Ocean-sized Homeschool Questions

 

As an “experienced” homeschool mama, I find myself often asking the same questions I asked when I first began homeschooling twelve years ago.  Surely I should just “get it” by now.  But the same insecurities often come back to me during the more difficult days. 

Am I doing enough?

Am I doing too much?

Should I be more structured?

Should I be more relaxed?

Is there a magic curriculum that will just do its stuff and give me the desired results?

Should I stick with what I’m doing?

Is my child succeeding?

Question after question plague my mind some days and I wonder if I’m somehow failing my child.  Despite having twelve years of homeschooling experience and three graduates successfully managing adulthood, I still find myself questioning and reading and researching.  I pray and give it to God, and still wonder.  I read a little more and rinse and repeat.  

You see, I’m that mom.  I’m that mom that loves to research.  I’m that mom that never throws away materials that might one day come in useful.  (The boxes of books and curriculum in my garage attest to this fact.). I’m that mom that loves to meet with other homeschooling mamas and discuss what worked for them and what didn’t... and why.  I’m the mom, like many of us moms, that has a head full of ideas and hopes and dreams, but sees the tough days and all the questions in her mind as a personal reflection of where she might fail her child. 

And now I have another teenager.  

It was so much simpler when she was a little sprite that loved to dance to the Hooked on Phonics videos and sang her math facts as she wrote the answers in her messy, left-handed writing.  The days when fall leaves were a fascination and finger paints were a joy have faded. 

Now she wants to study oceanography.  I love the ocean.  I have lived by two oceans in my life.  I want her to be able to dive in (literally would be great) and learn to her heart’s content.  But we live in the Midwest.  My snowplow-driving hubby is on call tonight with a wintry mix expected.  Trying to find hands-on oceanic activities is a little challenging when the Atlantic Ocean is 866 miles away and the Pacific Ocean is nearly 2000 miles away. 

Yes, she has studied the ocean with her earth science studies, but she is missing the experiential aspect of learning oceanography.  The closest we come is Lake Michigan.  And while she may one day get to smell the salt water, collect shells on the shore,  and swim with dolphins; it won’t be in the next year. 

And so, the doubts enter in.  I doubt the reruns of Hawaii Five-O will substitute.  Am I insane for wanting to purchase books on oceanography, perhaps look up educational videos, but know she will be studying something that she can’t experience at this point in time?  And isn’t the earth science studies something that she needs to move past so she can meet the requirements for high school next year with biology and chemistry, etc?

I bounce back and forth between two trains of thought. I tell myself that we have studied centuries of history, but didn’t live at those time periods.  Just today we finished an advent book that dug into the birth of Jesus, studying the time period of Jesus’ birth and the Roman rule over Israel at the time.  We weren’t there.  We didn’t get to see Baby Jesus be born or experience the angelic host as the showed themselves to the shepherds.  And yet, I don’t feel as if I have failed in any way because I could only offer my child the wonder of Christmas without the experience of “being there.”  My goal was to emphasize the meaning of Christmas, to build up my daughter’s knowledge and love of Jesus.  We may not experience ancient Israel, but we do experience Christ.  Would I not be short-changing my child if I didn’t give her the wonder of the birth of Jesus?  Even if our minds have to imagine the young Mary, giving birth to her first child among stable animals?

Is it not the same with the ocean?  Beyond learning the basics, if my daughter is fascinated by an ocean she has never seen, shouldn’t I indulge her interest?  Will she not learn so much more about the world as it relates to many other areas of science if she studies oceanography?  Will she not learn about wildlife and sea creatures in her study?  Will she not go even deeper into weather by studying occurrences that happen over the ocean... like hurricanes and tsunamis and tropical storms? Will she not learn more about gravity and even space as she studies ocean currents?  Will she not touch on biology and astronomy and even some chemistry as she digs and studies?

Won’t she one day stand on an ocean shore and be able to smell the salt water, feel the coolness of the water on her skin, hear the waves crashing in a soothing rhythm, and be able to name the shells and plants and types of fish swimming in the shallow reefs? 

After all, she loves the writings of C.S. Lewis, but isn’t going to England this year. She can still imagine the country and switch into an English accent in a heartbeat.  She won’t be going to Narnia, but she still can learn the lessons Mr. Lewis so eloquently brought to life through his stories. 

These are the thoughts that swirl through a homeschool mom’s mind as she contemplates what to study next and if she should stick to the prescribed curriculum plans or venture on a side quest. 

Homeschooling means I can give my child the world, even if I can’t do so physically at this present time. Homeschooling brings options. And with those options come questions.  Sometimes those questions are small, like which phonics program to use for my creative, ADHD girl.  And sometimes those questions are the size of an ocean. 

It would be easy to just go with what’s next in the carefully chosen curriculum.  After all, I selected a curriculum that is quality, that meets college entrance requirements, that is academically sound but set on a solid Biblical foundation. Carefully laid plans can bring a path, a direction.  They can also shut doors on rabbit trails and curiosity.  

Homeschool moms (and dads) take on a huge responsibility when they decide to shoulder the education of their children.  And while the years of experience often bring the wisdom to discern what is busy work and what is relevant, sometimes in saunters doubts and questions.  For me, letting my child wander off the path to dive into her own interests was easier somehow when she was younger.

