I am EXTREMELY passionate about the privilege of homeschooling. I find myself drawn to an eclectic style which includes classical education models, Charlotte Mason, and a large number of unit studies. I believe learning is a life long pursuit and I hope to foster a love for it in every child and every adult I teach.
Look for my educational worksheets on Amazon!
Want to see what they are up to this semester?
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChoiceProductsUS?ref=l2-about-shopname
Business Classes for My Kids:
This past school year has allowed us the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship. In the fall, the kids designed, laser engraved, and assembled wood earrings to sell locally. We had a great time interacting with our community and are especially grateful to Gali’s Cafe for letting them sell their earrings over the Christmas’ season. The kids learned how to use the Inkscape program, the laser engraver, how to speak with potential customers, and how to participate in craft fairs.
THIS Semester, we are switching to online sales. The kids are learning how to create products to sell on ETSY using Printify. Using sayings from our own home, they are creating bags, t-shirts, notebooks, stickers, water bottles, and more. It is a very different conversation than in-person sales. The world our kids are growing up in is very different from the world of my childhood. Their opportunities are limited by their willingness to learn. As they experiment with new concepts and pursue new activities, I hope they fail. In failing, I hope they learn. Maybe they will never have their own store, but they will know what they like and what they don’t. In stretching themselves, they will know themselves more authentically.
Want to see what they are up to?
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChoiceProductsUS?ref=l2-about-shopname
Links to Educational Resources
A Hero’s Journey: A Writing Prompt for an Epic Adventure
CREATIVE WRITING TIPS with Dr. Snell
How can you detail your character’s pain if you cannot feel it? Challenge your young writer’s to feel the pain of their valiant heroes. Challenge them to hold a supine curl, a superhero pose, and then a plank pose. While you are giggling over their suffering, ask them HOW they feel, what KIND of pain it is (sharp/dull)? WHERE they feel it? How they feel when they let go. My kiddo help his plank for 3 1/2 minutes and described the resulting ache as, “pulsing up and down my spine, sore, miserable, irritating…” He said he wanted to do nothing but collapse on the couch afterward and he legitimately whined for half an hour. How do you think he is going to write about his character’s battle pain? I love being a mom sometimes.
Do you need a little help this year? Contact me to discuss a HOMESCHOOL CONSULTATION for the 2020-2021 school year. I am happy to help you prepare for this year’s journey, plan a schedule which works for your reality, and start a portfolio which can be used for an end of school year evaluation. Contact me about your needs and we will schedule a one-two hour discussion in person or via zoom/FaceTime with a follow up email summary, monthly resource recommendations, and a mid year check in. Ongoing support or follow up appointments can be discussed if you’d prefer but I believe YOU CAN BE MAGNIFICENT at this.
An article I wrote about filing your intent to homeschool in VA:
The Path to Homeschooling in Virginia
An Opportunity Amidst the Echoes of Covid-19
A little about our school-at-home approach:
I am a creative and passionate learner who wants her children to grow into independent learners of good character. I want us to read good books written by people who love their subject and travel to places to experience the beauty and ingenuity present in this world. I believe copy work improves handwriting and retention, and nature studies will help us appreciate and protect our world.
Homeschooling is not about the Pinterest Pretty. Homeschooling is about the in-the trenches work. It is surviving on caffeine and self-deprecating humor.
How I really look after a day of homeschooling
How I want you to think I look
We are a family of readers who hate being told what to do and when to do it. I am also distractingly introspective. This led to the inevitable quiz of, “What kind of homeschooler are you?”
What type of homeschooler are you? Here is a fun quiz from Eclectic Homeschooling:
Here is another quiz. Scroll down a bit on Homeschool On:
Unsurprisingly, we came up as Charlotte Mason types though the Classical model and Unit Studies were not far behind. Homeschool is NEVER one thing. We are a diverse group with varied needs, experiences, and aptitudes.
Why I like Charlotte Mason’s Approach:
METHOD NOT CURRICULUM. Pretty simple, really. I did not decide to homeschool my children to only replicate a “school” setting within my home. I had a child, now eight, who demanded “why?” for every assignment he was given in preschool. “Why do I need to line up? Why do you want me to color my letters? Why do I have to stop building my fortress to practice my numbers?” Now, I have been assured that he was not rude in these questions. He was, genuinely baffled by the structure. His home environment was designed more along the lines of a Montessori style environment, he already knew his letters and numbers, and he knew how to come in when called.
This child now reads until I pry the book from his hands at night. It is not a huge cognitive leap to use books as the gateway to conversation and lesson starters. My husband bought him an 11th grade Chemistry book and he is even reading that beast (This Mama is NOT chemistry-strong. Dad, on the other hand, is an EOD specialist. I blame/thank him). My eldest kiddo’s sister, now five, is desperate to join in any activity he does and Is wildly jealous of his book time. After getting her first pair of glasses to correct an astigmatism, she is plowing through level two books in her own time. She is an artist: drawing, painting, singing, and dancing. A lesson read aloud to her often finds itself illustrated. She adores the Charlotte Mason picture study idea and colors for every history lesson. In fact, she requests Story of The World so she can use their coloring sheets.
Why I like Classical Conversations’ Approach:
We have been privileged to be a part of the Classical Conversations community of homeschoolers for five years. In fact, this will be our first year without that family and it is bittersweet. We are pursuing our passions but will never forget what we have gained from those five years. The classical model of education that includes three stages:
Stage 1: The Grammar Stage where student learn and memorize terms and facts. These provide “pegs” that the students expand upon as they become older.
Stage 2: The Dialectic Stage where students are expanding on the knowledge they have gained in the grammar stage and asking questions and engaging in a dialogue and arguments.
Stage 3: The Rhetoric Stage allows students to solve problems and communicate well with a strong foundation to support them.
organized argument.
