BFS Assignment #100 - Oh What a Feeling

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with home schooling. Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back. Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

Let’s start off with when I first heard about Home schooling: When I was single, at a ladies luncheon I heard that my pastor wife home schooled their 3 sons. This is how the seed got planted! Several years latter when I got married “Family~time” became a main focus for our family. My husband works retail and with that comes odd hours. We needed to be flexible to get that time we wanted to have with each other. We like eating at least one meal together a day if not more. We thought we would try this out. So for the next year before we official started home schooling, I got involved with our local homeschool group through our church. On the first Monday of each month they had a mom’s night out over at a members home. During this time I would get to see how that family home schooled. Tour their school room (if they had one). See the curriculum they used and how they used it. I was able to ask tons of questions. I was learning so much. No one family was ever alike. Everyone did things different. One sweet lady took me under her wings and helped me to fine out what I was going to do my first year. She even helped me to save money and taught me how to shop the used curriculum sales. (Our homeschool group puts on a BIG used book sale each year.) I have girls and girls like colorful things . . . workbook pages! I also did not do well in grade school; I was label with a learning disability. So it is needless to say I had some dough’s in myself about doing this. A Beka work for us in the beginning for one main reason . . . they told me what to say in nice BIG BOLD print! Who could go wrong with that? I was so excited and ready to get started. I got my school room all fixed up. The walls were painted nice bright colors; I even had a chalkboard painted on one wall. The A B C’s ran along one wall. Number charts were on another. Had all my blend ladders in place. My husband even made the girls a cute little bench. This fitted perfectly at the table that was just their size. On the table they each had their own school box filled with supplies that they each would need. They each had their name written in cursive as an example on their side of the table. I was read to go! Looking back it looked like a mini school room.

When I was a child I moved around a lot. It was not until high school that I stayed at the same school. So my memories of elementary school are vague. What are my goals for them as they grow older? I would say what are my prayers for them? They both have accepted Christ as their personal Savior. I know that they have made this decision at a young age. May God give me the wisdom to encourage them to grow closer to Him in the years to follow. May the seeds that are planted on their hearts have deep roots. Can they please keep the sweet spirit they have now when they are adults. Please understand I want to teach them and prepare them so that when they enter into college they are self taught, independent learners, and are able to be successful. I have already started gathering up information that will help me to do this in their high school years.. But more then anything else I want them to know and love God with all their heart. To be able to hear Him when He calls them, to obey His will for their life.


The last six years that I have home schooled I have learned a different reason why I am doing this:

Year 1: Have more family time!
Year 2: Wake Up Trina! You need to spend time with God first before you try to teach your children. When I put HIM first in my day everything else falls in to place.
Year 3: Missionaries: Scottlyn had a missionary kid as a pen pal this year. She was a teenager from Thailand. Scottlyn started writing to her in the fall. They exchange maybe two letters. In the spring her family was back in the states. Scottlyn and her ran into each other at church one day. The impact that made on my daughter was amazing. Because of that young girl, Scottlyn has a deep desire to serve God in maybe short term missions or even long term missions one day.
Year 4: Pure Innocents! Scottlyn has the personally to please everyone she meets. Shalyn has the personally to take charge. They have sweet innocents about them that I want to preserve as long as I can. They first are sisters, and then play mates and best of all they are each other’s best friends. Being an only child I a so grateful for the bond that they share. I don’t know if they went away to school if they would still have this?
Year 5: Learning Styles! I started to spread my wings when it cam to what material we used. Up until now I had been studying the classical learning method. This year is when we started bring it home and using that style in our History and Science studies.
Year 6: Lord only knows what I will be learning. But knowing HIM he pull’s us and stretches us so that we all can grow more like HIM.

We have gowned over the past six years. Our school room looks more like a study area. No school desk. Just one big table we can spread everything out on. We have a medium size dry erase board. There are two maps on one wall and a Timeline on another. The room is painted a taupe with white trim. The girls have black desk chairs and I have a BIG computer chair. The piano is right when you first come in the room. Both girls are taking lessons. Scottlyn made it all the way to State level last year! We are all so proud of her. If I could sum up our room I would say: It’s Cozy . . it’s our school room!






In HIS Mighty Love,

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13