We have been home schooling since the birth of our
children, two energetic, bright, athletic, boys. Jonathan is age 14
and Joshua is age 12.
Every year they both request homeschool!
This will most likely be our last year of home schooling.
We moved
here from PUC in Angwin, California, where my husband was the chair
of the Religion Department. I was kept busy with homeschool, church
leadership positions, events with the college,
and working one day
a week at the St. Helena Hospital, on the psychiatric unit as an R.N.
What I love about home school is the time spent being with my children
and watching them grow and develop. Having flexibility has been really
wonderful as we have been able to travel extensively. We even did
a professor exchange and lived in the UK for almost 4 months!
As
for your question on schedules, I have never been able to reach the
level or organization that sticking to a schedule requires. This has
been a "thorn in my flesh", so to speak. It's important to have some
idea of what you are going to do, and we easily diverge from a set
schedule from time to time. However, we usually are able to get back
on track!
Jonathan has always been interested in geography; even
as a little guy he began drawing and identifying flags from around
the world. He has a gift for mathematics and spelling as well. Right
now, however, he would rather get outside and play any kind of ball
sport, be it American football, basketball, soccer, or golf!
Joshua loves to read and draw. He and his brother have designed interesting
and creative cartoons featuring their Beanie Baby friends. The cartoons
also always showcase some kind of virtue or moral. Joshua would love
to be a professional football player, but I see him as an illustrator
for books. Who knows? Maybe he will be both! We are happy to be back
in the South as my husband and eldest son are "Southerners" by birth.
Making new friends is one of our goals for the new year, because we
deeply miss all of the good friends and support that we left in California.
P.S.:
The only pets that we were ever fortunate enough to be the guardians
of were two Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, Ralph and Ruby. (Actually,
it isn't *exactly* true that there were only two cockroaches, but
that's a story for another time...)
