Our Home School History - Part II

The Second Year

Our second year of home schooling was very similar to the first. We continued to use Konos Curriculum, but we supplemented it with an excellent curriculum titled Character First!. Since so much of what we wanted to focus on was character-based, we knew we couldn't go wrong with this curriculum. The units were divided into five lessons (one for each day of the week) and were nearly perfect for Zach. There were plenty of activities as well, and Jenna thoroughly enjoyed participating in them with us. The stories were well-researched and pertinent; the accompanying poem was fun to say and easy to learn; in short, we had a great time with it!

The year seemed to fly by as we continued to chip away at the various unit studies. We continued meeting with our co-op group as well. The highlight for that year was when we put on our own winter olympics! We were in Texas at the time, and since we didn't have ice and snow, we improvised! Instead of ice hockey, the children competed in ice (rollerblade) hockey. They "ice skated" indoors on paper plates, and everyone made a flag signifying a different country. It was lots of fun and a real learning experience as well.

We also went on as many field trips as we could, often going on overnighters to break up the weeks with something different, and to give us all something new to look forward to. (Since Joel was self-employed and could take his Internet business with him wherever we went, traveling during school was easy!)

Year Three

During the summer, between our second and third year of home schooling we realized it was time to move our family closer to extended family. Because my parents (in Oklahoma) were getting older and their health was not as good as it once had been, it grew more difficult to arrange to spend time with them. So we located a house in my home state and moved within an hour's drive of my parents.

The transition was more difficult than I had speculated, but we managed to get the house mostly in order so we could begin school on schedule. It took time to get acclimated to our new town, to find a new church, to meet new friends, and to get connected to a new home school association. All of these factors affected us on a personal level (we missed our church and friends from Texas!), but school was more or less the same as it had been--only we were in a larger, nicer house!

I continued that year to use both Konos and Character First! for our basic curriculum, and at the end of the school year we had a fantastic end-of-school party with all of our extended family in attendance! The kids showed off their school work through displays and stacks of work they had completed; Zach played the piano; they both recited poetry and/or Scripture verses; and we handed out the usual certificates and awards. The best part for Zach and Jenna was being able to show everyone what they accomplished that year. All the hard work had paid off and they got more congratulations and pats on the back than they'd ever had before!

My family has always supported our decision to home school, but I don't think they realized how much we accomplished until that first end-of-the-year party--and neither did we! It was really good for all of us!

Seeing is believing...

One of their displays... Showing off their work!

(Part III of Our History to Follow...)

Our Homeschool History: Part I

In the beginning...

It was 1997 and though he was only 5 years old, our son, Zach was already reading chapter books. He had taught himself to read at around the age of 2-1/2. (I know, it's amazing, but it's true!) So taking that into consideration, we just couldn't see putting him in Kindergarten with other kids who were just learning to read the most basic words.

About this time we learned that some families at church were beginning to homeschool, so we thought we would check into it. (Actually, my husband, Joel, had wanted me to homeschool since Zach was born!) While the idea was not a new one, it was also one that I was not too keen on. God really had to do some work in my heart before I could seriously consider taking on a challenge this huge.

And that's just what He did! By the time fall rolled around, not only was I willing to homeschool Zach, but I was excited about it!

Thankfully, those families at church that we had heard about were wonderful people, and we soon became good friends. One family had already completed a year of homeschooling, so the wife, Julie, being the experienced one, became my mentor.

My first step was to attend the Texas homeschool convention that spring where I first heard Sally Clarkson speak about her family's ministry based on their book Educating The Wholehearted Child. Not only was I totally sold on the idea of homeschooling my child, but I was encouraged to do so in a way that was built on the Word of God itself and the principles therein.

The other homeschool ministry I learned of that spring was Konos Curriculum. I don't remember if Jessica Hulcy spoke at that convention or not, but I heard about their homeschool method through my new friends, and it sounded like just the type of curriculum for our family.

A few months later, my husband and I attended a seminar at the Hulcy's home and we were on our way to educating our children using Konos in conjunction with The Wholehearted Child's philosophy.

Homeschooling 101

The fall of 1997 came quickly after a busy summer of becoming familiar with the Konos Curriculum, reading The Wholehearted Child, planning, strategizing, and researching. I was a little nervous, but I was excited about getting started.

Kindergarten was a wonderful year! Although Jenna was only 3, she enjoyed "school" along with us, coloring pictures, doing worksheets, and playing along with us as we did our hands-on activities in conjunction with the curriculum. Zach had a great time too, especially when we got together with our homeschool friends for our monthly co-ops! One of the first co-ops we got together for was centered around building a giant model of the human ear that our kids could crawl through. Oh sure, it looked like the kitchen table on the outside, but inside it was an adventure! All the essential parts were there--the cochlea, the hammer, the anvil, the stirrups, and the eardrum--all made out of our piano bench, a pair of panty hose, a real hammer, etc. On the outside, at the entry, we had drawn a huge ear on brown paper and cut a hole through which the kids could enter the "ear." It was quite a memorable experience for us all!

Zach was such a "sponge" when it came to learning, that he was truly a joy to teach--most of the time! No one is perfect and we had our days when we just wanted to strangle one another, but we exercised some self-control (and implemented plenty of time-outs!), and we survived just fine!

Year one was a huge success, and we threw an end-of-the-year party to celebrate it, complete with certificates for both Zach and Jenna, and a well-earned "diploma" signifying Zach's completion of Kindergarten.

(Part II to follow...)