A Taste of Homeschooling

10 Years of Cambridgeshire Academy

I started this blog in 2009 when I started homeschooling my daughter.  I tried to catalog a lot of the journey with her from Kindergarten through, currently, 9th grade!  It is proving to be a great tool for us as I look back on what we did now that I'm starting to homeschool my son as well.  It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since I started our homeschool website!

My son is gifted, so we are doing things differently, though we are still using the same curriculum as we did with my daughter - I'm adding in more to fill out his craving for learning.  We will probably finish the phonics program (4th grade level) by the end of this year, and he is only Kindergarten level.  He is immersing himself in everything he can at the moment, he is like a sponge and doesn't seem to ever get full.

I hope to continue to catalog my daughter's journey through high school and then my son's entire school journey.  One of these days, I would like to update old links from posts over the past 10 years but that isn't a big priority right now, though I have done some.

Thanks to my readers, both new and old!  Here's to a great 2019!

When to Start Penmanship, Spelling & Grammar

Typically, you would start reading lessons first with The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  However, with my son, he was already writing letters and numbers before I could even teach him penmanship, much less reading!  Having a gifted son has taught me a lot - the rules don't always apply to him!

I did lay off teaching spelling and grammar until his reading is at a certain level, but he's already started asking how to spell certain words, as he likes to write everything now.  I will see how long I can hold him off from these next steps but here is the general "normal" starting times for these subjects along with the OPGTR.

• By Lesson 115 of the OPGTR, you can start penmanship and spelling
• After Lesson 181, the child is ready for copywork (and lesson 42 in FLL1)
• You can start First Language Lessons 1 after Lesson 140 of the OPGTR, but make sure you don't start lesson 42 in FLL1 until you've reached Lesson 181 in OPGTR.

These are the guidelines that were listed in an FAQ that is on longer available online but I will be putting the PDF in a post coming soon or you can email me if you would like it now.

What I've Learned in 6 Years of Homeschooling

I've been homeschooling my daughter from preschool through to 4th grade and as we finish up the grammar stage of classical education, I can tell that you I've learned a LOT and wanted to share.  Maybe you are just beginning homeschooling or have a year or so under your belt, here is what I would tell you:

1. God should always be FIRST!  - your homeschool won't work to the glory of God if you get caught up in academics and exclude Him.  Reading the Bible daily for you and your children is far more important than anything else they will learn.  If you find yourself having trouble homeschooling, look and see the place that you put God in - if He isn't first, then you need to reorganize!
2. Reading is the most important - Teach your child to read and read well EARLY on!  My daughter was reading fluently at a 4th grade level in 1st grade following The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  If you don't get them reading on their own, you will find you will be doing a lot of teaching and get burnt out and quit.  Most children should be reading at LEAST 1 1/2 hours a day - it doesn't just stop with phonics, your child has to read books a lot to master it.  You will also find that their English, writing and spelling improves the more they read.  I find a lot of people that have problems homeschooling, haven't taught their child to read on their own - or if they have, they didn't make their child read books everyday - you are shooting yourself in the foot here.....get them to READ!!
3. After Bible and reading, math is next - If you can just teach 3 things, teach these.  Even if you don't get around to grammar, writing or spelling - it will be taken care of in reading.  Math is so important and one subject you should never get behind in.  Definitely don't take more than 2 weeks off from math because concepts will be lost in the early grades.  
4. Child should be independent by 3rd grade - if you do the above 3 and are following the classical method, most children should be able to do most of their schoolwork independently.  There may still be a few things you have to teach, like writing (which only takes 10 minutes) but for the most part, you shouldn't be doing much at all.  How so?  Well, you got your child to read on their own!  You also spent 1st and 2nd grade doing narration, which means they learned how to read to understand (comprehension).  If you have problems by this grade, check to make sure God is first and your child can read on their own and does read books from 1-2 hours every day.  Even with slower children, by 4th grade if you don't see independence in most subjects - examine what is going on.
5. Classical Education is superior - I've looked at a lot of different methods, compared with my public and private school education as well and come to the conclusion that classical education is far superior to any other.  Why?  Well, it teaches to the mind of the child.  In the grammar stages, your child is a sponge soaking up everything.  In the logic stages, they start to ask why and to find out the answers - in other words, they learn to THINK!  By the rhetoric stage, they take all the information they've absorbed and the thinking skills are able to defend their viewpoints and back up their beliefs.  They don't teach this in other methods and they sure don't teach it in public schools!
6. Include secular beliefs and books - Don't be a Christian hermit and shelter your child from anything that doesn't have a scripture in it or reference to God.  Your children need to know what evolution is and why it is wrong!  They need to see both sides, so that they will not be tricked later on in life.  They should learn mythology, so they can understand references to it in history and the great books.  They need to understand the world with a Christian worldview - not just live in a sheltered educational box for they will not be truly educated to reach the world.
7. Relax!!!!  - I just learned this a few years ago but I see so many others not relaxing and being burdened down by Satan's lies about homeschooling.  It isn't hard!  They just need to learn to read, write and do math and everything else is gathered really from reading!  You can go through and never do one experiment or project and learn what you need to know by just reading a book on it.  RELAX!!  There are only 4 parts of science and they repeat it every 4 years - so if you miss something the first go round, relax!  Same with history.  Don't sweat the small stuff, they will eventually get it - trust me!
8. Love Teaching Your Child - if you don't do everything as unto God, you will hate homeschooling and your child will pick that up!  Don't let Satan have an advantage in your home - do homeschooling as you are doing it for the Lord.  Your bad attitudes will be absorbed by your child and they will lose confidence in themselves.  Change your attitude and amazingly - everything starts working again!  Praise your children more than you point out their mistakes!!
9. Pray constantly about your homeschool - whenever you have a problem in homeschooling - stop and pray!  If your child is struggling with something - have them stop and pray!  Prayer changes things!  You either have faith when you pray or you don't.  If you don't pray for your homeschool before you begin each day, don't be surprised if you have a hard time.  You have not because you didn't ask!

