The post Forgiven Child of God appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

In May, the Lord gifted our family with this precious baby girl.

Meet Hollyn Joy. 8 lbs. 8 oz. of pure sweetness!

I heard recently that coffee, homemade bread, clean linen, and babies are the top smells that make people happiest. I don’t know about the first three, but the last is absolutely the best! How is it that I have been blessed to experience a newborn nine times?

I feel. so. lucky!

When they laid her on my chest and I inhaled that fresh infant scent, my heart swelled.

Our kids adore her. The day she came home, it took nearly an hour for everyone to “get their turn” holding her.

I love watching my husband hold her with pride in his eyes.

On occasion…. if you have more than the average number of children, people give you looks of pity or make sarcastic (but probably well-intended) comments.

“Are they all yours?”

“You just can’t do it all! Don’t you ever want some time for yourself?”

“You poor thing. Do you have help?”

When people say things like this, it can be easy to doubt yourself and wonder if maybe they are right.

Because it IS hard. And I HAVE needed help from time to time. And, yes, sometimes I would LOVE more time to myself!

Laundry, meals, homeschooling, diapers, dishes…the barrage of interruptions.

There were times I almost let it get to me.

I’m so glad I didn’t.

I would have missed out.

Who would not be here? I can’t imagine NOT having one of them. The thought makes me heartsick.

This time of having and raising children is relatively short in the whole span of a life. It will end. The nest will be empty and I will have plenty of time…empty spaces to fill.

Investing in our kids is an investment in our future. Giving our kids a sibling is an investment into THEIR future. After all, a sibling is a gift for life! We will be gone one day, but they will have each other for many years to come!

We have the fullness on both ends. The midnight infant snuggles. The early rising toddlers… testing the boundaries and full of questions. Happy-go-lucky, imaginative middles fascinated with living things and building forts outside. Teenagers with late night energy and conversations that start just as you are ready to hit the sack.

It is SO full and I LOVE it.

The post Welcome Baby Hollyn appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

Hi! I’m Sheri!

Here on the blog I love to share homeschooling encouragement for everyday moms: simple ideas, large family life, homegrown kids, and learning as a lifestyle. Drawing on 13+ years of homeschooling experience, you can find help for getting started, tried and true homeschooling advice, life skills learning, simple Morning Time ideas, and interviews with everyday homeschool moms just like you! The only way to make sure you don’t miss any posts or videos is by joining my email list.

When I started my blog three years ago, I spent a whole summer interviewing homeschool moms, collecting their stories and resources. I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you all! I hope that they will be an encouragement to people who are thinking about homeschooling or are already homeschooling. In this post, I will share our interview.

Our interview

Nelson and I met in high school in Geometry class. (As a result, neither of us are very good at geometry, ha!) We have been married for 23 years and live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

We have ten kids and have been homeschooling for 13+ years. Though we have always enjoyed kids, neither of us were homeschooled or came from a family of this size. Learning to adjust to a large family life has been a challenge for us, but the Lord has been good to us, guiding as each new little one came along. We love how each of our kids are so unique with various interests and abilities and we could not imagine missing out on any one of them!

Our Homeschooling Video Interview

To start things off, here’s our (unedited!) interview. My husband does NOT like to be in front of a camera, but out of support for me, he graciously agreed to it. We are a little stiff at the beginning- be patient with us, we were nervous!- but we warm up to ourselves by the end! We discuss what attracted us to homeschooling, a typical day, and how we teach multiple ages.

What attracted you to homeschooling?

When I was a 4th grade public school teacher, I had a student who entered my class in the middle of the year. His name was Brad. He had been homeschooled up to that point. From the comments I heard in the faculty room, “his poor mother had just delivered her sixth baby and had finally put them all in school”!

Brad amazed me from the start. He began to unravel all the pre-conceived ideas I had about homeschooled kids. Not only did he ace every assignment I gave him, he would finish early and sit in his desk reading books. He would read the likes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Chronicles of Narnia series, totally engrossed!

Not only was he an academic scholar, he was a leader in our class. His confident, fun-loving, inquisitive personality attracted everyone him. Everybody liked him. My whole class which, the first half of the year had been a raucous bunch of average students, became inspired to be something better the second half of the year. Kids really do influence the general atmosphere of the group.

