AN ACRE OF BLESSING!

It was close to three years ago when my husband, Fred, and I started looking around our town to see if we could find a house on an acre of land that we could afford. Motivated largely by the desire to offer our homeschoolded "tribe" more space for play, projects and animals, it took us over six months to finally hit on a piece of land that we both liked and could afford. The acre we found was lovely but unfortunately had no house on it, meaning we had to decide on a house plan, a contractor, financing and go through the whole building process before we could move onto our acre. It took seven months to settle all the necessary issues and get going on our house's construction and then three months to build the place. We finally moved into our new home August of 1999.

Months before construction started on our house Fred and I and the children started working at our new property, cutting grass, pruning trees, and hauling trash off the place. This working together as a family on a big project like this was the beginning of a harvest of blessing that Fred and I had not anticipated when we bought the land! We have always been a close family but the hours we spent laboring together on our new acre somehow brought us even closer. The kids were actually something of an inspiration to me as I watched them turn even the most tedious work into fun. For example, the hardest job, taking down a half dead 40 foot elm tree, turned into a great triumph for Francis, our 14 year old son! With my husband on the ground manning the ropes and giving detailed instructions to Francis, high in the tree armed with nothing but a simple hand saw, the two guys worked days taking this "baby" down!

Now that we are here in our new home more "fruit" is showing up! Life-long homeschoolers, our kids have grown up playing with each other but somehow simply having more land at their disposal has broadened everybody's vision for living, learning and fun! (The three are synonymous in my opinion!) I can hardly believe how much activity I have seen in the last six months: Tree forts, a lean-to fashioned out of discarded Christmas trees, a 10'xl2' "stable" for stick horses, a dugout...have all materialized because of the the inspiring size of our new property!

Within days of moving into our new place our two boys came up with the idea of using the lawn mower to mark out a prime location for a baseball diamond. The same area doubles as a worthy soccer field! What I had considered our property's chief eyesore, a huge old concrete foundation (60' x 30'), located almost slap dab in the middle of our acre, has actually turned out to be a play center for everybody, with the younger kids using it for riding bikes and roller skating while the older ones use it for street hockey and basketball. (The boys practically put up a pole and hoop themselves!) I am delighted to see how the "community spirit" continues to thrive amongst the kids. For example, when Francis (15) built his tree fort he never even thought of excluding any siblings who were old enough to handle the climb (hand over fist up a slim rope!) When our 12 year old daughter announced that she wanted to build a 10ft x l2ft stable for her herd of stick horses her two brothers immediately volunteered to help.

Recently I was thinking to myself what a beautiful day it was outside and soon found myself thinking about what park to take the kids to. But then I remembered we now live in a "park" and don't need to go anywhere! Our biggest blessing, however, the one that has taken us all by surprise relates to our new neighbors! Our new home is directly next to two apartment complexes. 99% of the people who live in these apartments are latino. We are not latino and, sad to say, two of our children were openly insecure about moving next to these very apartments. But whatever those problems were I am happy to say they are already long gone! Our kids not only play with the children next door, they are even starting to learn Spanish ("Hey, Roberto, how do you say 'How old are you in Spanish?”)! Watching the children discover first hand that gentleness and goodness are not limited to one culture or language has been truly wonderful. I am so grateful for our little acre of blessing!

About the author: Carolyn Ellis is a veteran homeschooling mother of six children as well as the author of a 60 page, self-published booklet called Beyond Homeschooling. To order, make checks payable to Carolyn Ellis, and mail order to 1109 Hilltop Drive, Irving, TX 75060.


So Many Curriculums. So Little Time

I was one of those home schoolers who thought that I had found the "perfect" curriculum for all of my home schooling days. I had a very hands-on kid so I naturally choose a curriculum that was of the unit study variety. I thought if others wanted to home school the "boring way" (textbooks) it was their right to do so. As for me, I would home school with more creativity than others.

I started using this curriculum and loved it. My son loved it. It was
"perfect" for us. That is, until I found a new Unit Study at the NCHE Book Fair a few years later. Now this is the ONE for us, I said. We eagerly began the new curriculum in the fall of that year and once again we had found a Unit Study that we were happy with and fit perfectly in our home school. By now both my sons were using this curriculum. Then, a friend of mine had another Unit Study curriculum that I had heard about but it was pricey. She offered to loan it to me. I looked it over and once again it was the "perfect” one. So, in the fall we embarked on a new journey once again. By now I was home schooling my other son and had been given a used Kindergarten curriculum that was just what my youngest one needed.

However, it was, dare I say it, of the textbook variety. How could I leave my roots of Unit Study? Would it be considered a sin? No, I concluded that only among my Unit Study friends would it be considered a no-no.

Little did I know that major changes were on the way. My responsibilities at church were getting ready to change and I would have to spend much more of my time with this ministry. God had made it clear that I should do this so I knew I had to make some adjustments with my life. One of the changes I made was with my home school. I went to the NCHE Book Fair with a mission. I had to find the right curriculum for my boys this year. You may have seen me that year. I was the dazed and confused one desperately seeking out this new curriculum that would be good for my boys yet be less time consuming for me. I finally found what I was looking for- you may have seen me then too. I was at the same booth for hours - at least it felt like hours, I looked over all the books, talked with the representative that assured me this was the "perfect" one for me, placed my order then, I was off to the hotel room relieved that my mission was over.

My mission was complete. But what was this sense of grief I was feeling? I had finally done it. I had (left the era of Unit Studies and I was now going to teach my children with textbooks. Me the staunch advocate for Unit Studies everywhere. How could this be? The feelings that accompanied this change were very real. I had poured my heart and soul into those lesson plans. Now someone else would do that for me. They would tell me what my children would learn this year. Did I really want to give that up? We had had a lot of fun and now it would be different, wouldn't it?

What I found out was yes, it was different and that was okay because that was what we needed to do at this time in our home school. We added plenty of field trips that year, the boys liked the curriculum, and much to my surprise, we had a good year.

I have been home schooling "from the beginning" as they say and I have been the oldest student in our school. I have learned more than I could ever have imagined possible. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that home schooling will change through the years and that’s alright with me. When life changes just go with the flow. Don't feet like you have to continue on with something if it doesn't fit your life right now. You may be able to come back to it in the future or maybe you'll find out you like the new approach. When it is all said and done you will have made right choices along the way for your children and you will have made some choices that you learned from. It is the journey of home schooling that matters the most. Whether you do it for a year or you're in it for the long haul, enjoy the "students" in your school and be glad you have these years with them. When it's all over it won't matter so much which curriculum you chose as the choice you made was to home school. That choice will never be one you will regret.

As the title says, so many curriculums, so little time. I only have 13 years to teach and there's so much out there. How will I fit everything in? Of course, I’m joking. I have changed only when I knew it to be the best thing to do. For those of you who have always used one approach I commend you because you too have made the right decision for your children. I know how you might feel about someone who could change like I have. (She's crazy?) But I am really a sensible person who could never have imagined the path I've taken. I can say with assurance that it's the right path for us and I wouldn't change a thing, except my curriculum.

About the author: Marysia Marts lives in Greensboro, NC and home schools Timothy and Thomas. She is married to Greg who has supported her through all the changes, even the most recent decision to change curriculums this coming year for what she thinks is, yet again, the perfect one for them at this time.