Homeschooling Isn't Just for the Child

You would think that I would know that Africa was a continent, how to treat titles of certain works in writing and the order of history, since I was on the principal's honor roll and even took honors classes in high school, but I didn't.  I find that homeschooling just isn't for my child(ren), it is also for ME!  My husband finds it humorous that up until I taught the continents in Kindergarten, I didn't know that one of them was Africa because I thought Africa was a country.  Up until today, I didn't know the reason why some titles are italicized, whereas others are underlined and then even others are put in quotation marks.  I learned that today in my daughter's grammar curriculum, which has been a real eye-opener for this "smart" mom.

Learning history in public school is atrocious, as a slew of facts and events are thrown at you in no particular order.  It is no wonder why I didn't 'get' history as a whole until I started teaching history in chronological order.  It is amazing how much better you understand the world and society when you learn history from the beginning to the current.  WHY does the public school system teach history in a way that leaves us clueless and unable to learn from history?  That is another conspiratorial blog post waiting to happen.

This isn't something that I just realized, I actually realized that homeschooling was more for me the first week I started homeschooling.  I have so many gaps in my public and private school education that I think it was needful in my own life!  I can't tell you how incredible it feels to be in my 5th year of this journey and what it has done for my life, even my spiritual life as we have been able to connect history with the bible.

So moms, when you think it is just too hard or you would rather be shopping - realize that this isn't just for your children, it may just be what you need!

Why I Homeschool

I'm not sure that I've actually ever answered this question with a list of the main reasons we homeschool, so I thought I would go ahead and do a post on why I homeschool.  Besides the most obvious reasons of we prefer a God-centered education and will not put our child under false teaching, there are numerous other reasons we have chosen this route.  Even if I didn't care about God or what my child was being taught, I more than likely still would homeschool - so for all those that think I just do it for religious reasons - you are wrong!  So here they are........

