have the ability to create customized copywork sheets, but we have a choice of several styles of handwriting, including an italicized font that is very close to the italic handwriting style used in the Getty-Dubay method. We can also choose other styles of writing within the software and practice something entirely different if we want to. This nifty little package is well worth the price! Startwrite is an amazing tool that I only wish I’d found at the beginning of our homeschool journey. If you are interested in learning more about Startwrite, just click on the ad on the right side of this page and it will direct you to their website.

LATIN

One of the distinctives of classical education is the inclusion of foreign language, particularly Latin and Greek. Latin is usually taught from 3rd grade up, although some families wait until high school. Like the private school where I teach, we are including Latin in the grammar years. My main reasoning is that so much of our English language is rooted in Latin, and my daughter’s vocabulary is greatly expanding since her studies began. I’m also basing this decision on the fact that any of the romance languages she might choose to learn up ahead are closely related to Latin as well. She has already expressed an interest in learning Spanish, and I know that after taking Latin courses she will find it much easier to do.

Our daughter has completed one year of the Latin for Children program and is now ready to move up to the next level. Her ability to follow the DVD instruction, chant along with the audio, complete workbook and activity book lessons and take a weekly quiz has left me quite impressed. I sometimes participate with her lessons, but she jumped way ahead of me awhile back. We started out with another program called Prima Latina, but since I am not a Latin teacher I moved her over to Latin for Children, and since that day we have never looked back! Quite often she sits me down and instructs me on what she is learning!

OTHER SUBJECTS

We have linked up with another homeschool family nearby and are sharing some subjects of teaching, which works out quite well for us. As an art teacher that is also passionate about homeschooling, I have started a weekly art class for kids between the ages of 10-teen. Our friends have enrolled three of their children in this class, and the mother is very happy since her passion is science. I, on the other hand, am excited to find someone else that is passionate and knowledgeable on the subject of science. Therefore, I send our daughter to science classes at our friend’s house. Both families are benefiting from the fact that the mom’s are able to teach what they know best! Thanks to this wonderful situation, our daughter is being taught general science for fifth graders by a teacher that shares our Christian world view.

In addition to these things, we’ve enrolled our daughter in summer camps for recreation and science, a local seasonal soccer program and she also takes weekly horse riding lessons. These subjects are obviously important in that they provide physical activity and connections with other children. It is my hope that in the winter months we’ll be able to also do some swimming every week.

This pretty much sums up our 5th grade program. It all seems simple in writing, but living it out day to day, week to week, is pretty awesome!

Back to the Drawing Board

As an artist who was born into a family of creative people and who has received a number of years of formal art training, it has been painful to pass through a season of not regularly and consistently producing. I went through some years of working in the corporate world to provide income for the support of my children as a single parent. The next phase of my career was becoming the owner of a graphic design firm and print brokerage, and then later I cut back my hours to raise another child and became a freelanced graphic designer. As a designer, I had creative projects, but commercial art is a far cry from studio work in that you don’t have the freedom to develop your own ideas. So through those long years of working for others in business, I did not have the time or the energy for much else.  I had to put my personal creative projects aside, and then after some time of doing this I simply grew out of the habit of making art.

I did have some creative outlets, mind you….  I just didn’t have an active studio.  When I did set a studio up for a time while living in eastern Oregon, I came up with some new work for a few months. That brief stint ended with a sudden bout of cancer and recovery from surgery that was followed by relocating to another part of the state. While still recovering from my illness, it took time to acclimate to the new environment and I experienced a great deal of depression. These things combined became a real issue of grief for me. I felt as though I had lost my identity.

It wasn’t as though art was not an important element — it was. For instance, a couple of years after the move I began to I minister to other artists and I even managed an art gallery at a church where the display changed each and every month. I led a support group for artists and I began to be a strong advocate for bringing the visual arts back to the Protestant church. This has all been done through speaking in public venues and sharing a personal message to everyone in my circle of influence. So Art has been important all these years, but MAKING my own art unfortunately has been waylaid.

Without the time and the place to practice art, my soul has been withering. I am a creative person and there is a tremendous need to include creativity in my life. When this is ignored, I suffer.

Thankfully, God looked down upon me one day three summers ago and completely rearranged my life. I have always been convinced that God knows what we need better than we do. Thankfully, He sent me to a school to be an art teacher, and I am ever so grateful! Teaching art was not new to me, as I had taught off and on through all those previous years I’ve mentioned, but teaching art to children on a regular basis in a school has allowed me to minister to others about art and faith, and it has inspired me to get back to my own art making.

For the past few months I’ve been meeting with a group of Christian artists, studying a book together called The Creative Call by Janice Elsheimer. This book has been a real inspiration for all of us in the group, and it has been just what I’ve needed to get back on track. In many ways it has been motivating, and in other ways, confirming. Just meeting with a group for accountability has been good for me in this way too. I’ve set a date to present a new piece of artwork to the group, and today I am going to draw!

This is huge.

If a person has been a dedicated athlete, but suddenly stopped working out, their mind would still think like an athlete even though their muscles got out of shape. Over time, their mind would get out of shape, and before too many years passed they would become a mere shadow of their former self. This happens to artists, musicians and writers as well, because making these art forms requires discipline.

People like me need to recover something that has been lost. We need to reach down deep into our hearts to see where our priorities lie. We need to realign our thinking. Unless we are willing to do this, our gifts will not only stay stagnant, they will eventually rot and go to waste.

I don’t know about you, but I want to live up to my potential. I want to be the woman God created me to be. So today, I choose to get out my paper and pencils, my drawing board. I will set aside the time during my day to be an artist. This is a priority today. I’ve made up my mind that the time for wishing is over. Life is short and precious, and I must redeem it!

New Beginnings: Here it is Fall Again

The weather is is beginning to change, and the time for Chrysanthemums, the fall harvest of vegetables and the transition of leaf colors is here. The other day I felt one of the first cool breezes of September and it reminded me that it’s time to pull out the sweaters and stockings, the recipes for soup and bread, and my knitting bag. I love autumn. It is one of my favorite times of the year.

Like so many others, I feel that fall is really the setting stage for the whole year. It’s so funny how we have it all backwards this way, but in our culture it is the beginning of a new school year and a time to step up, advance. It’s time to begin new studies, move up to another level, implement re-arranged schedules and get back to our routines. It is the time to harvest and inventory, prepare and set aside. We all do it, as it is part of being human and living on this planet.

This year my daughter and I have a whole new set of curriculum to use for fifth grade. I’ve spent a lot of time planning, purchasing, organizing and preparing for this — and so I’m a bit excited. The brand new books are neatly lined up on the shelf, we have new pencils and packages of paper ready to use. Our binders are set up and ready to begin. You see, tomorrow is our first day of school for the new year. I should be in bed getting my rest right now, but no, I’m writing this blog article! I actually think I’m too excited to sleep. That is because I love being a teacher and I am so passionate about giving my daughter the best education I can and the best of who I am as her role model. This is a calling, and I will give it everything I’ve got.

We’ve taken the placement and achievement tests and my daughter did well. She is at a good place for this level of learning. I am so hopeful for her! She is bright and amazing, a true joy to teach.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our school days.

Intelligent people are always open to new ideas.

In fact they look for them.

Proverbs 18:15 (NLT)