How we started the actual "school" part of homeschooling (part 2)

Despite knowing since college that I wanted to home educate our children, once our children were born I didn't really give the academic part of homeschooling much thought until our daughter was 4. I just enjoyed being a mom and enjoyed my little babies! Our first 3 children were born in 3 years, so they were understandably very busy but very sweet years. We went on walks every day (loved, loved, loved my side by side double stroller!!) around the neighborhood, went to parks, played with playdough, went to the zoo, played in the sand, listened to lots of music, read lots of books. Those were great years!

The spring that our oldest turned 4, and I knew that we would "officially" begin homeschooling her for preschool in the fall, I began to read everything I could find about homeschooling. I began at the public library, and I think I read their entire shelf of homeschooling books. One of my favorites was Homeschooling: The Early Years by Linda Dobson. That book made homeschooling young ones sound so doable, so natural. It was merely an extension of what we were already doing. Other books that God used to greatly encourage me that summer were A Survivor's Guide to HomeSchooling by Luanne Shackelford and Susan White, Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson, and Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt and The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease ~ I often took these last two with me to the library for help in choosing excellent literature to read outloud.

We had such a great year that year! We "did preschool" two days a week, one at home and one at a small preschool co-op that me and two of my friends had that year. One of us would be the designated teacher for the day, one would watch the younger siblings, and the third mom got the morning off! We rotated like this, each week focusing on a different letter of the alphabet. For the letter "A" we learned about apples, learned how to write the letter A, and read a book about apples, all while sitting in an apple orchard! For "D" we visited a dairy and got to milk a cow, for the letter "H" we learned about hygiene, saw a dental hygienist at work, and received new toothbrushes! It was so fun! In fact, I have had moments where I regretted not being able to do this with the boys as they came up through the ranks, but they have each had fun preschool years too. They just looked a lot different.

The following summer, when our daughter was about to enter kindergarten, I was very pregnant with our number four child. I ended up on bedrest for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, and a c-section was scheduled due to placenta previa. While I was lounging in the easy chair all day eating bonbons ;-) I had a chance to once again read, think, and pray alot. When September came, and our baby was 2 months old, I felt totally prepared for homeschooling our kindergartner! In looking back, I realize that that was simply God's grace. In abundance. It was a wonderful, joy filled year, and I am so thankful that our daughter got to be at home that year to enjoy her new baby brother. She didn't have to miss any of his "firsts". They developed a very special bond, which they still have.

There were some hard days and some struggles, of course. I wrestled with the difference between classroom teaching (which I had done for years) and teaching at home. How to teach while still getting the laundry done, and dinner on the table, and the bills paid. When to clean the house. How to fit in time with each of the younger 3 boys. I learned so much that year, about my own inadequacy and my utter dependence on the Lord, about His goodness and His grace. And which standards were okay to lower (house keeping) and which standards were not (expectation of obedience).

Academically it was another really fun and good year (let's face it, kindergarten isn't that hard!!). I chose a Laura Ingalls theme for the entire year, and we had fun reading the chapter books, cooking pioneer era food, visiting a one room schoolhouse (dressed in pioneer clothes of course!) and even hand dipping candles. We worked on phonics and blending. We used lots of math manipulatives. I read a lot of books to the children while nursing the baby. I started something that year that I called "table time". I would put 2 or 3 fun preschool-ish activities on the kitchen table, turn on a 30 minute classical music CD, and tell the 3 older children that as long as the music was playing we had to stay at the table and do one of those activities. When the music stopped we would clean up and usually go outdoors for gross motor play.

The following year we began using Sonlight, which is a literature based curriculum incorporating history, reading, literature (what I read outloud), and Bible. We loved all the great book selections, and it added some structure and focus to our studies. We continued with phonics workbooks and math workbooks (Miquon math, for any of you wondering). We went on lots of field trips! Our next child was 4 that year, so that was his preschool year.

At the beginning of our daughter's second grade year I was pregnant with our fifth child. We had a kindergartner again, a 4 year old preschooler, and a 2 year old. It was a very busy year, and I often felt that something was slipping through the cracks, but I wasn't sure what it was! I prayed constantly that God would allow me to miss only inconsequentials and help me notice and discern what was truly important in the training of our children. In December we welcomed Little Man into our family. We took most of January off, and then started back to school. Again, I was so very thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling. I was SO thankful not to have to get everyone in their carseats and go pick up kids from school, or interrupt their naps. I was so grateful for the freedom to dictate our own schedule, and to go at our own pace. We continued using Sonlight that year, as well as the usual phonics and math, and we added grammar for our oldest.

As I look back on those years, I am so very grateful. It was a lovely, gentle way to begin our homeschool journey, and for the most part felt completely natural. Parenting and homeschooling flowed together like two branches of the same river. In fact, it still feels that way, though both are more challenging now!