Qualifications

Starting on this homeschooling adventure I have read and heard many opinions on the homeschooling subject

I would like to throw in my two cents on some of the opinions I have heard about homeschooling. Some say parents without a teaching degree are not qualified to teach their children. This is something I thought about as our family was deciding whether to home school or not. I have only had two semesters in college. Big D will have his bachelors this November, but not in education. The question kept coming up. Are we qualified? Can I really teach my children what they need to know?

We taught our children how to speak. We taught them the alphabet, colors, shapes, and many other things they needed to know at that age level. But now we are talking about History, Math, Science, ect… Can I do this? Am I qualified?

My son will be in second grade and my daughter in fifth grade. I was also a child in these grades and I did pretty well in school at that time. I did all the work and I even received good grades. But does that qualify me to teach the subjects needed in those grades?

I really want to homeschool, but my first priority is my children’s education. So I went on with the doubt of my qualifications in the back of my mind. I picked out the curriculum and looked it over. The books tell you what to teach and how to teach it. But it gets better, if your child is not responding to the way the book suggest teaching the subject, you the parent can change the teaching method.

Now I was building confidence. I looked through the science book and thought hey I know this stuff! And the things I did not know I can read the textbook and learn it.

For subjects that I am not good at like Math for instance, my husband will step in. For Miss, her teacher at her old school tutors her in Math once a week and prepares her for the tests I give.

As I looked over my child’s curriculum and read the books, I remembered when we would sit on the couch when they were little and read books about colors and shapes. How we taught them their address and phone number and how to write their names. For a child who is 2,3,and 4 those are hard tasks. But all parents are qualified to teach these things to their children. Now that they are older the learning is the same only at a different level.

I do think all parents are qualified to teach their children. As long as the children’s education is top priority. I don’t think homeschooling is for everyone. But on this journey to the homeschooling lifestyle change, I do believe that Big D and I are quite qualified to teach our children. We have been doing it for years.

“Educating a child is a natural process. Home schooling is nothing more than an extension of parenting.” ~Sue Maakestad

Thrusday Thirteen

13 Reasons I love Dads

1.They know a lot of information, whether it is about super heroes, space, and sports or how to turn a potato into a radio; Dad’s know a lot of stuff.

2.Dads are the head of the household, but they know who really is in charge and they are perfectly fine with that.

3. Dads have a huge impact on their daughters. The first man a little girl falls in love with is her Dad, and all the men in her life will be compared to him.

4. You can’t beat the love and protectiveness Dad’s have for their little girls, Dads know what it was like to be a young man.

5. Dads are an irreplaceable role model for their sons. They show them how to be men. Another good reason Dads remember how it was to be a young man.

6.Dads replenish their wives. Moms who give love and affection all day (sometimes with little in return) need to be replenished. That is where Dad comes in. When he shows Mom all of his love and affection, she is filled up and able to give her love easily to their children.

7. Two words…piggyback rides

8.Dads have interesting ideas. They come up with cool projects for their kids without a care how messy the project may get.

9. Cooking, I know Moms can cook fantastic meals, but there is something about a meal when Dad cooks it. It just taste so good. Once again he does not mind the mess that comes with letting the little people help.

10.Dads are funny. They can get away with some jokes and funny situations that some Mom’s can’t. If Dad does something funny the kids will roar with laughter, if mom does the same thing the kids will look at her and say, “ewww gross mom!”

11. Children view their Dad as the strongest man in the world. Nothing bad can happen in the dark at night when Dad is there. He can beat up any monster or bad guy that ever lived.

12. Advice, Dads give very good practical advice. They get to the problem and give a solution, period.

13. Hard work, some Dads work all day long, come home, help with the kids and may even do some house work. Now that is cool.

Thursday Thirteen

Wordless Wednesday

Have we taken this recycling thing too far?


Wordless Wednesday

New Homeschooling Blog (Two Givaways!)

Angie over at Many Little Blessings has started a new group homeschooling blog. I am excited about the new blog and grateful to be apart of it.

