How is Homeschooling Thus Far?

It’s been two full months now, now being since we began homeschooling. Since our first day, Sept 4th, we have revamped our program/schedule approximately a half dozen times. Lets see, there was the death of a close family friend that we went to help in a time of need. There was an unexpected circus trip due to those great ticket prices. Then there was the expected field trip that did not happen until two weeks later; that count’s as two. Oh yeah, we found a local homeschoolers organization that meets every first Friday @ 11am and so we welcomed that alteration. That meeting lead to us learning about the homeschoolers swim that meets three times a week but we only attend twice. I was invited to a once in a lifetime makeover @ The Oprah Winfrey Show on a Friday only to be appointed to an 11am appointment on the following Monday. And last but not least, there are the two times our first year high school attendee had schedule changes that we did not plan for which we definitely obliged.
All that said, I can appreciate how homeschooling has adapted to us. As life happened, so did school. We have what is called ‘Life Application’. This is where we place into practice what we have learned from our weeks’ prior lessons. Math calculations are put into practice during drives to & from different errands. The girls are put to test as they are given a few moments to figure out how long it takes to drive a distance according to the speed limit. They are also in charge of planning our shopping trips. They are given a goal along with a budget. This has helped them to not ask for extras when shopping because they actually see where the money goes. (They also get to keep the change.) We visit the sick & shut in bi-weekly to help clean, shop, run errands, or the most popular, read to the senior citizens. Our science curriculum has been expanded to include Planet Earth and now the expertise of a retired science teacher!
There is plenty more to say but let me close with this: Not all days have been good ones. I miss when I could call on another parent to carpool our girls so I could have a day to myself, not to mention a day of rest. While the girls have many opportunities to socialize, they still miss their friends from school. There have been many days of fun and excitement but there has been more days without it. And just when I start to question my capability, the Lord reminds me that I am.
Last week, the girls swim instructor, Coach Donnie met with the swim team and gave them a little pep talk. In the course of his speech, he asked the group what is failure? They gave many answers but it is his that I took to heart and I now bring to you. Failure is another opportunity to try again more intelligently. Wow! I never thought about it that way but I certainly do concur with him. If this year of homeschooling was a failure, next year would present another opportunity to try again more intelligently! But wait a minute! Natia, the straight A student that needed a challenge got it. Her current report card holds A’s B’s & two C’s. She is a 4th grader working @ an advanced 5th grade level.
Natalie, the 6th grader who questioned her intelligence made honor roll! Believe me, her curriculum wasn’t dumbed down. The difference is homeschooling allows her to work at here pace. Some days are longer and some are shorter but each day is just right for her.
How is homeschooling going? It’s going as God planned it.

Public School Prayer

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot;
My soul please take!
Amen!
-Author Unknown

Praise Report

On Friday, October 19, 2007, Nate & I renewed our wedding vows. Aaawwwww, sweet isn't it? Not exactly. This came ofter we have been married ofr 12 years this past May. During our first 10 years there was more than an itch going on. There was some scratching!

Now we are in a season of our marriage where we may REJOICE! God is awesome and that word alone does not justice. Thank you our Heavenly Father!

Old Fashioned Christian Morals & Character

Yesterday, I visited my first homeschoolers meeting where I met several mothers. It was great to be among other women of color as myself. I sat so I could see all the different faces that come into the meeting with or without their children. (We met at the Library so the children busied themselves in the childrens section, parent meeting, or in a small classroom off to the side of our meeting space.) I was excited and so were our ladies.

The meeting began and great information poured forth. (Wait! I almost forgot something important. When I first arrived, I was acknowledged! Gasp! Come on now, I know you can relate. You know how you go somewhere and you are the only unfamiliar face and everybody knows it but not a single soul addresses you until introductions are made. When you introduce yourself in the introduction circle, everybody says, "Welcome, we're glad to have you here". Yeah right, if that were the case, you should have welcomed me when I first arrived... Ok, enough of that...maybe it only happens to me.)
Anyhow, I learned of free swimming, art & music classes for homeschoolers during the school hours! Some require very little travel! I'm so excited! Most of the women were very polite while some seemed to be more of an observer as was my case, that is, until!...Until what?...Until it was time for the last and final introduction of this meeting, me! Oh boy, Why did I sit in this seat? Will I talk to much? There is a great possibility. Does this sweater show how overactive my underarm sweat glands are? Is my hair standing up on my head? Of course, it's natural and I have sista gurl hair. Oh well, let's do this.