As I observed Brad, I wondered about his mom. Maybe she was overwhelmed and had lost her confidence. Maybe she had hit a rough spot. One thing I knew for sure, whatever she thought she wasn’t doing well at home, she was doing better than I ever could for him in a classroom setting with 20 fourth graders, even with my best efforts!

My experience with Brad and my overall teaching experience in schools made me wonder if we could offer something as good, if not better, at home.

What does a typical day look like for you?

This has changed over the years (as it should!) depending on seasons of life. Even with those changes, over time our typical day has looked roughly like this.

8:30 Breakfast/MORNING TIME followed by chores

9:30ish-12 Independent Work. Our kids grab their checklists and get started on their work. I am available to help, especially for those who are learning a new concept, but they are mostly self-directed. The younger kids who have less work may finish earlier and the older kids with more assignments sometimes finish later, give or take.

Break for outside play and lunch

1:00-2:30 or 3 Nappers go down. We gather in the living room and everyone does some quiet reading, about 15 minutes. The youngest child who no longer naps might be playing with Lego’s or something quiet on the floor. After giving them a few minutes of their own quiet reading, they put their books down and I read aloud to everyone. With my large age range, I usually do one reading for everyone, then different readings for different ages. I also use this time to work individually with kids in areas where they need help.

How do you teach multiple ages?

When I had all young kids, the work of getting started was much, much harder. Those were the foundational years. Choosing curriculum, becoming familiar with the curriculum, teaching someone HOW TO READ for the first time, doing school with a TODDLER or BABY at my side-all these things made the beginning a test of perseverance.

As we got going, I had more and more kids who were reading. Reading opens up a whole new world for a child and I encouraged them to be self-learners. Each year as our oldest, Ty, was moving ahead, I had to learn the material for the first time. But after that, as other kids progressed, I was already familiar with the content. Over time, I no longer had to learn the curriculum, it was just execution, so that was helpful too.

What does a day of school look like?

As of right now, each of our reading kids have a daily checklist that I make for them at the beginning of the year. With this, they can take ownership of their work and come to me for help as they need it. The only difficulty with this is when 2 or 3 kids are starting a new math concept on the same day!!

Our elementary age kids do history through Veritas Press online self-paced program which is excellent. Their science is covered in our read aloud time. Experiments with science happen as a group or are covered in co-op.

My direct teaching is spent most with the next budding reader. First I TEACH THEM TO READ with short 10-15 minute lessons a day.

Once they can read, we start writing. I’m pretty old school. We use a manuscript tablet and I teach them a new letter a day until they are ready to copy simple words.

When they can write, we start math. Other subjects for this child are covered by all our read alouds. To someone who is starting out, this may sound like I have oversimplified something that seems daunting, BUT as with anything new, every endeavor gets easier with time. The kids can do more and more for themselves as they grow and I am there to inspire and assist.

How Can You Cover So Many Subjects and Ages and Still Provide a Quality Education?

I think some people wonder how a mom can cover so many subjects and ages well. For example, maybe you’re a literature person and that comes easily to you, but how can you teach other subjects that don’t come as easily to you. I think there are two good answers to that.

1. As you learn with the child, you become better at that subject. When I started math with out oldest, I used a very hands-on, teacher intensive program. I loved the research and philosophy behind it-using games and manipulative to teach math with everything revolving around the base ten system. I used it with Ty until 5th grade. The year he was in 5th grade, I had three students of school age. Teaching three separate math lessons was becoming less and less doable. I had no choice, but to pick another curriculum that the kids could do more independently. BUT I had learned so much from teaching Ty those first several years that even though our kids moved to more of a work book style material, I was able to pull out those games and manipulatives every time they started a new math concept. I had gained a better understanding of math and was able to do a better job teaching it to the rest of my kids.
2. At times when I felt that I wasn’t able to provide the best option for one of our kids in a certain area, I out-sourced the subject. For example, in history, I discovered Veritas Press and loved what they had to offer through their classically based, chronological, self-paced history programs. I felt that our kids could get more out of these classes than I was currently able to provide them at the time. Also, as Ty has entered high school, we have out-sourced many of his classes. Last year he took Geometry and Civics/Geography from teachers at a local homeschool co-op.