We spent nearly two years following passions.  My child’s interests in those two years were vast.  She studied horses, weather, volcanoes, Greek mythology, Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, and anything else that caught her interest.  She devoured The Bobbsey Twins and American Girl.  She read nearly every Andrew Clements book in the library.  Together we read Inkheart and The Narnia series and Harry Potter.  I took a leap of faith and let her explore, let her learn what got her attention.  In typical ADHD style, her hyper-focus let her gain vast amounts of knowledge.  I could barely keep up with her as she devoured books and documentaries.  

But as high school nears, I find myself more hesitant to take that leap.  I find myself with those ocean-sized questions returning.  After all, doesn’t she need to be exposed to more than just what interests her?  Doesn’t she need more structure as she prepares for whatever God has for her future?  And don’t I want that routine, that knowing what’s next in the scope and sequence? Don’t the events of this past year prove to me that it isn’t just important but vital that my girl has a strong grasp of history and civics?  Haven’t we seen many examples students that have graduated with a poor understanding of history and socialism and the Constitution willing to make decisions about our country that causes more damage than good? And as a Christian, don’t I want my child to be able to think critically instead of just believing what is on the news or in a social media post?

How can deciding whether to veer from the science route be this big of a deal?  Having taken the road less traveled for those couple years of exploration, I know one interest often leads to other areas.  Will it just be a substituted science path?  Unlikely.  

My daughter at the moment also has developed an interest in Japanese anime.  She purposely chooses to watch the Japanese show with subtitles instead of the Americanized version.  Often she will walk into a room speaking phrases in Japanese that she has learned from what she is watching.  

But learn she does.  She has been taking Spanish for school; but because her interest is in Japanese at the moment, she has learned more of the Japanese language in a few weeks than the Spanish she has studied for months.  I know when a child is interested in what they are studying, he or she absorbs information like a dry sponge does water.  And I also know that if they are just taking the class because it’s expected and listed on the planner, the lessons might not be retained as well. Ironically, if someone else was in this situation and asked for my advice, I would tell them to let their child study the oceanography. I am actually a little shocked that I’m struggling with this, because I have read the science about how children learn.  I know following a natural curiosity leads to deep learning and a development of study skills that are unrivaled when compared with any other method. 

This year has been difficult.  Money has been tight.  I have had to plan very carefully in every area of our finances.  A set plan brings a comfort because I know it checks all the boxes.  The fact that I have a lot of the materials also is reassuring because I don’t have to worry about straining an already tight budget any further.  Even if I let go of what my plans say our homeschool would hold for the next year or so, I’m still bound by budget constraints. 

Ocean-sized questions mean I give the matter some ocean-sized prayer.  To all those homeschool mamas out there with similar questions about what path to take, know you are not alone. 

Thankful For the Tough Times

 This year has been challenging, and it has been challenging for so many.  Some have faced a virus that has taken lives.  Others have been hit so hard by financial difficulties that they are losing or on the verge of losing all they spent years working to build.

My family faced Covid as one after the other were exposed.  The range of severity went from children with no symptoms to ER visits and weeks of recovery.  We were fortunate because there hasn’t been loss of life in our immediate family to this point.  

And yet, I still feel that the extreme measures to contain the virus are a violation of basic rights and civil liberties.  After all, if I can go to Walmart with a mask and see the workers not even wearing them correctly, touch items touched by a hundred others, and stand in a thirty minute line because the store only has one cashier open, I think I can go to church. 

We have kept up with school even in the midst of quarantine and Covid exposure and illness because my daughter was one of the lucky ones that never experienced a symptom...  despite sharing a room with an older sister that got very ill and taking care of me during my most challenging days with this illness.  My thirteen year old is independent in most of her work.  I like to be heavily involved in some subjects, but there is a difference between “needing” me and “benefitting” from working together. 

Our finances have been equally challenged this year.  We have had steady income, but it has been significantly reduced.  I read that up to one-third of all Americans are facing eviction or foreclosure.  We are not in that category, so I consider us blessed. 

But it has changed some things in our home and education.  I had to rework school when the budget became much more strict and I couldn’t afford to purchase what I thought we needed.  The lines between want and need became much less blurred.

There was a saying that developed during The Great Depression that said, “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it do, Or do without!” This is our family right now.  The expensive, full-color notebooking pages can be replaced with cheaper, black and white print-outs. We don’t need the best materials to get a quality, God-filled education.  In fact, it might just contribute to creativity.  

This isn’t the first time that I have had to evaluate what we are using and set priorities.  When I had several students in my homeschool, similar choices had to be made.  Over the years I had gotten comfortable with spending more.  I had become complacent in our finances. Now I know that I wasn’t careful and it has caught up to me. 

I steered away from a lot of consumable items in our homeschool, though we do have some.  Those consumable items have now become a point of stress when the funds aren’t there to purchase the next level.  The money to buy them at this time just isn’t there. And, after months and months of cut income, I don’t feel guilty about this.  The reality for millions of Americans is much more dire, so I am thankful for what we have.

