By the Numbers: Homeschool v. Public School

If you are homeschooling family, or even thinking about homeschooling, you'll love this informative infographic that was recently published by collegeathome.com! 

While public school may be a good fit for some and the only choice for many, parents have turned to homeschooling in record numbers in recent years due to frustration with the public school system. 

Simply put, we think we can do better for our children. According to these numbers, we are correct. Check it out! 

Created by: CollegeAtHome.com

Makes me proud to be home schooling and reminds that no matter how much work it is for me, my daughter is worth it! What do you think? I'd love to hear thoughts on this! 

Summer Blog Challenge: Day 74 (Back to School)

Today's Challenge: Talk about what kind of schooling your family does and why.

We are currently a homeschool family. It is a challenge well worth the work. Public school just isn't for everyone. When my daughter was in a public elementary school, she was uncomfortable with other children, had difficulty maintaining friendships, had difficulty with her work, and was in counseling because of the bullying of other kids. She was also being heavily medicated for what the doctors diagnosed as severe ADD.  The medicine made her feel sick.  Even in sports, she was often left out and was very aware of that alienation. She was absolutely miserable and became depressed. I felt like things were spiraling out of control.

We began homeschooling in 7th grade and she is going into 8th grade this year. Here's the amazing thing: her self-confidence has improved, she learns more quickly and more easily, she is not taking any medication, and she even wants to go back to playing soccer. Given the choice, she chose to continue homeschooling. We have joined a local support organization for homeschool families called REACH and she will be participating in more activities this year. REACH also has a sub-group called Co-Op that we have joined and she will be able to take a theater acting and production class and do her research paper at Co-Op on Thursday mornings. I also love that REACH is a Christian organization and that our curriculum is Bible-based. Except for Saxon Math, all of our materials are from Alpha Omega Publishers, although we purchased all of them either on eBay or at Christianbook.com.

Our school year starts Friday and I am excited to dive in. I let my daughter decide what day she wanted to start this month and she chose to get started earlier than the public school starts! So, off we went to buy school supplies (which are much more minimal when homeschooling). That being done, I sat down to start planning and getting organized. While I had a tentative schedule in my head, I have been writing lesson plans all evening, hoping to at least get the first semester planned before we start . Much too far in, I realized I had made many mistakes in my scheduling. Uh oh. Guess who will be purchasing a new plan book and re-writing tomorrow?

I know folks whose children are thriving in a public school setting. But like I said, it just isn't for everyone. Do you homeschool? If your children are in public school, how do you feel about it?

School's Out!

It's official! School is out at our house! As a homeschooling mama, I'm as excited about the summer break as my daughter is! We've had a great year and I've learned a lot about her and I've really enjoyed having so much quality time together. I think we are closer now than when she was in public school last year. I also see that my child is happier now that we are homeschooling. Public schools can be a great institution and should always be available, but they just aren't the best fit for every child. 

Homeschooling has allowed my daughter to learn more information in less time with less stress and has allowed us more time to relax and have fun together. I have learned to recognize her learning strengths and weaknesses and have been able to teach her in a way that makes learning easier for her. 

For example, my daughter is not a strong reader. She loves novels that are written for her age, but shies away from reading them. By reading with and to her, I have been able to expose her to more age-appropriate literature. She was getting bored with the subject matter of the books she could read easily because they weren't written for girls her age. I also noticed that she likes reading non-fiction and poetry more than novels. Thus, I let her independent reading focus on these genres more than fiction.

I have known for some time that my child is stronger in math than other subjects and I was able to let her move at her own pace and do some independent work in this area. This gave us more time to focus on other subjects where she needed more structure and help. Guess what we both found out? She is extremely interested in science! And you know we had lots of fun when it came to the Ecology unit!

Last but not least, homeschool allows for much more hands-on learning! We have had some great field trips this year! Our last one was just a few days ago. We went to the Greenville Children's Museum and really had a blast. We took my oldest son along since he was visiting from Missouri. 

But now we are moving on to other subjects. It's time for studies in sunshine and water, gardens and bare feet, bicycles and backyard basketball. Don't you just love summertime?

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Wordless Wednesday: Our Day In Pictures (Sorta)

Did that "sorta" get your attention? Well today's post isn't completely wordless. I felt some of the pictures begged a little explanation in order to express how truly wonderful our day really was.

All of our weekdays start out with schoolwork. Today we knew that we had a lot to do away from home, so we gathered everything we needed, including the lesson planner, and took it all with us. One of the many wonderful advantages of home schooling is the flexibility!



First stop...Weight Watcher's Meeting #3. I lost 2 more pounds in the last week! Yay me!

Next, my daughter had a doctor's appointment, closely followed by dentist appointments for both of us.

Look ma, no cavities!

Of course, in between each stop and in each waiting room we worked on today's lessons. 

Next stop...History field trip! We have been studying archaeology, so where better to see actual archaeological finds than a museum? This local museum is really great and most of the artifacts are local. The  thousands of artifacts in the museum are accompanied by photos, letters, models, manequins and more. 

We bought a South Carolina state flag in the gift shop on the way out and with it received a lesson from one of the curators on what each element of the flag was intended to portray. Even I learned something new! Then the proud owner of the flag took some time to have a bounce on the jostling board that sits on the museum's front porch. I even joined her for a few bounces!

Nope it didn't end there! We headed off to the organic farmer's market that is held each Wednesday downtown. The first stop is always the booth with the homemade whole wheat organic cookies. She never minds spending her own money on these! Today, my daughter also bought a basil plant to put outside beside her lemon balm and sunflowers.

Of course, I had to stop to grab a few tomatoes. The ones in our garden are mostly green still. And we went by to see our CSA farmers who had squash, kale, russian kale, arugula, and mustard greens for us this week.

The market even had live entertainment this week! The duo seen on the left here was the most amazing of the ones we heard. They were really good and so entertaining!







After the market, we needed to eat dinner in a hurry because it was almost time for my women's group from church to meet. We headed over to a locally owned restaurant where everything is made from scratch and tastes just like it came from your own kitchen. How do you like the name?

My daughter babysits all of the little ones while the ladies meet on Wednesday nights. 

Tonight was extra special because we had a new addition. 

Baby Jaxson, only 1 week old,  was watched over closely by his big sister Kailyn!

We wrapped up our day with a relaxing game of cards when we got home. I won! Yay me again!

If only everyday could be so much fun! 

How was your Wednesday?