What is your biggest challenge?

Prioritizing Relationships

One challenge for me has been valuing relationships over progress. This is still a struggle for me today and something I am continually working to improve. I am a task-driven person. I love to check things off my “to do” list. As an introvert, I love to be alone to read, reflect, write. Being the mother of nine children, as you can imagine, I am rarely alone! When I am spending time doing something fun with my kids, I find myself starting to think or work and not enjoy. Since building relationships is one of our top reasons for homeschooling, I have to remind myself to stop, to listen, to play, to have fun with them. I don’t want them to remember Mom as always being there, but not engaging. Investing in them IS the reason I am homeschooling, not the list of work I am trying to complete.

Discouragement

A second challenge, and the bigger struggle, has been my own personal discouragement. This may or may not be true, but many times I have felt that if you do what everyone else is doing, even if it’s bad, you have few critics, and if you do something different from what everyone else is doing, even if it is VERY good, people are quick to criticize or question.

On our tough days…and there were some tough, lonely days, especially when the kids were all young…I’ll be honest, some days I was jealous of friends whose kids went to school. They didn’t have to forge their own way. Their path seemed neatly laid out for them. They had more time to themselves, or so it seemed. I thought “Are we crazy?Why did we decide to do something that’s SO hard?!” I would question, “Maybe the critics are right…why am I doing this to myself?!”

One homeschool mom and author Cindy Rollins wrote, ” I felt that sending them off to school was the one place I could send the kids where everything that went wrong wasn’t my fault.” This statement resonated with me when I read it.

If the truth be known, I am my biggest critic. Maybe other moms feel this way too.

BUT, in spite of the discouragement, ….when the tough day ended and I stepped back to look at the big picture, I realized a few things.

• I really like who my kids are becoming.
• I’m happy with a lifestyle that revolves around our family. Yes, we have our flaws and areas we need to work on, but we are close.
• I’m proud of how my kids are doing in their studies, and I think they have great friends.
• I love that we are not confined to learn in one space, that we’ve had the opportunity through field trips to experience many different places and people.
• I’m glad for the good kinds of pressure they have in their life and the bad kinds of pressure they can avoid.

Does it matter what anyone else thinks, anyway, if it’s not true? I know who my kids are. I am really proud of what we do. Great accomplishments are often formed in hard places.

A Teddy Roosevelt Quote that Inspired Me on One Particularly Rough Day

Sheri’s Favorite Resources

amblesideonline.org Ambleside is my main resource for most of our work. I love the high standard of excellent books, short lessons, emphasis on nature, art, music, and foreign language. I would caution that this site can be very overwhelming if you try to do everything on it. If you see it as a feast of beautiful ideas and pick only what appeals to you, you will love it!

Read Aloud Revival Other than Ambleside, this is my go-to book list!! Sarah Mackenzie is a homeschool mom who will help the whole family fall in love with books. I also listen to her podcast. It’s excellent!

Rightstart Math This was the first math curriculum I used at the beginning. It uses games and manipulatives, all revolving around the base-ten system to teach math. One negative-it could use more written practice, in my opinion. It is very teacher-intensive so I wasn’t able to continue it with all of my kids, but continue to use the methods I learned from teaching it with my kids when they come to new concepts.

Singapore Math Simple, lots of practice, slowly builds on concepts. All our elementary kids use this and it works well for us.

Veritas Press Self-Paced History Courses These are awesome!! Actors teach from historical sites. Maps, questions, games are all interactive and review the content. Kids love it!

Seterra Online, interactive geography maps. Learn the world, one click at at a time!

Apologia Great science resource! For the most part, our elementary kids all do the same science together each year and we loop the content. I read it aloud to my kids or they read together in groups.

The Smiling Homeschooler Podcast Todd Wilson has reminded me that: relationships matter most, its ok to have a messy homeschool room, and that home is the best place to learn!

Simply Charlotte Mason Art Prints These are lovely!!

Sheri’s Favorite Read Alouds

One of My Favorite Verses for Homeschool Inspiration

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

Deuteronomy 32:2

More From Sheri

About

Why We Homeschool

Why We Homeschool Part 2

Our Story

Welcome Baby Hollyn

Why I Started This Blog

Was our homeschooling story an encouragement to you? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and tell me about your homeschooling journey! I love hearing other homeschool moms tell about their experiences with their kids!