I have a library card, those non-consumable materials, and internet connection.  Restructuring our school is not what I anticipated when I could confidently purchase needed items without a blink.  And yet, restructuring is what needed to happen.  Ironically, my daughter likes the simpler materials better.

I have learned that I had stopped being a good steward of what God has given us.  I am thankful for that lesson.  Being sick and having our finances significantly impacted has been tough, but it reminded  me of the lessons that I once knew, but forgot in health and prosperity.  God’s lessons are not just for a season, but a lifelong plan.  It is in the healthy and prosperous times that we are store up for the other times.

This Thanksgiving looks different than previous years.  We aren’t getting together with extended family.  Our counties have been hit hard by Covid and those that haven’t been exposed don’t want to risk illness.  I don’t blame them.  I still get to gather with my children and grandchildren.  I still get to enjoy my family, even if it is a bit less than normal.  I will count my blessings, not focus on the trials. 

Most see 2020 as the worst year.  I agree it has been tough.  I pray it might be looked at not as the worst year, but the year in which God taught the best, most life-changing lessons.  I pray that we see what we took for granted in the past: gathering together with family, income we could count on, health, going to church, hanging out with friends, running our businesses.  I pray that we learn that those things are blessings from God that we should cherish and never, ever, ever take them for granted again. 

Count your blessings.  

Hidden in Him

Corona...  Covid-19...  Like millions of others, this plague with its shutdowns and quarantines has hurt our finances.  Unlike many, we still have an income. So, I consider ourselves blessed.

But we have lost some of what we had counted on.  Who could know we would lose up to a few hundred a month?  Who knew the loss would not just be for a few weeks but stretch on and on, month after month?

I struggle in my spirit during some trials.  Challenging times in our finances is one of them.  I get frustrated when trying to budget and balance and the money isn’t there.  I fight fear when I see the bills and know the income barely covers, or doesn’t cover. 

The Lord has been doing such incredible things over the last few months, however.  I have been so in awe of the things He has done in other areas that, while the concern for finances is still there in my prayers, I can’t separate what God is doing in other areas from finances.

Practically, this impacts our homeschool.  It means slowing down on a few things we are working through, supplementing with materials we already have or free materials online, because the finances aren’t there to cover even the few things I need to purchase.  

And yet, even here, God has provided.  A quick trip to a  resale shop...  a bag of books for $3... some books that I had on my shelves I had forgotten about...  all ways God has provided in just the last few weeks. 

Other ways have been provided that I couldn’t have imagined.  We had a conference we had signed up to attend, that I knew God wanted us to attend.  This conference proved to be pivotal in our family.  What God did in that conference in our family was the answer to years of prayers.  And yet, the finances weren’t there.  Somehow, God provided them.  He made a way through His people.

After the conference, I have felt led to fast all but one meal a day...  fasting for spiritual breakthrough for our finances and any other areas of strongholds.  Finances have always been an area of struggle for our family.  We have five children, and while four are now grown, raising five children on one income was so difficult.  I could stretch a dollar farther than it seemed possible just to get us through.  In recent years, as children moved out and began their own families and lives, finances weren’t as tight.  That led to me spending more than I would have considered in the past.  I had stopped practicing good stewardship the way I had in the past.  This time of less income made me remember that those principles are just as important in the more prosperous times as in the tougher times. 

God still provides. Little things have happened.  It hasn’t been anything big in our finances yet, but those little things have occurred that bring small provision: a payment reduced, a part of a deposit returned, warmer weather to keep us from having to turn on the heat, a daughter that was able to find employment she loves so she can contribute.  Those little things that remind me that God is in the littlest areas. 

 The fast for financial breakthrough is impacting other areas of life.  Relationships are being restored.  Old wounds are being healed.  My relationship with the Lord is somehow deeper.  I feel it’s a time of waiting, of absorbing and preparing.  In the past I might have felt a little forgotten, as if the struggle meant that God had abandoned me.  But now I feel hidden, not from Him, but by Him.  Hidden in Him...  sheltered by Him...  studying, waiting for finances for the next step, praying like I never have before for His presence to be with me, to guide me, to fill me and my home.

I’m so flawed.  I mess up so often.  I doubt some days.  I cry. 

Every night, when the house grows quiet, I attempt to go outside and, in the stillness of the night, spend a dedicated time with Jesus.  I like to walk when I pray.  And so, I walk around my home, praying as I go.  I pray in the Spirit.  I sometimes sing quietly.  I pour out my heart and gives my cares to the Lord.  I am so often reminded of His faithfulness in that time.  I feel that protective shelter.  My husband fears I am walking a path into the grass, which frustrates his landscaping heart; but this time has become special to me.  I’ve always been more of a night owl than a morning bird. 

During the day, with a one year old grandson and homeschooling and bouts of insomnia, I don’t have as much available time for prayer.  And to be honest, my mind in the morning is focused on what all needs to be accomplished for the day.  In the evening, I can focus better. 

I still battle trepidation over our finances.  I shouldn’t, but I must confess that I do.  I keep tithing, keep giving, because I know this may feel like a battle in my life but it is actually a spiritual battle.  It is a way for Satan to bring doubt of God’s goodness and provision.  It is a way to try to stop ministry. It’s an attempt to derail what God has planned for my family, my children, and me. 

