On the (sometimes lonley) road to Memory Masters

My kids are a bit...different. Of course we homeschool (read; not because we are in a religious cult or doing some social experiment on our kid. My two oldest just happen to be most able to learn at  home. More about that here.

Of course currently they could care less about sports, any kind of lessons, or clubs too. Sometimes this bothers me when I let fear creep in and tell me they are missing out. But they are geeky/creative and quirky, which of course they totally get from thier father. Sometimes being different means we are in our own world over here in Keys-land though and it does get lonely at times. 

Keys-land is not boring though. The kids are taking care of thier pets (currently a cat and four ducks), They love drawing, lego creating, writing songs, dancing, and of course the dreaded and highly controlled screen time; (they watch national geographic's animal jam, minecraft (we like skrafty!), lego shows, or youtube videos about these things) . And then thier are the other hybrids of those geeky creative interests (think making a video of your toys singing homeschool songs). Here is one they collaborated on.


They also love thier homeschooling class, Classical Conversations, on Thursdays. This class is a win win win for me because every Thursday they learn info in seven subjects from thier amazing tutors (Latin, English, Timeline, History, Science, Math and Geography). They also get to do a science and an art project every week (It is haaaard to teach music theory and do science projects at home!).You can see the video here!

Jonathan's artwork from Classical Conversation's Famous Artists class. He calls it "Jonathan Studies Flowers"

Also they have lunch with friends and then run around on the playground with them after class (sometimes for hours). Jonathan learned to ride a bike during this lunch time last fall.

A drawing of Asia by D. (influenced highly by her pet ducks). D and J draw creative versions of the geography to help them remember all the places. 

In keeping with our geeky/creative style, instead of  competing at sports and clubs this year D decided to try to earn the Memory Master title at Classical Conversations. To be a Memory Master she has to memorize ALL the over 500 pieces of memory work in Latin,Geography , Science, History, a history timeline, and Math. Here is a summary of each sentence or fact she has to learn to earn Memory Master;You can see her Geography reciting here.

We are in the home stretch and no matter if she makes it through the 4 two-hour reciting tests we are so proud of her. She and J have worked so hard! J can tell you the 3 laws of Thermodynamics, and Motion! Here he is reciting his favorite history sentence. But as they don't get to do these things in front of lots of smiling faces (just me and sometimes dad) I wanted to share these videos (like this one of D singing the Presidents, she cried when she first got it all the way through!)and hope you would help cheer us on. We are homeschooling our hearts out over hear in our little strange Keys world. Sometimes it gets a little lonely being quirky. Thanks!

Isaiah's First Christmas

I woke up first at 8 am with Isaiah.  After I put some cranberry, pecan, sage yeast bread in the oven and made some tea I sent Isaiah in to wake up the kids. It's one of his favorite jobs. Then the kids explored thier stocking contents together.

Isaiah pushed around the shopping cart santa brought him (a six-dollar thrift store find!). The big kids snuggled the stuffed animals that played "You are my Sunshine" and "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?".

Then everyone pounced on Daddy. The kids wanted to open thier presents to each other first. They had made and packaged them all by themselves. Dorathea got a lego necklace and beaded bracelet. Jonathan got a hat with a D made pom pom on top. 

 We tried the four present only rule of "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." They sadly told friends that was all they were getting this year. But on Christmas morning they seemed to enjoy it.  I picked out books that reminded me of them. "Vader's little Jedi" for Jonathan, "El Deafo" for Dorathea and "Mysteries of the Middle Ages" for Ted. I wrote a little note in each one about why it reminded me of them.

I also made a gift for each of the kids. Jonathan got a brown, furry beanbag cover. He nested in it happily.

Dorathea opened a jacket I sewed bunny ears onto for her. 

We all just took our time and had a lot of fun.

For lunch we snacked on a tray of veggies and cocktail shrimp with a garlic ginger dip.  Ted and I found the recipe in  Cookbook from my Grandmother written by overseas army wives in the sixties. 

We finished the day by watching a Christmas music special from my alma mater Berea College. 

Dinner was a feast of; pineapple ham, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, green beans, and leftover stuffing and sweet potato casserole I squirreled away in the freezer from Thanksgiving (a trick I will definitely do again!).

It was nice to be together and relax. Tomorrow we are hoping to roll ourselves outside for a hike and some tennis! - Dorathea got a new raquet from her dad!

Hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas too!

love the Keys family!!!

In 1996 at the University Christian Student Center, Tennessee Tech 25 year old Ted put on his best smile, lowered his voice an octave, and  introduced himself to an 18 year old girl wearing her favorite grungy Porsche t-shirt with a wool hat.  She instantly knew he liked her and she had best not encourage him. Despite this rocky introduction, after a long talk one night at the Student Center, she decided he was a kindred spirit and the friendship of a lifetime began. Ted persued the girl for four years, then gave up and received a call that sounded like this, "I think God's telling me to get married". Crestfallen Ted responds, "To who?"  Allie responds "To you!". The peace about marrying this long-suffering gentleman finally hit the girl after Ted stopped trying.

They got married in a big celebration of friends and family in Tn and then moved to Southwestern Virginia so Ted could go to Bible college and pursue a ministry degree. Newly graduated Allie miraculously got a job doing storytimes at the local library. She loved that job for seven years and then with a second baby on the way gave it up to stay home with our two cuties. Six months later Ted lost his job. That was seven years ago at Christmastime they were optimistic something else would quickly come along. It didn't. Then things came along that weren't really jobs but bad business deals at thier expense. Then thier house was foreclosed on.

At this point in the story the road took a sharp turn.  When a story bends it looks like a dead end to the travelers. The bend and all that life threw at the little family  looked like death. Death to the dreams of prosperity, death to the family, and the husband. Allie raged. There were many nights She screamed at God, "Where are you?" "Why aren't you helping me?".  They even had people telling them they were failures and fools to keep walking.  But at the end of thier ropes Love was still there. It was saying "You are a person of faith, and of great worth." Love told me my most important job was to forgive. Not lightly forgive but like a woman on a mission. Like a woman fighting for her family.

Ted also fought. Instead of running from the demons that tormented him he faced them. He sought counseling from trusted friends and mentors, He worked on a degree and getting a job when he faced failure after failure, door closed after door closed. Sometimes it felt like it was all his fault and he shut down. But this beaten down man was so brave he kept walking toward Love. Love that told him to forgive himself

Deep depression hit Allie and Ted both in turn. From our church friends and family we sought and received counseling and help. I didn't know if our family would still be together on the other side of that turn, I couldn't see a way to happy again. When I prayed God told me to doggedly believe in Ted so I did. I gave God the worry and he told me to dream.

Dreaming was hard like getting up and running after a bad accident. But Allie dreamed of Ted getting a difficult to attain degree getting not just a job but a calling. She dreamed of our family being financially secure and living in a place her kids would thrive. She dreamed of being worry free enough to pursue her dreams of homeschooling, working with children, writing and creating. She had assurance only that her marriage wasn't working and her family wasn't working, but when She prayed God told me to look the rest of our path with eyes of faith that it would get going on better than it was before the bend.

Ted got a part-time job teaching two-year olds at our Church's Daycare ministry.  It was supposed to be just a temporary stint.  He worked exceptionally hard at a job where he got hit, pooped on, and screamed at for minimum wage, and some people laughed at that. He felt like the only forty-year-old man teaching in a daycare.  Even though he often asked God how in the world he got there, somehow he fell in love with the screamers, poopers, and hitters. He prayed for the kids, encouraged thier parents, he found kinship with the people he worked with. This job was just while he kept applying for one in his degree, but at least everyone he worked with and for were united in thier love for these kids and families.

The daycare was facing being shut down, Ted's heart went out to the children there, to thier teachers who loved them well. He and I started dreaming of what the daycare could be, how our church family could be loved on too. We talked to our church who supported us in this dream, and the leadership asked Ted to become the new daycare director.
Suddenly, Ted has found a ministry that needs all his gifts.  I have found opportunity to minister to children and families through stories, music, and teaching.  We both share kindness and guidance with the women who work at the daycare, and we are dreaming about ways to expand the reach of this this calling to families in general.  We have found ourselves around the curve in the road. We can see what we are dreaming towards again.

Ted got me this quirky watch he knew I wanted for our 15th anniversary. Usually he gets me a sweet card but this year the traditional anniversary gift was a watch, It celebrates a redemption year for our family and our marriage. A few years ago when were down, wondering how we had wasted time and failed at life. Like the Psalmist said, "My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.10 For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing;"

But he goes on,

"Terror is on every side;

While they took counsel together against me,

They schemed to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,

I say, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in Your hand;" Psalm 31

What the enemy meant to use hardship to destroy our family God used to bless us.