1. Less Stress - my mornings are mine, they are not rushed, they are quiet and peaceful.  There is no rushing around to get a child fed, ready and off to the bus for school.  It is a slow, stressless morning with joy.  The evenings are ours - no rush to get home and get in bed, bedtimes are only for good sleep hygeine and for my daughter (and me!) to get the sleep she needs.  I have to say that I'm SO glad that I don't have to wake up before the sun has even thought of coming up to get my children ready for school!  It is one of the perks of homeschooling.  I also love how I don't have to go pick my children up and wait in a long line or wait for the bus.  If we go out for errands, I don't have to hurry before the kids get out of school to be home at a certain time.  All in all, it is less stressful for a mom and the children!
2. Make it in the "real world" - despite the misnomer that keeping a child away from a school-building means they are not in the "real world", the truth of the matter is that the real world is the one outside the walls of the school building.  My daughter's life will be at home, running errands, interacting with people in the neighborhood of all ages and what better way to learn the "real world" than live in it!  She interacts with children in different groups of all ages, can hold a conversation with an adult, and is there when "real life" happens.
3. Build a Strong Child -  You must first build a house from the foundation up with the right materials so it can weather the storm!  If you build the house with bruised and broken materials, it will fall or crack in the day of adversity.  I'm not of the flawed philosophy that you need to ridicule, beat and tear down children to make them "strong" or able to "handle" it.  If that was the case, then after molestation, rape, and the verbal and physical abuse I've experienced in my life - I should be the strongest person by now.  Bullying does not make one strong, it tears one down.  You can't tell me that a child who hasn't even grown up is able to handle the abuse that happens at today's schools that grown adults let continue.  Rather, we should see more good behavior, manners, ethics and courtesy being taught and what better way to do that than at home?  Instead, we see suicides and broken children all around us.  I want to build a strong child, so that when her time comes to face the harshness of others, she will be able to stand.  Frederick Douglas said it so well: "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
4. Quality Education - From all the complaints I hear from friends whose children attend public schools, and from what I witness and hear in the reports of educational standards - I know that to get a quality education in today's society, you either send your child to a private school or you homeschool.  Homeschooling allows 1-on-1 education and moves at the child's pace.  It is tailored to the child, thus it creates a child who "gets" it and doesn't get left behind on anything.  Our daughter did math and english standardized tests and scored about 2 grade levels ahead.  Even though, I'm not one for having a test as "proof" that something works - she is doing just right with momma's teaching, sadly better than the typical student who is taught by degree-carrying women.  I also love how we can do hands-on projects in history and science.  Being able to grow a garden together for botany and take nature walks and bring home specimens to view under the microscope have developed a life-long learner in my daughter.
5. Community Involvement and Service a.k.a SOCIALIZATION - Thinking of all the different people we meet in our neighborhood, around town, at homeschool groups and field trips - we are very involved in our community.  Not only does my daughter get to be around children of all types but I get to reach out to other mothers in the community and other cities around us in these homeschool groups.  This is socialization at its best, in a controlled environment as children learn to be around various age levels and individuals.  The greatest thing at these events is - there is no bullying among homeschooled kids!  Almost all the children are respectful, treat each other kindly and show great teamwork in games and sports.  One of the most common things we hear on field trips from people at the many places we tour or go to explore is "You all must be homeschoolers because you are so well behaved and actually listen!"  Train up a child in the way they should go.
6. Time Together - I love being with my daughter (and now my son) so much!  My children are a joy to be around because I raised them to be a joy to be around.  People ask me what I did to help my daughter be respectful and obedient - I lean in like I'm getting ready to spill the biggest secret in the world and say "It's called parenting!"  I always seem to get a laugh but really, there is no magic potion - you just need to BE THERE for your kids!  I'm there when my daughter has those "questions" about growing up or about God.  We talk a LOT - we are female after all lol.  I'm so glad that she isn't at school with a teacher I barely know asking those questions.  Who knows what they would teach her!?  My daughter and I bond a lot and we have cuddle time sometimes in the middle of the school day.  Sometimes we just quit school to spend time together or go to the park or get ice cream.  I love the time we have together, it is so short, I don't want to miss the best hours of her day!
7. Creativity and Interest-Led Learning - I think that traditional schooling squashes a child's imagination and thus, their creativity.  We need to strive to keep this alive because it is what can make life have that zest!  I also believe that children are not allowed to expand upon their interests outside of the basics.  This is most important later on in the high school years.  With homeschooling, we can allow our children to finish their basic schoolwork and then have the rest of the day to work on their interest - whether it be building a rocket, constructing a fort or sewing clothes - homeschooling allows them to establish these skills by having the TIME to do so.  My daughter loves to sew after school is over and takes her sewing box outside to sew and watch the birds.  I told her if she wants to make her clothes, she can be able to and do it well here in a few years of practice and that got the ball rolling.  If she wanted to start a clothing business during high school in our home, she could!  The possibilities are endless.  For my son, who we will train to have a trade and/or career, he can use that time to expand on his interests or work part-time.

