Hello all: I am Jamie, daughter of the Most High and bride of Howard for 19 years. Homeschooling mom of 5. DD-19 (graduated) DD-15 DD-13 DD-7 DS-5. We homeschooled the children for 5 years, then PS for 3 years and now we are back to homeschool. However, this year we have an added level of difficulty, I now work. This has been quite a challenge to put it mildly! We are using SOS for the 13 and 15 year olds. Lifepacs and eclectic mix for the 7 year old, and worksheets, books, and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for the 5yr old. My older teens manage the home while I'm at work, including housework, meals, and teaching the younger children. My husband handles all math related problems and I oversee grading, problems, and issues after work. It is a crazy way to school, but by God's grace, it is working. I miss the Unit Study method we all used to use before all the changes in our financial situation (which sent me to work) My children still talk about and remember A World of Adventure, and Another World of Adventure.
Welcome! I used to live very near Navasota -- in the Tomball area. Were you affected by the Magnolia Wildfire too much? I'm homeschooling my cousin's 16 year old son this year -- a first for both of us. I'm currently not working since I've moved back "home" to Southern Illinois over the summer. I'm doing the crazy job search right now, but will soon (I pray!) be working full time AND homeschooling. Good luck with your juggle! I'm interested to see how I'll be able to juggle this as well... It sounds like you have a great system, though, and your oldest sounds like invaluable help!
Welcome! Boy do you have your hands full this year. Good luck! Feel free to jump in and share your experiences or ask questions.
Wildfires Hi Kelly: Thank you. We were not affected by the wildfires in Magnolia, but in June, there was a 5700 acre fire coined Dyer Mill Fires and we were evacuated from our home for a week. Where in Tomball did you live? We used to live over there as well, went to Tomball Bible Church, it was a wonderful homeschool friendly church, but too far for us now. :?
I attended Tomball Bible for years and was very much involved there; right up until I moved in June. This is crazy! Super small world. I bet we have a ton of common friends. Oh, and I lived off of Decker Prairie Rosehill road; so closer to Decker and Rosehill than Tomball. But we went to Tomball for everything -- shopping, church, etc.
Welcome! I'm anxious to get to know your secrets of success. I started working a few hours a day recently and I'm finding it is so much harder now that my kids are older.
Kelly: We attended Hattenbergers bible study for years before we moved. Do you know the Neidigks (spelling?) They lived in that area and homeschooled. The Kistlers also homeschooled their children and lived around High Meadow ( I think) Kent and Stephanie Thomas also homeschooled, they were in Tomball area. There were alot of other hs families, but I can't remember the names right now... I can see their faces, but no names. The AWANA program at TBC was the best. I'm sure we know lots of common friends. I am Jamie Jeffers, hubby is Howard, kids are Christina, Rebecca, Sarah, Naomi, and Samuel was born after we moved. We attended from 2003 to 2005 ish. I'm happy to meet you.
@Brooke: No secrets, We're all just feeling like we are re-inventing the wheel on this one! I think, so far, the main issue of importance is that every one is 100% on board and committed to Homeschooling. I also think that since the teens came out of 3 years of public school, after 5 years of homeschooling, they know what they want to do and are able to prioritize and focus on what is important. Finally, I've found that with our 2 older girls, they actually enjoy the responsibility, in fact the more I give them, the more they rise up to it. On an interesting note, I've found that the hardest part about this is explaining it to others. Most people think we are crazy, and we probably are, but we entered into this environmennt bathed in prayer. God provided the schedule, which is strict, and He provided the computers and curriculum that we needed. I am confident that we have God's blessings, but certainly not the blessings of some of the people I tell, including those at church. I am now very quiet about it, unless someone asks me.
Yep; I'm familiar with everyone you listed. My last name is McMullen -- I was married to Vivian's (nursery director) son for 7 years; but no longer. I'm still extremely close to the family, especially Viv. I miss them terribly. My ex worked for Trey for several years at the rod company; so I know the Kistlers well. I recognize some of your kids names -- possibly through VBS and such -- I always was heavily involved in VBS. I worked AWANA, but it's been more than 10 years since my last AWANA stint. Your last name definitely sounds familiar, but I'm having trouble putting faces with names.... The Nix family; Barreras; Wilkins; Shugart... hs families that might ring a bell for you. The reason I'm so pro-hs is because of my TBC family and their amazing examples -- I've always loved how homeschool friendly it is there. I've said here before (but before you joined) that when I was a ps teacher, I've spent many lunches convincing my co-workers that homeschooling does work, when done correctly and can have incredible benefits. I earned a few points for homeschooling during those discussions. As it turns out, it seems all of that was just building a confidence in me to now homeschool a 9th grader! never dreamed this would be something I would do! Talk about God's plan!! So fun to meet you!!
October update: School is going better than I imagined! Kindy just started reading WHOOP! This is awesome because my 13 y.o. is in charge of his reading lessons. 2nd has A's B's in her subjects. 8th is running a B average 10th also running B's We've got SOS mostly figured out. Yeehaw!
