Homeschool Through the Years

My middle son graduated recently.

I have been homeschooling now for 17 years. It seems like just yesterday that my boys looked like this gathered around our small little kitchen table.

My middle son recently graduated from our homeschool - Freedom Academy. We had a very informal ceremony here at our home. His dad spoke. I spoke and then I simply handed him his diploma. It was really that easy, but not.

That moment in time represented the last twelve plus years of his education. He has been the first of our children to never have any "formal" education in a classroom other than our home. Kind of. The last two years he has done dual enrollment with some of our state universities. He did get a chance to sit in an actual college classroom last fall. Not only has he completed his high school education a but he also graduated with 16 college credits already earned. 

Homeschooling has been good for us. When I look back to the reasons why we started, not many have changed. We always wanted to foster better connections with our kids by being the primary influence on them. I think we succeeded well there. My boys are good friends. They actually enjoy spending time with us, which I think is amazing given many relationships I see. 

I'm not writing this post to be a "look at our success!" kind of deal. I'm just a homeschool mom who sees the end of that career drawing to a close very fast. And it has been my career! I may not have a degree in education (I actually did begin one and planned to teach elementary school but that's another story), but I have loved teaching my boys...most of the time. 

I have three years left in which to direct the education of my youngest son. It will be the first time in quite a few years that I have only one child to homeschool. Needless to say, given that he will be in 10th grade, it will be a bit different than when I was homeschooling my oldest in the elementary years. 

I'm going to enjoy these last few years to their fullest while I figure out what's next for me. 

Time Flies

Youngest without the hat. Middle son with the hat.

I just began my 17th year of homeschooling last month. I find it heard to believe that it's been that long. I started when my oldest son was only five years old. He's now 22 years old and in his third year of college. So yes mamas, homeschool kids do go to college and do well there too! He currently has a GPA of 3.34. (<---proud mama bragging a bit)

This year I currently have a senior in high school as well as a freshman. My freshman, is tall and he loves it. Especially now that he's officially taller than his older brother - at least one of them. 

Down to two boys at home

Homeschooling now is vastly different than it used to be even a couple of years ago. Most of the time I am simply the "scheduler and guidance counselor" rather than the teacher. I don't spend a lot of time in direct instruction anymore. My boys are now pretty independent. 

My senior this year is taking two classes at a local college. He started dual enrollment last year online. It has definitely changed things but he will end up starting college with about 18 credit hours completed. This is going to be a huge cost saver for him as he is planning to get a bachelor's degree in Aviation. This child of mine wants to be a pilot. In fact, he is currently doing his ground school class as part of his dual enrollment. Even with the state paying for his tuition for this class, it still ended up being a bit expensive. The entire program is on the most expensive at our state university. I'm thrilled that they have the program though. It's still new and the only one in our state. He will start flight training for his Private Pilot's license in the spring - hopefully. It will all depend on funding of his flight hours. He's determined though. He's been dealing with learning how to best use his time this year between college, homeschool, and work. This November he will be celebrating one year at his job. We started working with him on a budget last year and I have every confidence he will succeed and do well. 

My youngest isn't quite sure what he wants to do. We're still doing the basics here at home, but I've been contemplating having him try out the local tech center to explore some career options. They do a "sampler" program for ninth and tenth graders. We're considering trying that for next year. The only downfall to this program is it's located in the next town over - about a 20 minute drive. He won't have his license yet as he won't turn 16 until 2020. This means I'll need to drive him or at least ride with him as he drives. I'm sure that will be his preferred method. My oldest still doesn't have his license yet either and will be moving home this December to hopefully transfer to the college in that same town. Mom taxi will be in full force!

Homeschooling at its best

Back to my oldest though...this child of mine has thrived so much at college. He's really begun to come into his own and I'm super proud of him. Not only is he doing well there, but he also started his first job this past summer. My very introverted child is now a cashier at the local grocery store and is getting great reviews on his customer service skills. Mamas in the trenches...hold on. They do grow up and they do become productive members of society if we encourage them to find those skills. 