That is all I can think of right now before dozing off to sleep, but I will add more if I remember any! :-)

Understanding Washington Homeschooling Law

I've had a lot of questions about laws concerning homeschooling in Washington state and now feel qualified to answer them as I took a certifying course covering the law.  The course was offered from a local university and created by a woman who was actually there and part of the law when it was first created.  As a law-abiding citizen, we should follow these laws and especially since we don't have to "prove" we did, we should for own conscience's sake and for the protection of our homeschooling freedoms.

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Reporting Age = Washington law states that the compulsory attendance age for children is 8-18 years of age.  This simply means that children aren't required to attend school until they are 8 years old, or in this case, start homeschooling.  Attempts to change this age to 6 have been made but so far the law hasn't been changed.

Days of Instruction = Under the home school statute (which means you are entirely on your own and not under a private school or public school), you are required to school for 180 days every year OR meet an annual average of 1,000 hours.

Required Subjects = You are required to teach 11 subjects every year in Washington state and they are: occupational education, science, math, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling and art/music.  These are not optional, you have to include each one every year starting at age 8.

Requirements of the Parent Teacher = To teach your child(ren) under the home school statute, you must meet ONE of the following, if both parents are teaching, they must both meet one of the following:

1. Supervised by a certificated person, which has contact with the child one hour per week and evaluates the child.  This "certificated" person must be a current, licensed WA state teacher.
2. Have 45 college credits or the equivalent in semester credits
3. Certified under a home-based education course from a college
4. Deemed sufficiently qualified by the superintendent

*I meet the third one as I've completed and been certified by a college course on home-based education.

Reporting = You must file a Declaration of Intent (DOI) every year to your local school district by Sept. 15th or within 2 weeks of the start of the public school quarter, trimester or semester.  You can mail these in.  You only need to start filing these when the child turns 8 and from then on every year.  By law, you only have to give them your child's(ren's) name and age - nothing else besides your signature and address.

Testing = You must do one of the following every year after the child turns 8 and KEEP the results in the child's permanent records.

1. Standardized test administered by testing official - you can not administer these yourself, the child either goes to the local school district to take the test during the annual testing time or you can pay a local test administrator who is qualified to give the test.  The scores you keep to yourself, you don't have to turn them in to anyone!
2. Have a current, certified WA state teacher evaluate your child.

*I do the second one from a local teacher and then retain the records as proof we completed one of the two testing options.

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In a nutshell what I had to do to homeschool on my 'own' is this: complete a certifying course before my daughter was 8 and file a DOI on her birthday and every Sept. thereafter.  Teach the 11 subjects every year for 180 days or 1,000 hours and have her evaluated at the end of every school year by a certified WA state teacher and retain the records of all this.

Here is an example of what can meet the 11 required subjects:

1. Occupational education - "marketable" skills such as domestic/homekeeping, car/bike maintenance, cooking, keyboarding, employment, volunteer work, etc.
2. Science - life science, earth science, physics, biology, nature study, etc.
3. Math - mathematical concepts and procedures
4. Language - proper speech/grammar, vocabulary, etc.
5. Social studies - geography, religion, government, map skills, etc.
6. History - US history, world and religious history
7. Health - nutrition, physical education, safety, etc.
8. Reading - phonics, comprehension, etc.
9. Writing - copywork, dictation, essays, reports, etc.
10. Spelling - learning to spell words
11. Art & Music - appreciation/exposure to art and music

I also recommend joining the Home School Legal Defense Association yearly for legal protection in the case of the truancy officer showing up at your door or CPS.  If they do happen to show up at your door, you simply ask them to hold on, grab the phone, call your lawyers at HSLDA and they will walk you through the process and/or talk to the officer or social worker.  Know your rights and know the law or you could find yourself in trouble!

Homeschool Room - Ready for 2nd Grade

I took all the posters off the walls and added some subway art, rail with buckets for pens/scissors/markers, etc. and put a string of yarn on the wall and hung some of my favorite art that K has done.

My camera didn't do well and if I turned the light on it glared off the dry erase board but here they are:

The collage shows before, after taking down the old posters and then the last one being now:

Flash Cards

I love using flash cards for review as it provides an extra boost to almost anything we are learning.  Target had an awesome deal yesterday with each set being just 50 cents!  I already had a few of these from when I bought them last year but I added in some on animals, insects and space.

