Unschooling in the homeschool day

So, to be honest, I'm an avid unschooler. The only homeschool curriculum my chidren use is the Time4Learning program, and they willing utilize it daily. They adore it. We all do! It's the part of our day where we actively involve ourselves in a curriculum or busy work. It's organized, detailed, fun, and my children enjoy talking about their lessons throughout the day. It's a balance I've come to depend on.

The other very important part of our day, is the unschooled portion. The portion that encompasses the children's larger part of thw day. We're constantly learning :) We have books on various topics, encyclopedias (cool pictures for my kindergartner), videos, DVDs, and countless trips to botanical gardens, the zoo, aquariums, museums, and the library. We learn from others, we learn from experiences, we learn from discussions, we learn from documentaries, we learn from our faith, we lead by example, and the children most of all enjoy life and all it's possibilities. We are not threatened or bothered by statistics and characterizations of what the educational status quo thinks or feels. I refrain from marginalizing my children's learning on a level system or on a grading system. They are all unique and creative in their own individual ways. They are growing physically and emotionally in a way that is organic. When they desire to learn about specific subjects or a particular area of something...we have T4L and other resources that are readily available. I wouldn't change this lifestyle for anything in the world. Who knew that learning could be so enriched with individuality :)

My baby turned 21 yesterday!

Hard to believe I was blogging about how cool it was to watch scary movies with my 16 year old just a few years ago, and now I have a 21 year old that bought his 1st drink at a casino! It's bittersweet. I get a text from his father saying: can you believe our baby turned 21 today? Yeah dude, allot has happened. I'm a proud mama.  I have different ideals than when he was growing up and school aged. I always brought him up to be free thinking and eclectic in his style of dress and music, but I was strict and very religious in our values and morals. Not a bad thing, but I was definitely a bit of an extremist. My son refused to be homeschooled. I think ultimately, I was a bit more pushy with the public schools he attended. I definitely made my presence known, and he only had a small handful of teachers that I felt failed to foster creativity. He and I were blessed with those individuals that cared for education and providing creative outlets for him. I'm thankful for that :) Happy birthday my baby....mama is proud of you and I love you even more!

Adventures in Homeschooling!

So, I have been using Time4Learning for the last year or so and have been pleased with the results. My children enjoy the animation, characters, lessons, and personalized lesson plans. I like the fact that I don't have to micromanage them like I did when we used a boxed curriculum. We are in an age of technology and children and teens today use the computer for everything. More than I would like, but it is the way of the world so hey :) I alternate the days I allow the children to have off. After all I am a single work at home mother of 4 and my time is spread so thin.

One of the things that has been a major source of contention for me is the scrutiny I receive from my family/friends. I come from a long line of teachers that feel that my children are not "socialized" enough. They feel that my education level isn't sufficient enough to teach my K, 2nd, and 3rd grader. I have a BA in Art History and I guess that makes me the village idiot lol. I enjoy art and research....even history, so I share those passions with my babies too :) Time4Learning is so awesome because there is a virtual teacher that shares valuable lessons such as: Language Arts, Math, Language Arts Extension, Social Studies, and Science. There's a super cool section called Odyssey Writer that gives writing assignments and grades them accordingly. If you as the teacher of record runs into any problems or have questions, the friendly staff at T4L are there to answer your questions and assist with that lesson. The really cool thing is I have NEVER encountered a technical problem, ever. The one time I had a problem with the test scores not showing correctly, I found that the browser I was using wasn't as compatible with their programming. It is preferable that one uses IE or Firefox browsers. I religiously use Chrome.

I want to also note that I am an unschool advocate. Fortunately in my state the laws on homeschooling and unschooling are pretty relaxed, so we are free to use the world as our learning forum. There are days we explore museums, nature, the library, or just take a day to watch Bill Nye the Science Guy on YouTube :) Beakman's World and Horrible Histories are a favorite as well. We are supporters of PBS daily and nightly, and The Create Channel is a definite favorite. I believe that one learns at a more organic pace when you are free to explore what fascinates you as opposed to what some institution deems the appropriate materials. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with public schools. Some are exceptional. I dislike the culture of public school, the standard of teaching children to "test", compartmentalizing children in groups of smart, ADD, and underachievers. I always felt inadequate in public school. Though I was always in gifted classrooms, I was a social child and therefore labeled "hyperactive". In this day and age, that would have been considered ADD I'm sure. Thankfully my mother was a clinical psychologist and unschool advocate, and she eventually earned enough to put me in "free thinking" private schools. The schools that were at best unschool extensions of my own life a home. The only obscene part of this world was my tuition was $8000/yearly. Who can afford that?

