Leanna Tomlinson Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I started homeschooling. My just turned 4yo was beside me at the kitchen table, my 2yo was next to her in a booster seat. My newborn ds was on the floor in a bouncy seat. Some may not have called it "official" homeschooling because it was only preschool, but the fact that I wasn't sending dd to a brick and mortar preschool was a BIG DEAL. I was plowing a virgin field. I only knew two other people who homeschooled and they (like me) had just made the decision weeks before after we had attended a Greg Harris conference. (Yes, Greg, not Josh, Josh was a teenager running around being a helper.) :) It's amazing to see all the changes that have taken place in homeschooling since then. I'm thankful for the increased diversity, technology, curricular options, and acceptability of homeschooling. I feel incredibly blessed to have had all that time with my children, and I'm thankful that those older three were able to weather through my many trials and errors as I attempted to find the right educational path for our family. It's amazing to see how God steps in, and, in spite of our failures, is faithful to teach and shape our children. As I reflect back on those years, I recall many times I worried I was failing my children academically because morning sickness, or babies, or toddlers, or house construction, or illness etc. were thwarting my educational plans. But during those times, when I was weak, my dc were in the midst of learning even more important lessons of love, patience, gentleness, perseverance, independence, grace, and mercy. Those are the lessons that saw them through the teen years and have made them the incredible young adults I marvel at today. Now, that 4yo is a college grad, a newlywed, and starting her 2nd week in her new teaching job. The 2yo is a junior in nursing school. (That 2yo, btw, absorbed everything I taught her big sister that first year and learned to read through osmosis.) That newborn is a 6'7" college freshman pursuing a computer engineering degree. (I'm REALLY missing my personal tech support, and WHO is going to clean my ceiling fans!?!) I'm thrilled that I still have 4 dc at home to teach, and now that we are expecting a baby soon...... I may have just reached that half-way point in my homeschooling career!!:svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa R. Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 This is great to hear. You need to repost this again in February when so many get burnt out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I wish more people would post reflections like this. I find them so encouraging. Thanks! Congrats on your surprise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 :001_wub: Wonderful post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 great reflection! I reminds me of much of my journey (also went to a Greg Harris conference and only knew a few other hsers). My oldest homeschool grad is now a Ph.D candidate at John's Hopkins (genetics) and happily married. I'm no longer homeschooling but I do cherish those early exciting years. And..I agree -I love seeing all the diversity and changes within the homeschooling community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Love the last line! Congrats on hitting the halfway mark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I was right there with you 18 years ago. Too bad we didn't have the internet, then we could have actually had some support. :lol: I felt like I was all alone in the world. I knew one other family who homeschooled and my library had two books about it (the entire Denver library system, that is). When I went to my first homeschool conference, I actually wept to see other people who were crazy enough to attempt what I was. And there were vendors. And curriculum. Abeka, Bob Jones, Konos, Calvert, Farm Country General Store and Rainbow Resource Center. There catalog was skinny!! I saved it and laugh about it to this day. :D Those were the good old days and I look back on them fondly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Yep, you've got another 18 years.;) DH is 36 and his mom started hsing him at 6. She still has a 16yo at home. Just celebrated their 40th anniversary. I guess she'll log 30+ years by the time she's done. (Makes me want to take a nap!:lol:) She doesn't want to homeschool the grandkids though. :lol: The funny thing is that her experience sounds so different from those on here who have only homeschooled for 15-20 years. She talks about playgroups, all the homeschooling family friends they had, and in middle school and high school the kids took more advanced classes and music at a local private school that allowed homeschoolers. I actually think her homeschooling experience as far as support for her and the kids was better then than it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Happy Anniversary! :thumbup: Nice job. Keep up the good work. