~Lily Pyatskowit~
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Lily Pyatskowit. My husband and I have four children, ages nine to eighteen and we live in Clintonville, WI.
When/why did you decide to homeschool, how long have you been homeschooling?
When our oldest daughter was old enough to begin Kindergarten, there was a controversy going on in our local public school, because it was mandated that the teachers would read, "Heather Has Two Mommies" to the children. There were articles written about it in the local paper.
Needless to say, we did not want our children indoctrinated with the gay/lesbian belief system and wondered what else they were trying to indoctrinate into the children's minds. So we looked into Christian schools.
The school I visited was experiencing trouble with numerous students failing to read. After attending classes for a day and watching one little boy cry as he labored over his studies, I felt there had to be a better solution. Joel and I prayed about it and embarked upon our homeschooling journey.
We have graduated one daughter, and have been homeschooling for a total of nineteen years.
What was the biggest challenge you encountered?
Our biggest challenge was realizing that there is not "one" way to learn. When we first began to homeschool, I tried to recreate "school" at home. Our oldest daughter was an auditory student and the traditional manner of education in which I had been instructed, did not work for her. The first couple of years, were all trial and error...figuring out that first off, education does not happen because you complete all of the pages and do "school" at home.
After much research and prayer, I found a math program that was hands-on (Math-U-See) that made sense to her. Anything that was put to music, she could memorize effortlessly, therefore Grammar Songs, Math Facts, Geography and Science songs were incorporated. Reading aloud was another main part of our chosen curriculum.
Once I finally figured out her learning style, our second daughter was old enough to join us. Guess what? None of the things I did for our first student, worked for her. She was a kinesthetic learner. So, I found that she needed to move in order to learn. Many hours were spent jumping on the rebounder while I read aloud. She hopped up the stairs as she practiced her spelling words. As she got older, she enjoyed the traditional means of education and felt that filling out a worksheet and taking tests helped her to remember the information she was learning.
Our son was a totally different story. His eyes did not work together properly, therefore he did not progress in his reading past a first grade level. I knew something was wrong and asked the eye doctor if he thought it could be dyslexia. He assured me that it wasn't due to the fact that our son was very strong in math. We discovered "Right-brained learning" and I began to incorporate those strategies into our homeschool to no avail. After much prayer, the Lord led us to research and begin vision therapy. It was terribly expensive, but it was worth every penny we spent. The vision therapy retrained his brain and he was able to learn to read. After further complications, we realized that the root cause of his problems was a leaky gut. After making drastic changes in his diet, he excelled in all of his studies. He does not eat the way he's supposed to 100% of the time, and I can tell if he's had too much junk-food based on his performance in his studies.
Our fourth and last student has been fairly easy. I guess I've incorporated everything I've learned with her education. She did come to a place where she cried when she was learning to read. I stopped all "formal" teaching and allowed her to read books that she wanted to read. She no longer filled out her workbooks, although I taught the lesson to her using letter magnets on the fridge.
About four months later, as I was tucking her into bed, she asked if she could read a book to me. From that moment on, reading clicked and she is a voracious reader at present. She is a very young student, meaning her birthday is in October, so she technically should be a year behind what she is in. Last year, at the end of the school year, she complained of her math being too hard. I let her put it aside and she began this year where she left of in her math book last year. She finished it and then began this years math with no difficulties.
What was the most rewarding part of your homeschooling experience?
I love all the time we have spent together as a family. We do almost everything together: cooking, cleaning, school, gardening, shopping...
It's awesome to see a child achieve mastery of a concept after struggling.
By God's grace, He has allowed me to pray through with all four of my children as they sought the baptism of the Holy Ghost. There were many days when things were not going "right" that we would just stop what we were doing and start praying.
I was able to train my children's characters to be more like Jesus. Knowing the amount of time I invested in character training, I wonder how it would have been possible to give them the training they needed, if we had not homeschooled.
What advice would you give to those who are homeschooling or considering it?
Homeschooling your children is so worth it! All of the seeds you sow into their hearts and lives will come to fruition. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it means giving of your self, your time, your efforts, but it is the best investment you could possibly make.
Be prepared to become a prayer warrior. God made your child with his/her unique personality and learning ability. If you seek Him, He will lead you and guide you in how to teach and train your child.
Relax and enjoy the journey!
~Sister Jannice~
Hello, my name is Jannice. My husband and I have 12 children and I've been home educating our children since 1992. (That's 23 years and I have 17 more before our youngest graduates! ) But I didn't start out with a 40 year commitment. That would be WAY too scary! Whoo! I would have been intimidated by even the thought of that!
When we began our home education journey, I thought I'd try it for a year and see how it went. During that year I was hooked. It wasn't because I had so much fun, my children were easy to teach, or I had friends doing it. During that 1st year, I found my "why".
That is what I'd like to help you find if you are considering home education. Why? Why are you curious about home education? Why would you want to teach your child at home? What causes a person to dedicate decades to such a thing?
Being a Christian, I wanted to know what the Bible said about educating our children. I encourage you to search this out for yourself. It will mean more to you if you search it out prayerfully. Proverbs 2:4-5. (At the end I'll include some Scripture references.)(Go ahead! You can always come back and read the rest of the article later. )
We have seen numerous benefits to educating our children at home:
*Closer relationships with our children.