My oldest in his journalism class. 

They had a local TV reporter come speak to them. 

He's on the far left, back row, full beard. 

Homeschooling has been tough over the years, I won't deny that. There were days when one or all of us were in tears over a tough lesson. However, it's been worth all the sacrifice of staying home and investing into my boys. I don't regret one moment of it. I'm blessed and thankful that I had this opportunity. I'm just a bit sad that I'm starting to see the end draw ever nearer. Not to sound to route, but mamas, enjoy the moments. All of them. The hard, the fun, the messy, the sad, the frustrating - enjoy it all because it will all be over sooner than you realize. 

20th Year

It's hard to believe that I have a twenty year old son...but I do. It seems just mere days ago he looked like this...

Okay - maybe more like this...

But now the boy is no longer a boy but a man and looks like this...

I love that he loves books as much as I do. He actually packed up all of his books and brought them to college with him. Only to realize that he didn't have room for them and we hauled them all home two weeks later. 

Yes, my oldest is now in college and I couldn't be more proud of him and what he is accomplishing. This quirky boy of mine is finding his "people" and doing well in an environment that pushes his limits daily I expect. 

He started two weeks early as part of a student intensive program. He passed the English portion (yeah!) which meant he could attend a regular English class rather than the workshop class. I actually had every confidence he would do this. The added benefit is that he was on campus two weeks before all the other students and was able to get comfortable with his dorm room and getting around campus. It also meant we all missed the craziness of move-in day! At least this year. Next year we'll have to deal with that. 

He is currently attending a local community college. Well, local in that it's less than an hour's drive away. He is living on campus and seems to be thriving and doing well. His goal is to get an associate's degree in General Studies and get all of those pesky required classes out of the way at a smaller campus. And we are happy as well because it is a less expensive campus! Then he will transfer to the more local (20 minutes away) state university and study creative writing. 

His goal is to one day write the story lines for video games. I have challenged him to write a story next month during National Novel Writing Month. I'm writing as well so we'll hopefully hold each other accountable.

I love seeing him grow and thrive. I love seeing him gain confidence in his abilities and in himself. I love seeing him stretch himself and push limits and boundaries. I simply love this man my boy has become.

Soooooo Big!

I'm suppose to be sitting here doing any number of more productive things. However, I found myself tonight going through old photos. I store all but the current six months on an external hard drive. Every time I blog something, I compress it down and save it as "blog1" "blog2" etc. It makes it easier to upload, but it also means those copies don't need to take up space!

For some reason I decided to clean out some photo files tonight. I'm still not sure if it was a good idea or not. I'm feeling pretty nostalgic when I find photos of my 7-1/2 year old son as a two year old.

However, this particular photo struck me most....

My oldest - photo taken 7.10.2007

This photo strikes me especially when compared with this photo....

My oldest - taken 5.12.2011 - he is pointing at 5 foot 9 inches.

He's pointing at least a foot higher than he was in 2007...and looks far happier about it.

My Daybook

Click HERE to read more entries in The Simple Woman's Daybook.

FOR TODAY
(November 9, 2009)...

Outside my window...

overcast and cloudy - a bit chilly - a typical fall day in Maine.

I am thinking...

I need to get busy on getting rid of stuff. But hubby will be heading to deer camp soon - I'll use that time for sprucing up the place I think.

I am thankful for...

N8 feeling so much better. He had his tonsils & adenoids removed last Wednesday. Yesterday he finally wanted food & it helped immensely in how he felt and acted. Praising God that my little boy is recovering well.

From the learning rooms...

the boys have had the last few days off due to N8's surgery. No school Wed-Fri last week & I will most likely give them at least Mon-Wed off this week. I may start some Thanksgiving read-alouds before then. After all, N8 can recover while listening. ;-)

From the kitchen...

nothing much right now. I think I'll be doing BBQ chicken drumsticks for dinner tonight will a veggie and biscuits most likely perhaps even a salad. I'm also planning to make some sort of muffin (banana or pumpkin) to send with hubby to hunting camp. They make good snacks while stalking deer (or napping against a tree too.....)