The post Sheri’s Interview appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

Every family chooses homeschooling for different reasons, so if you are thinking about homeschooling your child(ren), ask around to get different perspectives! You may have read WHY WE HOMESCHOOL. Here are more reasons why we homeschool.

Time to pursue and develop interests

One of the reasons I think homeschooling is producing unique, quality individuals is this right here. They have time to pursue and develop their interests. As soon as they finish their “school” work, which by the way takes waaaaay less time than a full school day! (Think about how much time is wasted riding the bus or getting every student on the same page at the same time with all their pencils sharpened or taking 20 first graders to the bathroom or gaining classroom control or . . . ) Our kids are quick to get to the learning that they care about the most, their passions!

Our oldest, Ty, spends his free time repairing iphones, going out with friends, reading, and playing soccer. He and Luke, our second son, love basketball, so they often do basketball drills or play each other one on one.

Luke plays his guitar or teaches himself new ways to solve the Rubix cube.

Jenna, who loves drawing, will do drawing lessons via YouTube or look for craft ideas on Pinterest.  

Brinley, taking her inspiration from the British Baking Show, searches the cupboards for ingredients to bake something new. Along with her sisters, she initiated a monthly neighborhood bake sale. The girls have made some nice cash doing this!

Our animal lover, Afton, takes off outside to check on our barn animals or halter our calf.

Sometimes any one of them can be caught in a corner curled up with their favorite book. Our youngest are still developing their interests. When kids are not herded from the bus to school to after-school activities, they have more time to develop their skills, more time for the things they enjoy.   

Efficiency

Many things double up in homeschooling. Here’s just one example, but I could list many more. Remember in elementary school learning how to write a friendly letter? There’s the heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. Remember filling out worksheets on these and writing a sample friendly letter? What’s wrong with just writing real letters?! Often! Sometimes I hand our girls a copy of our extended family’s calendar of birthdays and assign them to send out birthday cards as part of their school work. Friendly letter practice and birthday cards from our family all in one! 

Safety

As I was writing this article and asking for input, someone mentioned the issue of safety, and in particular, bullying. And to be honest, it never occurred to me. There’s always sibling rivalry and spats, but bullying is never allowed. I am here, hands on. I am in touch with the needs and emotional state of each of my “students” in a way no one else can be.

Home as the center of life and activity 

I love that our home is always bustling with life. When I walk through our neighborhood during the day and see empty houses, it makes me sad. What is it out there that is so much more attractive to call us away for so many long hours from the beauty of home? I realize I am being a little idealistic here and many of us have no choice in providing the basic needs of family other than to work away from home. But, if you have the choice, and if you were the child, would you rather live and learn in the beauty of home or in the confines of a building?  

What if the world was your classroom rather than the classroom your world?  If COVID-19 has had one redeeming quality for me, it has been that I have loved seeing people, (including children!!) out in the middle of the day, working, playing, learning! 

Faith

Throughout history, good parents of every faith pass down their values to their children. As Christian parents who operate from a Biblical worldview, we see homeschooling as a prime opportunity to share our faith with our kids. We want something that goes deeper than church on Sunday. Discipleship requires time.

We want to guide them as they find answers to life’s most important questions. Where do I come from? What do I believe about the world around me? What is my purpose?  We want them to be exposed to other faiths and thoughts while also instructed in the faith we espouse. Most importantly, we want to read the Bible to them and want them to have time to read the Bible for themselves.

Our desire is for them to love the thing we love the most- a personal relationship with the Creator. We want to share with them the hope of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus that has become the driving purpose of our lives.

Additionally, we want to inspire them with stories of great men and women of faith.

This kind of discipleship takes purpose and time.

Of course, as they grow, they will make their own choices. They will form their own beliefs. As parents, we desire for them to choose Christ as we have, BUT may it be with clear understanding and full freedom! As they study other religions and belief systems and compare them to the gospel message of the Bible, we pray that God’s Word will emerge in their hearts as the true, life-changing, hope of the world! 