*Closer relationships between siblings.
*Flexibility in schedule.
*Freedom to teach the Word of God.
*Freedom from having our children indoctrinated with humanism.
*Increased safety for our children.
*Freedom for our children to learn at their own pace.
*Joy of experiencing the "ahaa!" moments with the children when they learn something new.
*More influence on children's associations.
*Flexibility of curriculum.
As with anything worth while, there are always challenges that come with worthy endeavors. I have found that as long as the "why" is big enough, the facts don't count. You will rise to the occasion when challenges come if your reason for doing it is something you believe in.
What is your "why"?
If you are wondering what it looks like in reality, I have to tell you that each family looks different. Some families school more formally, while others are much more relaxed. For us, the schooling varies depending on our schedule, the age of our children, and the children's learning style. You will discover what works best for you.
Here's an example of what our day looks like. In the week before Easter. Our family is making a 20 hour trip to a youth camp. That means two days with 13 people in our 15 passenger van. Yesterday we woke early. The older children loaded up the van and we were driving out the driveway before 5:30 am.
After the sleeping ones woke, we did our family "wisdom search ", which at this time is a study of "What does the Bible Say About That? " (A study of Christian World View)
We stopped to see a job site where Dale and the older children are working to sell a building and erection for a new feed store in a town on the way.
The younger children got out their notebooks and we charted our course on their maps. Then they wrote in their notebooks.
The younger children watched a movie about the Iditarod, while the others read, listened to a sermon, or rested.
Amber(23), our resident author, read the children her newest book while Ben (20) discussed business with his dad.
Later, we met friends for dinner and went to church with them where the children ministered a special.
No math got done that day, but there will be days with math ahead. There is peace, love, harmony, learning, giving, productivity, ministry, worship, joy, and fun. God is good! When we do things His way, He blesses. For me, that's what it's all about - following God's design for our lives. When we do what God created us to do, we'll be happy and fulfilled. Here are some Scriptures to help you with your search:
Deuteronomy 4:5-9, 6:5-9 God gives parents the responsibility to teach children.
Psalms 1:1, 101 Teachers and associates we should have.
Psalm 11:3 Importance of foundations.
Psalm 144:11-12 Do you want your child with strange children whose mouth speaks vanity?
Proverbs 22:6 & Psalm 127 & 133
God bless you on your journey!
~Sister Martell~
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am the mother of four children (including a set of twins). My husband is the pastor of our church and so our schedule is pretty busy!
When/why did you decide to homeschool, how long have you been homeschooling?
I really never gave much thought to home schooling as I was growing up. My father was a teacher and all of us (5 children) just went to public school everyday. When I was going to be a senior in high school I became a Christian. I witnessed first hand the persecution our youth experience everyday when they attend public school. Teachers made remarks as well as students about wearing dresses / skirts everyday. I can remember other youth telling me of their experiences. For instance, one young lady in high school (named Mary) would go up to sharpen her pencil and someone would say out loud, "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners..."
Everything in public school was geared toward dating, partying, drinking, smoking, dances, enticing clothes, & intimate and improper relationships. There was also plenty of rebellion encouraged with music, and rebellious youth trying to talk their friends into the newest trend. Hiding things from parents and breaking rules was apart of everyday school life.
What was the biggest challenge you encountered in homeschooling?
When we were young and starting a family, the cost of schooling was a big factor. We went ahead with the best home schooling products looking ahead at the fact it was an investment in the best interest of our family. Secondly, was time and technique of teaching the material. Later the biggest of all - being a good example everyday (all day long) to our children through good and hard times.
What was the most rewarding part of your home schooling experience?
Time goes by so fast that I'm glad I was able to spend all that time with our children instead of having someone else spend all that time with them. I enjoyed reading with them and learning new things. It worked out very well because our children received a good education that was geared toward each of their different learning styles. I was able to fully follow their progress and we used many different styles of home schooling.
We used quality Christian programs (Abeka, Alpha Omega, & Apologia), as well as video, online, & computer schooling. Many times we took field trips with other families in church to the zoos, museums, pizza & other food places. We also went on camping, hiking, & fishing outings. We were able to travel to many places for special church services and visit aquariums, butterfly palaces, Indian reservations, theaters, and learn about early miners in a fun way.
We also enjoyed the benefits of living in a neighborhood where almost all of our neighbors were retired and loved sharing their hobbies with us. We learned about gardening. We also learned about canning and preserving food, picked fresh from garden. Our children learned about about astronomy and trains from a retired pilot and engineer.
What advice would you give to those who are home schooling or considering it?
Make the sacrifice financially and take the responsibility to home school seriously. Look for current used books and ask other home schooling moms about finding or sharing materials. Be patient, kind and loving with your children. Have fun teaching your child or children instead of looking at teaching as a chore. The years will pass super fast. Don't leave schooling the younger children to the older children (unless they are mature and take the responsibility seriously). Search out successful home schooling families and ask questions. Have fun and God bless you on your journey.
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