I am wearing...

comfy clothes. It's been a long week. Old, old faded blue jeans, no socks, t-shirt, and a "do-rag." Not going anywhere today & no one to impress either.

I am creating...

trying to figure out what to create for Christmas gifts. I have some ideas floating around. I need to finish up making the Christmas budget (thankful for the Christmas Club money) first though. I also need to edit the photos from my baby sister's wedding. So many to go through....

I am going...

to be home a lot between N8's recovery and hubby taking the truck to camp. Need to be content in all things but sometimes it's hard. I fear cabin fever setting in sooner rather than later.

I am reading...

The Hobbit. It's been years & I forgot how fun it was. I love how J.R.R. Tolkien wrote like he was talking directly to me as the reader - I love the narrative style.

I am hoping...

N8 continues to feel better each and every day and does not have the setback the doctor warned us happens 50% of the time. So far so good.

I am hearing...

the dryer tumbling and pages turning. Mr. H is napping in the living room so quiet time is in full force around here.

Around the house...

winterizing, decluttering, sprucing up, chucking stuff....good times.

One of my favorite things...

Christmas! I'm getting excited for the holiday. Although, right now I'm working on Thanksgiving things first and foremost. Advent starts on the 29th this year so not much time after Thanksgiving ends to begin celebrating Jesus' birth.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

not a whole lot of anything. N8 is still too weak for me to be hauling him very far. I'll probably make a run to the recycling center tomorrow (i.e. dump or "transfer station") and the thrift store to get rid of things piling up around here. We're going to attempt AWANA on Thursday night & Bible study on Friday night - depending on how N8 is feeling. He may just sit close and keep me company while I do my secretary thing at AWANA. Saturday I'm suppose to be doing a family photo shoot. I'm having fun with photos once more.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

This weekend hubby took B13 & J5 to New Hampshire to do two things. The first was to meet the above author, Brandon Sanderson. There is a rather long story about who he is and why my hubby wanted to do this, but here is the cliff notes version...

Hubby started really reading when he was in high school after a friend passed him a book called Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. This is a very long series. Book 12 was just released. Unfortunately Robert Jordan passed away a few years ago having never finished the series. Brandon Sanderson has been hired to do just that. Robert Jordan did a book signing about four years ago & hubby was unable to attend as it was when his grandmother was seriously ill (she actually died the day he was to go to the signing). Once he heard that Brandon Sanderson was the new writer of the series, he began reading some of his books and liking what he was reading. Brandon has also written a series of young adult books called Alcratraz and the Evil Librarians. B13 has heard the first book on audio and hubby bought him the next two books the series. Hubby came home with three signed books (Book 12 of the World of Time series plus the next two in the Mistborn series by Brandon. B13 even got his two books signed. B13 thought this all very cool, but he did comment on how long they had to wait. The signing started at 2pm. They arrived around 3pm (hubby, the boys, a friend & his kids) and were handed numbers (#93 & #94 I think). It wasn't until 5:30pm that they finally had their chance to get their books signed and spend a few minutes chatting with Brandon. Hubby was the next to last person in line. He was pretty happy about the whole too. Brandon was nice enough to even give hubby writing tips. A fun day and one I'm sure B13 will always remember.

Another Birthday

My "baby" became a teenager today. It still feels amazing to me that I am the mom to a teenager. We set out to make the day special.

Since we were celebrating his birthday during the week, I was making the cake. Typically my MIL will make the cake for the boys & will do it in any shape they want AND does it better than me. However, since she works all day, I was making the cake this year. B wanted a "Lego" cake.

I ended up making a 9x13 white cake and chocolate cupcakes and the started constructing.

