some things I love about homeschooling

~After a long day of sitting in doctor's offices yesterday, I took the opportunity to not get dressed today.  I mean...I'm dressed, just not for public viewing.  I made it a self-proclaimed pajama day.  Except that when you have boys that don't really wear pajama's, it's just another normal day.  Whatever works, right?

~Todd was standing in the living room this morning, about to leave for work when all of a sudden he asked Drew if he wanted to go to work with him.  Of course, Drew jumped at the opportunity...he never asks to go with Todd, and I love that Todd recognized that and offered it to him.  It's a major perk of homeschooling, and his reward for getting so much work accomplished yesterday while I was gone.

~We don't have to go to bed or wake up early.  We usually begin our day around nine, sometimes a little before.  Drew, Jonah and Noah usually are finishing up around one, sometimes before.  It takes Graham longer, because high school is harder.  Today he worked until two or two-thirty.

~Our house is so peaceful during the school hours.  There's not a lot of talking going on, just the running of the appliances, the smell of candles burning and I get to have really good quality quiet time.  Today while they were working, I was reading and writing down the book of James.  (That book is so jam-packed that I take it chapter by chapter, sometimes only verse by verse.  I made it through half of chapter two today.)  Of course I do allow them to talk during our school day, they just don't.  Or at least, not a lot.

~We turn off the television and turn on the radio.  Mostly I listen to Pandora...but I need to figure out how to create another station.  I love piano music and am thinking a little Jim Brickman might be nice.  Oh, and I figured out how to create the new station.  Easy schmeasy.  ;)

~I love that the kids work at their own pace.  I create their to-do lists for their week, and they pick and choose what to do each day.  As long as they finish their weekly lists, I'm good with however they go about it.

~I also love how they sometimes work in different areas of my house.  Sometimes we're all in the kitchen and dining room, sometimes in the living room, sometimes upstairs...I let them pick and choose their location as well.

Today, Noah and Graham both chose the living room.  Noah was at the school desk, and Graham was at the computer desk.

Crash was helping Graham do science today.  ;)

There are tons more reasons why I love what we do so much, and for us all these things make it perfectly ideal.  I know it's not for everyone, and I know people think I'm nuts for this, but I love it.  My job is to care for these charges God has given me, and what better way than to see to it they're getting the kind of education we want them to have?  (I will say that when we did public school, we loved it.  We would also  have loved private school, had we been able to afford it.  I'm not judging your way of school, just sharing what works so well for my family.)

I'm thankful for our moments like today.  Love to all.