Homeschooling for His Glory

For week 2 of the Virtual Homeschool Fair, which is hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds , we are talking method of homeschooling. When it comes to the how of homeschooling, and the method that we all follow, with the 20 plus blogger participating I can guarantee you, no method will be the same. Homeschooling is a lifestyle and a path unto a goal or toward a direction that each family sets for itself. For us, this encompasses academic rigor, as well as Christian values and depth of understanding of how to live in this world as Christians. To that end, earlier on we had settled on a classical education. 10 years into it, I cannot say we have been very good classical homeshooler. We did not follow the method and philosophy to a T but instead adapted it to our family's routine and rhythm. We became more relaxed classical homeschooler. I had good intentions with the Latin and Greek, but not enough discipline and it did not appeal to the boys; my oldest son did two years, the...

Here we are at the start of another year and time for another Virtual Homeschool Fair with Susan@Homeschooling Hearts and Minds . This year the topics are gonna be slightly different but still the same concept of showcasing what  homeschooling looks like in different homes. Week 1 - this week - we are talking about the reasons why we are homeschooling. This topic is a providential one for me to be talking about at this time, as I am feeling the tiredness and weariness of 10 years of homeschooling. I feel like I have no energy or drive, and yet I know I need to persevere. Why do I feel that way? I can come up with at least five reasons which, I know will set me on a road to renewed enthusiasm and maybe encourage you in the process. 1. Time with my kids is invaluable. This was one of the main reason why we ended up homeschooling to start with. The prospect of spending time with my little ones (at that time) and not missing any of their milestones was an invaluable incenti...

Week 4 of the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair is here, and it is time to talk about History, Geography, and Science. You can check  Homeschooling Hearts and Minds  our host for this curriculum fair to read more about it. Social Science has been the easier school subject to cover since grade 2, when I stumbled upon  Tapestry of Grace.   There has been no turning back and will not be. I invested in the four years of this curriculum which is rotation based curriculum. This is our 7th year using it and we are at our 2nd rotation of year 3 (The Exploration Age). With TOG the boys have been able to explore the World from past to present from a Geography and History perspective. The advantage of repetition offered by this curriculum is that they get to look at time from different perspective when they go over certain periods of time again. Also with TOG you cover civic as well and government which allow for the kids to really understand the world around them. My oldes...

Week 3 of The Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds is all about Math and Logic, discovering patterns. How did (do) we tackle this in our homeschool? Read along! I will first start by saying that I have two children who approach Math very differently. One loves it and the mechanics of it, but sometimes struggles with the logic of it (he's got his own logic, which he gets from me unfortunately). That said, he does pretty well and is actually ahead of his grade. My other son does not like the repetition and practice aspect of math, though he most often has little difficulty to understand the concepts. He is doing fine and is at grade level. In the elementary levels we have used Singapore Math (grade 1 and 2), which I would highly recommend. It is a strong Math curriculum. The boys got strong foundations from it. We ended up settling for Math on the Level, which attracted me because of its cost effectiveness. MoL covers everything you need for g...

Welcome to week 2 of the 2017 Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds . This week we will be talking about the Language Arts. When it comes to the Language Arts, it is a very important subject in our homeschool. As a classical homeschooler, mastering the Language Arts is a very important step and component of our study. Reading: Both the boys read at a young age with minimum teaching from me. I had to catch up in teaching them some phonics so that they could learn to read well. I do believe both whole language learning and phonetic learning are essential for a good reading education. They both read above their grades and have good comprehension. I am very thankful to The Logic of English as it helped me fill in the gap of whatever they lacked in the area of phonetic awareness. I used the Essentials program then and would recommend both the Foundations and Essentials, as a worthwhile reading and spelling curriculum. Read my review of it to learn more...

2016 was a pretty skimpy blogging year for me. Ask me why, I am not sure I have an answer for you beside life happening and writing inspiration fading. With a new year upon us I will try to get back on the blogging scene and what best topic to start the year with than giving you a glimpse into what homeschooling looks like in our home with now two teenagers. In the past 4 years I have enjoyed participating in the Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Homechooling Hearts and Minds , so I am happy to start my year participating once more. For those who are not familiar with the Virtual Curiculum Fair, it is a month long series of posts, where over 20 homeschoolers share about their homeschool curriculum and how they homeschool. The weeks will go as follow: Week 1: See How We Learn/Welcome to the VCF Week 2: Playing with Words Week 3: Discovering Patterns Week 4: Exploring Our World Week 5: Seeking Beauty So how do we learn here? this is the topic of this ...

