Although we have been doing school throughout the Summer we are now officially entering a new phase in our journey. We keep the workload lighter and continue with Awana homework, reading, math and science. They have also loved the breaks for two VBS’s this year and all the free Summer activities I have found for both field trips, and keeping them out of the heat: library events, free bowling, YMCA pool, splash pad with friends, and community events.

As Summer is coming to a close they will officially be starting a new team sport, soccer! They always get a choice if they want to try something new and this is the new for all of us! Their Awana club will be continuing as Sparks memorizing verses during the week and having fun.

As I mentioned earlier there will be new changes on this journey with a new sport and some of their homeschool friends going to school. This is a great learning lesson on change. Change being bittersweet but still eager for what’s in store. We often get asked if our children will be going to traditional school and the answer is still no. Homeschool is a good fit for our family and works for our pace of life.

I didn’t see myself as a homeschool mom. I saw my mornings with taking them to the bus stop or driving them to school and going to work. Wherever that was, then picking them up.
I saw my life busier.
I saw us with more kids.
A bigger home.
I saw a lot of car rides.
I saw myself living by family.
I saw my husband cooking instead of me.

I didn’t see these slow mornings, hands on learning, and being on the front line for every activity our children are in. I didn’t see I was only meant for two children. That my support system needs to be built carefully.

God knew the specific skills I needed to build. God knew where my heart needed to heal.
He knows exactly what my journey needs and I will continue to follow faithfully.

First day of school pictures are being posted and we are doing our annual pictures as well. This will be our third full year around of homeschooling. I hope to answer all the awkward concerned questions in this post, that even some homeschool families don’t quite understand.

The beauty of homeschool is freedom. Yet there are still other homeschool moms who raise a concern of my lack of this or that. I have learned on this Motherhood Journey that no matter what I do someone will always be negative toward the way Peter and I have chosen to raise our children.

All the lies like: homeschool is expensive, your kids will miss out, and your children will fall behind academically, could be true if we didn’t choose to be intentional in these areas. It is all about parent involvement and the tools each family has.

My poor unsocialized children are in fact in sports, in an Awana program every year, we go on field trips, we use free library events, play dates, and of course we are in a co-op for them to learn to do group activities, like cooking. They are missing out on bullying, learning adult content too early, and being unheard, and undervalued, and overlooked. That is something we are ok with them missing out on. They are not missing out on being around others with different ethnicities, skill levels, and lifestyles. They are learning to problem solve right then and there and can come back to me in the moment and work on how to overcome conflicts with their peers. They are not missing out on holiday parties, group activities, and learning from other authority.

I love that my children are hungry for knowledge and curious about everything. I want to keep that light burning in them. We read on a lot of topics they are curious about. I’m so thankful for a library card! I never knew there so was much about turtles, lizards, volcanoes, and geology! They have recently started science on Thursdays and are loving discussing the observations and doing the hand on activities. I believe every child is running their own race. One of mine is technically kindergarten now, he is doing addition and subtraction, and learning to read. My other is working on double digit addition, and also learning to read. He would be first grade. Society calls this behind? I call this going at their pace, and exposing them in a way that fits their learning styles. Learning should be fun not a battle. For the longest time they didn’t care for the alphabet so I got alphabet dot marker activity book and they loved it. Their favorite is the alphabet sticker books that make a picture of something they like.

Expensive curriculum isn’t necessary and is a tool in the home that doesn’t work for everyone’s budget or learning style. We use school zone books that fit their “grade level” and combine it with all the other things we do. We do hands on learning, games, materials we can reuse. I document this all by putting the dates on the work books and taking pics of the activities we do. My kids learned addition by counting the dots on dominos. All these I have found online for free and not only has saved us money so we could take them out on field trips and cover their sports but also my mental health.

My children have never asked to go to a school and love the adventures we go on, the things we are learning, and love that whatever they are curious about we will learn about! Recently they have learned how to swim, cook and learn new recipes from around the world, they did a lemonade stand raising money for Operation Christmas child, and are eager to start sparks together this fall!