“And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” Psalm 12:6

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

What Are Your Reasons For Homeschooling?

These are more reasons why we homeschool. What are your reasons for homeschooling?

Looking for more? You can read more about our family in Our Interview and Our Story!

The post More Reasons Why We Homeschool appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

#1 Family Relationships

When your kids don’t go to school, (surprise!) you end up spending a LOT of time together! This may be both absolutely wonderful and utterly exhausting depending on the particular moment or circumstances!

As a whole, however, thinking about ALL the extra time we have spent WITH each other…living, being, learning … remembering all the places we have been together, whether literally through field trips or figuratively in books – we have built something deep, something lifelong.

We have built strong relationships.  We are making investments in the people we love the most. 

#2 Flexibility

A flexible schedule was initially what attracted us to homeschooling when we started. My husband worked swing shifts at the time, so if our kids had gone to traditional schools, there would have been several days a week when they wouldn’t have seen Dad at all.

Flexible scheduling allows us to maximize our family time during the school year. We make our school work fit around our family life. Family first! We can whisk away for a day or overnight trip, take an early weekend, do school at night, or change it up as needed. 

#3 Time to Pursue Interests

One primary reason I think homeschooling is producing unique, quality individuals is because of how much time they have to pursue their interests. As soon as they finish their “school” work, which by the way takes waaaaay less time than a full school day! (Think about how much time is wasted riding the bus or getting every student on the same page at the same time with all their pencils sharpened or taking 20 first graders to the bathroom or gaining classroom control or . . . ) Our kids are quick to get to the learning that they care about the most, their passions!

Our oldest, Ty, enjoys spending time repairing iphones, going out with friends, reading, and playing soccer. He and Luke, our second son, love basketball, so they often do basketball drills or play each other one-on-one.

Luke plays his guitar or teaches himself new ways to solve the Rubix cube.

Jenna, who loves drawing, will follow drawing lessons via YouTube or look for craft ideas on Pinterest.  

Brinley, taking her inspiration from the British Baking Show, searches the cupboards for ingredients to bake something new. Along with her sisters, she initiated a monthly neighborhood bake sale. The girls have made some nice cash doing this!

Our animal lover, Afton, takes off outside to check on our barn animals or halter our calf.

Sometimes any one of them can be caught in a corner curled up with their favorite book. Our youngest are still developing their interests. When kids are not herded from the bus to school to after-school activities, they have more time for free play, more time to develop their skills, and more time for the things they enjoy.

#4 Efficiency

Efficiency is another one of the huge benefits of homeschooling. Many things double up in the learning process.

Here’s just one example, but I could list many more. Remember in elementary school learning how to write a friendly letter? There’s the heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. Remember filling out worksheets on these and writing a sample friendly letter? What about instead just writing real letters?! Often!

Sometimes I hand our girls a copy of our extended family’s calendar of birthdays and assign them to send out birthday cards as part of their school work. Friendly letter practice and birthday cards from our family all in one! 

#5 Individualized Learning

We are not a factory here. Why do our kids have to be learning a certain pre-determined material at the same time and at the same level? Why are we putting our kids into a one-size-fits-all mold?!  No national curriculum for us. Our kids are highly unique individuals!  

What if my son suddenly becomes obsessed with learning to play the guitar and spends every spare moment teaching himself to play from YouTube? That’s exactly what happened with our second son Luke. He is a hands-on learner. As soon as his independent work was done in the morning, he spent all his time learning to play. Now he is able to participate in the worship team at our church along with my husband who also plays guitar.

What if the kids want to spend more time studying a certain topic because it interests them? Isn’t that where real learning happens? When you want to know about something?

As parents and as educators, we do have goals and high expectations for our kids, and we realize that these expectations change, depending on the special needs of the child.

As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say, though, that my expectations and my interest in my children’s success are much higher and more personalized than any school district’s or teacher’s. Why? Because they are mine!

I love that our kids can learn at their own pace according to their different learning styles. What a blessing to be able to choose the homeschool curriculum that fits us best. I want their education to be tailor-made and completely individual. 

And I can do that because I know them best.

#6 Sibling friendships

Another favorite reason why we chose homeschooling is because our family values sibling relationships. Our kids have invested in friendships that will outlive their elementary/high school years.  