Being hidden in Him is a place of safety.  Being hidden in Him as we walk by faith and not by sight allows those steps to be taken with quiet anticipation.  In fear, I would be tempted to take my own actions, which never goes well, or to give up.  I will take being hidden in God over my own great ideas or public platitudes any day. 

I want to learn the lessons well.  I want to pass the tests and bless the heart of my Father.  I want to spend this time, not as a time when I am on an emotional roller coaster of fears and doubts, but a time when I can find Him.  Please Lord...  pull me ever closer. 

 

Why we Ditched Spelling

For years I stuck with spelling lists.  Even while using the Heart of Dakota curriculum, I kept using spelling lists.  Or I would use Ace Paces’ Word Building (etymology).  My older daughters completed the full spectrum of Word Building books. 

I always wanted to use the Dictation plans included in Heart of Dakota.  I tried it with my older daughter.  She hated dictation.  She had come from public school and spelling was what she knew.  She asked for the spelling lists.  She likes the Word Building compared to the dictation.  So, I let her continue with it.

But then came my youngest.  She is the one that has never attended public school.  She tried the Word Building paces and began to dread them.  (She wasn’t a big fan of workbook curriculum.). With her, I thought, I could start her with dictation and see if it was truly something that I could trust to give my child a good spelling foundation.

She likes dictation.  Even when we wandered through a couple years of delight directed studies, we stayed with dictation. Occasionally we got our dictation out of McGuffey Readers.  Mostly, we used the dictation provided in the Heart of Dakota guides.  

I love the seamless, steady progress of the passages.  I love that my daughter is putting words into writing, not just memorizing lists.  I love that we can take the time for her to study the passage so she can learn it in her own way. 

Her spelling is good.  Occasionally she misses a word and must redo the passage.  She’s a bit of a perfectionist and gets easily frustrated when she misses, but I just keep encouraging her and we progress slowly forward.  

The spelling and grammar carry over to her other schoolwork, also.  Spelling errors are infrequent.  I believe this is because when you are reading quality literature and writing often, you naturally pick up how words are spelled by seeing and writing them correctly in context often.  With that comes vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and a host of good writing habits.

We will continue dictation through high school.  I love to read blog posts from the Heart of Dakota sisters (Carrie and Julie) about how dictation skills carried over into other areas of schoolwork and into college.  

Here are a few posts they have written about dictation:

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2020/09/09/not-just-a-spelling-list/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019/11/07/dictation-skills-help-many-areas-of-childs-education/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019/02/13/a-breakthrough-in-spelling-charlotte-masons-method-of-studied-dictation/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2018/11/06/charlotte-masons-method-of-studied-dictation/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2018/05/01/is-dictation-good-for-struggling-spellers/

As you can see, using dictation instead of spelling has many benefits.

The dictation passages chosen by Heart of Dakota come from an older book set used in schools long ago.  They were published in the early 1900s.  The books are called Dictation Day by Day by Kate Van Wagenen.  With each level, new words are in bold.  Many of the passages are from quality literature or are quotes from famous men and writers.  These writers consist of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Shakespeare, and Daniel Webster... to name a few.  They come from quality works like The Bible or other great works of literature. Not only are the students learning spelling, grammar, and sentence structure, they are exposed to great snippets of writing and the thoughts of great men and women in history. 

In our home, we have developed a system or routine for dictation.  Dictation is part of our morning time studies, which also include Bible time, Writing, Language Arts, math, and Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (Literature) assignments.  

We keep dictation simple.  On day 1 of a new passage, it is used as copywork.  We do this because I think it is a good practice to write to learn.  By copying the passage exactly, my daughter is cementing the spelling of new words, seeing which words are capitalized, and where punctuation goes.  

On day 2, the passage is dictated to her, phrase by phrase.  She has to write it perfectly again.  The Heart of Dakota guide books say that, if there is a mistake, she corrects the error, again cementing the correct spelling in her brain, and then redoes the passage the next day.  Most of the time that is what we do.  Occasionally the mistake is simple and she corrects it as soon as she sees it.  In that case, we will often just move on to the next passage. However, many times the error is one where I insist the passage be redone.  The next day she will redo the entire passage through me restating it, phrase by phrase.  She rarely has to repeat a passage more than once.  

Having used this method now for several years, I am impressed with the simplicity of this Charlotte Mason method. It takes only a few minutes a day, but the slow, steady, incremental growth is apparent when we see how far we progress from the beginning of a year to the end.  Often we cover more than one level in a school year.  And while a small snippet may not seem like much in the day to day, it adds up to a quality education. 

Spelling is one of those subjects that, coming from a public school mentality, is the most difficult to release.  Dictation is a natural way to learn not just spelling, but writing and grammar.  And while we do separate writing and grammar programs, trusting dictation to be enough for spelling is scary at first.  It has been ingrained that we need those lists and rules.  Heart of Dakota asks that parents give dictation at least a year before trying to measure progress because it is a different way to learn from the way we all grew up with in the schools. 

The early years of dictation actually do begin with lists.  As a child is beginning to learn the write, each word in a list follows a spelling pattern, such as: grow, show, tow, throw, stow, etc.  After a year or so of the lists, the first dictation passages are introduced. Spelling patterns are repeated with extra words added that match the dictation.  For instance, the very first dictation passage is:

Sue has a bird.

