Did you know that we are one of “Those Homeschooling Families?” Yes, that’s us!
When we first started homeschooling I bought exactly the books my oldest son would have been using in school that year. I didn’t want him to miss a thing. Well, that was an easy way to stress us both out! We had a stack of textbooks, workbooks, teacher manuals, and more piled up on the table every day. We were doing the same boring stuff, only faster!
Then I started homeschooling two boys with all the books they both needed, and I couldn’t be found behind the mountain of books. For us, it turned out to be a big waste of time and money. I had to change everything a couple months into the school year. Live and learn they say, right?
Now we learn {I learn too!} by reading wonderful books and working off of them. What a concept! All the work relates to a certain time in history and helps to make it more memorable with out memorizing facts.
My son, Jacob, wasn’t that interested in reading for years. Last year he really fell in love with reading all on his own. I guess it was just “his time” to start loving the wonderful world of books. Now I can’t pry a book out of his hands!
Shades of Gray is his latest school book. I think he’ll finish tomorrow, and he spent hours reading it today. Robinson Crusoe was his book of choice at the bookstore a few weeks ago. What’s not to love about that kind of learning? He remembers everything he reads and so does my other son, AJ.
They read on the porch, in their beds on rainy days, at the park, and on the couch. I read to Jacob with him cuddled up next to me…love that!
This is on one of Jacob’s favorite shirts {his lucky fishing shirt}. Can you believe all these brilliant leaders in history were homeschooled?
Have you ever thought about homeschooling? It has been a blessing to our family in so many ways!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration. My older son just finished up in a private Kindergarten and woke up the next day saying, “I wanna do my homeschool work now! I’m in first grade!” This is just the beginning for us, but it’s a great big world of homeschoolers out there… what a blessing to be a part of it.
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Hello! We love reading in our house too. I have been home schooling our children for 6 years now. It has been so rewarding! Wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Blessings,
Marie
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I was homeschooled for most of my life, and I liked it. I learned more than I did while going to a school.
We are probably going to homeschool our son when he gets old enough for kindergarten. There aren’t good public schools in our area, and private schools are too expensive. Homeschooling seems like it will be a good option for us. Besides, I don’t really want to let my boy go away to school when he’s only five. I’d miss him too much!
Do you have a curriculum that you follow that has book suggestions to read in order to learn your history, science, government, etc? Or do you search on your own and pick out books for your sons?
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Ah yes…I am so thrilled to be “one of THOSE home school” families. I have Shades of Grey and my 12 year old hasn’t read it….grabbing it off the shelves and sticking it in his hand for today.
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I was not home schooled. I am a HS teacher in public education. I LOVE that you discovered using books as the basis for what you are studying with your boys. Books open our eyes to so many different people and times. The books of my childhood mean so much to me that even as an adult, I love vacationing in areas that books brought to life in my imagination first. I haven’t read Shades of Grey…I’ll have to check it out. (I still love children’s literature!)
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I’ll bring the fresh water fish for a family supper next week !!!
We haven’t felt the need to homeschool (yet!) because we’re in a great little town, and a great little school district. Nearly all of the staff goes to church with each other and we’re so blessed!
But my husband was homeschooled all the way through high school! We’re definitely open to it, if we need to someday.
I could so relate with the textbooks and the weight of that! This is our second time around…the older children were out of school when our twins came along and by the time I started with them, I prayed for freedom in teaching them. It’s still a challenge cuz they’re twins and are at different levels, but the freedom in obeying the voice of God, rather than a system has definitely paid off.
Thanks for the encouragement and God bless.
daune, pronounced Dawn
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Just wanted to say YES! We’re one of THOSE families, too!
And we are book-and-interest based. We’re still in year one of this, but planning on doing it for all our kids all the way through. Question: Where’d you find that awesome t-shirt, and does it come as a poster?
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We homeschool our son, too. He has been in 2 different private schools – one in FL, one in IN – and so has had a few different types of curriculum. Our favorite is Sonlight, which we’ve been using for 3 years now. It’s also liturature based. It makes such a difference in the quality of the schoolday – and learning. I wish I had been taught like this. I don’t remember much of anything I learned in school, but I’m learning so much right along side of our son. I’d love to know where to get a shirt like your son’s fave.
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As a child, I always wanted to have school at home, mostly because I hated getting up so early and trudging off to the bus stop in the dark.
This is not part of my lifestyle (I don’t know anyone who does it) but I’m always curious about homeschooling and why parents make that choice. Thanks for letting us in to a little part of your life.
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