Yeah, I know.....I cut the 9x13 in half & layered it hoping it would look like two Lego blocks on top of each other. Then I added the cupcakes on top to look like the little thingies that hook Legos together. Yes, I realize there shouldn't be five but I wanted another cupcake on there. What can I say? I won't even tell you how many toothpicks were in each cupcake to hold it on there but I did have to warn everyone that took one to be careful when eating it - if that says anything.

B, however, loved his cake. But he loves any cake - at all - especially my homemade cake and especially birthday cake.

He really enjoyed what his grandparents gave him. His Grammy knits socks and B loves her knit socks. She makes him 1-2 pairs a year. The funny thing here - she only had one done so that's what she gave him, plus a box of Oreo Cakesters (another favorite) and she renewed his Zoo Books subscription.

This is B opening his gift from us. It's a small set of Legos. That's not why he's making this face though. Attached to the Legos is a small card stating that we finally bought him a subscription to the Lego Brickmaster magazine. I'm not sure, do you think he likes it?

Lastly, his Dad had to give him a "manly" gift since he's turning 13. He was given a nice razor and a can of shaving cream. I know for certain I am not ready for that gift and neither is B, but apparently hubby was given the same thing on his 13th birthday & wanted to follow tradition. The funny thing about that was that his Dad couldn't remember doing that to hubby! Everyone thought it a riot but poor B came up to me later to say he was slightly embarrassed about the whole thing. Poor kid, it's tough being a teenager I hear.

Happy 13th birthday, B!

Fun at the Park (aka A Sunny Day)

On a rare sunny day here in Maine (no, I haven't moved but the sunny days have been few & far between this spring. Forecast for this week - ALL week - you guessed it: rain.) I took my boys to a local park to play for a bit. They are always up for a park day whether we have friends to play with or not.

Just last year the town that this park is in redid the whole thing. Before it was a very old wooden structure without much for the kids to do but pick up splinters in their hands.

However, now they can play at being pirates....

speeding superheroes trying for lift-off....

or just looking cute for the camera for mom.

TeenPact 2009

Last year my oldest son attended TeenPact's one day class for 8-12 year olds for the first time. TeenPact is...

When the time comes to learn lessons in political science, Christian students all across the nation are turning to a TeenPact state capitol experience instead of just a textbook. TeenPact teaches the foundations of government with the legislative branch, beginning with a week-long session at the student's own capitol.

Spiritually, TeenPact teaches Biblical principles of government and family, going hand-in-hand with the values of families who participate. It is very important that our young people see that spiritual revival is the answer to America's problems - not politics. We teach students that every Christian must pray and vote according to Biblical principles.

Overall, studies in government are beneficial in any vocation. Our hands-on civics courses offer an incredible platform for rhetoric, interpersonal communication, and current events. There is a great need for godly, powerful communication within any arena and our goal is to train up a generation of young people to fill that need.

~~taken from the webpage for TeenPact

This year B has been asking to go back & N was just old enough to attend. And Daddy offered to take the day off from work to take them. That meant I was able to stay home with just J & Miss L. We had a great time playing at the park.

One of the pieces of homework that the one-day students must do is write up a bill to present. It can be funny or serious. These are then used to help teach them about the legislative process.

Here is N reading his bill. The staffer is nearby to help out I think. And the bulk of N's bill read:

To ensure that all children behave themselves.

Purpose: To make it easier for parents and other adults to interact with children.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MAINE:

Section 1. For the purpose of this act, “children” shall mean any person between the ages of one to twelve.

Section 2. For the purpose of this act, “behave” shall mean children shall be seen and not heard while in the presence of adults unless they are given permission to speak.

Section 3.  If a child does not behave, they will be whipped with a wet noodle twenty (20) times.

Section 4. For the purpose of this act, “noodle” shall mean a piece of cooked spaghetti.

Section 5. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

Section 6. This act shall become effective seven (7) days after approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law.

And B's bill....

To give free candy to everyone age four and up.