Welcome back to week three of the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair, hosted by Kristen , Laura and Chareen. This week we are talking about Social Studies, Science, Culture, and Worldview. When it comes to social studies, once I found Tapestry of Grace 6 years ago, I fell in love with it and we are sticking to it. Some have found Tapestry difficult to handle or manage, but this curriculum works for our family at several levels. I love its Reformed Christian overarching theme, tying History together. Because of this, worldview and Church History is being taught as well. I love its buffet style, you are not given a strict way of doing things. I love that it is classical, meaning taking into account the three stages of Grammar (fact learning), Dialectic (more discussion and thinking driven), and Rhetoric (ability to express and defend one's position). Covers History systematically and chronologically, you can see the progression of man's history and how all events in History a...

We are at week 2 of the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by  Kristen  over at  Sunrise to Sunset , Chareen @ Every Bed and Roses  and  Laura  over at  Day by Day in our World .  This week we are talking about Math and Logic. These subjects are very important in one's educational development. Math and Logic are used in almost every aspects of our lives, so giving our kids a good grasp of these subjects is a must, if we want to prepare them for life as best as we can. In the younger grades, we used curriculum such as Alpha and Omega and Singapore Math , which I will definitely recommend. But then around grade 3/4 I stumbled upon Math on the Level which allowed me to invest in one curriculum once for up to grade 8. The idea pleased me as we are on a very tight budget here. So I plunged and that is what we used up until the last couple of years. Even though I do not used it exclusively now, I do have them as a reference. If you want to r...

It is time for the annual Virtual Curriculum Fair. It is two month later than usual, but it is here. I hope you will enjoy the posts this year and glean some helpful tips and help as you read about what we all are using. Our hosts this year are Day by Day in our World , Sunrise to Sunset and Every bed of Roses. This week, as usual, we are exploring the world of Words. Language Arts is a very important and foundational element of any education. Without words one cannot express himself. Moreover, one does not only need words he also needs to know how to use them well, in a manner that he can be understood and make a point. Language Arts has always been a big part of our homeschool routine. Now that the boys are in grade 7 and 5, though it is still a big part of it, I have changed the focus for it. After having a light grammar year last year, I have finally started Zach on Analytical Grammar as a review and enforcement of what he has learned so far. I am planning ...

It is the last week of the curriculum fair. Wow, January is almost done! This week we are talking about the Arts: Seeking beauty in our world. Hosting this week are Susan from Homeschooling Hearts and Minds and Lisa @ Golden Grasses . When it comes to the Arts, it has been difficult to include it on a regular basis in our homeschool routine. Last year and this year I have tried to make a conscious effort  to make sure we do some kind of Art at least once a week. So far we have been able to maintain it. What do we use? We have enjoyed A  Child's Introduction to .... series . We are using the Poetry and the Art books. These books are engaging and deal with the subject matter heads on, yet in a very gentle and progressive way. The kids are introduced to a different poetry style or artist one  at a time with example and explanation of their work. With the poetry book sometimes I try to have them do an exercise where they apply the style just talked about. I...

It's week 3 of the Virtual Curriculum Fair, Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts and Minds and Stacie @ Supper Mommie to the Rescue are hosting this week's theme: Exploring our World: Social Studies and more Science. What this means is that this week I will be talking to you about what we are using to discover the world around us. For us this has to do with History, Geography, Foreign Language and Worldview. For History and Geography we are sticking with Tapestry of Grace , We've been using TOG for 5 years now. My oldest is now working at the Dialectic level and my youngest at an Upper Elementary level. We are doing year 1: Ancient History. I find the Dialectic years hard to stay on track with, but I am plowing through. Scheduling is the biggest issue, but I am hoping to get a groove eventually. The boys are enjoying their reading in History and Zach enjoys working on his timeline this year. Here are a few of my previous posts on what we like about Tapestry of Grace: 5...