First year down!

Well the first year flew by! I didn't blog 1 single time......

Well I think maybe I was a bit ambitious in thinking that I could jump into homeschooling 4 children and blogging all at the same time! Hehe but that is my nature, to always bite off more than I can chew! So.... it went well, this homeschooling venture was a huge success!! I got to know my children. I mean REALLY know them. God truly blessed us in a way that I had not even imagined. It took us a couple of months for me to figure out that I did not have to follow the standards set forth by the state of Tennessee. Once I realized that and started to lead them toward learning everyday instead of having school in our home, they just SOARED! I think at first even though I didn't want to admit it, I was trying to prove to my parents and my husbands parents that "I WAS WORTHY enough to educate their grandchildren!". Then I read an article written by David Parkerson titled "A Heart For Learning" (You can read it here )
That article changed how I looked at the whole process. I began to study them also, so that they could show me what peaked their curiosity, which of my cues they responded to the most and what they were most interested in learning. Wouldn't you just know that when I let go of the "school room" structure they worked harder and they were more eager to start the day!

I learned that Zak loves math (my most dreaded subject), but he hates doing it out of workbooks!! So we found computer games (some online, some we had on cd, and we made some fun colorful flashcards ) he learned all of his multiplication and division tables in 1 month and has retained them. ZAK'S FAVORITE (he asked me to add the link to his fav, so there it is back there) I was so suprised at all of the great tools I found for him online so that we could minimize the time we had to spend in the workbook. I learned that Zayne and Cooper are voracious readers!!! we made many extra trips to the library for those two because they had read all of their books and wanted some more. I LOVE that, especially since the public school system sent Zayne to a reading specialist because they believed he was so far behind in his "Sight Words" not books, just words.... And I learned that Zoie is a perfectionist (well I really already knew that), she did not excel at school because she got so nervous about doing the wrong thing that she didn't get anything done!! Once she learned that she got to "do it until it was right" she relaxed and discovered a little self confidence! What a bonus!

The most valuable thing I learned was that my children are amazing little creatures, all different, all eager to learn in their own way, and that YES I can stand being around them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I LOVE who they are! Did I pull my hair out some days? YOU BETCHA! Was everyday easy? NO SIR! Did I do it all right the first time? NO STINKIN WAY! Was it worth it anyway? EVERY SINGLE MINUTE, MISTAKES AND ALL!!!

Until next time.....