Category Archives: Homeschooling Series

Our Story- Part 2 “Truant Officers, Fear, and a Summons to Court”

Posted on by — 8 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

I’ve been sharing with you how we began to homeschool. That was 37 years ago!

But, I stopped in the middle of the story, so let me continue…

You see, back in the early ’80s, “Homeschooling” was a foreign concept. We didn’t personally know anyone who had done it. There was no internet, so no way to “ask Facebook” if anyone else out there was homeschooling. It was so very different than it is now.

We had loved our first year homeschooling our 2 oldest boys. What began as a desire to teach my kids for just 1 year, quickly turned into a burning desire, that we believe God gave us, to continue. But, the following year, we were blindsided with an experience I would never want to repeat

Continue reading Our Story- Part 2 “Truant Officers, Fear, and a Summons to Court”→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Our Story- Part 1 “A Beginning in Home Education”

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Many of you who follow this blog, know us- The Boyers.  Maybe you’ve heard us speak at homeschooling conventions in your state (perhaps we’ve met you there!) or maybe you have used some of our Homeschooling Character Curriculum or listened to an Uncle Rick audiobook. Or maybe you just know us as ‘that family with 14 kids who were all homeschooled.’

But, I suspect many of you don’t know the story of how we got started in home education, which eventually led to us having a chance to know many of you!

Nowadays, the fact that we chose to homeschool our kids doesn’t seem all that out of the ordinary. Happily, lots of people do it.

But, in the early years- back in the 80’s- it definitely wasn’t viewed as ordinary!  So, why did we do it?  Just what got us started on this crazy 37 year journey of homeschooling?

Well, here’s our story…

Back in 1979, we were attending a small church that was just starting a wonderful Christian school. We had 4 kids at the time. Our two oldest were 5 years and 3 years old. Preschool was just starting up and we had a sweet teacher who focused on teaching character as well as academics to the kids. We placed Rickey and Timmy in preschool that year and were delighted with how they were being taught.

By the second half of the year however, God pricked my heart, impressing upon me that little Nathan and Josh, who were 2 years and 5 months old had to spend a large part of their day strapped into their car seats to make the journey to drop the boys off in the morning and then pick them up around noon. We lived a half-hour from church, so basically we were home for only an hour before we had to load up and pick up their big brothers. We were travelling 2 hours a day just to transport them to and fro.

Continue reading Our Story- Part 1 “A Beginning in Home Education”→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Part 3- I’m Done Homeschooling: “10 Things I Would Do Again”

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Last post I told you about 10 things I would do differently, right from the start of homeschooling my children if I had the opportunity to do it over again.

This time, I want to share with you these 10 things I would absolutely do over again- just maybe MORE so!

  1. Study my child to learn their passions, desires, what inspires them, what discourages them and teach accordingly. Plan what I see my child as needing to study, not some prescribed program.

I certainly didn’t start my homeschooling this way, but it wasn’t too long before it was clear to me that each child had unique strengths and compelling interests. It became a delight for me to see those passions develop and seek to provide them with tools, materials, animals sometimes to let them explore those areas of interest. I found that as one child passionately pursued their area of interest, we all learned and grew with them. From keeping rabbits, to building bookcases, to raising guppies, to being involved in civics, to photography, etc etc. our family learned right along with the one who was so interested in the topic.

  1. Listen to and ask for their input on how they learn best or which curriculum to choose

School Books

Some curriculum that worked well for most of my 14 kids, was horrible for some of the others. Kids think and process information differently. There isn’t a cookie cutter way to teach that fits everyone. I learned so much when I asked my kids who were struggling with a subject, how they could learn better, how I could teach better. It moved us more “out of the box” but it worked. Do what works. It doesn’t matter how they teach it in school! If your child is more invested in what curriculum he uses, he’ll try harder to learn.

  1. Let them explore their interests and passions

I could write a book on interests my kids explored!  Sometimes they were wildly interested in something for a short time and then moved on to something else. That’s ok. They are exposed to more things that way. Sometimes their interest lasted years or into adult-hood. That’s fine too. God gives us those desires to learn and explore. Use them. Don’t squelch them. Some of the things my kids were interested in: genetics, garden ponds, bird houses building, rabbits, chickens, photography, writing, politics, history, building bookcases, fixing things that break, wildflowers, baking, candy making, etc etc.

Continue reading Part 3- I’m Done Homeschooling: “10 Things I Would Do Again”→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Homeschooling Struggles: Part 4- Life’s Interruptions

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Old fashioned wooden stop sign against a blue sky.

