We've lived in Austin for 11yrs, originally from FL, we are currently out in the blackland prairie of Williamson county. It's great homeschooling here!

Briva,
Welcome to you! Can we consider you our resident Latin expert ? We did it for 1 year with my two olders - amo, amas, amat - and it was great for vocab/comprehension.
Great to get to know you!
Christine

Hello! I just wanted to repost this and say Hi!


Posted February 06, 2007 08:21 PM Hide Post
Hi Everyone,
I have been reading your posts and am very excited that LifeWay has this homeschool community to help support and answer all the questions homeschoolers have. God has brought our family to the decision to homeschool starting in the fall. I am very excited about this opportunity to teach our children. We have four girls ages 10,7,5, and 20 months. The oldest will be starting 6th grade, the next 3rd grade and then the 5yo will start Kindergarten. I am nervous about starting but I know that God will provide all that I need since He called me to do this. Right now I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I am sure I will start having a lot more questions as the time gets closer for us to begin. Thanks!

I'm so glad I found you! My name is Debbie and I've been homeschooling for abour TWO WEEKS now!

I have a 16-yo son who is a sophomore at the public high school and a 13-yo son and 10-yo daughter who are now at home using a cyberschool program and supplemented with extras provided by Mom the teacher. We live in an area with an excellent school system which prides itself on being measured against the world's best. While much of what they do is high-quality, the pressure on students to perform is oftentimes overwhelming. I was watching my gifted and creative kids being overwhelmed with homework and projects and they were losing their joy for learning. We were planning and scheduling our time around their schoolwork and there were often tears and arguments over studying. We were spending 2 hours after school each day along with weekends to get work completed. So we made the decision to use a local cyberschool program and educate them at home. And God has been so good in letting us know that we made the right decision. I was able to take my children to the "March for Life" on Monday, Jan 23 in Washington DC and met many other homeschooling moms/kids on the bus trip. There was no worry about getting homework completed when we got back home and I had the chance to use that incredible experience as a real teaching tool. But I knew that we had made the right decision to homeschool about a week ago when we had a big snow on a Thursday.
We had finished our schoolwork at home around 3pm so my kids bundled up and headed to our neighborhood hill to sledride for the next 2 hours. When they came home, their red cheeks and laughter was a real joy...I can't remember the last time that they had played like that after school..They always needed to begin homework afterschool in order to get it finished. AND...They played out in the snow for 5 hours on Saturday and didn't have to worry that they'd have a school project to work on when they came in. Evenings are calmer because we don't have tension or worry about homework for the next day. I'm a former teacher and understand how important it is for kids to learn at school but the system that we were in was just too overwhelming. I'm so grateful that God has given me the chance to be at home with them...Not exactly what I expected to be doing at 50 years old but God has a way of surprising me!

In addition to teaching my kids, I have (and am) writing curriculum for a character I created named "Lucy the Lunch Lady" who teaches Bible stories using cooking analogies. I'm starting to offer these teachings outside my church and have written the "Lucy" curriculum for church camps and other events. I also do some speaking about recovery and healing from sexual abuse at workshops and women's groups.

Gosh...I guess I'm so excited to have found you that I've gone on and on. I look forward to getting to know you.

Blessings.
Debbie

Debbie,
I enjoyed hearing your happy news. I have small children and circumstantial struggles that sometimes threaten to overwhelm but just hearing others so motivated and PTL for this option to HS gives me a real boost.

The ladies here are a real blessing I'm sure you will enjoy coming to know them.

Keep enjoying your adventure

Jacinda

Hi, My name is Claire and I am a stay at home Mother of two daughters, Skylar age 7 and Jaidyn age 2. I have home schooled Skylar from the beginning and do not regret it for a moment. I am married to Eric for nearly 9 years and we moved to North Richland Hills 6 months ago. We are very involved in our church home and not so involved in Home school groups. That part has been difficult since moving here. I hope and pray that it smooths out. I am excited about finding this website and I hope to make some more friends!