It can call and sing.

king ring wing

This begins the gentle, incremental climb that continues through graduation.  

I can attest that I have seen the growth and it more than covers the lists.  Each week, with just three different dictation passages, there are fifteen to twenty new words (at my daughter’s current level.).  The upper levels of dictation are quite challenging, with longer paragraphs being included of top quality works that hold a depth of sentence structure and a rich vocabulary that makes those lists a sad substitute.   So while the earlier dictation passages are simple, through the years they advance to impressive levels. 

I encourage other homeschool moms to try dictation for a year.   If you hate it, the lists will always be there.  There is no shortage of spelling programs, both free and expensive, available.  Dictation is different.  I believe it is better than the lists.  I wish I would have stuck with it with my older daughters.  While they are good spellers, using a dictation program teaches so much more than how to spell. 

Finding Hidden Treasure

 One of our a Bible studies for this year is Hidden Treasures in Philippians.  We are working double-speed through this study so we can begin Hidden Treasures in Hebrews after Christmas.

Heart of Dakota has “Bible” as an independent subject at this level.  However, I am doing the subject with my daughter.  I want her to learn to have personal Bible time, but I also think discipleship is not a solitary practice.  

Discipleship is a beautiful thing.  The discussions that happen during Bible time are priceless.  For instance, today we were reading about 2 Corinthians 6:14. 

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6:14 NASB 

We talked about how being bound means having a close relationship.  We are bound when we marry.  We are also bound by our friends.  The discussion centered around choosing Godly friendships, or ones in which we choose friends that also love Jesus.  

This doesn’t mean we can never befriend someone that isn’t a Christian.  It does mean that we must be careful in our friendships; that our closest friends share our faith.    I gave the example of how it is easier to pull a person off of a chair than the person on the chair to lift up someone from the ground.  

These discussions are important to me because, as much as I want my child to remember the lessons in the Bible study, she will remember the conversations and the practical applications of the Scriptures just as much. 

“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27:17‬ ‭NASB‬‬

I look at Bible study at this crucial age as iron sharpening iron.  She does study her Bible for other things, such as challenges given in her youth group.  With Heart of Dakota, she is in her Bible daily to look up what it says about different topics she is covering in history or science.  

Right now my husband and I are beginning ministry classes.  We find doing them together or with a group gives us much more than just doing the classes alone.  We still have private time with God in the Word and prayer time.  However, doing the classes with others gives is the chance to trade ideas and discuss meanings. 

My favorite memories with my older homeschooled children were the Bible times we had in the mornings.  It was not a mostly serious time.  It was light-hearted and fun.  My girls would sing Veggietales songs, even into high school, when we got to a particular lesson that was related to a Veggietales movie.   They also had a blast trying to pronounce some of the Old Testament names.  This time has become part of our family culture, as the stories still are brought up during family gatherings. 

Is there anything better than having Bible study as a part of your family culture?

Our mornings start with the Word of God.  I love the name of this inductive study...  Hidden Treasures.  That is exactly what I feel like we are doing, digging for Treasure.  

I worried that this study might be a little too young for my daughter.  Instead, I have found we can always go a little deeper during our conversations.  Today, for instance, when we discussing being “bound” to friends, we actually talked about various friends of hers and mine.  This wasn’t a judgment on any of them, but more a conversation about which friends bring out the best side of us, encouraging us in our faith and our daily walk.  It was also a reminder of the type of friend we need to be to others.

Best of all, it was a reminder that Jesus is our best friend; always there to encourage, support, listen, and guide.  He will always be honest.  He will always correct us when we are wrong.  Most of all, He will always love us. 

Reproducing Michelangelo

 

This week the history project was to recreate a Michelangelo painting.  She’s pretty artistic, but would prefer to draw.  However, she dived in.  The end result was not quite a good as she wanted, but I thought she did a great job.  

Not many young people can paint like Michelangelo.  But the work will stay with her.  Every time she sees that painting in the future, she will remember that she once tried to recreate it.  She will remember the skill that Michelangelo had and appreciate the talent of artists.  

Studying different artists has been so good for her.  It encourages her to be artistic.  She has her favorites.  She talks about the different artists and their specialties.  She knows more about famous artists than me and enjoys learning about them.

To me, that is a good education. 

“I Can’t Afford to Homeschool”

 

 

“Some of us aren’t blessed to be able to afford to homeschool.”

I still remember that quote being lobbed at me like a hand grenade.  I remember thinking, “I can’t afford it either.”

And my family couldn’t many times.  But...  we also couldn’t afford not to.

Homeschooling has costs.  Even if you use a free curriculum, there are costs.  There are costs associated in public school, too.  Very rarely is anything actually free.  Money was tight for us so often that I worried I might not be able to afford what was needed to provide my children a quality education.  We endured unemployment, lost nearly everything materially we had at one point, had health crisis after health crisis...  and still we plodded on.

I get aggravated when I hear “we can’t afford it.”  God called me to homeschool in 2008.  I argued with God for months.  I approached my husband about it, sure he would be totally against it, and was shocked when he didn’t outright shut me down.  I researched and was shaking the day I wrote the letter to the school to pull my first student out of public school. 