So as of late I have been in a financial crunch. I work from home as a call center agent and have scaled down on our lifestyle and requirements. We live in a small 2 bedroom apt with 1 bathroom, our neighborhood is in the city and houses mostly minority working class and lower middle class residents. We have a used car and shop for clothing, household necessities primarily at Walmart, Kmart, swap meets, thrift stores and online discount  retailers. Amazon has definitely been a favorite for inexpensive homeschooling materials and school supplies. Now keep in mind, I have the non committal homeschooling approach. Only when I see that my children are struggling in certain areas do we have a more direct lesson planned homeschool day. For the most art, I find that my children learn from life experiences. It's important that children have materials and literature at their disposal to allow their creative juices to form, ebb, and flow. We are lovers of the arts. We enjoy science and exploration as well. My children love meeting new people and are friendly and engaging. They are inquisitive like most kids their age, and aren't withdrawn or shy when they meet their peer groups. They understand that some children are homeschooled while others attend public school. They've been in a public school setting (recently for  a month or two) so they understood the ins and outs of the scheduling and protocol. They were quite fond of their experiences, I felt as their mother there was no room for individuality and/or encouragement to embrace fine arts. There was a lack of the important things in life such as: music, art, recess, nutrition classes, religion, and freedom of expression. Bullying was a constant, not necessarily with my babies, but in the environment. The teachers weren't given adequate tools to promote or foster curriculum's that were near and dear to their own hearts. Most of the teachers had lost their enthusiasm for teaching because of the new laws that state if children failed in testing areas, their jobs were compromised.

In conclusion, I hope financially I can remain a stay at home, work at home, unschool/homeschool mom. If not, I hope that God will provide the best teacher/public school that will continue to promote the values and free thinking mindset that my children possess today.

Homeschooling Mom vs Work From Home

There are so many advantages to working from home. The commute or lack there of is definitely one of them. I always disliked having to get up, get dressed in uncomfortable business attire, and make that journey into an office with other people that may or may not want to be there. Working from home, I get up, shower, typically put on something casual (or stay in my PJ's), grab some coffee with coconut creamer, and walk a few feet to my workstation. I love it. I open my windows, gaze out, take lunch breaks in the neighborhood or on my patio. My "cafeteria" is the best because it's food that's great and free :) Occasionally I order take out. I feel like I'm blessed each time I have to log in for work.

I do have some challenges however, I still home school after hours. I am still required to make lesson plans and be my children's teacher of record. There is no conflict with my work and homeschooling. My children are not in my work environment. The challenge comes when I currently alternate between using a Catholic Curriculum (Our Lady of the Rosary Homeschool) and utilizing free printables online. The written instruction and the side by sides after 8-10 hrs of work can drain one of their energy for a week lol! We often unschool and use our visual resources such as YouTube and Netflix. All in all I'm satisfied with being a home school mom. It's the single mother part that makes these things challenging. There are many times I wish I had a loving partner to be there to supplement the family income, be supportive in the homeschooling venture, as well as be there for me emotionally. God has a plan. Divorce, which I'm going thru currently, is never easy. In the end, the most rewarding part of all is this is I have the pleasure of watching my children learn and grow. I am in control of their values and spirituality. There are stress filled days as well as triumphant "aha" moments! Sometimes I want to pull my hair out because I seemingly never get a break. I'm asking the Lord to continue

 working on me with patience and understanding on those days that I feel overwhelmed and overextended. I hope that if any prospective homeschooling parents or parent are reading this blog, you are encouraged that it can be done, it is rewarding, and your children will have the benefit of the environment that you feel is fit. God bless you all and happy homeschooling!