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Do you remember when it was Rainbow Re-Source and was a mimeographed booklet of about 12 pages of used curr? Is Farm Country still around? They had great paper dolls! Remember the excitement of Bluestocking Press? When they just had "What Ever Happened to Penny Candy?" Those were the days. I LOVED Bluestocking Press!!! Whatever happened to them? I still have my casette tape of Laura Ingalls Wilder SPEAKING. Yes, I've heard her voice. :D They had great LIW stuff. And yes, I remember Rainbow in the good old days. How far they've come! And I think Farm Country is still around. Last I checked anyway. Were you at the CHEC conventions back in the day. I absolutely LIVED for those every June. It's all I had. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Remember back BEFORE CHEC? When it was HOME? And we met in those little churches? The first one I ever attended was in the old Holiday Inn out on Chambers Rd., I think. I don't remember what year that was. Maybe 1993 or 1994? Maybe even 1995. LOL I never got any information on conventions previous to that one. I think, being LDS, I just wasn't connected enough through other community churches. I don't even know how I found out about the CHEC one to tell you the truth. :D But I sure loved those conferences. When they actually had workshops on homeschooling, how to teach math, how to choose curriculum, how to organize your day, etc. And the vendors were almost 100% curriculum vendors...because that was the only way you knew anything was available. We used Calvert back then and I used to volunteer at the Calvert booth. I had to bring my own stuff and between the two other ladies who volunteered with me, we had almost all of K-8 covered. We had a HUGE booth, because Calvert would buy three, so my little kids would come and sit in their teepee/tent thingy and play during the day with toys I'd picked up from Farm Country. We had a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I LOVED Bluestocking Press!!! Whatever happened to them? I still have my casette tape of Laura Ingalls Wilder SPEAKING. Yes, I've heard her voice. :D They had great LIW stuff. And yes, I remember Rainbow in the good old days. How far they've come! And I think Farm Country is still around. Last I checked anyway. Were you at the CHEC conventions back in the day. I absolutely LIVED for those every June. It's all I had. LOL I remember BlueStocking Press... for some reason I didn't discover Rainbow Resource for a few more years (I don't know how I missed it!). Anyway, I often wonder what happened to those early homeschool sellers. The thing I remember is that the Elijah Company would sell you everything in their catalog for something like $1500! LOL. I remember laughing the first time I saw that. The other book/audio lecture that changed my life was Susan Schaeffer MacCauley's "For the Children's Sake." I still have the cassettes of her lecture. I just can't bring myself to get rid of them. My dh tried to transfer them to CD but the sound quality is terrible. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 That post needs to be a sticky. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 SO inspiring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funschooler5 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Thanks so much for posting this! :001_wub: Sometimes I look at my almost 15-yr-old and my 4 month old baby and get a combination of weepy/nostalgic and overwhelmed. It makes me sad to think how fast the years have gone by with my oldest two, but also excited to do it all again with the younger ones. This year has really brought out the emotions in me, because of the new baby and the fact that oldest DD is a 9th grader...so now I have a high schooler, middle schooler, grade schooler, and baby. :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 This is an awesome thread. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Aww... I remember those days! Remember when the Colfax's book and Mary Pride's very first book were the only things out there? I had a set of Greg Harris' tapes. And Ruth Beechick's books. Does anyone else remember the excitement when we all discovered timelines???? Yes, to all those questions. :001_smile: I am beginning my 18th year this year, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 The other book/audio lecture that changed my life was Susan Schaeffer MacCauley's "For the Children's Sake." I still have the cassettes of her lecture. I just can't bring myself to get rid of them. My dh tried to transfer them to CD but the sound quality is terrible. :( Her book was a huge influence on me too! I lent it out long ago and it never came back. I need to find another copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 Aww... I remember those days! Remember when the Colfax's book and Mary Pride's very first book were the only things out there? I had a set of Greg Harris' tapes. And Ruth Beechick's books. Does anyone else remember the excitement when we all discovered timelines???? I still have my Ruth Beechick books. I look at them when I need to remember that teaching can be simple and doesn't need to involve a lot of bells and whistles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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