When we sought help, we got good counsel from our church friends. They told us that God would make all that wasted time work together for our good.

Now I am realizing my time is not in my hands. I have given it to God. I can't waste it, I don't have that much control anymore. I've given my life to Love. When I feel like I've blown all my time, he still redeems it. My life is a Once Upon a Time story with lots of twists, but the Happy Ending is assured.

Psalm 130, "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them."

Acts 17; "He marked out (our) appointed times in history and the places they would live. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."

The 5 Secrets Of Why We Homeschool

What's the secret reason we homeschool? You might not believe me! Is it because we don't want our kids in harmful public school? Is it because we think our kids are so brilliant they can only be taught by hand?

No! Ted and I believe every family has a different path that's right for them. We homeschool because we love it, because it makes us feel like the Keys family, it helps us appreciate each other as well as the wonder that is in the world. Here are our secrets about homeschooling;

1. We wake up when we are ready. We take naps if we need to. Sometimes we wear pajamas all day. Sometimes (ok most of the time) pajamas are just our comfortable clothes and they are worn for unstructured amounts of time. A couple days in a row? Just change when they get dirty or when we are about to leave the house.

2. Lots of recess! As in a normal day for my ten year old consists of daydreaming outside, then breakfast on the porch, then swinging or riding scooter outside, and then we are ready to begin school. Going outside happens anytime our brains get stretched too far. I personally sometimes check the mail three times in a day just to breathe and clear my brain.

recess!

3. Field trips are better. We go on train rides, to events at the local college, to farms and so much more. We schedule ahead or just pop over if we need to get out of the house. Sometimes a library trip or a trip to Daddy's work are a great added learning experience. There is nothing like walking through a city on a week day and having a whole museum to yourselves!

4. Cooking and cleaning up are part of the curriculum. They naturally have learned to make thier own breakfast and lunches. I just try to keep healthy stuff available. If I ask sweetly my older child will even make an extra sandwich for me. 

Downside to homeschool; When your kids are home all day the house gets messier faster. Upside; your kids learn that cleaning is part of life  is part of thier lives now. My kids are not all naturally good at housekeeping, but we are learning to work on picking up and cleaning a little bit all the time (and sometimes we take a day off to deep clean under thier beds and in thier closets). I feel like this gives them skills they will need for real life!

5. Their schoolwork is geared toward them. My ten year old is a reader so we have an Essentials of the English Language Class for writing, but for reading I just hand her my favorite Junior Fiction reads and call it done. My son is quicker with math than reading, so we have a more step by step reading curriculum and when he has mastered a book I have him read it to his baby brother or at story time for the 1-5 year old's at Daddy's daycare. That gives him a lot of confidence with reading and he is not comparing how well he can read with other kids his age every day. Sometimes the kids create videoes to learn thier schoolwork (you can see one here).We watch science and history videos as a family and basically nerd-out with science, books on cd, and trivia games at home. Everything is school for us. I love having our whole family culture be learning and Ted loves it too.

6. We get along we love each other's company. 

It's easy to hold a grudge against your family member when you only see them a few hours a day.  I know this because I did for most of my childhood with my younger sister (sorry sister!). If you are alone with your siblings all day I've noticed most siblings get along. If you think about it, it's too hard not to! We are together nearly all the time. Maybe it's easier to band together as kids against parents if you are also students against teacher! Whatever reason I am grateful that my kids for the most part enjoy each other, and I think this home lifestyle helps. We are invested in loving each other.

Our home is not a day's end destination it is where everything stems from. We work, play, learn here together. We share it all.  While sometimes I want to escape, sometimes so do the kids! We all learn how to forgive quickly.  More importantly we learn to hang in there together, and not write each other off.  At times we are mad at each other and sometimes we have a blast, it's all part of relationships! 

We started homeschooling to give our unique kids what we thought would be best for them. I recommend praying about it if you think it could be right for you, every family has different needs and callings. Homeschooling is no joke, it's a lot of work as well as a lot of fun.

Now however, relationship with my kids is the main reason I homeschool.  Honestly I feel like I am having my second childhood. This time I am enjoying learning, and loving a lot more deeply. If that ever changes we will reevaluate homeschooling, but for this season, we are all in! Why do you homeschool or public, or private school? What is special about your family that helps you make that choice?