Because I can!

2 of my boys waiting for the horses to come to them.

Ethan with the horse he will ride for his therapy. The contentedness with horses for children with Aspergers is so amazing. Hannah is volunteering there twice a week to help with horses around the barn.Such a blessing.

My sister Amber and my 2 year old Jolene.

Sisters!

Im beautiful yes I know :)

Hannah banana grating our soap for laundry.

So we have struggled for 5 years now on how to get my country boy to comprehend what he is reading. Everyday we pulled out the text books and sat down to what is an agonizing few hours of trying to read and worksheets and quizzes only to find he cant remember what we read. Who says your child child needs to spend x time in a text book? Who says our quizzes cant be fun and verbal? Why cant we have tests that are hands on? We parents get caught up in the everyday life and we go through our schooling in a box and think this what we are suppose to do. Ummm I homeschool because I don't want my kids to learn like the public school. I don't want someone telling me this is how tests are suppose to be given or I have to even give them. I hate tests. I didn't like them in school so why I do I feel the need to give them to my children? Yes in high school they need them but from 8th down I think not. As homeschoolers we have to remember WE choose HOW WE LEARN. No one but my husband will be in charge of what we do. My son doesn't do well with text books at all. He lights up when we read library books and we go outside and explore with our books. He loves being in the kitchen and making math come to his hands. He doesn't learn a thing sitting at the table trying to read a boring science lesson. So what do I do now for school with him? We switched over to unit studies. i have guide lines I go by with what WE feel he should be learning right now and we go with it. Right now we are learning about birds. we put feeders up and got books and posters on the different birds in our state. For art he goes down to the creek with his notebook and sits quietly watching. This is my mans happy place. He comes flying through the door with excitement telling me all about what he saw. He learns so much more this way. Its amazing. I have an older daughter who is all text books and cant learn any other way. She thrives from having a text book and lessons in front her. Its all about the child and what works for them. My kindergartners are just in the swing of things. They like it all. With My Fathers World K its so working for them. I'm writing this post just to remind you homeschooling mommy's that if your teaching isn't working then change it. Thats one reason we teach at home, so we can let our children grow the way God intended them to. Each child has a different learning path and its our job to find and let it grow. So it took me 5 years with this one but theres a reason for it......ill let you know when I find it :)