I have always worked by setting a basic schedule to accomplish what I know I need to have done. But there are times in life when all the best intentions just don’t cut it, and life “interrupts” the best laid plans. I have found though, that God is the master; in my experience, there have been several times that God has planned for my family a “curriculum” we would not have chosen for ourselves. In retrospect, however, it was during those stressful times that we grew together as a family and learned some lessons of the true meaning of life.

Continue reading Homeschooling Struggles: Part 4- Life’s Interruptions→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Homeschooling Struggles: Part 3- Uninterested Learners and Creative Teaching

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 100

 How do you deal with children who don’t seem interested or who don’t seem to want to learn?

First of all, I have learned,  that some kids need to move to remain alert.  It’s almost as if they just can’t get their brain to focus. They can be sitting, looking at something you know they know how to do, and yet it seems that although they are physically present, their brain is just not in gear. I think of one of my boys in particular. With him, he just needed to get up and move. He’d ask me if he could go jump on the trampoline to wake up his brain, and it really did work! Especially boys just seem to need to move, and when kept sitting still for long periods of time, they click into zombie mode. Several times during the course of a morning, he would go outside and run or jump on the trampoline, come back in and be able to focus again. I noticed with him also, when spelling his words out loud (which worked much better than writing them for him), he could think better if he was moving, climbing on the couch or scooting around on the floor. If you have one like that, let him move. When he is older, he will be able to sit and concentrate for longer periods of time, but don’t rush it when he is young.

Continue reading Homeschooling Struggles: Part 3- Uninterested Learners and Creative Teaching→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Homeschooling Struggles: Part 2- Struggling Learners

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

I began homeschooling my first son when he was in kindergarten. What a joy..a firstborn eager to learn all he could just as fast as he could! I thought, wow- this homeschooling really is wonderful; and it was! But when my other children came along I expected they would learn just the way Rick did. Surprise! Each one of my children was very different and learned in the unique way God made them.  Continue reading Homeschooling Struggles: Part 2- Struggling Learners→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Homeschooling Struggles: Part 1- Mom Can’t Do it All

Posted on by — 5 Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

tired and busy woman with multitasking conceptFirst a little intro to this new series: I thought I would share with you some of the struggles I’ve experienced over the past 31 years of homeschooling. My hope is to encourage those who may be involved in struggles of your own to hang in there, realize that God has the answers we need, and that we, as parents, will be blessed by demonstrating persistence, commitment to our goals, and determination to trudge on even when the going gets tough. As our kids watch us learn to rely on God to change our character, they gain a vision of how to develop those same character qualities in their own lives.  God knows what we need and what our kids need, and He is designing our life curriculum for us.

Struggle 1: Mom Can’t Do it All

Continue reading Homeschooling Struggles: Part 1- Mom Can’t Do it All→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

What About Socialization?~Part 4

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Kids plaing

Social Learning Begins at Home

One of the social maladies that is killing our culture is age segregation. School and related activities—deemed so necessary for a “well-rounded education”—separate kids by age, effectively separating them not only from their parents but their siblings too, for the bulk of their waking hours. Then the church, with its age-graded classes and activities adds to the isolation. We don’t really go to church together any more. That old institution called family time has just about withered into oblivion in America.
 Continue reading What About Socialization?~Part 4→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

What About Socialization?~Part 3

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Kasey with Mr. Furrow# 3- The Need is Everywhere

Once you decide that you’re going to teach your children to serve by example, you won’t have to look far for needs to meet.  The Bible gives us specific types of people to look for: the old, the sick, the stranger, the poor, the prisoner. There are probably plenty of them in your neighborhood.  Continue reading What About Socialization?~Part 3→

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

What About Socialization?~Part 2

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail

Boys#2- The Key to Relationships
Do you want your kids to successfully relate to others? Do you want them to have lots of friends, and worthy friends at that? It’s not rocket science. The key is teaching them to be servants.
The average kid builds his social circle based on selfish values. Who I enjoy being with. Who is popular, so I can be popular too. Who has a cool car or a backyard pool. Whose parents are the most lenient—I can have fun at his house.
Show—don’t just tell—your children how to make the right kind of friends by serving others. Take them to visit elderly people or someone who is sick. Help them to write letters to those who are lonely or recently bereaved. Encourage them to befriend someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends, rather than the popular kids.
The best friends are those who will stick with you when you need them. The best way to make such friends is to be there when they need you. Teach your children.

FacebooktwitterpinterestmailFacebooktwitterpinterestmail