We are having two awesome giveaways that you need to check out. There will be a 25$ Amazon.com gift certificate and a 10$ Starbucks gift certificate.

Click on the button at the top to visit our group homeschooling blog, The Homeschool Classroom.

Don't forget to get in on those giveaways!

Visions of Babies Dance in my Head

I don’t know what it is about being around babies that makes me long to have another one. It may just be the normal time for me to want another child. I usually get these feelings when our youngest is close to turning two.

It does not help that five or so women I know have a new baby or are expecting one. My kids must know the drill that goes on in this house, they see that Oney is almost two and now Miss and Lil D keep talking about their new brother or sister we are going to have. They seem to know that this is the time when Mom and Dad usually announce that a new little one will be coming soon.

I cannot stop thinking about babies! I asked Big D if we were going to absolutely be done having kids. I was maybe hoping he would give me an absolute answer to put my thoughts to rest. Big D told me that we would make a final decision the day after Oney’s 2nd birthday. I have no idea why he said the day after, I just agreed.

So now I have a few months to be consumed with baby thoughts. In our family we stay open to new life. Still there are things we must consider to make a responsible decision on whether we should bring another baby into our family. The usual reasons money, time, and health.

I have some personal drawbacks that keep coming up. How will a new baby effect home schooling, What about our plans on getting these kids semi raised so Big D and I can fully enjoy each other? What about college? This last reason seems small but I can’t help cringe at the idea of all the doctor visits I will have to go to with four children at home and having to figure out what to do with them.

Then there are the pros. Being able to bring a new life into our family with God and the man I am absolutely head over heels for. The absolute love you have for a child and how each new baby magnifies that love. Brothers and sisters is one of the greatest gifts Big D and I can give to our children.

What am I to do?

I have a brand new niece. She is about 5 weeks old and in a couple of weeks I am going to take her home for the weekend. I know this is not the same as having my own baby 24 hours a day, but I am hoping this will help in our decision. Can we cope with a fifth child?
I have forgotten the details of having a newborn; I only remember the good things. God is good that way.

We will just have to wait and see what the future holds for our family. Meanwhile I am sure I will have baby on the brain and heart until a decision is made.

Magnificent Art

Big D does not let me read his posts on his blog while he is writing them. I have to venture over to his blog when he is done like everyone else.

Yesterday I sat down at the computer to do some blog reading and I of course visited Big D's blog first. He had written a beautiful post that I would like to share with everyone.

Give his blog a visit and find out how beautiful art can be.

You can visit him here Professio.

Tasty Vittles

The summer is going by fast. For our last little vacation we are going camping.
One of the highlights of camping is cooking. Everyone prepares and enjoys the meal together.

When I was a kid my family went camping all the time. My Dad always made the meals. He had a stove and we would eat very good food. It was more along the lines of the kind of food you would make at home. Elaborate in preparing and delicious to eat.

Bid D and I decided that for are family we are going to cook camping food. Since we don’t have a stove, and we have kids who are not satisfied unless they are cooking along with us we are going to use a more traditional method to cook our food. We will only be using the campfire.

I do intend to get a cast iron skillet and the kids do have a mess kit that comes with little pans, this is what we will use. I think the kids will enjoy this type of cooking. I will have my fingers crossed in hopes we do ok and that we will have something to eat on this trip. If all else fails we will always have roasted hot dogs to fall back on.

Looking for camp recipes I came across some that sound yummy. Here are a few that I like.

Egg in an Orange Peel
I like this one because the kids have to eat the orange to make the bowl.

Biscuits on a Stick

Boatin’ Hillbilly Trash Breakfast

Breakfast Hash

Bacon and Eggs in a Paper Bag

Campfire Pizza

Pig on a Stick

Hobo Dinner

Baby Red Potatoes

Easy Taco Salad

Foil Bag Surprise

Dogs in Sleeping Bags

Campfire Corn on the Cob

Banana Boats

Baked Apples

These are a few of the recipes I found that I think will be fun to make and good to eat. If you have any basic camping recipes feel free to share them with me.