How Can You Afford to Homeschool Part 2

Today I would like to share some ways I have learned to stretch our money and live within our means.

If you haven't read the above magazine, I would like to recommend it.  It is loaded with great tips for saving money and making items from scratch.  You can find it at: http://econobusters.com/molly_green_magazine_molly_makes_merry/  It costs a mere $3.85 a month to read online, or you can purchase single issues for $4.95 each.

First, I shop at a discount grocery store and the local Dollar Tree store.  These two stores are where I buy most of our groceries and household and toiletry items, including vitamins and some over-the-counter medicines.  I only go to a regular, full price grocery store for meats and the few things I may not be able to find at the other two stores.

I mentioned that we make a lot of food items from scratch.  I also make some of our household products myself out of common ingredients.  In future posts, I will share some recipes.

Almost two years ago I purchased a sewing machine and I make my own skirts.  I have made my own curtains.  I made the boys and my husband lounge pants.  I enjoy sewing and learning to make new clothing and craft items on my sewing machine.

When we need clothes that I cannot make, we go to the local consignment shops, used clothing stores, Good Will stores, or Salvation Army store. (I buy under items new at K-Mart).

I make homemade items for Christmas gifts.  (We do buy 1 or 2 items for the boys and we purchase stocking stuffers).

Also, to conserve things like gasoline, we don't go out unless we have to and we try to do as many things in the area we are travelling in as we possibly can instead of making multiple trips to the same area in a week's time.

In the spring, we plant a garden to help cut grocery costs.  It is a blessing and joy to be able to plant, grow and harvest our own food.

These are things we do to live frugally, and you can too.  You may just want to start small and try one or two steps at a time.  We didn't do all of this at once either, but it has become natural for us to do these things.  They have simply become a natural part of our lifestyle.

How Can You Afford to Homeschool?

Homeschooling requires personal sacrifice, but it is temporary and so worthwhile.  We only have our children for a while before they are grown and off living their own lives and creating their own families.  Sure, they'll come home for visits, but they won't need so much of our time and attention.

My husband and I chose through God's leading, eleven years ago, to homeschool the two boys we had at that time.  The oldest was in 2nd grade in a private Christian school and the younger in preschool in the same private Christian school, when God called us to homeschool.  I really hadn't worked outside of the home more than part-time work for a brief time, after adopting our first son, but I was working part-time when God called us to homeschool.  So, I quit my part-time job and contacted the only woman I knew that homeschooled to seek some advice and tips because I didn't know anything about it.

Our homeschool journey hasn't been easy for several reasons:  1) My husband is a general labor worker and         every job he's ever had has included times of lay-off; 2) our second son fought me tooth and nail about EVERYTHING, but most especially over doing school work of any kind.  It didn't matter if it was educational games, books I would read to him or worksheets I wanted him to do -- no matter what approach I took, he wasn't interested. So, I thought, like many moms do, maybe I'm not the right teacher for him; maybe he needs something I can't give him; maybe he would do better in a school setting.  (Now, I want to note here that he had problems in preschool in the private Christian school before this, but somehow I had forgotten that.)  So, we enrolled him in the local public school.  That lasted three months.  He didn't do any better there, and I got tired of the public school teacher complaining to me and blaming me for the time I had homeschooled him because "he hadn't had any structure before".  What did she know about our homeschool?  She had never asked me about it.  So, we brought him back home.

Then, one day as I was reading our local homeschool newsletter, I saw an advertisement that grabbed my attention.  It asked me questions about struggles I was having with my son, and said that if the answer to any of the questions was "yes", my child probably needed vision therapy.  I called and made an appointment and our son began vision therapy.  However, it wasn't long and my husband's job hit one of those lay-off times and I couldn't afford the vision therapy sessions anymore, and the therapist was not willing to work with us in any way.  So, we had to stop.  I was disheartened because I had begun to see some improvement during the time our son was getting that therapy.

Then I was talking with someone and found out that they had a child who was getting vision therapy, but not where we had been going.  This place was an hour's drive from our home in one direction!  Well, I called and we went, and what a blessing!  These people cared more about the patient than the money.  They worked with us, they gave my son more of a variety of activities for therapy and made them fun as much as possible.  And, the therapist spoke with me each and every visit and explained what they were doing, and the vision therapy doctor/evaluator allowed me in the room to watch the evaluation and he spoke to me throughout and told me things about my son's behavior that were right on the mark, and I said, "how do you know that?"  He told me that the issues of my son's eyes not working together properly are part of the cause of his behaviors.  I was astounded, but as my son progressed through the therapy, his behaviors improved dramatically.  By the time he completed the therapy, he seemed like a different child.  We didn't constantly butt heads anymore.