Purpose: To make sure people get more candy.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MAINE:

Section 1. This will be paid for by a six-percent (6%) tax on candy stores.

Section 2. Every month on the tenth (10^th) day the qualified people will receive a certificate entitling them to one hundred (100) units of candy.

Section 3.  A qualified person would be anyone age four or older.

Section 4. A unit would equal one (1) piece.

Section 5. Certificates may be saved and can be cashed in whenever they like.

Section 6. People who forge certificates would be fined One Thousand Dollars ($1000) and Five Hundred Dollars ($500) of that would go to the free candy program to help fund it.

Section 7. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

Section 8. This act shall become effective seven (7) days after approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law.

Yes, each boy came up with the bulk of their bill by themselves. I only helped them  hash out details. 

TeenPact holds a four day course for teens ages 13-18 & then have the one day class for 8-12 year olds on the Friday of the week. It's held right at the capital & state house buildings. Last year we spent most of our time in part of the cafeteria but this year they were able to use a real committee room. Apparently the chairs were far more comfortable.

More random pics from the day courtesy of my hubby:

It is a long day but a great introduction to what goes in to making a bill in to a law. I know that both boys learned a lot & neither minded all that much with having to dress up either.

UMA Science Fair

or this could also be title..."The Day I Push My Sanity to the Limit" or something similar.

UMA is one of the state universities. Every year during school break in February they put on a science fair for kids. I've never gone but I've talked to many who have. There are a number of different activities set up in different classrooms. They are all hands-on so the kids can go through & participate in them. Learning all sorts of neat stuff along the way.

Sounds great right?

Did you catch the part about "school vacation" up there? That's public school. This is not a homeschooling only event. This has a lot of kids there. So guess what I did? I brought more - five more in fact. Not only did I bring my three boys but I also brought my nephew (age 6 - almost 7) & Miss L who is not quite two. I brought a stroller for her. Not a good idea. It was hard getting her through & in to rooms. Next time (if there is one) I'll use a backpack or a leash or something different.

But the kids had a great time. This is the only photo I got of B. He's using some tuning forks. He went off with a friend that we met up with. He got to do all kinds of stuff I didn't let the younger crowd do. This did mean I was hauling only four kids through instead of five. Like it mattered. LOL


The first room I finally convinced N & B to go in to (B is my nephew not my son from here on out) was the "bones" room. I thought it was very cool. They - not so much. There were 20 different bones laid out on the tables. They ranged from skulls of various animals (including a real human skull) to a whale's vertebrae. Here they are checking out the snake skeleton. They were each numbered & there was a sheet of paper for the kids to go through & figure out what each one was. We did about four before the boys had had enough.

Next we did a weighing, measuring, math experiment. They were figuring out how much sugar (in tablespoons & grams) were in different drinks. I missed taking photos of B doing this but here is N filling in his sheet.

There was a small touch tank in one of the rooms as well. It was maybe 2x2 and had a lot of kids around here. B was the only one of the kids with me who wanted to stick his hand in & touch anything. There were sea stars and small crabs (which is what made my boys not want to stick their hands in) & other small marine life to touch.

In one of the last rooms we went too the older boys were making wind turbines out of straws, fishing line, colored duct tape and construction paper. J found this block of wood, nails, and a hammer. It kept him busy long enough for me to hep N & B with their wind turbine construction.

While I don't think they got the actual concept very well, they still had a great time.

At this point in the day they had a "shark presentation." It was an hour long & talked about the various species of sharks found right off the coast of Maine including the great white! I thought it was interesting but my kids had had it at this point. I foolishly made them all stay through the end because they were drawing names for some small prizes. They picked about two dozen kids names out of a bucket (we had put them in at the start of the day). The only one who won something was my nephew which meant my two little ones were in tears. ::sigh:: Live & learn. Afternoon events aren't always the best time for little ones to be out & about.

However, I do believe they all learned something over the course of the day & had fun. Another memory made.