The StanClan hasn't been homeschooling for very long. In fact, 2011-12 was our very first year. I definitely learned a lot and we had a great time. I quickly realized that God's direction to home school was actually one of the greatest gifts he's ever given me. Don't get me wrong, there have definitely been challenges. We have the challenges that come from the every day stresses of life, just like every other family. We have the stresses that come from being with each other almost ALL the time. Fortunately, we're a crazy bunch, so it's difficult to get bored. We also have the new stresses of being a one income family. To make that even more difficult, only 5 months after I resigned from my career outside the home, Floyd was laid off from work. The Lord quickly provided a new job. It's quite an interesting job and Floyd enjoys it but the pay is less. Most people who've known us at a least few years, know that we're okay with that. We learned the hard way that money cannot be the deciding factor in life's major decisions. A few years ago, after the worst time in our lives, we vowed to never let money cause us to jeopardize our family or our relationship with God. So far, we've done well in keeping that vow. Who knew the Lord would really test us on that. :) Undoubtedly, He has provided and we're enjoying our life of less, even more than expected.
So, anyway, I'll share more about that in a different post. For now, we're talking about home school.
For many months last year, we prayed about an interesting proposition that was put before us. I was asked to consider homeschooling the children of another family. We've been friends for several years and they'd seen the amazing changes in my kids in the short time I'd been homeschooling; while at the same time they were seeing some of the pitfalls of public school. Eventually, we agreed to take the plunge.
Of course, every decision has pros and cons. Having extra children around does take away a little bit of my freedom. I have to consider the schedule of a whole separate family, for one. Also, we all know that dealing with your own children is nothing like dealing with someone else's. However, the extra children also gave me more accountability. The ages are so close that it really blends together quite nicely. In fact, with all 5 of them, from the youngest to the oldest is only a span of 3 years and 1 month. My 3 are only a total of 2yrs, 5mos, and 20 days apart. To make it an even better fit, my daughter and their daughter (the two oldest) are less than 2 months apart. Their son and my youngest are only 6 months apart.
Over the time I spent planning for school, I developed shorter names for each of them. (It just saves me a few seconds and lots of ink/lead when writing.) Typically you'll see me refer to them with these shorter names. (Some say that's safer for online posting anyway.) :)
The official students of Leap of Faith Christian Academy for 2012-13 are:
Al (13, from the BerryPatch)
Rae (still 12 for a few more weeks, from the StanClan)
F (11, from the StanClan)
Ty (10, from the StanClan)
B (9 for a few more weeks, from the BerryPatch)
We're off to a good start, but I'll save the stories for another post.
So, anyway, I'll share more about that in a different post. For now, we're talking about home school.
For many months last year, we prayed about an interesting proposition that was put before us. I was asked to consider homeschooling the children of another family. We've been friends for several years and they'd seen the amazing changes in my kids in the short time I'd been homeschooling; while at the same time they were seeing some of the pitfalls of public school. Eventually, we agreed to take the plunge.
Of course, every decision has pros and cons. Having extra children around does take away a little bit of my freedom. I have to consider the schedule of a whole separate family, for one. Also, we all know that dealing with your own children is nothing like dealing with someone else's. However, the extra children also gave me more accountability. The ages are so close that it really blends together quite nicely. In fact, with all 5 of them, from the youngest to the oldest is only a span of 3 years and 1 month. My 3 are only a total of 2yrs, 5mos, and 20 days apart. To make it an even better fit, my daughter and their daughter (the two oldest) are less than 2 months apart. Their son and my youngest are only 6 months apart.
Over the time I spent planning for school, I developed shorter names for each of them. (It just saves me a few seconds and lots of ink/lead when writing.) Typically you'll see me refer to them with these shorter names. (Some say that's safer for online posting anyway.) :)
The official students of Leap of Faith Christian Academy for 2012-13 are:
Al (13, from the BerryPatch)
Rae (still 12 for a few more weeks, from the StanClan)
F (11, from the StanClan)
Ty (10, from the StanClan)
B (9 for a few more weeks, from the BerryPatch)
We're off to a good start, but I'll save the stories for another post.
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