eclectic

What Homeschooling Is Like For Us {Homeschooling} {Epilepsy Awareness}

April 18, 2017 by Dana

5 Days of Homeschooling with Epilepsy and Other Issues:

What Homeschooling Is Like For Us

One of the BEST things about Homeschooling is that you can make it work for you! You don’t need to follow anyone else’s schedule. You don’t need to do Public School at Home. You simply do what’s best for you and your family.

Homeschooling for us varies throughout the year. Because our schedule is usually crazy with appointments at different times of the day, we have had to learn to adapt things to fit around this. We homeschool year round, which means when the public school kids are at home, we’re usually still having school.

We’re also pretty eclectic educationally which fits right in with the Homeschool Review Crew since we never know ahead which vendors we will be selected to review and which we won’t. We’ve been blessed to be selected for many wonderful items over the years while being a part of the crew and these items have easily been adapted to fit our homeschooling because of our personal style.

We also tend to use materials that allow us to work together as a family instead of individually which can take a ton of time. Things like Apologia for science, unit studies by Amanda Bennett, Apologia for Biblical Studies and Story of the World for history have helped us to have a well-rounded educational experience while allowing us to adapt to the challenges our health issues present.

Unit studies have been a huge blessing because it allows us to often work through subjects of interest instead of following a more formal plan. Many field trips end out our studies to give that hands-on experience my children crave. This is just a fun bonus for all of us.

As you’ve probably guessed, we don’t follow a strict schedule. I feel that learning is most important, not meeting a timeline that my children may not necessarily be ready for. I enjoy watching their little faces when they truly learn something that speaks loudly to their hearts. This is the method we’ve used for years and greatly enjoy following.

This is just a small glimpse into our homeschooling life. We hope you’ve enjoyed it and look forward to sharing more with you! Next up is Homeschooling On The Down Days.

Blessings,
Dana Lambert-Hodge

This post is a part of the 5 Days of Homeschool… Blog Hop from
the Homeschool Review Crew!

5 Days of Homeschool Annual Blog Hop - 2017

The “U” Word {Homeschooling}

June 10, 2013 by Dana

I have four children. Three who are school aged and one sweet baby. I chose a long time ago to homeschool them. If you have been on my blog long, or are my Facebook friend, etc then you already know all of this.

We are not traditional homeschoolers. I don’t have time for that! But we are homeschoolers none the less.

I came to realize recently that I don’t talk a whole lot about our homeschooling adventures. I honestly have no idea why except maybe it’s because, to me, our homeschooling doesn’t look a whole lot different than the everyday normal. We play, we eat, we draw, write, color, watch tv. This list could get pretty long. We do all the same things you do when your children are home, only we do them as part of our schooling.

See we are Eclectic in educational style. We are extremely relaxed. We border strongly on Unschooling.

I can hear your sharp intake of breath. “Did she just say Unschooling?! Isn’t that doing no school at all?! You mean she’s not teaching those kids?! The shame.”

No, no! That’s not what Unschooling is at all! Unschooling is allowing my children educational freedom to learn on their own. Unschooling is having faith in God to lead our daily studies. Unschooling is letting my children be children as God intended for them to be.

I teach by playing with my kids or seeing to it they have the necessary tools to learn with. I teach as they ask questions to learn more about something they want to know. I teach by explaining that it’s not proper to say “I ain’t gonna play with she today” and why it’s not. This list can go on too.

What you won’t see in my home every day is me standing at a black board writing out words or me standing over my daughter as she practices her writing. You won’t find me patiently waiting while they finish up a test or timing them as they learn their math facts. You won’t find my children learning rote memorization of facts they don’t find interesting or us reading from a text book written just so they can be equal educationally to millions of other students.

What you will find is a library stocked with interesting books on 1000’s of subjects that they can and do pick up and read at will. You will find a stocked video area and a subscription to Netflix, along with a full channel satellite package so they can view documentaries and other educational movies at the drop of a hat as we learn. You will find the internet connected at all times so we can research things that catch their interest or puzzle their minds. You will also find tons of toys for interactive play, legos for building and math, crayons, paper, coloring pages, and a working printer for challenging them to absorb their world daily.

That is the way of Unschooling and Relaxed, Eclectic education. We learn every day about many different things in a way we love, making education something we love. And I, nor my children, would have that any other way.

Unschooling and Other Thoughts

February 6, 2011 by Dana

I have been attempting to keep up with what’s going on with my blog but I stay so busy with other things that there never seems to be time for that. It’s been a long week, with many thoughts involved and figuring out several things in my life. I feel God leading me into directions I have not yet been and I know I’m fully ready to rush into them full-force.

I’ve recently been asked many questions dealing with homeschooling, computers and antiques. In the past few days, I’ve had these things brought to my attention and being brought to my attention, I have disected what they really mean to me. So throughout this post I will try to express my feelings on each thought and how they relate to our life.

Just today a family member asked me to help them work on selling their antiques before they pass away. This is a sad thought but this family member is now 85 years old and knows her days are limited. She also knows that her family has no idea the value of her personal items and they will just toss them to the side, or give them away for practically nothing if someone doesn’t take care of the matter beforehand. It’s a sad fact that many people have no idea of what they hold in their hands before they simply toss it into a dumpster or hand it over to someone else to deal with. I’m more than happy to help this lovely lady disperse of some of her most prized possessions before her last day comes.

I’ve had several people ask homeschooling questions, as I mentioned earlier, and this has made me rethink our own homeschooling style. Are we Classical, Charlotte Mason styled, Relaxed, Eclectic, Unschoolers, etc? Thinking this over, I realize we are in fact many of these things. There are seasons in our homeschooling when we use Classical methods but mostly we are Eclectic, Relaxed homeschoolers with a bit of Unschooling mixed in.

I prefer to allow my children to learn through many different methods. I find this keeps them from becoming bored with their education. We use everything from television shows, websites, video games, textbooks, worksheets, even nature’s own provisions and much more to learn about every possibly imaginable subject each day. Our school is nothing like that of a public school and is exactly as God meant it to be. School, for us, is fun and exciting and definitely always a wonderful experience.

That said, the next few weeks bring a lot of busy-ness for us. My oldest daughter is turning 8 soon and we must prepare for her birthday party next weekend. She will not officially be 8 until February 17th but we are having the party a bit early. I’m also still working on the house re-vamping and hopefully tax money will bring lots of good things for organization. I’m hoping it will also bring some new homeschooling materials to use. Such excitement for us all!

I’m excited for these new things brewing in our lives. I’m excited to have new things to enjoy and share and be a part of. I look forward to the opportunities God is bringing into my life. It’s truly a blessing to be able to share my love and joys with others and I hope to be able to continue to do these things for a long time.

Many blessings to all!