Homeschooling had a cost. 

Financially, it cost me.  There were some free items online, but twelve years ago, the options were definitely more limited.  The first year I bought some used, a couple new workbooks, and hit the library.  

Some years I could purchase curriculum new.  I usually earmarked a chunk of our tax return for purchases.  But that money could have been used in so many other places.  Instead, there was sacrifice.

We did without.  There weren’t many planned vacations...  or even fancy field trips.  There was a lot of Hamburger Helper for dinner.  We made bread homemade at times.  I grew a garden.  We hit yard sales and thrift stores for clothes.  While friends were going to movies, we had movie nights in with library rentals.  When friends were buying new cars, we budgeted gas money for limited trips to town.  When others were going out to eat, we were gathering around our table at home to another meatloaf or more spaghetti.

But God called me to homeschool.  And now, thirteen years later, that calling hasn’t left. 

I know single mothers that homeschool.  I know working mothers arranging schedules and/or working from home to homeschool.   Some use public school resources.  Some use free curriculum (such as Easy Peasy homeschool) to limit expenses.  Some borrow curriculum from other families.  Some use the library and write their own lesson plans.

I remember, more than once, sitting down with a stack of thrift store books and composition notebooks to create my own “workbooks” for my child.  I printed off free, public domain books from Google books to use.  When I did buy, I often looked for some non-consumable books that I could pass down to my younger children.  At times, I would purchase the cheaper workbooks and supplement with library books. 

Where there is a calling, there is a way.  God will provide.  He may not provide riches or ease.  He may call you to spend your free time planning and placing a dozen books on hold at the local library, but He will guide and provide.  

It wasn’t easy.  It was work.  It wasn’t always lightbulb moments or complete joy either.  I had to suck that kid that hated to read into books with some twaddle.  It’s okay.  I made a lot of use of Netflix documentaries for a couple years to fill in the history studies.  I planned projects using books checked out from the library.  I read blogs and found free spelling lists and free book lists and free scope and sequence lists. 

We baked bread homemade to sell at the Farmer’s market.  I babysat.  We canned vegetables.  We did what we needed to get by so we could continue to do what God called us to do.  

Could I afford to homeschool?  No.  But I was obedient anyway.

 

It was worth it.

It was worth it to watch my kids learn and grow.  It was worth it to get to disciple them.  It was worth it to sit around the table and discuss the Bible together.  It was worth it to see the learning struggles turn into confidence. 

Should everyone homeschool?  No.  I can say with confidence that some parents shouldn’t homeschool.  And, there are even some parents that can’t homeschool.  But, there are more parents that can than have allowed themselves the option. 

Right now parents all over the nation have had to homeschool.  Covid-19 has changed many situations and parents have pulled their children for many reasons.  Many will probably go back to public schooling when the pandemic is over.  Some...  maybe more than some...  will stick with it.  They will discover what some of us have known for a long time: that homeschooling is challenging and hard work but worth it. 

Some will move past the public school at home mentality and delve into the world of Charlotte Mason, Unit Studies, Literature-based Education, or become eclectic in their approach.  Some will stick with school at home and their child will thrive because they can relax at home and learn without distraction or the pressures of the public school environment. 

My friend has three children that are grown.  She has stated that she is glad they are grown.  She couldn’t see sending her children to school during this time in history.  

I am glad we aren’t making big life changes for our remaining, school-aged daughter right now.  We already made that choice years ago.  The pandemic has meant a lot of changes in our lives, but our schooling is not one of them.  We just continue on, learning and growing, as we have for years. 

A Tale of Two Levels: Part 2

 

By around halfway through the year, we will begin the next level of Heart of Dakota:  Revival to Revolution.

Part 2:  Revival to Revolution

History

Revival to Revolution begins in the 1720’s and continues until roughly 1900.  A lot of history happened in this couple hundred years.  With books like George Washington’s World, The Growth of the British Empire, and Only the Names Remain, it’s a full schedule. 

There are so many things that are added that just make this program so deep and full.  This is no shallow history program.  Each week the student will learn about primary source documents, reading from them to know the original intentions of America’s founding fathers.  There is also a study of the fifty states, allowing students to get a brief history and knowledge of every state in the union.  

Science

Revival to Revolution focuses on Physical Science.  It’s a very hands-on approach that teaches students with real-life activities and projects.  It also contains an inventor study where the students read about the great accomplishments of scientists and record information about these discoveries and the lives of these scientists in gorgeous, quality notebooking pages. 

Bible and Devotional Study

 

Revival to Revolution works through the book of Hebrews with an inductive Bible study.  This study includes lessons on the ten heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11.  

Also included is worldview study to help teach students to view the world through the lens of Scripture. I went through this study with my older children a few years ago and it was awesome!   

Music

One of the things my older daughter loved about this level was the classical music study.  Learning about classical music and the musicians was fun for her.

My youngest daughter is a music lover also.  I think she will enjoy this study a couple times a week.  It also includes some hands-on projects. 