A sibling relationship is a lifelong friendship. Since my kids have grown up together, it would make me so sad to think of our family members all going separate ways and not knowing each other in the way they do now. 

Now, don’t lose me here! Our kids have friends outside our home. They have friends in many different circles.  At our most recent pediatrician visit, the doctor asked my 15-year-old son if he had friends outside our home. Ugh, really?!!  Of course they have friends!!

They have regular friends that they chat and hang out with. They are or have been involved in many different groups and community events from Cub Scouts to intramural sports to homeschool CO-OPS to art classes to camps to music lessons to drama presentations to church activities. They have friends.

BUT when they get up each morning…not rushed, not harried, they eat breakfast together. When they finish their independent work, they spend quality time together. Roots run deep when you spend a lot of time with someone, and a sibling will be a friend for a lifetime. 

#7 Safety

As I was writing this article and asking for input, someone mentioned the issue of safety, and in particular, bullying. And to be honest, it never occurred to me. There’s always sibling rivalry and spats, but bullying is never allowed. I am here, hands-on. I am in touch with the needs and emotional state of each of my “students” in a way no one else can be.

Our homeschooled children are also safe from the negative peer pressure so prevalent in traditional school settings. Constant pressure about phones, what name brands to wear, gender ideology…no thank you!

#8 A Home-Centered Life

I love that our home environment is always bustling with life. When I walk through our neighborhood during the day and see empty houses, it makes me sad. What is it out there that is so much more attractive to call us away for so many long hours from the beauty of home? I realize I am being a little idealistic here and many of us have no choice in providing the basic needs of family other than to work away from home. But, if you have the choice, and if you were the child, would you rather live and learn in the beauty of a home or in the confines of a building?  

What if the world was your classroom rather than the classroom your world?  If COVID-19 had one redeeming quality for me, it has been that I have loved seeing people, (including children!!) out in the middle of the day, working, playing, learning! 

#9 Life Skills Learning

As we homeschool our kids, so much of our energy goes into academic instruction. But have you spent some time planning the kind of life skills you want to pass down to your kids to help prepare them for the real world?

Some valuable life skills might be keeping a schedule, doing laundry, cooking meals from scratch, home and car maintenance, communicating well with others, money management, and so much more!

You can find more life skills ideas here. 50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Homeschooling is not only about academic learning. We should be preparing our kids for real life! Since each family is different, focus on the practical life skills that are most important to your family!

#10 Faith

The most important reason we homeschool is to share our faith with our kids. As Christian parents who operate from a Biblical worldview, we see homeschooling as a great opportunity to disciple our children. We want something that goes deeper than church on Sunday. Discipleship requires time.

We want to guide them as they find answers to life’s most important questions. Where do I come from? What do I believe about the world around me? What is my purpose?  We want them to be exposed to other faiths and thoughts while also instructed in the faith we espouse. Most importantly, we want to read the Bible to them and want them to have time to read the Bible for themselves.

Our desire is for them to love the thing we love the most- a personal relationship with the Creator. We want to share with them the hope of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus that has become the driving purpose of our lives.

Additionally, we want to inspire them with stories of great men and women of faith.

This kind of discipleship takes purpose and time.

Of course, as they grow, they will make their own choices. They will form their own beliefs. As parents, we desire for them to choose Christ as we have, BUT may it be with clear understanding and full freedom! As they study other religions and belief systems and compare them to the gospel message of the Bible, we pray that God’s Word will emerge in their hearts as the true, life-changing, hope of the world! 

“And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” Psalm 12:6

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Leave a Comment

What are the reasons that led you to your homeschooling journey? I love hearing from other parents of homeschooled students! Please share what made you decide that this educational option was the right choice for your kids!

You can find more homeschool encouragement here on the blog or follow along with our family on YouTube as we homeschool.

The post Top 10 Reasons Why We Choose to Homeschool Our Kids appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

Hi! I’m Sheri, wife to Nelson for 20+ years. We live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We have ten children and have been homeschooling for fourteen years.

Here on the blog, I love to share homeschooling encouragement for everyday moms.

Drawing on 14 years of homeschooling experience, you can find help for getting started, tried and true homeschooling advice, life skills learning, simple ideas, large family life, and interviews with everyday homeschool moms just like you!