Tribute to Homeschooling Parents

The son of the creators of Doorposts (from what I understand) wrote this to his parents:


Thank you, Daddy and Mama, for purposing to teach us at home, for following through, and for pouring out your lives for us. You have been faithful to the calling God put before you.

Thank you for reading the Bible to us every day.

Thank you for reading us hundreds of books.

Thank you for choosing to build a family library instead of buying new cars, expensive home decor, or big boy toys.

Thank you for staying up late correcting our schoolwork.

Thank you for helping us with math problems (even when you couldn't remember how to do them either). Benjamin turned out an engineer, so I think you did okay.

Thank you for turning off the computer and making us play outside.

Thank you for feeding our interests and fanning the flames of "delight-directed study."  We learned LOTS about history and about God's creation without knowing it was part of "school."

Thank you for investing in our music lessons.

Thank you for allowing us to make messes (and for teaching us to clean them up).

Thank you for sorting through curriculum each year to find what worked best for us.

Thank you for writing our curriculum when you couldn't find what you needed. God has used your work to serve many other families.

Thank you for pointing us to other godly men and women for more advice and training when you'd given all you could give.

Thank you, Daddy, for doing cool stuff with us like falling trees and building fences, and for teaching me how computers work.

Thank you, Mama, for teaching each of us to write well. That must have been hard.

Thank you for not giving up.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. - Galatians 6:9 KJV

HSE Magazine - Awesome Quotes

I received 2 free issues of Home School Enrichment magazine and I really have loved the articles so far.  The first issue, had an awesome article called: "Homeschooling: An Offensive Lifestyle."  It talks of what most homeschoolers have learned after their first year, that just setting a standard offends and homeschooling seems to upset a lot of people.  Some quotes from the article that I highlighted:

"Families are homeschooling because of biblical conviction, but judging by the amount of criticism they receive, one would think they have purposely set out to destroy the lives of their children!"

She also responds to a common sarcasm that homeschoolers get and which I have gotten myself that question how my child will learn how to live in the "real world?"

"The objective in Christian homeschooling is not to teach children how to "deal with the real world."  I do not want to teach my children how to merely survive this life.  As believers in Christ, we are called to be overcomers!"

Then, in another article in the same issue, I came across "Sacrifices and Homeschooling: Dispelling Myth #2: "I Could Never Do That."  Here are some quotes from that article:

"...people aren't willing to make the personal sacrifices that homeschooling requires."

"Homeschooling takes time, something many parents are not willing to give their children - not to the extent that home education requires."

She goes on to talk about how some mothers can't wait to get rid of their children when school starts up again and gives a reason for these types of mothers:

".....putting their children in school means the parents are getting their personal time back.  School is free day care so they can pursue their interests."

How true!  Since when is it the state's job to watch your kid all day and educate them?  God sure didn't give them that right, he told the parents they are responsible but anyway, I'm getting off track here lol.  =0

What would make a mother not want her child to the point that she can't wait to get the child out of her hair, so to speak?  The author points out the obvious, lack of parenting has created a disobedient child that no mother would want to be around:

"Since neither the parents nor the children are very happy, why would these parents want to have the kids at home with them during the day?  After-school hours are unpleasant enough!"

"These parents have already lost the hearts of their children.  It's sad to say, but ultimately, they don't even like their own children anymore.  They don't enjoy spending time with them, and they long for someone else to watch them so they don't have to.  Why?  Because their relationship is a battleground........the respect for the parent is no more."

Facts About Homeschooling Video

Educational Freedom

This is a must read for every parent!  It is so well written and the truth!  Here are some quotes:

Obviously, back in the early days of the republic, education was a family affair closely connected to religious practice. A nation built on Biblical principles had to be a highly literate one. And all of this high level of literacy was achieved without any government involvement, without any centralized bureaucracy, without any professors of education, or accrediting agencies, or teacher certification. And, most significantly, without any compulsory attendance laws.

Another:

These laws not only violate the parents' unalienable right to determine how their children are to be educated, but they violate the 13th Amendment, which prohibits involuntary servitude. No child should be forced to serve the state and the interests of the education establishment. No child should be forced to undergo brainwashing and indoctrination by a self-serving monopoly of facilitators and change agents.