Reading

For reading, Megan will be on the last level of Drawn Into the Heart of Reading.  She will delve into some awesome books, such as a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Gone Away Lake, and others.  I love the genre study.  Drawn Into the Heart of Reading has been a favorite of mine because it allows the chance to pick your own literature selections.  I love the offerings Heart of Dakota chooses, but have occasionally picked something else that I want my daughter to read or that suits her interests at the time.

I also tend to add reading.  There are so many incredible books that I want my daughter to read.  I try to schedule them in, while keeping a balance of work so that she isn’t over scheduled.  I tend to favor series.  We have read many series together for read-alouds through the years.  Now, she likes to read them on her own.  She dug into The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew last year.  This year she is reading the Elsie Dinsmore series. 

In Conclusion:

We will get through a good amount of Revival to Revolution this year, but some of it will be saved for ninth grade with Missions to Modern Marvels.  Technically, she could advance a level, but I don’t want her to miss the skills or the great books involved.  

Earth’s Plates

 As a lover of Earth Science, I find the science experiments my daughter does are fun!  I was luckily to have the option to study Earth Science in college versus the other options. 

This week my daughter has been studying the causes and consequences of an earthquake.  Now, like me, she also loves Earth Science.  She is fascinated by storms and weather and oceanography.  She loves geology.  She reads books about various Earth Science topics for fun. 

This isn’t exactly new material for her, but she is still as fascinated as if she had never studied the information in the past.  

Today her experiment used a graham cracker to get a visual of what happens to the Earth’s Crust when plates rub during an earthquake.  The visual was changed as she increased the friction or force. 

And at the end of the experiment, she smiled and asked, “Can I eat my science experiment now?”

Bible Studies in Homeschooling

 

We normally use something else for Bible.  (I have loved CLE Bible for years.) This school year I decided to add in what Heart of Dakota schedules and just do both.  Why?  

Both programs are excellent.  They have a very different focus. CLE Bible is a great way to learn the chronology of the Bible and study the major themes carefully.  It takes a student through the Old Testament and then the New Testament at least a couple times.  It’s a slow walk through the Bible that cycles back around with increasing detail and skills as the child matures.  

Heart of Dakota goes through the Bible during Creation to Christ. However, then it doesn’t do so again until high school.  Instead, it takes books of the Bible and studies them more in-depth.  For instance, Preparing Hearts studies Psalms; Resurrection to Reformation studies Philippians; and Revival to Revolution studies Hebrews; etc.   Many of these are inductive studies that teach the student how to dig deeper into the Bible and apply what they learn to their lives. 

I love the idea of both.  I also love that Heart of Dakota’s program teaches children to have their own personal Bible time and incorporates music quite often.  

I hesitated to add more to my child’s day, and am very selective.  She does do some extra reading.  She also takes piano lessons once a week.  I felt that being thoroughly grounded in the Word was vital.  It’s an addition we both enjoy.

We work through both programs together.  Both could be done independently.  There have been seasons when doing the work independently was important.  Right now, however, I feel that doing the work together leads to very important discussions.  

Will we always do all the work together for Bible or so two programs?  We won’t always do two programs.  I’ll make a decision in high school which program I want to do.  There will be no need to do two Old or New Testament survey classes.  We might always do them together.  I did Bible with my older girls until graduation and it was amazing. 

And On to Eighth Grade

 Despite having been doing half days for a few weeks, I still considered this our first “official” day of school.  So, as tradition dictates, the obligatory first day pics are a must. 

A Tale of Two Levels: Part One

Eighth grade is upon us.  Since we did some other things last year, we could say we are “behind.”  But most homeschoolers know there is no “behind.”  The time away from Heart of Dakota was still filled with learning.  The beauty about Heart of Dakota is that the skills build on each other.  We can just pick up where we were and move forward as long as the child hasn’t progressed too far.  

So a few weeks ago we began eighth grade with half days because Covid had led to the cancellation of nearly every activity in which we normally participate.  Not willing to have a summer of YouTube videos, we began some school.  We picked up right where we left off and have kept moving forward.

However, we are over halfway through Heart of Dakota’s Resurrection to Reformation guide.  This means we will actually do two guides this year.  Megan will finish up Resurrection to Reformation by Christmas.  We will immediately begin Revival to Revolution. 

Part One: Resurrection to Reformation

I’ll go through the first part of our school year by going through Resurrection to Reformation and other things we are using.   There are a LOT of books my daughter will be reading.  That isn’t unusual for our homeschool.  

History:

With Mystery of History as the main spine for the remainder of the guide. Megan will be reading about Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Walter Raleigh and so much more.  She will read and notebook her way through time as she learns history. 

I love the notebooking pages!  They are colorful and of great quality.  The lessons are so enhanced by the pages!  And it is such a fun way to keep track of what my daughter has learned. 

Science:

My daughter loves Earth Science, so finishing up this study is a joy for her.  She is relishing the experiments and often loves to tell me all about what she is reading. 

Shakespeare:

Resurrection To Reformation does a Shakespeare study.  I was afraid this study would be difficult for my child.  Instead, she LOVES it!  She gets excited when it is Shakespeare day.  Like the history notebooking pages, Heart of Dakota has created these beautiful Shakespeare notebooking pages. And they chose Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare.  Tales from Shakespeare is written in more modern English for younger readers. 