Welcome Debbie and Claire!
Glad you found your way here! Hope you find lots of encouragement and information here.
Debbie, I would love to know more about Lucy the Lunch Lady! Your school district sounds like ours. Do you by chance live in Wheaton?
Claire, I love your name! (My oldest girl is named Clare.) Are there many homeschoolers at your church?
Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Blessings,
Christine

www.HomeFieldAdvantage.org

Christine...Thanks for the welcome. And...From what I know about Wheaton, I think my town of Sewickley has many similarities.

I'll be glad to tell you more about "Lucy the Lunch Lady"...I initially was looking for a way to teach a series of children's lessons that would be fun, inexpensive and would have a clear Gospel message for the kids. So Lucy was born! She's based on those lovely lunch ladies from school cafeterias with big smiles who spend the morning cooking for kids. "Lucy" has BIG hair (searching for the perfect wig was a hoot!), bright red lipstick and a thick Southern accent.(Oh, yeah...And (for those of you who are OLD like me) she's got a "Honey West" mole on her lower right cheek! She ALWAYS tells the kids that each day she spends time with TWO books...A COOK book and... the GOOD BOOK! And then the fun begins...Depending on the lesson, Lucy will "prepare" a dish, or have the kids help her in some way in order to "blend" the Scripture and cooking lesson together so the kids have a better chance of remembering it when they go home. The kids have seen Lucy spill something on a tablecloth and then remove the stain explaining that Jesus can totally and completely take away our sin and the kids have also watched as some of their classmates were dressed up in plastic raincoats and hats as Lucy taught about how we change on the inside when we ask Jesus into our hearts even though we may still look the same on
the outside. AND the reason that Lucy needed the kids to get all garbed in plastic was because it was her lunchtime and she was planning to make egg salad but she had forgotten which eggs were hardboiled and which were not so the only way Lucy can figure out how to tell the difference is to crack the eggs over the kids' heads! (This was a big hit when we had a family event and the kids cracked the eggs over their PARENTS' heads!)

Anyway...That's a bit about Lucy...I think I've been hearing God tell me to share Lucy in other locations so I've been praying about just how to go about doing that. Lucy (and I) have taught at some churches in other states and I'm certainly open to doing that. I've also been thinking about writing the curriculum in a more formal way so others could use it. I've done some teaching/training about developing curriculum/characters so others can do the same in their churches but would love to do any or all of this on a larger scale. Any ideas?

Well...Time to go...Tim (13) is not feeling well today so Rose (10) went with friends to see a homeschool performance of "Peter Pan" at the Benedum Center without me since I'm home with Tim. I'll certainly miss seeing Tinkerbell and the gang but since our living room is filled with five cartons of cyberschool computer equipment that just arrived, it's probably best for me to make a path from the living room to the(former dining room now computer headquarters!

Blessings.
Debbie

Hi Debbie,
What a riot! Do you have someone illustrating this? I'm dying to know more!
Christine

Hi Christine...

It's great to hear from you again. I'd love to tell you more about "Lucy"..Right now she is just part of a children's bible teaching curriculum that I'm writing as God leads (And He's been leading me in some interesting directions...The other day I wrote a lesson using "hot dogs" to talk about how God made us and how much He loves us!!)

Anyway...I've always been interested in the possibility of "Lucy" as a children's book but
God gave me the gift of writing and must have someone else in mind for the illustrating because "it certainly ain't me!!" Is that one of your gifts or do you know of anyone? I have
checked your website (way cool!) and saw that you have a great deal of publishing experience.
It is so obvious that God is using you in
amazing ways. I'm also interested in your speaking schedule..I do some speaking as well
and am always blessed by what God teaches me through others.

And re: your site...It spurred me on to start
(drum roll here!) MY VERY OWN BLOG...
"Front Porch Pages"..I've wanted to do this for awhile and the homeschool site made it quite easy. The name comes from my desire for my very own front porch (We live in your garden variety
Ryan Home with NO PORCH!) Right now my "fp" is
2 Adirondack chairs and a little table sitting under a tree in my front yard.

As I was creating the blog, I had to leave for an orthopedic appt b/c I hurt my hand a couple of weeks ago. I was fully expecting to come home with a couple of fingers taped together but returned with a full hand cast on my right arm (Yep...You guessed it...I'm right-handed)
I apologize in advance for the typos over the next month...It should be interesting since I've just started writing a new "Lucy" curriculum for a huge missions conference in
North Carolina in April..That's OK though..
"Lucy" sort of a typo-prone gal anyway!