Go here to read the rest - share it, pass it on:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/opinion/sam-blumenfeld/8087-the-meaning-of-educational-freedom

Independence Day / 4th of July FREE Lapbook

We did this lapbook last year and it is SO awesome, just a reminder for those who may want to do this for the celebrations this weekend, we are going to be using ours for review.

This post is from last July:

I'm happy to say we finished our very first lapbook!  I also have to say that I'm absolutely hooked and addicted to lapbooking now and can't wait to start the next one.  We chose to do a lapbook for the 4th of July/Independence Day to use this week in our study of what Independence Day is all about since K will not get American history till 3rd grade.  We already went over a lot while making the lapbook but will read books and listen to audiobooks on the subject this week as we study it.

I was going to use cardstock paper for the whole thing but realized you could get by with regular printer paper easily on most of the items.  I did use cardstock paper on the leader cards and revolution wheel.  For glue, we used glue sticks and a glue pen for the ones that had a paper fastener.

It was so easy to do when I understood how it all worked and K loved it as well but gave up on the writing so I had to finish the rest.  I printed out some 4th of July worksheets, bookmarks, sun visor and coloring pages for K to do this week for fun as well and they fit nicely in the lapbook section for handouts!

I was almost done and working on the pledge of allegiance and before I glued the cover to the booklet, I realized that the words "under God" were not in the provided pledge!  I was a bit upset but I just went ahead and cut it out and wrote it myself including UNDER GOD! 





You can download the lapbook for free here. 

Tailoring Curriculum to Your Child

K is actually not really any grade, I just say 1st grade for everyone else's understanding.  She is doing 2nd grade work, 3rd grade work and reading 4th-5th grade work and then she has some 1st grade work she is finishing up, so whatever "grade" that is, throw her in there.  I love using Classical Education because it is tailored to go at the child's pace and generally uses levels.

This is why boxed curriculum can cause a child to either fret or be bored.  Here is an example:  You buy the boxed 2nd grade curriculum set from somewhere like Bob Jones.  Your child isn't yet ready for 2nd grade writing and then 2nd grade math is way too easy for her.  So she is crying over the writing and then becoming bored with the math!  Enter any other scenarios here.  Boxed curriculum is just so unrealistic because I've yet to meet a child that is truly on level in ALL subjects at the same time!  Most children have strengths and weaknesses and boxed curriculum is not tailored to that.  You are in a hurry to finish up the whole grade of the boxed curriculum within that year, but what if your child isn't ready?  You are just going to push them on through for what benefit?  Yours or others?  Couldn't possibly be the child because if you really cared for them above all, you would not let them go on if they weren't ready in a particular subject and you would go on in subjects they are ready to move on in. 

Tailoring your curriculum to your child is what is so great about homeschooling!  You teach to your child's learning style, go at their pace in each subject and you don't have anyone over you telling you they must finish all subjects at a certain time and move on.  That is what is so wrong with public schools - children are either left behind or they are bored because its too easy for them.  If it isn't working in the public schools for most children, then why would you bring home their methods in homeschooling?

A Day in the Homeschool............

We seem to have guests at our homeschool table a lot these days and today was no exception, we had 3!  Mr. Care Bear didn't much care for the history lesson on Roman Gladiators, so he read Dake's Annotated Bible.  Skittles decided to wave for the camera and No-name-yet doggy paid close attention......

Independent Work - Second-Half of 1st Grade

I'm so overjoyed how much independent work K has been able to take on since finishing up the OPGTR.  Not only has she read almost the entire easy book list for 1st-3rd grade in 3 months and this year's "assigned" list, she is reading so well that she doesn't need me reading what I used to from different subjects.  Here is what she is now able to do independently:

1. Reading - this is an obvious one, but wanted to include it as well.  She does her "assigned" 4th grade reading level for 30 minutes and then does her evening "fun" below-reading level book for 30-40 minutes.  She also is able to do her once-a-week fluency reading on her own.
2. Saxon 2 Math - she can do all the work on her own, she no longer needs me to read the directions or the problems!  All I do is teach the lesson and then give her the work.
3. Rod & Staff English 2 - she reads the lesson (I don't have to even teach this anymore!) and does the activity orally on her own!  Another subject I don't have to teach anymore, woohoo!
4. Spelling Workout B - she studies the tip and does the lesson on her own now and I don't need to read anything for her!  I also don't have to administer the spelling test, because we have been using Spelling City for that!

