Graduate Slideshow

Well, I've been talking about it for weeks and graduation day came and passed. It was a beautiful ceremony. We have a lot of homeschoolers in our church. So we have our own Graduation and Promotion Homeschool Ceremony.  We had five high school graduates and 3 kindergarten graduates. All girls. And we had approximately 35 kids promoted from one grade to the next. Our main focus in our graduation and promotion is character. Each child is given a certificate highlighting a character or two that they have shown growth in throughout the school year. Mom and Dad will have written out a short blurb regarding their child and their growth in these areas, and this is added to the certificate.

We invited all our family to the event. It was a big day for our daughter! We are the only homeschoolers in our family and this was everyone's first time at a homeschool graduation and promotion. I've participated and been in the audience of many graduations, and let's be honest. We wait and wait for our graduate to make it to the stage for his or her diploma. And once that's done, we can't wait for it all to be over.  At least the graduations I've been to have been a long drawn-out event where we just listened to names we don't know being called out.  A homeschool graduation and promotion is different. And maybe I'm a bit biased, but it was fun and interesting listening to each character trait being read for each student.  And to watch the expressions on the kids' faces and their reactions was priceless. Our family was impressed with the sweetness of the whole ceremony. And I even had one of my nieces ask me questions on how to homeschool her babies. The audience cheered and applauded each student as their character trait was read. The kids were eager to hear what their parents had written. And the parents were filled with joy to celebrate the end of another school year. In this case, the parents have played a major part in the character building of their children through much daily prayer and discipline, through highs and lows, through moment by moment opportunities to teach academics and good character. Of course, academics are important, but academics will only get you so far without good character. Wouldn't you agree?

The best part of the whole celebration were the much anticipated slide shows. Each homeschool high school graduate had a slide show for all to view, followed by the parents saying something to their graduate, and the graduate honoring and thanking their parents. It's safe to say that there wasn't a dry eye in the house. My daughter's slide show was a complete surprise for her because mom put it all together for her.  Well, actually, I selected the pictures and the songs, but my nephew did an amazing job of putting the whole thing together. And still, once I saw the finished work or art, I had to acknowledge that it was God who produced, directed and edited the whole thing...not just the slide show, but her life. In the end, all I could say to my daughter is this is the end of just one chapter of her life and I eagerly await to see what God will continue to do in her life.

Mischievous Toddlers and Homeschool

This week I got a reminder of what it's like to homeschool preschool.  I babysat my little niece and nephew, ages three and four. Right now the kids are in preschool while mom and dad work. However, mom hopes to homeschool some day.  She's asked questions about how to homeschool and what curriculum we've used. I think she'll do a great job because already the kids are very inquisitive and bright. The oldest was continuously asking how this works or why this happens or what this word means. He'll be easy to teach because he seems to enjoy learning new things.

My kids are in upper elementary and high school.  So I think I had forgotten what it's like to have toddlers. I had to find different ways to keep the kids busy.  I found that the moment I left them to play alone, they got into mischief.  For example, we still have our Christmas tree up.  The youngest crawled under the Christmas tree and pulled out a small box. She must have been enthralled with the tiny Styrofoam balls inside the lid of the box, which are made to look like snow. Wouldn't you know she found a way to take the lid apart!  Now mind you, I only turned my back on her for a few minutes, but next thing I knew, the living room floor was covered with snow...err Styrofoam balls. When she saw the look on my face, she knew she had done something wrong.  I said, "Willow!"  And she looked up at me and said, "I sorry."  Uggh!  My heart melted.  I wanted to just pick her up and hug her.  I know. There was a huge mess of little Styrofoam balls everywhere. But she's so cute. And so sweet.  And she helped me pick up as many as we could so I could put them back in the lid and seal it back.  No harm done.  My kids are growing so fast that I can truly appreciate toddlers, even when they get into mischief.

So that happened on Monday.  This was a clue to me that I needed to plan ahead and keep them active.  We went to the library and borrowed as many books as we could fit in a bag and we read often throughout the week. But we didn't just read. We acted out scenes from the books, too.  Samantha has a lot of puppets. So we put on some skits using some of the stories from the books we read.  I want to make reading fun for the kids because I know they'll soon be learning to read.  So when Samantha or I read to them, we'd change our voices and make funny noises. The kids loved that. Samantha and I enjoyed ourselves, too.

In addition to reading books we played games, made cookies, made some crafts, colored, hand-painted, and even walked to the park. It helps that they're both close in age. It's easier to entertain two than it is to entertain one, I think.  They play well together, too.  I think it would be more challenging to have only one child to homeschool.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially if you have one child now. Kids learn best through active play at this young age, and engaging as many of their senses as possible.  So what do you do with your child?