"Hello, my name is Datrice. Not only is this my first homeschoolers meeting but it's also, my first year homeschooling. My husband and I have three daughters yet, only two are being homeschooled", uh, ohhh, I saw a few eyebrows go up. "Our high schooler is in her first year at the same school my husband and I met", faces soften at the thought of HS sweethearts but, all are not convinced. "We homeschool our 4th & 6th grader for opposite reasons but the same God told us to, so, here we are.
"We use Alpha Omega Publications for our core curriculum and use the Chicago Park District for P.E. & Home Ec. (sewing, gardening, & gymnastics) While our eldest is in a public school for now, she knows we are always open to her coming home if, that is what God chooses". Ok, now the eyebrows have relaxed. Whew! That wasn't bad.
"Soooo, you have a schedule?" a parent asked. What kind of question is that, of course! I think to myself yet I answer. "Oh, yes. Our high schooler's schedule is 8am-3pm four days a week and we operate inside of that schedule, 9am-2pm. One day a week we have Life Application. This is when we put into practice what we have learned. We visit the sick & shut-in, do our marketing, and go on field trips. Later that day, our ladies write an essay regarding our day. This is added to our Language Arts class." I went on to explain how "It's not about us, and we want our daughters to realize this. God has a better purpose for us. We are not called to just think about ourselves."

With all that being said, I have learned there are many different styles to homeschooling. Our family requires a structure with a strong foundation and great organizational skills. I am my best when I am not seen but Christ is seen in me. This is the appearence I want to carry on for generations to come. What I do today affects not only me but my children and my children's children. Knowing that, I want to leave you with an article from a website I listed and provided the link to. It deals with Morals & Character. Most children today seem to lack just that...I pray for more from our children.

Another quality found in older books is that they were written at a time when God and the Bible were an assumed part of daily life. This contrasts sadly with our current situation where the mere mention of God, Jesus, Christianity or the Bible will get a book banned from the public school curriculum in a heart-beat.
Morality in most older books is based firmly upon the Holy Inspired Scriptures. Heroes and heroines in these books, both fictional and historical, often quote bible verses and refer to bible stories. Qualities such as honesty, cooperation, perseverance in times of trouble, respecting one's elders, forgiving others, and being kind to one's siblings are encouraged and rewarded. We see characters struggle with everyday temptations; then we discover how they overcome their situations and rise above their carnal nature. What a refreshing change this is compared to modern literature. I want my children to have good examples of moral behavior. I want them to read books that show the consequences of immorality on a level that they can grasp, remember and ponder in their quiet moments. These books give children something to aspire to as they grow older and set standards that will be remembered for the rest of their lives. If I limited myself to recently published books for my children's education I'm afraid that I would have to look long and hard to find modern equivalents with similar moral standards.

Tell me, what do you think about all of that?

A Whole Way of Life

I would like to share an article that sums up my feelings in regards to bringing home two of three daughters to homeschool them. I purchased a book titled ' No Greater Joy'. Inside, is a collections of articles from a christian couple that looks quite different from me on the outside. However, the impact of their character was enough for me to declare, " These mountain dwellers are on to something". They put into words, what my God has being showing me.

I would like for you to read the article below as our first official blog and share your thoughts on the matter.

The number of homeschoolers is rapidly increasing. Home-schooling is not just an alternative educational procedure; it is one of many expressions of a whole way of life.
It is the result of loving parents putting on the brakes and saying, “No” to this stampeding system of child-trampling New Agers. Our families will not be devoured and digested, becoming part of the feces of this carnivorous monster called public education, generated by the twisted minds of the morally ill.
As homeschooling parents, you have taken charge of your life to give God his rightful place in training your children. To teach biology in an environment that denies the Author of life is like eating an egg and denying the chicken. Such a process is stupefying—degrading to the intellect. To teach history apart from God is to praise the sculpture and deny the sculptor. To learn science and mathematics apart from the omnipotent God is to throw out the computer and do your computations with a roulette wheel. To teach children to read and then outlaw the reading of the only book written by the God called the Word is like giving a blind man sight and then outlawing seeing.
The public school expelled God from the class room, but when the immorality became a threat to personal satisfaction, as well as personal safety, they started talking about values. They will not get their values back any more than a man will get peaches from a tree he cut up for firewood.
We are not rebels; quite the opposite; we are just the minority who refuse to join a rebellion against God and the truth. We are taking our children to the tree of life growing beside the fountain of knowledge to be refreshed by the Author of life. We will not stoop for anything less. We will not compromise. We will not allow state testing to dictate our curriculum. They have made their position on God and morality clear. We are making our position clear. We will not attend their party, dance to their tune, or employ their fiddler. - Author: Micheal Pearl

Looking forward to your thoughts... Datrice