We are educating our children at home. We love it and feel grateful to have the freedom to choose this option! We are not opposed to public school, simply entrepreneurs at heart! Home school fits right into our do-it-yourself approach to life. Not to mention the freedom of scheduling that we enjoy so much with being self-employed. We are having so much fun teaching our children at home and are well pleased with their continuous progress. We are open to all possible options for education in the future. Our plan is to take it year by year and child by child. We are passionate about learning together as a family and each day is an exciting new adventure.
Our daily school routine is based upon a combination of principles from the Classical Educational Model as outline in The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise-Bauer and the Leadership Education Model as outlined by Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. We follow both very loosely and are rather eclectic in our approach. We are constantly searching for the best methods and resources to educate our children.
Music is a central focus of our learning environment. Our kids are blessed to have music modeled daily for them by listening to their dad play regularly. They call their piano recitals, their “gigs”.
We believe each child has unlimited potential given the proper example, exposure, opportunity and enthusiasm. Hopefully, we can provide some of that for each of them.
Here are some of our favorite resources and websites for those interested in educating their children:
Saxon Math
Bob Books
History of the World-Susan Wise-Bauer
The Read Aloud Handbook (we do 1 hour of Sustained Silent Reading each day after lunch)
Helpful websites:
www.starfall.com
www.enchantedlearning.com
www.lds.org (tons of great stuff for LDS homeschool!!!)
More coming soon:
Karmel,
Hi it is Teri Watkins! Jake and I ended up moving back to Phoenix and we are living at the Watkins until our home is finished. I saw your Christmas card and had to look at your blog. It is so fun to see you and your family. I had know idea that we had so much in common. I wish I had known you better while we were in UT. Congrats on your amazing family and the move to the country. I am so jealous. I grew up on a farm and was homeschooled. I don’t know if you knew that. Keep up the good work.