With writing, I read the excerpt from the story and then ask questions and then she does the worksheet herself.  With history and science, it is still very involved for me.  I have had her listen to the history lesson on cd but she doesn't seem to remember as much - she does better when I read the lesson.  Science is reading books and doing projects basically, so that is very parent-involved as well.

Overall, I'm very excited that my teacher-load is lessening!  I thought it wouldn't be until 3rd grade for her to be able to do this much without me but getting her on that 4th-grade reading level was the key that unlocked time for me!  The English 2 didn't happen till this week, she wanted to start reading the lesson, so I would let her and she read almost as fast as me, so I figured why not?  Then today, I was very busy, so I had her just do what she could - in just a minute or so she had already read the lesson and did the work!  I was floored and so came to write up this post! :-)

It is so exciting to see your child learn to teach themselves - that is what we are trying to do as homeschool moms - training them to LEARN independently!

History is the Core

History is very important and including the Bible, it is the core of our homeschool.  We use Susan Wise Bauer's "Story of the World" as our history spine and then we also read books on the time periods we are studying in history in reading.  Then with Bible - hello, the OT is history! ;-)  History is so vital and so important and it has always been my favorite subject.

It has given K an understanding of how our world started, how cultures have progressed and even explained how we got our writing and other ideas, such as the calendar, etc.  I'm so glad that we started history from the beginning following the chronological format instead of having her learn bits and pieces of different time periods of history and having a jumbled mess in her brain!

I came across a wonderful article by Susan Wise Bauer and here is a quote:

In The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, we recommend making history the backbone of classical studies. The study of history occupies the center of the curriculum. Reading assignments, writing, research, and even history are organized around the time period under study in history.

Read the rest here.

Opinion: Homeschool Tax Break

You may have heard or read the push to get homeschoolers a tax break.  The idea is that homeschoolers should receive some sort of compensation for what they do and purchase and they want to do it in the form of tax breaks.  Now, I'm all for tax breaks, especially since I pay for other's education and none of that comes to me.  Here is my opinion and you can read the ongoing debate at the NY Times here:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/04/do-home-schoolers-deserve-a-tax-break

Benefits of the Homeschool Tax Break

1. We get what we are paying for - homeschoolers, whether we like it or not, are paying for public education that we don't use.  With a homeschool tax break, we would get a return on what we pay to use for our child's education
2. It would encourage others to homeschool - having the advantage of a tax break, it may spur others on the fence to homeschool their children

Dangers of the Homeschool Tax Break

1. Government - I don't want the government telling me what to do, that is why I homeschool.  With this tax break it could possibly bring more rigorous government oversight into my home and regulations.
2. Freedom - not only will the government give us homeschoolers more rules, but it most likely infringe upon our freedoms of what and how we educate our children.  

I can foresee the rigid rules and regulations coming ahead if they pass a homeschool tax break.  To give us money back, they will want to "check up" on us and I just don't like that.  The whole reason I educate my child is because she is MY child, not the government's.

Having said all that, I will have no choice but to be regulated if they pass this tax break. The way I look at it is this - I'm already paying for other children's education, it would be nice to know that money we pay for something we don't use, will come back to us to use for our child.  So in summary, we can get reimbursed for paying for public education we don't use BUT at a cost of having government intrusion on our freedom.  I don't know about you other homeschoolers, but I am tired of paying for a godless public education system!  Bring on the $500 tax break (of money I already pay) so I can purchase God-filled education for my child! 

From the Dean of Cambridgeshire Academy....

I woke up to this on the homeschool board this morning from hubby and cried!  It was such an encouragement to me:

To the beautiful ladies of Cambridgeshire Academy,

    I am very proud of your efforts you have both displayed in this school.  Remember; this school was founded with the fullest intentions of providing an education based on the fundamental principles that our God has taught us in His word.   Take to heart the great blessing it is that we can educate our children in our home – with no watering-down of the Gospel.  We experience no assault on the foundation of Christ in this home.  Should it come to that – that foundation will not yield – nor will we.

    I cherish you both.  When I hear the laughter in this room during school time, or the simple instructions being read, or the irreplaceable bond between mother and daughter that touches my soul – I know in my heart that my home is not just my castle – but it is the focal point in which I learn what is truly important in being your provider, your father, your man.  Thank you for teaching me, without opening a book.

With Love,

Daddy