Now, back to the financial end of it.  During the times my husband was laid off from work, times were tough, but God always provided and we made it through, without even having to cut out co-op classes.  Somehow, God always provided.  No, we didn't have the money to buy everything we wanted or go all the places we wanted to go or do all of the things we wanted to do, but our needs were always met.  A couple of Christmases were tight as well, but we would make homemade gifts to give, which kept costs down.  We still do this.

I also learned to make more things from scratch to save money, like baking my own bread, baking cookies and cakes and muffins from scratch.  It's cheaper to keep ingredients on hand and make my own than to buy premade or ready mix.  I learned how to make my own granola cereal.  We ate oatmeal.  We made homemade pizza by making homemade dough.  I even learned how to make my own handsoap and laundry detergent, dishwasher rinse aid and other household items.  It really wasn't that difficult, but it took a little more time.  But the foods tasted better and are healthier because they don't have all those preservatives and stuff.

Right now, my husband is in a lay off period again.  He's been off work since the beginning of August and he hasn't been able to find another job.  But, this time, before his lay off, in the month of May, I found something interesting and appealing to me in the email inbox.  You see, I used to subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and also received their e-newsletters, and out of the blue, I received an email informing me that they were looking to hire some advertising sales representatives.  It gave me a bit of information about the position, and I was intrigued.  I spoke to my husband and showed him the email, and we decided that I would check it out.  I responded to the email, had a telephone interview, responded to another email and then received an email welcoming me to the TOS team -- I had gotten the job!  And, it was the kind of job I had wanted years before -- a job that I could work from home and set my own work schedule!  And, the best part of the whole thing was that I hadn't even been looking for anything.  I was living content in the life God had given me.  I believe that God had a hand in that email.  I now work as an advertising sales representative for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I love my job and the people I work with and for, even though I have never met any of them face-to-face.  I'm not making much money, as this is a commission-based job, but I will get there.  It's the kind of job that requires time, patience and relationship building in order to begin to earn money, and I made my first sale in August and it was the only sale I made in August.  Then I made one sale in September, but I made four sales in October, and I've already made one in November, so I can see it building, and I am enjoying it so much, AND earning some money is better than earning no money.  It is a blessing, and I believe it was a gift from God and that he will continue to bless it.

So, yes, homeschooling is a self-sacrifice.  I don't get to go shopping or out with the girls, or even out with my husband very often, but our children are precious to us and we want what is best for them.  We believe that our teaching them at home where we can teach them our Christian beliefs and heritage, is what is best for them.  Our oldest graduated from high school last year, and we can already see how God is blessing the fruits of our labors because we were (and are) obedient to Him, as He is the one who called us to homeschool and we are doing our best to be faithful to Him who is faithful.  I don't believe we will regret our choice to homeschool, and we will have time and probably more money to spend upon ourselves when our children are grown, but I don't feel angry, frustrated or neglected because of the choice we have made.  I feel content and blessed, and I can see God's blessings in our lives even in the tough times.

So, my question is can you afford NOT to homeschool?

How Do You Homeschool with Toddlers?

I would like to begin this post by letting you know that it is not my writing that you will be reading.  I have never had to homeschool any children while having toddlers in the house, but I have lots of friends who have, and I know that this is a challenge for new homeschool moms.  Therefore, I will be sharing a short article on the subject written by my friend, Mrs. Lefever.  She wrote this for our local homeschool newsletter, The Scrawls:

     Every year I get asked that question (the title of this article).  It's been many years since I held not
only one of my own toddlers but my grandson, who's now eight years old, on my knee while I was explaining a math problem.  (She has graduated four of her children already).
     Homeschooling with toddlers can be a challenge but it can be done successfully.
     First, be flexible.  Not every homeschool day is going to look the same.  Some days you'll get more accomplished than others and that's okay.  (This applies to ALL homeschoolers).
     Second, be creative.  I used to keep a few boxes filled with toys that could only be played with during school time.  I would keep all the boxes but one in the attic and then switch the box every few weeks, so the toys were always "new" to the child.
     Keep your eyes open for real life lessons.  While driving the van, I noticed one small cloud in the blue otherwise cloudless sky.  I told the children about the story of Elijah (I Kings) praying for rain.  Then we talked about different types of clouds and the weather forecast for the day.  Science and Bible lessons done without a text book or a study guide, while driving to the doctor's office.
     Third, you're a homeschool family.  Have an older sibling read out loud to the younger ones.  Have coloring books, play dough or special snacks on hand.  "Washing dishes" in the kitchen sink was a favorite activity.  Everything got wet but it was only water and 9 times out of 10 my kitchen floor needed washed anyway.
     You will be surprised how much the younger children learn by just listening to you teach the older children.  Remember...this time is only for a season, treasure it.

