Our Homeschool History Donna Reish

We used to get asked a lot WHY we homeschooled…like all the time….twenty years ago or more.
Nowadays, reasons for homeschooling are as diverse as the number of people homeschooling. There are not just a handful of reasons any more—and many of the reasons (especially the fear-based ones) are not as prevalent as they were. (Not sure if this is all good….we need to fear some things for our kids.)
After thirty-two years of homeschooling (and being done for two years now—well, done with our own kids, but not the 170 kids in our classes and part time programs!), we have narrowed it down to one big reason—with lots of sub reasons.
Truly, TIME is the biggest reason that I would homeschool if I had it to do all over again—and is something I would like for you to at least consider in your decision to homeschool or not, go to school or stay home, continue on or end. Because TIME is big—and can never be redeemed.
Blessings to you and your family on your journey! Enjoy every moment you have!
P.S. Feel free to share this video. I don’t think it is something that people talk about a lot….but it was hugely impactful to our family!
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I. Starting Out
A. Chose homeschooling out of fear of all of the “bad” stuff
1. Bad peers
2. Bad curriculum (secular)
3. Bad environment
B. “Pioneers” 1
. We were afraid of everything (unfortunately)
2. Very Bible-driven and character-focused (fortunately)
II. Middle Years
A. As older kids entered high school
1. Moving away from fear a little and more into reality (these kids need occupations!)
2. Focused in on academics while still keeping a character-basis and a relationship style of parenting
B. Began writing curriculum and testing it with homeschooled kids
III. Ending Years
A. Relationships with adult kids and kids still in school
1. Realized more and more it was the time we have had together
2. Adult kids still needed the time
B. Watched siblings as many as ten and twelve years apart develop close relationships
IV. The NUMBER ONE Benefit of Homeschooling—Time
A. Time cannot be duplicated, redeemed, or reallocated
1. Average American mom spends 13.5 hours a week with her child; average homeschooling mom spends 77 hours a week with her child
2. My own quick math
a. 8 hours a day x 180 days
b. Yields 1440 more hours per year that kids who are homeschooled are with their parents/siblings
c. Probably between 1500 and 2000 per year with 9 hour days, bus rides, before and after school activities, etc.
3. Any way you slice it, it is too much time to try to “make up for” on weekends or holidays or summers. The sheer number of hours is staggering.
a. At 1500 hours a year x 13 years
b. Nearly 20,000 hours
B. Time that kids are with parents
1. Who is going to shape your child during those 20,000 hours?
2. Do we want it to be teachers and peers or us?
C. Time to lean in to their strengths and weaknesses
1. Academically
2. Becoming who they will become
3. Emotional support
D. Time with siblings
1. Who are your best friends here?
2. Who matters more than anyone else here?
E. Time equals influence
1. “You will become the five people you spend your time with”
2. Kids change according to who they are with and what expectations and allowances are made
3. Time influence is the time of the people who ARE influencing your kids (you) and time that peers are NOT influencing your kids.
F. The thing we put our time into is what grows
1. Do we want the home to be the center of your child’s world or the school?
2. If our kids go to school, we SHOULD put the effort and time into that school due to the number of hours are kids spend there (don’t send them then complain about everything!)
3. Make your home the center of your family, not the school
V. Summary
A. Do I think all is lost if kids go to school?
1. No!
2. But it takes supernatural effort and work
B. Co-ops, half day programs, Friday School, private tutors, even babysitters overseeing some work can all make it happen more easily
1. Ho

Done Homeschooling Younger Sister
Lisa went to and thrived in 9th grade—our year had been a success
Joshua (2nd bday) and I spent our days learning, helping others, and learning how to manage a busy home (lots of people in and out!)
Wrote preschool curriculum for Joshua
 
Helping Others With Homeschooling
Most local Indiana families were in Christian schools or had moved
Had half dozen families (most in Ohio or out of our county) umbrella teacher (advantages & disadvantages)
Continued presentations whenever asked
 
Our Days
Structure
Play dates
Organizing
Working in church children’s ministry
Field trips, park days etc
First (of 6!) Levi Coffin field trips!
Did you get one of my writing frameworks freebies yet? A week of writing projects with my video teaching! (Visit: https://languageartsladyblog.com
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Our Homeschool History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtue.com/watch?v=IUKW-AXDovY&list=PLjS7lbVmIJpx-3kxpeE8ianP4Ux1BX5iE
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Episode 10! Ready to wrap up our first year of homeschooling with the good and the bad!
 
Good
Learned to systematize
Implemented dailies
Learned so much about teaching and homeschooling
Lisa was ready to go back to school in the fall—especially socially
Glimmer of hope for the self-less marriage we desired
Bad
It was hard work
Had the beginning of “homeschool pride”—not the good kind!
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Our Homeschool History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUKW-AXDovY&list=PLjS7lbVmIJpx-3kxpeE8ianP4Ux1BX5iE
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Week in the life of….1983..our first year of homeschooling. Part II of II
1. Social Anxiety
2. Fear of people, running into store, bullied at school, low self esteem, anxiety
3. Played clarinet in little church band
4. Helped with small group—and blossomed in this environment
5. Great success socially helping with nursing home services and visitation
6. Exercise at Y; art classes
7.. 2. Indiana law 180 days of equivalent instruction
8. Counted school days (she seldom missed)
9. Counted field trips
10. 3. End of year academic results—tested by her school again
11. Math—from 2nd grade level to 4th grade level
12. Reading—from 2nd grade level to 6th grade level (even though her capacity wasn’t supposed to go that high!)
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Week in the life of….1983..our first year of homeschooling.
 
Typical morning
Lisa dropped off 7:00 on my mom’s way to work
Independent list until I was ready
Joshua 12-18 months old…get up, rock, sing, read posters on his wall
Once Joshua was ready for day/fed, I checked Lisa’s work so far and taught her reading and math
She had joined little church band, so she had several independent activities on her list: Cleaning job, practice clarinet, silent reading, math drill, read to Joshua, misc assigned from our reading and math lessons, biography reading, geography workbook…
 
2. Typical afternoon
I read history and science with her
We also baked, cooked, organized, and played with Joshua throughout the day
Most days were similar
Saved some intense lessons for when Joshua napped
She was picked up at 3:30 when Mom got off work unless it was art class or Y night or mid-week service
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(1.) Within a few months of homeschooling Lisa, we went to a character training seminar held at a local church/Christian school
This was taught by Ron and Rebekah Coriele almost forty years ago. 
Mrs. Coriel told a story about the oldest daughter who told her friend she couldn’t be dishonest because…” my mom won’t see, but God will”
We knew that his character-filled lifestyle was what we wanted for our family. 
(2) We began immediately. 
Nursing home ministry 
Explaining everything 
Character teaching 
Scheduling 
Deference 
Diligence
Following instructions 
(3) Our approach did have some downfalls that would later take us years to figure out and fix. 
Everything was black and white (which is good in parenting but not a great world view when trying to teach empathy etc ). We were choosy in who we should serve—and gave a negative impression to our kids about people who didn’t agree with us.
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Look me up for more information and links to my resources:   
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Our Homeschool History YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUKW-AXDovY&list=PLjS7lbVmIJpx-3kxpeE8ianP4Ux1BX5iE
Our Homeschool History Episodes: https://languageartsladyblog.com/ourhomeschoolhistory
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Punctuation Puzzles: https://languageartsladyblog.com/articles/punctuation-puzzles/ 
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All LAL Freebies: https://languageartsladyblog.com/freebies/
How I Teach iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-teach/id1552986393