Bible:

Heart of Dakota’s Resurrection to Reformation uses the inductive Bible study Hidden Treasures in Philippians.  This is scheduled as an independent study to help the child develop good habits in their own personal Bible time with God.  However, I am planning to do this with my daughter.  She is at a sensitive age, and being able to discuss the study with her is important to me.  (Plus, I don’t want to miss out!)

We also have a different Bible study we do every other day or so from Christian Light Education.  I love how deep Christian Light goes into the Bible.  

Reading:

We are continuing with Heart of Dakota’s Drawn Into the Heart of Reading.  I love the perks of this program! I can choose which books to use for the different genres.  I can use library books to save money.  Or, as I tend to do, I can use books I have already purchased over time.  I like the choices Heart of Dakota gives in their book packs, and have used them often also.  But sometimes I switch out the book for something else. 

Extra Reading:

I chose two book series to slowly have Megan read through over the next two years.  These aren’t assigned in Heart of Dakota, but instead are something extra I want my daughter to experience.  She is reading them slowly so she can mature a bit with the characters as they age in the books.  I also want her to savor the books and think about the lessons contained.

The first series is a rewrite of Martha Finley’s Elsie Dinsmore series.  I read them all several years ago from the library.  Mission City Press did such a great job with these books and I am sad they aren’t as easily purchased now.  I still have the last two to purchase before we own the entire set.  Megan will read through at least three of the books this year. 

The second series is the Terrestria Series by Ed Dunlop.  I was first introduced to the series through Heart of Dakota when they offered a couple of the selections in the book packs for Drawn Into the Heart of Reading.  The books are allegorical and engaging.  My daughter often likes fantasy books, and these are very godly.  It will take her two years to get through this entire series when alternated with Elsie Dinsmore.  . 

What’s left?

In the next post I will go through what we are using for Revival to Revolution as well as what we use for math and any alternatives I am using.  It looks to be a very full year!

Weathering and Copper

My daughter was reading and learning about the layers of the atmosphere and what happens when pollutants in the air mix with water vapor in the clouds.  This can result in acid rain. 

The experiment we followed was to show the results of acid rain on The Statue of Liberty.  The Statue of Liberty is made of copper.

We found four copper pennies (1981 and earlier).  We lucked out because it is reported there is a coin shortage right now in the U.S.  We found the needed pennies and placed each one in different solutions for a week.

The one that showed the most dramatic results most mimicked the ocean with weather.  We learned quickly why the Statue of Liberty is green because our penny turned a turquoise color.  We accidentally forgot the pennies for a few days as we have only been doing half-days of school during the summer.

The result was by the time we completed the experiment, the penny with the most weathering had actually disintegrated quite a bit.  There was a noticeable weight difference between this penny and the other pennies that weren't in the most harsh solution.  The engraving of Lincoln was nearly gone and the date stamp had disappeared.

This was probably one of the most fun experiments that we have done. 

A Heart of Dakota Life

Every fourth Wednesday of the month, Heart of Dakota does a blog post series entitled, “A Heart of Dakota Life.”   I look forward to every blog post because it is so wonderful to get tips and ideas.  The “A Heart of Dakota Life” series is a favorite of mine because it deals with homeschool issues as well as things that impact family and faith.

We have used Heart of Dakota mostly since 2009. We wandered here and there.  I didn’t always use the suggestion.  But when I look back on our homeschool, only one student didn’t use Heart of Dakota, and that was because she used a program a licensed teacher implemented.  

The memories with Heart of Dakota have always been my favorites.  I feel like the curriculum makes me the “fun mom.”  I’m not a “crafty” person.  I don’t think about coming up with hands-on materials.  I’m a bookworm and could schedule great literature all day.  But Heart of Dakota strikes a balance so that my children that don’t learn just like me get to explore learning in ways that work best for them. 

We’ve painted and done experiments and made projects.  We’ve laughed and cried over read-aloud.  We’ve researched and written and rewritten.  We’ve listened to music and memorized Scripture and had endless conversations 

We’ve pretended and played to learn.  We’ve acted out stories.  We’ve spent time with Jesus.  

Our box days are always exciting, like Christmas morning.  

And we’ve shared and passed on the materials to other families when we were done so that others can have similar learning experiences and make similar memories.  

Every time I’ve wandered, I always regretted it.  Why? Because nothing else had worked quite as well for us.  My daughters have grown up exposed to great literature, rich history, engaging science, and a solid foundation for life.  

I didn’t get to use all the guides... yet.  My older girls missed the high school guides.  I beefed up the middle school guides at the time because the high school guides were not written or just being written at the time.  I thought for awhile I would do the same with my youngest since I have the materials.  However, I don’t want to mix in other things to stretch the guides out.  I don’t want to miss the incredible learning that the upper guides hold.  

As we go through the materials and work, I find myself so excited to see what comes next, even though I’ve gone through the guides with my older girls.  It’s like an adventure. 

My secret wish is to use them with grandkids, or to pass the materials along to them and watch their adventures.  However, that is a choice their parents must make. 

All in all, I have loved our homeschooling adventures with Heart of Dakota.  I am excitedly looking forward to the next five years with my last daughter.