The only way to make sure you don’t miss any posts or videos is by joining my email list.

I started this blog to encourage current and prospective homeschool moms by sharing the stories of homeschooling families.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time interviewing moms. I’ve asked them questions such as…

What led you to homeschooling?

How do you teach multiple ages?

What does a typical day look like for you?

Have you made mistakes and what have you learned from them?

How do you teach multiple ages?

…and more! Head on over to my gallery of Mom Interviews to hear from homeschool moms like you!

Here is our homeschooling story.

Our Story

Making Decisions

When I first entertained the thought that maybe I would like to homeschool, I knew almost no one in my circle to ask. Almost no one. Our oldest child was three years old and school was just around the corner! 

Befpre staying home with my children, I was a public school teacher. After deciding to stay home full-time with our first child, my priorities in life changed.

I adored our son and wanted to show him the world! I began to think to myself, “Maybe I want to do what I have been doing in school…just with my own kids.”

Although I had enjoyed teaching, I had felt so limited by administrative work, state standards, professional requirements, paperwork, etc. I wanted to explore the world with my students! I hoped to develop in them a hunger to learn about everything around them, but THAT is not easy to do in a classroom! 

Finding a Support Group

As my ideals were evolving, I read every book I could find on homeschooling. My interest was piqued! The freedom to

• learn by interest
• explore the natural world
• not be cooped up in one space
• spend more time reading good books together

These possibilities were calling to me!

Although I looked for other homeschoolers to ask for help, there just weren’t many in my circle at that time. I found a few brave souls who were ahead of me, and they were my lifeline. I questioned them about everything.

There were also a few other local friends who were of the same bent as I was. Our oldest children were all entering preschool. We met up, five of us, and plunged in together.

We ended up meeting in each other’s homes every week with our kids. Our excitement grew each week as we exchanged ideas and talked life learning. This small group eventually grew exponentially and became a homeschool co-op which we still attend today!

14 Years of Homeschooling

After 14 years of homeschooling our kids, I have experienced several different stages, many highs and lows. And I am still learning new things.

Together we have visited many places-literally in field trips and figuratively, in books. Our times on the couch every afternoon reading together will always hold a special place in my heart.

We have learned and lived through so many important moments. So far, with five of our kids I’ve cried through long division…and survived!!! 
 

It isn’t easy homeschooling multiple kids on multiple levels. It especially wasn’t easy giving up a career and the prestige that comes with a title.

On occasion my kids fight, and, yes, it drives me crazy!! I have even threatened to put the kids on the next school bus that drives by! Without a doubt, I would have quit – and almost did more than once! – without the encouragement of family and friends. 

Through the highs and lows, I am SO THANKFUL to have had this experience with our kids. The time with them has been WORTH it. It is not easy, but I can honestly say that I absolutely LOVE what I do!

MORE FROM SHERI

Head over to Our Interview to get a closer peek into our homeschooling experience!

About

Why We Homeschool

Why We Homeschool Part 2

Our Interview

Why I Started This Blog

Was our homeschooling story an encouragement to you? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and tell me about your homeschooling journey! I love hearing other homeschool moms tell about their experiences with their kids!

The post Meet Sheri appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.

Recently I have run into so many parents who are considering homeschooling for the first time. With the moral decay in our schools, many parents feel that homeschooling might be a better option. I have talked to many other parents with budding preschoolers who would like to homeschool, but just don’t know where to start.

I started this blog to share Our Life Homeschooling. By this I mean not just our family’s personal life, but “our” collective lives as homeschoolers. In this blog I interview and share experiences of families in their homeschooling journeys. Often homeschoolers are put into a box with a cookie cutter view of what we do, but as a group, we are so diverse. Just as every person, every family is unique, the way each family homeschools varies widely.

I also write to encourage moms by sharing what I have learned from homeschooling our kids for 10+ years. Homeschooling is NOT easy, but it is SO rewarding! It has been such a wonderful lifestyle for our family and I’m so glad we have done it!

If you have questions or are considering homeschooling as a choice for your family, I’m glad you are here!

The post Why I Started This Blog appeared first on Our Life Homeschooling.