Bah... humbug!

It's the most wonderful time of the yearrrr! That's the hype they spin during the holiday season. I try each year to put on a brave face. I smile, put up excessive amount of decorations all over my home, make arrangements to spend excessive amounts of money on things that really aren't necessities for my friends, family, and for myself. It puzzles me, there is a real problem with the idea of Christmas. Could it be the absence of Christ? As a child I was taught about the Nativity and the importance of this time of year being about giving, blessings, and the birth of the Messiah. I sang religious Christmas carols and even enjoyed the ones that told of old St. Nick. Now that I have children of my own, there is less and less mentioned about The Nativity and those classic Christmas carols. There are less movies shown that depict the birth of Christ, and less talk about the overall spirit of giving. The primary focus is on the consumerism and capitalism of it all. So much hype and spending above one's means. Ads pointing you to buy that bigger TV, more expensive car, or those designer clothes. To me, it puts entirely too much pressure on those in our society that are unable to keep up with that kind of spending. We need to focus on the more important things in life like love, family, fellowship, and community service.

In my family, we focus on the spirit of Christmas and what Jesus stood for. No matter your religion, I feel that in each of our daily lives there is an opportunity for us to help others. It doesn't always mean spending money or "paying it forward". It can be volunteering your time, donating items you no longer need, helping a friend or family member with household chores, cooking for a new mom, or even babysitting a friend's child or family members child. Consider donating your time in a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or battered women's facility. The list goes on. There is a saying: the best way to forget your own problems, is to help someone else with theirs. It's true! It feels good to know you've made a difference. It feels even better to know that you are being your best "you".

I love the holidays, I love gift giving and watching the joy on my children's faces when they open their presents on Christmas day. I'm even happier when I know that I have helped others. 

What are your plans this holiday season?

My review of Time4Learning.com

There was a wonderful occurrence in the lives of my 3 children and I called Time4Learning.com! When I made the decision to homeschool my children ages 6, 8, and 9, I felt bombarded with literature about curriculum's that would meet our needs. I initially tried a secular curriculum and ended up paying over $800 for way too many books and not enough time to handle all the lesson planning and grading. When I found out about Time4Learning, I was intrigued at the idea that a homeschool program could be entirely virtual and hold my children's attention simultaneously. When we first signed up what intrigued me was the cost. Under $50 per month for three children to be homeschooled, with lesson planning, testing, grading, transcripts, and support all inclusive and entirely virtual! Time4Learning holds my children's attention with it's bright and amusing interactive characters and colorful visual displays that any child would think was definitely too much fun to be called "school work".

My daughter Alyssa is a kindergartner that hasn't yet mastered reading and was struggling with the alphabet. She is overjoyed when it's time for her to approach her Language Arts assignments. She scores well and is enthusiastic with each passing lesson. She is excited about her math assignments and regularly recaps at the dinner table all the math concepts she has mastered for that day. My 1st grader Diamond had trouble with reading in public school, and the individualized attention that she gets with homeschooling has made a tremendous difference! She thrives now under the direction of the Time4Learning curriculum and learning program. The program engages her, plays music, and provides positive reinforcement each time something is executed correctly. When she struggles, there is incentive to teach the child an alternate way of learning that concept that makes mastering it so much easier. The great thing about Time4Learning is you are able to repeat modules and tests until whatever challenge becomes mastery! My son Terrill is a 2nd grader and has ADD. It is difficult to hold his attention and he was not very successful in public school as a result. With Time4Learning and the animated lessons, he doesn't feel the strain and structure of a traditional classroom environment, he feels like it is the same as playing a favorite video game or watching a much anticipated tv show.

As a single mother on a fixed income, who wants to be more involved and hands on with my children's learning, Time4Learning.com has made an improvement in their grades,

their listening skills, and comprehension. The staff is available to assist with questions and the virtual classroom is easy for children to navigate on their own. They can be independent learners using this amazing homeschool approach. You can use Time4Learning as a full curriculum or as an addendum to public school learning. Your child will receive all the skills they need for a successful school year. Time4Learning is available for PK-12. You won't be disappointed!

Time 4 Learning :):)

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, forafterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.