So let me know what you think and I'll certainly keep all your upcoming events in
prayer...Maybe I'll even get to one sometime
soon.

Blessings.
Debbie

Christine,
usually when I join a homeschool web site i dont hear from anyone. I was happy to get a response from you!
I am the only homeschool mom in my church. there are a few groups around NRH but I have yet to get involved. mainly its timing or money,depending on the field trip. But Skylar, my oldest is in other groups and is very involved in her church.
claire

Christine,
I just checked out your web site! You are amazing and very encouraging. I am such a laid back home school mom. And we arent involved in a ton of stuff out side of home and financially we cant afford a lot of stuff either. I am blessed and fortuneate to have my husbands support to stay home. My 7 year old is very smart, she has minor special needs that I think public school would hinder her in. But above all I have freedom to teach her God's word unlike public school. However on Mondays we go to public schools from 3 to 4 and teach God's word. I teach the memory verse in "Beach Club". We love it! sometimes I get hit with Im not doing enough or Im not good enough, my in laws make fun of me for my beliefs and sometimes its frustrating, but I know I am doing the right thing.
One thing that our kids have hands on experience with is feeding the homeless. We have started a ministry where we take food and go feed th homeless in Fort Worth. It has been an awesome experience to see our kids serve them and to be able to minister to them as well as be ministered by them! most of them have more ethics and manners than we do! But I use those trips and teach God's word and principles.
When I read your web page I was so encouraged that I wanted to come back and tell you.
and as far as curriculum, I dont have a set curriculum for every subject.I have a little bit of every thing including from Target and Walmart and the 1/2 priced book store! I love staying at home with my girls, I love teaching them, and I love the freedom I have to teach at home.
looking forward in knowing you better, CLaire

Debbie,
this is Claire, Man I love the sound of Lucy! i know my girls would love her to. Does she come out when ever she wants, or are there set times when she teaches at home? When you develope curriculum based on her, I want to buy it!
My husband has a "Randy the reindeer" that comes out and plays. its a stuffed animal that is of course a reindeer. but he doesnt teach anything, just makes them laugh really hard, his voice sounds like he's all stopped up and congested! and he has spots on his back that he thinks are spreading.
I look forward in getting to know you better to.
Claire

Claire...

Gee, it sounds like Lucy and Randy should meet!
A Southern lunch lady and a congested reindeer!
Maybe I'll have to work it into the next lesson I write. Lucy pops up in our home and she's been used for lots of teachings at churches and summer camps. God has been nudging me to branch out to other areas more so I've been exploring those possibilities...Maybe Lucy will show up at a
homeschool convention somewhere!

And I definitely agree that this is such an incredible blog...Feels like we're all old friends...Isn't God good that way??!!

Blessings.
Debbie

HI! What a wonderful site!
Just getting ready to homeschool, and it's overwhelming!! I'm starting my preperation early. I have two daughters: 3years, and 4 months. I've been looking all over for preschool curriculum, and I think I've finally landed with AOP! I know it might be early, but my daughter really wants to learn (and go to school), so I'm trying to keep up!
I live in a small community, and homeschooling isn't that big here (yet). I was just wondering, is there anyone from Hawaii on this board?
Can't wait to get started and meet you all
Aloha, Amanda

My name is Lisa. I am just about to celebrate being married to my highschool sweetheart for 18 years. We live in Oregon, at the foot of Mt. Hood and we have a 12 yr old son and a 10 year old daughter. They are both absolute miracles to us because it seemed that we were never going to be blessed with children...but that is another story...

We have homeschooled all but one year and what a year that was! That too, is another story, but we were obedient to the Lord in that year and we are so thankful that He gave us His blessing on returning to homeschooling our children last year. We were even blessed to school my dear friend's 14 yr old son during her battle with cancer. She's still battling and my family was very honored to spend such special time with her son.

I am looking forward to our next school year and enjoying a wonderful summer off with my kiddos. Also looking forward to learning from all of your families' experiences and maybe sharing some of my own.

May Jesus be glorified through your families,
Lisa