Adventures in 2011

It has been a very long time since I posted. Honestly, when I started this blog, I had good intentions of writing often. However, I had no way of knowing what these past six months had in store for me.

I have to say, through it all, God is so good. He is my Rock and my Fortress. He protects me when I am weak. Because of Him, I fear no evil. (all from the Bible I just don't know where, don't judge me.)

I started this blog on New Year's Eve and I haven't posted much on it since!

SO...it is time that I let you know the latest Stuckey journey, which is our recent gear switch in our Homeschooling adventures.

About 2 weeks ago, we set off into our 5th year of homeschooling. I mean, really?! Fifth year?! It doesn't seem that it's been that long, and then at times, I look at my children and how they've grown in the last five years and I am so thankful for homeschooling. I look at our homeschool group and friends (that have become like family) and I absolutely cannot imagine my life without them. To think that it was really only 5 years ago when Angel Girl asked if she could be homeschooled...but it was 10 years ago when God started working on my heart.

Preschool for Angel Girl was a dream, but had it's bumps. So when she said to me two days ago, "Mom, this is the best I've liked school since preschool"...I was floored. I'll tell you more too...all throughout our homeschooling journey, to date, she's been asking to go back to preschool. I have to admit, I was starting to take this a little personally. We tried switching curriculum for Math, we tried a more relaxed approach. We tried JUST reading books over the summer. We tried UNschooling for a while. I LOVE UNschooling a little too much! Ha! But my main challenges were still what to do with my little man while I was trying to school the big kids Then a new and very nice friend of mine introduced me to www.time4learning.com . Can I just tell you? I can barely contain myself about how excited I am to see smiles on their faces, NO tears from A.G., and CONFIDENCE from Tractor Boy, my big 7 year old!

I say "time for school" and they get excited! It is positively refreshing. YES, there is still workbook work, but it's only going to be a page per day. Its like eating a giant cookie, you can't eat the whole thing all at once, just one bite at a time. That's what I tell Angel Girl when she gives me sad eyes about doing her workbook work. She doesn't like it because it is the "old school" and now she is really liking the new school.

I am so grateful for www.time4learning.com . It works out to be a little more than $1 per day for both kids to be subscribed. This is money well spent for sanity well saved in my book. I think that we are finished today with our 2 week trial period with them, and we will be continuing onward!

My days are lighter these last few days. I don't feel as oppressed as I did before. I was dreadfully close to giving up entirely on homeschooling. I didn't want their brains to rot. I was telling myself we could just read books for a whole year and (we still might do that) everything would be okay while Mommy got her sanity back. It was difficult for me to understand how other families, larger families, got it all done in one day, on a tight budget, without checking into a looney bin (no offense). I had put myself under tremendous stress and was comparing myself to others too much. Now, it is as if a weight has been lifted. I feel free. So, not only has this helped my kids gain confidence and a bit of structure to their day, Mom is happy. And you know what they say about when Momma's happy!

Disclaimer Alert!
As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschool, after school study or summer learning.

Peace to All of you!
Love MommaClaire



P.S. www.time4learning.com also has great Support for parents, and I know because I've already needed it! :-)