We are all homeschoolers

Homeschooling is the most amazing blessing. I first began when my daughter was born- yes, born. Homeschooling begins at the beginning. Anyone who says they cant homeschool must realize first that they were/are a homeschooling parent if they ever taught their child the alphabet or read their child a book and asked them to point out the animals. Obviously that is very simplistic, it gets more complicated, but as they grow, you grow, and the things you teach them get more and more complicated and you learn right along. And with help it is possible for every parent.

But I'm running away with my post.

We began homeschooling when my daughter was born 17 years ago. Homeschooling is probably different than what you remember(them un-socialized kids that left school to be homeschooled and no one ever saw them again) or what you are thinking(them bible thumping un-socialized kids that get together in their homeschooling cults and chat about how schooling is the devil....and who has time for it anyway?). Homeschooling is actually exactly what you do when your kids come home from school....but we do it during the day. There are so many resources out there that homeschooling can be defined several different ways. There are religious or secular co-ops(groups of homeschoolers that meet together to do field trips and classes), un-schoolers(very basic definition: the kids choose their schooling and/or their specialty, if they want to be a pianist they spend most of their time doing piano, they choose their own curriculum and set their own hours), strict homeschooling in which they do the exact same thing in school except no other kids, there are homeschoolers that do all their school on the computer or go to a co-op school, some have just one day a week for a session or two throughout the year(they do their own thing for the other 4 days) or an actual school where they go 3-5 days a week and are taught by parents who have degrees or specialties, the parents can stay on campus or even quietly sit in the back of the room....there are so many homeschools out there that I haven't even mentioned- it would take forever to describe them all.

After trying so hard to be complex and organized we have evolved into a very simple homeschool routine. Here is our basic schedule:

-anytime between 5:30 and 7:00 we are up, out of bed and doing our morning chores.
-anytime between 7:00-9:00 we have kissed daddy/hubby and our oldest, who lives at home but goes to college, goodbye and have eaten our breakfast, just the 6 of us.
-anytime between 9:00 and 10:00 we are sitting on the couch with our cats, the younger 2 running around like mad people doing their free play, and my oldest son is coloring. This is our bible time. We pray, read our bible, read our missionary book, and read 2 pages of our Character Sketches.
-for the rest of the morning Christian and I do reading and math and then works on science with Fran and Cosette while Caleb does his preschool/kindergarten on the white board with me. Usually Josiah is either sitting on my lap or playing with his cars or animals. Sometimes I allow him to play in the sink....with lots of towels. Fran and Cosette get their independent 5/6th grade work done together on the computer at this time.
During any lulls in the morning Fran and I are up making bread or dinner or anything else that needs to be made since we make everything from scratch. More on that later.
-Chore, lunch making and eating time is between 11:30 and 1:00. 
-Rest and break time is until around 2:00-3:00. 
-2/3:00 is afternoon school. The afternoon is full of fun subjects: sign language, piano, science or history on netflix, crochet and knitting, independent reading and studying of subjects that interest us, even classic movies or musicals on netflix. We also need to finish any yeast breads and baking.    
****In the summer we do everything(minus netflix and baking) outside, including all our experiments and messy art. So when the weather is warm we are outside doing our afternoon subjects from about 1:30-5:00. But since its winter Ill keep going.**** 
-We have mandatory computer school cut off time at 3:30, "fun" school is cut off at 4:30. No one can do school past this time. This is family time. We spend time together, get any other baking done, make dinner, play games(my kids don't have a lot of toys so most of their games are imaginary, like house, forts, etc), and, in my family, act like crazy people. They love to color and crochet/knit so they will do that but most of the time they just play with each other.

I feel that we are still very strict: I don't allow my children to choose their own subjects or their curriculum. But in every other way I feel we are un-schoolers. We don't have set times, we do subjects that interest us and will put academic subjects on the back burner for a time to learn something new or to take field trips. When my oldest was home, for the last 2 years she was unschooled completely. Most of her time was spent independently studying things that interested her: musicals, different music genres, different countries, their history and their literature, and she danced non-stop. This was the best use of her time because she had decided what she wanted to do in the future and she was going to be an actress/dancer. And she was accepted at a private college at 17 years old with a scholarship doing exactly what she wanted to do. This confirmed for us that un-schooling was the best choice for her. We will pray for guidance for our other children. 

I love homeschooling. I love that if the Lord leads we can read an extra chapter of the Bible or another lesson in our study. I love that at the beginning of the day the kids all sit down together, thank the Lord for our meal and eat a healthy breakfast after getting their chores done, there's no rushing or looking at clocks to make sure we are ready for school. I love that when a child realizes he is sick in the middle of the day and wants his mom I'm right there and can put him under a blanket in the living room.... instead of him lying in a school nurses office waiting for me to come get him. I love that if you come to my house in the morning you will find the babies playing and arguing over trucks on the floor, my oldest boy snuggling with me on the couch, doing his reading out loud while I crochet, and the two "best sisters" sitting at the dining room table doing their school together, the table covered in paper, glue and folders to do yet another lapbook. I love that if you come in the afternoon you will find us doing sign language, history on netflix, on a nature walk(or right now, a walk to see them build houses!) down our road, or, if the weather is warm and dry, in the backyard gardening, playing baseball, running around playing house, or reading. I love that no matter what time of day it is we are always together.

The most important thing about homeschooling, for our family, is that we are doing what God has called us to do. We are raising our children. We are teaching them first about His love and His saving grace. We are teaching family above friends, God above everything. Every mealtime we pray, every morning we read His word, every night before we lay down our heads we are together as a family reading from His book and breathing prayers of thanksgiving for His love.

My Lord and my God,
Thank you for my children and thank you that I can lay my head down at night secure in the knowledge that I am doing as You have instructed. I thank you for Your word that I share every day with my children. I thank you for providing for my family, that You give us what we need so I may stay home and raise my children, to make them secure, to make sure they know that they are loved and that You love them above all.
In Your precious name I pray,
Amen

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 11:19