A New School Year

We have begun our new school year.  Today was our 16th day.  We are enjoying it.  I only have two students, as my oldest son graduated this past school year.  My graduate has also been working toward a college Bachelor's Degree in Humanities through the College Plus program.  He has taken many CLEP tests and yesterday took his first Dantes (DSST) test.  He has passed all of them so far, and after passing the DSST test yesterday, is officially a college junior.  He also works for Lamplighter Ministries.  He began as an intern their last summer and became an official part-time employee this past February.  He has had opportunity to travel to London, England to observe and be a part of recording radio dramas; he has had opportunity to travel to Orlando, Florida and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, all in connection with his work with Lamplighter Ministries.  Then he returned to New Paltz, New York for the second annual Lamplighter Guild.  God has just been guiding and directing in his life in some amazing and wonderful ways.

So, I still have two boys to continue to educate.  Our middle son is in ninth grade this year and is studying Algebra I from Math-U-See.  He had been using Saxon Math prior to this, but our oldest switched from Saxon to Math-U-See when he hit the Algebra level because he found Saxon's algebra to be too difficult and lacking explanation.  Our middle son also began to struggle a bit with his eighth grade Saxon near the end of the course, so he will be doing algebra and all other high school level math curriculum with Math-U-See.  He is also studying History using Mystery of History.  This is a great curriculum that ties Biblical history with world history, which is fantastic because the Biblical history was taking place at the exact same time that other historical events were happening in other parts of the world; so it's great to see the connections instead of having it separate and never making those connections.  He has always enjoyed writing, but finds it challenging, so he is studying both Writing Strands and Intermediate Language Lessons from My Father's World.  We are also reading some classic literature, and he will be studying Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Physical Science in a co-op class, as I prefer not to teach science.  He will also be taking a Mechanical Drawing and Mapmaking class and a Real World Business class at our co-op.

My youngest is using mostly My Father's World products for all subjects.  We have already finished the science book about Birds, Nests and Eggs by Mel Boring and we are now working on creating a lapbook based on his six favorite birds from the book.  He and I both love lapbooks.  They are a great hands-on activity, and they are creative.  I found FREE printable patterns to use for our lapbooks here, and this makes making lapbooks really easy!  We'll be doing several lapbooks this year.  We will also study Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and "The Nutcracker".  We are studying the early settlers and the founding of the United States in history.  We have already learned about Christopher Columbus and about some Europeans who came to the United States, as well as Captain John Smith and Jamestown.  We are reading more about some Jamestown pioneers.  This son is also using Math-U-See for Math because it includes audio, visual and hands-on learning.  He is continuing to read, building on the level of difficulty.  He has read an "Amelia Bedelia" book, a book titled A Second Chance for Tina and a "Henry and Mudge" book, and he read the book about Christopher Columbus to me.  He will also be taking a science class, a class about syllables and reading and an art class at the co-op.  We will also do occasional art projects here at home, and, of course, lapbooks count toward art as well.  The photo below is my little guy's drawing.  He was supposed to draw a ship like the Europeans traveled to the United States on.  He looked at a photo while drawing this, and I think he's got some real talent.

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What About Socialization?

I used to hear this question much more than I have recently.  First of all, I'll tell you that it's never been a problem for us because we are faithful church attenders and our children have a lot of friends at church.  We have also been involved in one homeschool co-op or another almost every year since we began homeschooling, and the boys have been involved in homeschool sports since the beginning of our homeschool journey.  So they have had ample opportunity to meet and make good friends.

But, they aren't just social with their peers.  They are able to socialize with people of all ages because they are growing up in an environment where they have to socialize with their parents/adults and younger and/or older siblings on a daily basis, so they learn how to effectively communicate with people of all ages.

Now, I'd like to share some information from notes that I took at a seminar at a homeschool convention this year.  The speaker was Mr. Rick Boyer, and he pointed out that as Christian homeschool parents, our goal is not the effect of the culture on our children, but the effect of our children on the culture (I can give several examples of this from our lives as well, but will do so in another post).

Mr. Boyer also asked the questions, "Is 'school' anything like the real world?  Is everyone in the real world segregated into age groups?"

Schools relieve you of your ability to form any convictions, as you sit there and do whatever you are told to do.

Kids need to experience the real world.  (School is not the real world).

Age segregation is killing our culture because the kids do not have exposure to people "who have been there, done that."

Divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, drugs and alcohol -- how many of these social issues were caused by kids who spent too much time at home with their parents?

I love the following example Mr. Boyer presented to the statement, we homeschoolers so often hear:  "Kids need to face the real world issues and learn to deal with it."  Mr. Boyer said this is how to respond to this statement; ask the person, "Do you know that it's not a good idea to stand in the middle of the street during rush hour?"  When they say "yes", ask them with a little more emphasis, "Do your know that it's not a good idea to stand in the middle of the street during rush hour?"  When they say "yes", this time respond with, "Did you learn that through experience?"

Proverbs 23:22 says, "Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old."  If children do not grow up parent-dependent; they will grow up peer-dependent.

Mr. Boyer pointed out that U.S. kids in schools have a Negative Attitude toward themselves, and toward their peers and are resistant to parental authority and pessimistic toward the future.  He also pointed out that the U. S. has the highest suicide rate in the world.

Other things Mr. Boyer pointed out about kids in schools:

     Parental values are discarded.
     Their personal values are under attack.
     Peer socialization causes negative attitudes toward children of other peer groups.
     It breaks down family relationships.
     They're indifferent to the adult world.
     They're not looking forward to growing up.
     Their social lives are centered around play and peers.

In the past, twelve-year-old boys were interested/involved in their father's business.  This is no longer the case.

So, Mr. Boyer suggests:  "Don't let your kids social life "evolve", "create" it.  Put an emphasis on family and build your child(ren)'s social life around service.

If you'd like to read more about what Mr. Boyer has to say about this issue, I suggest you purchase his book, The Socialization Trap.  You can find it here

The Opportunities and Blessings of Homeschooling

In the nine years that we've been homeschooling, we have found that homeschooling allows and offers so many opportunities and blessings.  As our children do not have to be glued to a desk or even to bookwork all day long, they have more time to explore other things.  We are normally finished with school by lunchtime and they have the rest of the day to go out and explore the back yard, shoot some basketball, kick the soccer ball, or any of many other activities.  They also have the opportunity to pursue their interests.  They play in organized sports with a homeschool group we are a part of, and I mean, they even play games against other homeschool group teams or Christian school teams.  They take music lessons:  our oldest takes piano lessons and he's taken a couple of years of mandolin lessons (most kids don't even know what a mandolin is).  Our middle son takes drum lessons and our youngest has just begun piano lessons.  We regularly attend church, and they are active in our church.  Our two oldest boys play their instruments for worship services and our oldest has taught a Sunday school lesson or two.  We've participated in serving our community through donating items or donating our time to help at a local center that packs health kits, school kits and some other things to send to needy people in other countries.  They've attended a couple of summer camps.
Our oldest just graduated high school this year, and he has had an amazing year.  Last summer he had the Lamplighter Guild, which you can find more about here.  He came back with a new focus, and he had grown spiritually.  He was so impressed and inspired by the Lamplighter Guild that he wanted to get more involved in Lamplighter, so he contacted Mr. Mark Hamby and became an intern/apprentice with Lamplighter Ministries.  After about four months, he had the opportunity to go to London, England with Lamplighter for the recording of one of their audio dramas.  It was on this trip that he also became an actual part-time employee of Lamplighter Ministries.  He's been reading excellent quality literature, studying his Bible, and he has helped Mr. Hamby with research for his dissertation, and he has done some writing and editing for Lamplighter Ministries.  He has made phone calls for Lamplighter Ministries, and last month, he went to Florida to help at the Lamplighter booth at a homeschool conference, as well as helping to hand out some items for Mr. Hamby's seminars.  Now he is preparing to go to this year's Lamplighter Guild, which takes place next month, and this year, he will not only go as a student but as an employee.
Our oldest son has also almost completed his sophomore of college already.  He is taking the College Plus program online, which is a money-saving way to receive a bachelor's degree in two years.  He is studying Humanities and will be taking online classes through Thomas Edison College.  He is on target to graduate college in October of 2013, and then he plans to work full-time for Lamplighter Ministries.  He hopes to have a long career with Lamplighter Ministries.
Our middle son is interested in architecture and building, so this past school year, he was able to take a class at our homeschool co-op that taught Home Repair and Maintenance.  He also has interest in maybe becoming a pastor, so this coming school year, I will help him with speech to work on his presentation skills.  We will also work on bettering his writing skills.
Our little guy simply loves all kinds of things at this point, so I simply plan to have fun with him this year reading great books, taking fun field trips and doing fun and some messy art projects.
We simply have the freedom and time to truly pursue their interests, which leads to valuable opportunities that allow them to grow healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  We are truly blessed through our choice to homeschool.